YOUR PLAN OF ACTION
by Bill J. Gatten

Have you any idea what it is that you truly want at this point in your life?

Have you ever honestly sat down with pen in hand and pondered that question? Is it wealth that you want? Is it income? Is it financial security, fame or respect? Or could it be that all you really want is “show them” – i.e., retribution for someone’s telling you you’d never make it (you’re too dumb, too uneducated, too slow, too ugly, to fat, too skinny, too poor, too old…)?

And of the “wants” and “wishes” you harbor, how many of them are desires, and how many are actually “dire needs”?

Many, if not most, of us regularly confuse the concept of wanting something with needing it, and end up stopping miles short of our objectives as a result. A person may “want” a T-bone steak: but their real “dire need” is protein. They may “want” a smog-free environment: but their real “dire need” is…air.

All too often we say we would like to be wealthy, and then go to some considerable length to learn how to achieve wealth: but the fact is that if we haven’t established an honest dire need for that wealth, it will more than likely never dangle within our reach. One can wish for an apple to fall from a tree and maybe have that happen, if he or she is willing to wait a while: but when the apple becomes a matter of survival, and the difference between hunger and starvation…then out of dire necessity the “wisher” becomes an “initiator,” and will ‘make’ that apple fall by any means conceivable.

I was contacted this morning by a former PACTrust™ workshop attendee who said that after having attended workshop, at the end of the day, despite my “excellent advice (her words),” she left the meeting perplexed and not understanding how to implement the advice I had tendered (at considerable cost to her and sincerity by me). Her lament was that, without a complete understanding, she had been forced to return to her “regular job.” My response was that she could easily have asked questions and opted to stay for the free Q&A session afterward; she could have joined us weekly on the free TeleMentoring sessions we hold every Saturday morning; she could have called me or anyone on our staff with questions and concerns at any time; she could have stopped me in the middle of the presentation and demanded that I slow down because she wasn’t “getting it (as the more indomitable students do from time-to-time).”

My honest response to the lady was that it appeared to me that her “Want To” had been overridden her “Don’t Need To.” In other words, she would surely have chosen to change her life and relinquish her mundane job, had it not been a bit too much trouble. At that juncture she wasn’t desperate enough to put the need of a career change up there with the need for air. Do you suppose she might have paid closer attention and asked a few more questions and participated in the follow up sessions had she NOT had the tolerable job and sufficient income to fall back on, and hadn’t eaten for, say, a week or two?

Let’s assume for a moment that this same woman, even with her job to fall back on, had suddenly become a victim of certain dire needs that her salary just couldn’t cover. Say, a child that required special medical treatment that her insurance couldn’t cover; a husband who had bailed out on her leaving her with all the bills and insufficient means to handle daily life (and maybe throw in a broken a leg (or two). NOW do you think her “Want To” might be more readily replaced by a “Dire Need To”? You bet! And that’s why the careful outlining of your wants and dire needs, and knowing well the difference, is so extremely important.

You don’t have to break your legs or become destitute in order to carve out a better life: you only need to need to. When your dissatisfaction with the way things are outweighs your need for something better, then you will act accordingly. That will happen when you sit down and take inventory of your life…when you finally figure out what you are missing in this life that belongs to you just much as it does anyone else. The more aware you become of the inequity you are causing by your inaction, the more you will resent it and begin to do something about it. Do you know anybody is no smarter than you are, no better educated, no better qualified who is making five the money you are? Do you suppose they might be onto something you haven’t taken the time to discover yet?

The carefully guarded so-called “Secret of the Universe” is that you are its master. You think and create on purpose, and you are one with its very creator: the Universe’s creations by accident…it’s you that is in charge. Anything you can conceive of is already yours for the asking: just do what’s necessary to be able to hold it in your hand.

What are your own wishes, wants and dire needs?

Some of us are born with the gifts that seem to automatically make superstars of us without a lot of effort (natural athletes, natural actors, natural musicians, writers, the unnaturally lucky, etc); but unfortunately, most of us are not superstars by virtue of our birthright. In fact, most of us have to establish whatever stardom we ever attain, in the face of sometimes seemingly insurmountable handicaps that life has dumped on us. We did not choose our parents or their mindsets or the conditions under which they were raised or how they raised us. We are, however, victims of all of those aspects of our own heredity, parentage, peer-pressure and early environment. Fortunately, though, we have been given the gift of free will, and the right to override or neutralize any part of our personal programming that we are willing to look at and take the time to try to understand.

