Ferny Ceballos

The Truth About an MIT Education (or Any Other)

Posted on 11 January 2012 by Ferny

I’ve resisted writing this piece for quite a few years now, but given the times we are in, I consider myself one of the few whom has both the authority and experience to change a few minds on this subject.

And the subject being — The True Value of a Higher Education

I grew up in a poor Mexican-American family out of East Los Angeles, with parents whom both were very strict in our upbringing and valued education. At age 13, my father suddenly passed away from a stroke leaving my family to survive on a combination of Social Security benefits and my two older sister’s income working minimum wage retail jobs. This afforded me the opportunity to focus on my studies, despite the tragedy that my family endured.

Long story short, I performed well throughout high school and was accepted into the most prestigious scientific and engineering institution in the world, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

I was fortunate that I qualified for quite a few “need based” scholarships and loan programs, which all but game me a “full ride” at MIT. I graduated with $10,000 in school loans, which by today’s standards is nothing. However, many of my school mates finished their MIT education with $150,000 in school debt or more, because they weren’t deemed to need the financial aid. (Many of them will be paying these loans back for the rest of their lives.)

While at MIT, I studied Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, but truth be told, I did not enjoy it at all. In fact, I attended less than 10% of my classes, did a half-ass job at completing my assignments and crammed for all of my exams 2 days before I was to take them. Fortunately, I still managed to graduate with a B- GPA. I had trained my mind to absorb and learn things quickly. (A skill I’m grateful to still possess in a quickly evolving online business world).

The truth is, I did not enjoy engineering or science, but at the time I wasn’t mature enough to realize that and did the minimum to scrape by to pass my classes and graduate from MIT, rather than pursuing a field I actually cared for… (not that I would have know what to study at the time).

After graduation while working at a Defense Contractor for the US government, I had to admit to myself that I actually did not like being an engineer at all and I started to desperately look for a “way out”.

My mission in life became to figure out a way to quit my job as an aerospace engineer yet keep my close to six-figure engineering income which my family depended on. (I had relieved my sisters and contributed back to the family, so they could pursue their dreams).

After many years, which have been documented in many of my blog stories and posts on BetterNetworker.com, I was introduced into network marketing and eventually internet marketing.

While not without struggle, my salvation and financial freedom came as a result of my experience and NEW education from my mentors in both the network marketing world and internet marketing world.

Over the first few years of learning, implementation and innovation as an internet entrepreneur, my business partner and I invested over $150,000 in personal savings and credit card debt to gain access to the courses, live events, trainers, coaches and personal consultations which provided us the education to build successful internet businesses. (Today, that investment numbers is at about $300,000 as we continue to grow.)

Thankfully, over the past 3 years as internet entrepreneurs, Raymond and I have generated over $2 million dollars in revenue for ourselves and created the lifestyle we both dreamed about when we were in college (he attended Harvey Mudd College, while I attended MIT).

Interesting enough, “the dream” was sold to me at MIT – about never having to worry about my financial security and that the world would be my oyster upon graduating from this great institution. The reality, was that I became a corporate pawn, being told to work on mundane brainless tasks, forgetting the technical expertise I garnered at MIT (a true waste) and after taxes, making a mediocre income while working full-time and often overtime, doing something I loathed.

Now I don’t mean to be a snob, but the truth is, after doing as well as I did in school as a kid and graduating from the premier technical institution in the world, I expected some truly awesome things – which did NOT happen.

All in all, my MIT education cost a total of $150,000 over 4 years for my financial aid sponsors. (I’m grateful that I didn’t have to be responsible for the majority of my education like many of my school mates did.)

My education as a network marketer and internet marketer over 2 years from 2006 – 2008, between myself and Raymond, was $150,000 as well.

The difference is that my MIT education got me a job and if I had to pay the $150,000 back, it would have taken me my entire lifetime on the salary from my job.

My education as a networker and internet marketer was paid for within our 1st year as a successful online business owner and has been paying massive dividends ever since.

However, my job story is not unique in that there are plenty others who invested in a traditional education and came no where near close to re-couping their investment nor achieving the financial freedom promised to them.

The value of a formal education has severely being diminished in place of real expertise and a true passion for performing a craft. In fact, our marketing clients have never once asked me for a marketing degree before they paid us six-figures to work on their behalf.

Now the whole point of this story is that even at the highest levels, a traditional education more and more, fails to deliver on the promises of a college education. Many of my MIT school mates whom I considered to be brilliant at the least and geniuses at the upper levels, have not achieved any significant level of financial independence since graduating.

In fact, many of them I would respectfully label as “broke”, living paycheck-to-paycheck, no closer to the greatness that was promised to them when first coming to MIT. (A few have done extremely well for themselves, but those people I can count on 2 fingers… the majority of these elite minds continue to struggle.)

