Did you know that?

Dyslexics are often stigmatised as under-performing, yet many individuals with dyslexia who have excelled in their chosen fields by using their dyslexic strengths.

What are your first thoughts when you think of Bill Gates?

Maybe, Entrepreneur, Rich, Bright, Successful……….How about Dyslexic? Surely not I hear you say…..’Yes’

What about Hewlet Packard……William Hewlett the founder was also dyslexic.

What about Lexxic, yes that is right www.lexxic.com…..This is where Nicola James the Psychologist coaches  Entrepreneurs and Dyslexic adults in London

What has she found being dyslexic herself?
Indeed, Statistics show that 1 in 5 entrepreneurs are dyslexic.
Dyslexia, often known as the hidden disability affects up to 2.9 million workers in the UK.
It reports that many employers do not realise that Dyslexia has officially been classified as a disability since the passing of the 1995 Disability Discrimination act (DDA).

Studies have shown that dyslexic individuals may possess a wealth of talents shared by non dyslexics, as well as certain skills that are not. Dyslexics often have strengths including visualisation and creativity.

Yet, in studies 73% of the non-dyslexics rated themselves as very confident where as only 7% of dyslexics rated themselves in this way. Why is that considering that that 35% of entrepreneurs in the U.S. show signs of dyslexia, compared to 20% in Britain.

If you need to know more tune into www.lexxic.com or contact info@lexxic.com.

I was interviewed yesterday for a book — a book on entrepreneurship. While there is nothing unusual about that, this book was different: it is a book about dyslexic entrepreneurs that Nicola James is writing.

I am not sure at what age I realised that I had mild dyslexia but I do remember spending most of my childhood feeling separate from the other kids and embarrassed about my compleet inabillity two spel [sic].

During the interview I had a realisation about the connection between dyslexics and entrepreneurship. You see, a fair number of highly successful entrepreneurs — including Richard Branson and Bill Gates, Nicola tells me — are dyslexic. I suspect that the reasons for this are:

1) Many dyslexics are super creative – as if they traded one type of thought for another. I suspect that many would have been brilliant lawyers, professors and executives. The challenge is that to get to most of those positions they would have to deal with the education system, exams and systems that measure intelligence and capability in very narrow terms.

Entrepreneurship allows people like me to excel in an area where the only real measure is that of success itself. I did not need years of University and a degree to decide, one day, that I wanted to start a business. I just did it. So no matter how effective and convincing I may have been as a lawyer, the barrier to entry (education) prevented that from happening where as with entrepreneurship — with that barrier removed or diminished — was an open door to me.

2) One of the great errors of entrepreneurship is too much ‘doing’ or working in the business rather than on it. I first heard Michael Gerber talk about this idea in the E-Myth. Now I understand it better. You see, dyslexics know there are things they are simply not good at including, perhaps, things like writing, remembering, concentrating etc. So instead of struggling to do everything in their business they seek, early on, other people or resources that can achieve those things. I know this was the case for me. The tremendous freedom I felt when I finally learned to effectively delegate was wonderful and it was a major part of my success in business.

So, if you are a dyslexic, this is my message to you: Try entrepreneurship.

And if you are not, remember the lesson learned, don’t try to do everything in your business. The more task you can delegate, the more time you have to work on your business.

You can if that bank proceeds to attract 7.2 million families, provide them with micro-loans, homes and education. You certainly can if you help millions of people lift themselves out of poverty.

This morning, at the behest of Jeanine “J.P.” Parker, we attended a talk by Nobel Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus at the Milken Institute in Santa Monica. It was inspirational, humorous and powerful.

Dr. Yunus, very well known for his work in Micro-finance in his home country of Bangladesh, spoke for around forty-five minutes about his experiences and his ideas for the future.

He told us that what started as a $27 loan to impoverished people in need turned into the Grameen Bank — now serving over 7.2 million families. He also told us about other projects and initiatives they have undertaken including the provision of clean water for those in need, mobile phones for communities that have to wait three to four years for a landline and home loans. Perhaps most impressive of the bank’s extra curricular activities is their education program; they now have over 21,000 students undertaking education that may otherwise never have had the chance.

After his talk, Dr. Yunus fielded a variety of questions about his projects and how they might be applied to America. In answering one of his questions he suggested that a stock exchange for social companies would be useful and that it was definitely time for a magazine for social enterprise. When I showed him XL Magazine — and asked him to sign the front cover showing his face — he asked for his own copy and a few extras that Irene Millar happily provided.

Dr. Yunus was inspiring, empowering and highly entertaining — we were lucky to be there.

Through years of coaching, speaking and mentoring — and even more years of study — I started to notice certain things about the way people thought about money. I noticed, for example, that those who did not like or trust ‘rich people’ rarely had any money of their own.

I then developed a process, or test, that would help people determine which of their beliefs or ideas about themselves, money or economics were supporting them and which were holding them back — I called it the FQTest

I still use the original version of the FQTest in my Living Rich Experience but I have created a significantly more powerful version online so that people can do the test and receive — instantly — a report detailing what might be holding them back and what they can do to overcome these things.

Why is it that people can go to all kinds of courses and programs about investing, trading and entrepreneurship and still fail to achieve the kind of success they want? It is because of two things:

1) Their core beliefs do not support a greater level of wealth than they are currently experiencing. Einstein told us that we could not solve a problem at the same level of thinking it was created and yet that is exactly how people try to solve their financial problems. The fact is, if you want to become a millionaire or billionaire, you will have to do it twice! Once in your head (adjust the way you think) and then (and only then) in the bank.

2) There are ONLY eight pathways to wealth. Roger Hamilton, Chairman of the XL Results Foundation, determined that there were eight ways to make wealth and that the most successful (financially and otherwise) people on the planet only play one of those games – the one that is most natural to them. Warren Buffet and Richard Branson have totally different ways of looking at — and therefore making — money. Like our FQTest, Roger has created Wealth Profiling that will allow you to determine which game is most natural to you.

Doing this test has been one of the most significant changes in my life over the last several years. Identifying my Wealth Profile, and then staying ‘in profile’ has helped me achieve new levels of success but more importantly, in a way that I am enjoying a great deal.

If you would like to do either of these tests, here are the links:

1) The FQTest.

2) Wealth Profiling

Other links related to this article: XL Results Foundation, Wealth Dynamics Experience, The Living Rich Experience.

It was with that in mind that I was delighted to receive an invitation to speak at a Brian Tracy event in Toronto Canada. Brian was insightful, interesting and gracious. As I prepared to go on stage he gave me some encouraging words, smiled and wished me luck. It was a pleasure to meet Brian and a pleasure to speak in my home country.