The most common error (and the most disastrous one) in goal setting is that of mistaking wishes (wants) with burning desire (dire needs). It is only the latter that can lead us to real life-change and abundance. To but make a wish, we need do nothing but put it out there and wait and see what happens: with dire needs, however, we die in some way when they are not fulfilled…we are simply incapable of allowing them to go realized without severe damage to our psyche, and we will fight hard to prevent that from happening.

The difference between wishing or wanting…and sincerely needing is analogous to the difference between asking Santa for something, or demanding it of someone who owes it to you. If you’d like to build a 40-story high-rise or a 1,200 foot-long aircraft carrier, you certainly are free to do so if you wish, and if you have the means and knowledge to complete your work. But, until completion of such work becomes an absolute dire necessity, you likely never will. It’s when a major aspect of your life depends on it that you will do what all builders of 40-story high-rise buildings and aircraft carriers have always done…imagine it, design it and build it.

So…before writing out your objectives, choosing a mantra, and heading off on your trek to riches, take the time to figure out what your goals actually are; which of your “wishes” are worthy of being converted to “dire needs”; and what your resources are for accomplishing these aspirations. Should you come up short in the “means” area, then you need to write-out a plan for either attaining what you are lacking, or for replacing what your are lacking with something else of equal value that you have more than enough of (e.g., physical work can replace the need for cash; eliminating someone’s burden can replaces the need for credit; patience can replace experience; caution, diligence and research can replace formal education; know-how replaces a college degree, and so on)

Never forget that, according to Epictetus in the 5th Century BC: “A [person’s] wealth is measured only by the expense of [that person’s] pleasures.” In other words, when life itself is your reward, and when the least expensive pleasures are your greatest reward, you are already wealthy beyond calculation: no matter how much or how little money you have. My own true net-worth quadrupled when my children were born, and quadrupled again with the arrival of my grandchildren. Think about it…who is wealthier, the man with a big mortgage and a 60 month payment plan on a new Mercedes Benz convertible, or a well-loved, warm Eskimo with eight good dogs, a jolly fat wife and two years worth of walrus meat in his locker?

Converting a need to a burning desire (dire need) is the first real step in goal setting and requires definitive action. To wit: If you’re having difficulty in making the decision to jump off the high cliff into the cold raging river below, in order to save your own life…just do this: Tie the end of a long rope around your waist, then tie the other end around a massive round rock and roll the rock toward the cliff. When you’ve finally rolled the stone over the edge…your fate is sealed. You needn’t worry about making the decisions any longer. Definitive action tied to need is what brings “pre-existent potential” into the physical universe.

To become successful in life you must first know what it is that you want, and then you must decide what you truly need. Just ask yourself which of the following you could live without if you had to…what’s left over are your needs.

* Happiness
* Contentment
* Freedom
* Permanent Financial Security
* Acceptance/Popularity
* Good Health?
* Fame/Recognition?
* Monetary Wealth?
* A more fulfilling lifestyle
* A new career
* A new spouse

So what will be your Plan of Action (your “POA”…your “rope” and your “big ol’ rock”)

Your POA is your design for success. It is the very map of your destiny. It becomes your guide to all of what you must do to become who and what you need to be, and to attain all of what you need to own and control.

Goals that are held only in the mind are never goals at all. They're just residual random electronic impulses left over from wishes. It’s only when these wishes are physically transformed into matter by the process of putting them down on paper that they can begin to metamorphose into dire needs. Handwriting your goals is always preferable to typing them out in your word processor…the more arduous and physical the mind-to-hand task is, the more likely the transformation will be (i.e., moving a concept from the ethereal realm of potential into the realm of physical reality).

Forty years ago, I was dissatisfied living on only $326 per month (before deductions), but with that income I could cover a $60.00 per month rent payment, a $35.00 per month payments on my new Ford Falcon; I could buy gasoline, JC Penny’s clothing and groceries; and I could still have enough left over to go to the drive-in movies once a month or so. In those days I was envied by many who couldn’t afford even as much as I could: but I was also looked down upon by those with whom I most wanted to associate: high school friends who were coming out of college as doctors, lawyers, engineers, dentists, etc.). But now, 40 years later, I find myself earning more than most of my friends, but prone to becoming frantic if my monthly income drops below $20,000.00 (after deductions).