My hope is that people read this article and reflect on the things they believe or have been taught to believe will provide them with true financial security, because as far as I’m concerned, in this new economy, there is no financial security other than what we make for ourselves as entrepreneurs.

My only regret is that unfortunately, there are many brilliant people who remain trapped in the old way of thinking and are too proud to admit that the path they are on will only lead to struggle and frustration — especially for those that know deep down that their talents and brilliance, far exceeds what they will be compensated throughout their lives.

I remain grateful for my opportunity to attend MIT and be surrounded by geniuses and brilliant people on a daily basis. But I am under no delusion that the financial independence I enjoy today came as a result of my MIT education. However, it does make me a stronger advocate for true education reform in our lives and in this country.

About the Author:

You may learn more about Ferny Ceballos by visting his website at www.FernyCeballos.com

I also highly recommend you watch this film titled, College Conspiracy:

Getting a “Pop” & Taking “Bumps”

Posted on 22 December 2011 by Ferny

I have to say, the one thing I enjoy most, more than any other aspect of my training, is preparing and performing demonstrations at our annual Christmas Party and Grandmaster’s Birthday/Anniversary Party in June. Since becoming a Hwa Rang Do student, I’ve had the privilege of performing in front of the student body, parents, and friends of the Academy.

The mental exercise of deriving a self-defense scenario using the skills and techniques we’ve learned since starting at the West Coast Hwa Rang Do Academy is something that really stimulates this former engineer’s brain and has made me truly appreciate the genius of Dojoonim and Grandmaster Taejoon Lee for the creation and evolution of a vast art like Hwa Rang Do. But I must admit, the mental exercise of deriving these scenarios and chaining techniques like we do for our demo is only part of the reason why I enjoy this process.

Pops & Bumps

Like many children around America, I grew up watching professional wrestling (Lucha Libre & WWF) and would roll around with my little brother experimenting with maneuvers we saw on TV. We idolized Hulk Hogan and Rey Mysterio. Watching wrestling with my father on Saturdays remains a treasured memory. Of course at the time, we didn’t know wrestling was fake and that many of the maneuvers had little basis for practical self-defense, but looked freakin’ cool!

For us, the show was a living, breathing, live action comic book story. If I listen closely, I can still hear the frenzy these performers would create. I later learned that the term wrestlers used for this frenzy was a “pop.” Even more important than their technical skill, pops were the barometer for the success of any wrestler. The devastating falls or hits they would absorb were called “bumps,” which of course resulted in “pops.” In fact, there were performers whose only specialty were “bumps” – meaning getting the snot beat out of them and taking huge falls.

The Art of Falling

Twenty years later, I’m at the West Coast Hwa Rang Do Academy and along with learning the response for every possible self-defense scenario, we are also learning life saving techniques on how to fall properly to avoid injury. As Hwa Rang Do students, one of our big responsibilities is in promoting, marketing, and showcasing the beauty and power of our art through demonstration. We are martial ARTISTS, which requires an awareness of not only what is effective, but what is visually stunning & beautiful – the art.

Now I’m the first to admit that I am not the fastest, most talented, nor knowledgeable practitioner in the school. I’m a big guy so naturally, I won’t be pulling off any of the incredible speed and aerial maneuvers that Luke and Larry pull off. I asked myself, “What could I do that people would remember and talk about?”

It hit me – Nak Bop (Falling).

My partner and I needed to devise some pretty impressive throwing scenarios, and as a result this 280-pounder will be taking some rough falls, as would my partner. I worked with my partner to chain techniques that by themselves were not complex or fancy, but were designed to create the biggest “pop” with some impressive falls.

Show Time

After weeks of practice and butterflies in my stomach, our Hwa Rang Do demo team went out to perform in front of a packed dojang. As we were lining up, I remember all the little tigers sitting only three feet away from us. I instantly knew who our real audience was.

From our past two demos there are three throws that I’m particularly proud of. The first was a hip throw I performed on Irfan where I come into his inside, wrap my left arm around his body and my right hand hooks the right side of his neck and flips him over my hip… at least that’s what it was supposed to be.

In the heat of the moment and with adrenaline pumping, this technique almost looked like a shoulder throw when instead of hooking his neck, I grabbed the cloth of his shoulder and lifted him over my shoulder, flipping him and slamming him on the ground with a thunderous crash and a roar of a kiap to cap it off.

It was effortlessly raw! The children, sitting only three feet away, yelled “Woahhhhhhh!” giggling and chattering. That was a strong pop.

Irfan performed the next big throw. His throw was actually a shoulder throw. Now, as if a much smaller person like Irfan performing a shoulder throw on someone about a hundred pounds heavier isn’t impressive enough, he had to do it while I was in full sprint, coming at him like a freight train that’s come off the tracks.

This would be my biggest “bump” of the night, and one that I was a bit nervous about because of the speed at which it would be delivered. I remember yelling and running at Irfan, then being lifted in the air, flipping upside down and coming down with a thunderous crash. The children let out an even bigger “Woahhh!” more giggling and chattering at not being able to believe what they just saw.

I imagine that from their perspective they are seeing a giant fall from the sky onto their dojang floor, right in front of them. For this fall, I partially landed on the wooden floor, cracking my elbow, which I’m sure added to the impressive sound effects that my 280 lbs. frame create upon
landing.

Finally, the third throw, which stole the show was from the Christmas party. And to Irfan’s credit, he agreed to take the biggest “bump” of the night by allowing me to perform a sacrifice throw. A sacrifice throw is done holding my opponent by the cloth of their uniform. I fall back, pulling him down with me, but before he lands on top of me, I stick my foot in their gut and catapult them with my leg over me.

I did this technique once before in tournament against a 260 lbs. opponent. It was an impressive technique, and I knew that with Irfan hovering around 180 lbs., I could definitely get him to catch some air. I executed the technique well. I launched Irfan from one corner of the mat to the other, forcing my Hwarang brothers and sisters to scatter as Irfan made his landing.

The spectators were shocked. The kids were going crazy. I can still hear the chatter from the kids, and how much they loved it. They loved all of it. I remember my techniques, but every Hwa Rang Do student was impressive and the Hwa Rang Do student demos continue to be the highlight of these parties.

Comic Book Heroes

The one thing I miss about being a Tae Soo Do student is not being able to see the Hwa Rang Do demo. I wish there were two of me, so I could catch everything! Most importantly, these demos entertain the children unlike anything else they could watch on TV, film, or read in a book. We are their living breathing comic book heroes, allowing their imagination to run wild as to the limitless possibilities that exists for them. Our goal as Hwa Rang Do students is to inspire them to be like us, which carries a heavy responsibility.

We are role models for these kids inside and outside the dojang. And to have them say after our performances, “I can’t wait to be a Hwa Rang Do student” is fulfilling beyond measure.

After it is all over, we nurse our “bumps” with a big potluck and some cold drinks. We are satisfied with our performance, but already thinking of some crazy ideas for the next one.

To get the next big “pop”.

MIT Football on Sept. 11, 2001

Posted on 12 September 2011 by Ferny

Today we remember the horrific day as our nation was attacked and we also honor the lives who were lost, the sacrifice of the brave men & women of the first responders and the people currently involved in the magnificent rebuilding of the World Trade Center.

On Sept. 11th, 2001, I was a junior at MIT sleeping in my room when one of my fraternity brothers knocked on my door and told me that the Wordl Trade Center towers had been completely destroyed by 2 airplanes in a terrorist attack.

I jumped out of my bed, and went online to CNN.com and saw a plain white website w/ pictures of the twin towers on fire. (The normally fancy CNN website was down for some reason as a result of the attacks and I was looking at a backup)

I got ready and walked across the Harvard Bridge to school, seeing people weeping on the streets and the whole time couldn’t help but think that I could have been on one of those flights from Boston to LA had they chosen to pick a different day for the attack.

Naturally, I was moved to tears by all those suffering around me.

I arrived at school and went into the lab to meet with my professor and a few other students (one of the few classes I actually attended), and we talked about what had happened. Most classes were cancelled that day. We were short on details about the attack and could do little else, but to continue our lab work building an EKG design to monitor heart rates.

During all my 4 years at MIT, I played on the NCAA varsity football squad and practice was never cancelled. I wondered whether practice would be cancelled, today.

Believe it or not, MIT has the most number of varsity sports of any college or university in the world. Sports is a big part of life at MIT.

That day I was hearing about many sports cancelling practice. But I heard nothing about Football… so I walked into the locker room and saw all my teammates getting dressed, some of them crying, punching the lockers with their bare fists and talking about the day’s events, while getting ready.

Practice was on…

We walked on the empty massive practice field usually bussling with dozens of sports from soccer to track & field to field hockey to baseball. Today we were alone.

It was a surreal day and walking onto that empty field was eerie. We walked slow with our hearts heavy and saw all our coaches on the field and we kneeled together in a moment of prayer.

Then practice began…

Quickly the horrors of that day faded as we escaped into the world of football, going over plays, hitting each other hard and fast and doing what we had to do to prepare for Saturday’s game at Salve Regina University in Massachusetts.