What do you suppose it is that I’m doing any differently today that I was forty years ago? Absolutely nothing except for following a plan. Because of my plan, I live in a bigger house now and drive nicer cars. And I’ve thrust necessities into my current lifestyle that weren’t there before (vacation cruises, country clubs, frequent airline travel, nice hotels, fine dining, fine clothing, housekeepers, gardeners, maintenance people, big screen TV’s, etc.): luxury items that were unheard of back then. But now a days I never think of these items as luxuries…today they are (in my mindset) integral pieces of whom I have worked and planned to become and whom I choose to be (and I ain’t finished yet). And were I now to be deprived of any one of these previously unnecessary items and services, a part of who I envision myself to be would cease to exist (i.e., that part of my persona would die). My so-called luxuries are no longer just wants and wishes…but are now a part of my bundle of dire needs to be defended and preserved. Could I live without these things? Certainly! Could I be happy without them? Absolutely. Would I fight to hang on to them? You bet!

Writing your POA:

When you outline your goals, be sure to write them in the present tense as a note to yourself, as if you were writing to a third party to whom you are making reverent, unbreakable promises: vows than can not, and must not ever, be compromised: “My earning are becoming $xxx per year and shall reach that amount by the end of 20___.” “My property acquisition requirement is at an average of no less than one property per-month, to be achieved by the end of 20___” “I am already as wealthy as I have a honest need to be, and must only convert the potential of my God-given wealth into physical reality by my promised actions.” “I am becoming ever more perfectly in tune with the abundance and intelligence that is existence itself, and can only prosper in the most spectacular of ways…always.”

Over time, you'll need to be continually adding to, subtracting from, and refining your objectives: reorganizing and making changes as your circumstances change (because of the success of your plan of action). By constantly reviewing and adjusting your Plan of Action, you will begin to develop an ever clearer focus, and begin to realize that what were originally mere hopes and dreams, are now moving ever closer to necessity and manifesting in three dimensions. For example, once you have fulfilled some of the early promises to yourself, and progressed to, say, actually having gotten a property under contract, the “wish” of someday being a property owner, now becomes reality and creates an unyielding need to bring in a resident beneficiary, tenant or buyer…a true “dire need,” the fulfillment of which is merely a part of your survival.

With a written plan, the possibility of success become the probability of success, an as you continue to tighten up the plan you can’t help but move closer and closer to the certainty of success: finally fulminating in the rich, rewarding and bountiful life and lifestyle that was yours for the taking all along.

It’s so easy. You merely need to sit down and determine once and for all what it is that you truly want at this point in your life. Whatever it is, it already belong to you, you merely have to reach for it by making it something truly you can’t live without.

B. Gatten

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The C-Corporation

The label, "C-Corporation" merely refers to a standard, general-for-profit, state-formed corporation. Characteristics of the “C-Corporation” include the following:
Separate Legal and Tax Life. A corporation which is properly formed and operated as a corporation assumes a separate legal and tax life distinct from its shareholders. A corporation pays taxes at its own corporate income tax rates and files its own corporate tax forms each year IRS Form 1120.
Management and Control. Normally, a corporation's management and control is vested in its board of directors who are elected by the shareholders of the corporation. Directors generally make policy and major decisions regarding the corporation but do not individually represent the corporation in dealing with third persons.
Thus, transactions with third persons and day-to-day activities are conducted through officers and employees of the corporation to whom authority is delegated by the directors of the corporation.
Shareholders. Shareholders are the owners of a corporation. Although shareholders have no power over the corporation’s daily activities, shareholders possess the ultimate power in that they can appoint or remove Directors of the corporation.
Directors. The Board of Directors is responsible for the long-term management and policy decisions of the corporation. While the Directors are considered to have the highest level of DIRECT control over the corporation, there are, however, a few instances when the shareholders are required to approve Actions of the Board of Directors (e.g. amendment to the Articles of Incorporation, sale of substantially all of the corporate assets, the merger or dissolution of the corporation, etc...).
Corporate Officers. Corporate officers are elected by the Board of Directors and are responsible for conducting the day-to-day operational activities of the corporation. Corporate officers usually consist of the following: (President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer).
Management & Staff. Management and Staff are DIRECTLY responsible for the daily activities of the corporation.
One Person Required. In most states, one or more persons may form and operate a corporation. Some states, however, require that the number of persons required to manage a corporation be at least equal to the number of owners. For example, if there are only two shareholders, there must also be a minimum of two directors serving on the board.
Fringe Benefits. Corporations may often offer their employees unique fringe benefits. For example, owner-employees may often deduct health insurance premiums paid by the corporation from corporate income. In addition, Corporate-defined benefit plans often afford better retirement options and benefits than those offered by non-corporate plans.
Corporate Formalities. To retain the corporate existence and thus the benefits of limited liability and special tax treatment, those who run the corporation must observe corporate formalities. Thus, even a one-person corporation must wear different hats depending on the occasion.
For example, one person may be responsible for being the sole shareholder, Director, and Officer of the corporation; however, depending on the action taken, that person must observe certain formalities: Annual meetings must be held, corporate minutes of the meetings must be taken, Officers must be appointed, and shares must be issued to shareholders.
Most importantly, however, the corporation should issue stock to its shareholders and keep adequate capitalization on hand to cover any "foreseeable" business debts.
Shareholder Liability for Corporate Debts. Where corporate formalities are not observed, shareholders may be held personally liable for corporate debts. thus, if a thinly capitalized corporation is created, funds are commingled with employees and officers, stock is never issued, meetings are never held, or other corporate formalities required by your state of incorporation are not followed, a court or the IRS may "pierce the corporate veil" and hold the shareholders personally liable for corporate debts.
Avoiding Double Taxation. Generally, the corporation is taxed for its own profits; then, any profits paid out in the form of dividends are taxed again to the recipient as dividend income and the individual shareholder's tax rate.
However, most small corporations rarely pay dividends. Rather, owner-employees are paid salaries and fringe benefits that are deductible to the corporation. The result is that only the employee-owners end up paying any income taxes on this business income and double taxation rarely occurs.
NOTE: See "The S-Corporation" below as a popular taxing alternative for corporations.
Duration of a Corporation. As a separate legal entity, a corporation is capable of continuing indefinitely. Its existence is not affected by death or incapacity of its shareholders, officers , or directors or by transfer of its shares from one person to another.

The S-Corporation

An S Corporation begins its existence as a “C-Corporation” (discussed above) -- (i.e. as a general, for-profit corporation upon filing the Articles of Incorporation with the appropriate STATE office. However, after the corporation has been formed, it may elect "S Corporation Status" by submitting IRS form 2553 to the Internal Revenue Service (in some cases a state filing is required as well).
Once this filing is complete, the corporation is taxed like a partnership or sole proprietorship rather than as a separate entity. Thus, the income is "passed-through" to the shareholders for purposes of computing tax liability. Therefore, a shareholder's individual tax returns will report the income or loss generated by an S corporation.
Qualifying for S Corporation Status. To qualify as an S corporation, a corporation must timely file IRS Form 2553 with the IRS. This election must be made by March 15 of the current year if the corporation is a calendar-year taxpayer in order for the election to take effect for the current tax year.
However, a "New" corporation may make the filing at anytime during its tax year so long as the filing is made no later than 75 days after the corporation has began conducting business as a corporation, acquired assets, or has issued stock to shareholders (whichever is earlier).
To qualify for S corporation status, the corporation must:
• Be filed in one of the 50 United States.
• Maintain only one class of stock.
• Maintain a maximum of 75 shareholders.
• Be comprised SOLELY of shareholders who are individuals, estates or certain qualified trusts, who consent in writing to the S corporation election.
• NOT have a shareholder who is a non-resident alien.
Losing S-Corporation Status. Failure to observe ANY of the above requirements could revoke S-Corporation status at any time. An S-Corporation that loses its status as such may not re-elect S-Corporation status for a minimum of five years.
Corporate Formalities. An S-Corporation follows the same state formalities as does a C-corporation (i.e. filing Articles of Incorporation and paying state fees).
IRS Filings. The S-Corporation must complete and file IRS Form 1120s to report its annual income to the IRS each year.
General Shareholder Requirements. ALL shareholders of the corporation must be U.S. Citizens or have U.S. Residency Status. If, for any reason, shares are somehow sold or transferred (even if by will, divorce, or other means) to a shareholder who is a foreign national, the corporation will lose its S-Corporation status and be treated as a C-Corporation.
Who Should Elect S-Corporation Status? Owners who want the limited liability of a corporation and the "pass-through" tax-treatment of a partnership will often make the S-Corporation election. In most cases, corporations that would benefit from S-Corporation status are those who plan on distributing the majority of earnings to its shareholders in the year those earnings are realized.
Corporations who plan on retaining earnings for future investments in future tax years often choose the C-Corporation because, under the S-Corporation, earnings will be taxed as if they were distributed to shareholders regardless of whether a distribution actually occurred or whether the corporation retained the earnings for future investment.

The Limited Liability Company (L.L.C.)

Rules governing the Limited Liability Company (L.L.C.) are usually distinct from the rules and laws governing corporations. In general, however, the L.L.C. is a state-created entity intended to provide it's members / owners with the limited liability afforded to corporate shareholders while minimizing many of the formalities corporations are required to observe.
If you are considering forming an L.L.C., you should be aware of the following facts:
IRS Treatment of the Two-Member LLC. If your LLC has two or more owners, The IRS will tax the LLC owners as if the owners were members of a partnership. A partnership files Form 1065 (U.S. Partnership Return of Income).
IRS Treatment of the One-Member LLC. An LLC with only one member / owner is taxed by the IRS as a sole proprietorship is taxed. Thus, the sole member of an LLC will file (Form 1040), (U.S. Individual Income Tax Return) and will include (Form 1040, SCHEDULE C) (Profit or Loss from Business) with his/her tax returns.
"Tax My LLC as a Corporation!" Regardless of how many members the LLC has, the LLC may file an Election to be Treated as a Corporation for Purposes of Taxation (IRS Form 8832). If an election is made to be treated as a corporation, the LLC must file Form 1120 (U.S. Corporation Income Tax Return). IRS Form 1120, Form 1120 Instructions
Minimum Members Required by State Law. Traditionally, most states have required that an LLC consist of two or more members (owners). Recently, however, the majority of states are allowing single-member LLCs.
Separate Legal Entity Status. Similar to the corporation, an LLC is recognized as a separate legal entity from its "members." Thus, an LLC can own property, commit itself to contractual obligations, and even commit crimes.
Limited Liability for Members (owners). In most cases, only the LLC is responsible for the company's debts thus shielding its members from personal liability. However, there are some exceptions where individual members may be held liable:
1. Guarantor Liability. Where an LLC member has personally guaranteed the obligations of the LLC, he or she will be liable. For example, where an LLC is relatively new and has no credit history, a prospective landlord about to lease office space to the LLC will most likely require a personal guarantee from the LLC members before executing such a lease.
2. Alter Ego Liability. Where an LLC member has personally guaranteed the obligations of the LLC, he or she will be liable. For example, where an LLC is relatively new and has no credit history, a prospective landlord about to lease office space to the LLC will most likely require a personal guarantee from the LLC members before executing such a lease.
Fewer Formalities than the Corporation. Although a corporation's failure to hold shareholder or director meetings may subject the corporation to alter ego liability, this is not the case for LLCs in most states. An LLC's failure to hold meetings of members or managers is not usually considered grounds for imposing the alter ego doctrine where the LLC's Articles of Organization or Operating Agreement do not expressly require such meetings.
Shared Management and Control. Management and control of an LLC is vested with its members unless the articles of organization provide otherwise.
Voting Interest According to Ownership. Ordinarily, voting interest directly corresponds to interest in profits which directly corresponds to share of ownership unless the articles of organization or operating agreement provide otherwise.
Transfer Requires Majority Consent. No one can become a member of an LLC (either by transfer of an existing membership or the issuance of a new one) without the consent of members having a majority in interest (excluding the person acquiring the membership interest) unless the articles of organization provide otherwise.
Perpetual Duration. Traditionally, most states did not allow an LLC to have a perpetual existence; LLCs were traditionally required to specify the date on which the LLC's existence would terminate. Today, however, most states allow a perpetual duration for an LLC if stated in its articles of organization.
Dissolution Upon Certain Events. Unless otherwise provided in the articles of organization or a written operating agreement, an LLC is dissolved at the death, withdrawal, resignation, expulsion, or bankruptcy of a member (unless within 90 days a majority in both the profits and capital interests vote to continue the LLC).
Operating Agreement Required. To validly complete the formation of the LLC, members must enter into an Operating Agreement. This Operating Agreement may come into existence either before or after the filing of the Articles of Organization and depending on your particular state’s laws, may be either oral or in writing.
Different Laws in Different States. While laws governing corporations have grown to be quite uniform amongst the different states over time, LLC statutes can vary quite drastically from state to state. This is most likely due to the fact that the LLC is a VERY new form of business structure only recently recognized by most governments (e.g. Hawaii only recently began recognizing the LLC as a legitimate form of business in 1997.


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