It was probably the best and most focused practice I ever experienced, each of us so ready to think about anything other than what had happened that day. For 2 hours, we completely forgot about the day and played football as hard as we could on a muddy gridiron field – it was amazing.

When practice ended, the days events came back to our thoughts and hit us like a ton of bricks… “Sh*t, back to reality…”

At the end of the season I had a conversation with my Offensive Line coach about that day. He had told me that the coaching staff had a fiery discussion about whether or not to cancel practice and they ultimately decided to press forward.

I think it was their determination to not allow these acts of terror affect the lives of Americans anymore than they already had – at least not the lives of their players.

Every single other sport on campus cancelled practice, except Football.

Many of the players were directly impacted by the tragedy of that day – friends, family and acquaintances lost. Many of them were in ROTC and would be serving in the military upon graduation and see combat.

My coach said that when practice was over, they all felt they had made the right decision. Our coaches and MIT Football had offered us 2 hours of much needed mental relief from the pain of that day. After all, the ripples of heart break from 9/11 would be felt for many years to come by all of us.

As coaches and players on the most horrific day in modern American history, we did the only thing we could do – play the game which we had been given the freedom and opportunity to play and coach – American Football.

Dillard’s predictions coming true…

Posted on 07 August 2011 by Ferny

I’ve only got a few minutes, but considering last week’s dive in the economy I had to take the time to write you…

Four years ago my friend Mike Dillard started getting a little weird on me…

Whenever I’d see him, he’d start talking about the future collapse of the global economy, and he kept telling me to buy gold, emergency supplies, and guns…

Obviously I thought this was a little crazy, considering that Mike basically taught this industry about the concepts of infinite abundance and prosperity, yet here is was talking about the next Great Depression…

He even said he was going to leave our industry to start a new company who’s sole purpose was to prepare people for these events, and teach them how to prosper when they take place…

(And as you may know, he did just that… He left Magnetic Sponsoring and started a company called The Elevation Group in 2010)

He even spoke about this at No Excuses II in Vegas a few months ago, and everyone thought he was nuts.

So when I asked him if he thought the world was going to end or something, he said, “yes… for some people, but I’m not buying these things to prepare for the end of the world… I’m buying them to prepare for the greatest opportunity of my life…”

And then he continued… “Ferny, within the next few years the global economy is going to collapse. The US is going to fall into a hyperinflationary depression, and all of this will result in the greatest wealth transfer in the history of human kind…

When this happens you’re either going to end up richer that you ever dreamed possible, or you’re going to lose everything you have. With great change comes great opportunity, and preparing to prosper from these changes is all that matters right now”.

Well here we are three years later, and everything he warned me about has come true…

Gold and silver are sky-rocketing, food and gas prices are at record highs, inflation is increasing, Europe is falling apart, the Dow dropped 512 points on Thursday, and now on Friday night, Standard & Poors just downgraded the US credit rating for the first time in history…

It’s all happening, so here is my advice to you…

Stop what you’re doing right now and register for one of the free webinars Mike is holding this week on the economy.

He’s going to tell you what’s going to happen in the next few months, he’s going to give you the 7-step formula he’s been using to predict the financial future during the past four years, and he’s going to teach you how to turn these economic events into the greatest opportunity of your life.

Once you watch the webinar, join The Elevation Group.

I’ve been a member since the day it launched, and I can’t put a price on what I’ve learned.

Like many people, I thought Mike had cracked and turned into a doomsday’er…
Well he didn’t… He’s actually spent the past four years of his life learning and preparing for these events, so that you and I may prosper…

After talking Mike about Friday’s credit down grade, and now the EURO’s mess, he said there isn’t much time left.

And I absolutely believe him.

Click here to register for his next webinar now…

Ferny Ceballos

P.S. Guess what Mike said were the two most important assets you can own today…?

1: A home business. (Because most people will lose their jobs).

2: Information. (Because knowing how to position your assets during this wealth transfer is the key to winning).

The Day After Tomorrow

Posted on 28 December 2010 by Ferny

This past Christmas I was at my sister’s place with my family having a nice relaxing time, drinking some beers and enjoying each other’s company. At some point the discussion turned to politics and the economy.

Now I wanted to avoid bringing anything up related to these 2 topics, because for the past couple of years I’ve been doing my due diligence and trying to figure out what was really going on with the financial crisis — something that had negatively affected some investments I had made (before I knew better) and positively affected my business dealings with the internet, consulting and network marketing (yup, this market is HOT).

I gotta tell you, figuring out what happened at the end of 2008 is a real bitch and the answers cannot be found in the evening news nor at the book store, but I did find it through a variety of business connections, experts and wealthy people I know who track this type of stuff. What I found doesn’t look promising for the majority of Americans (and citizens of the world) who wish to keep the same job routine, drug themselves on sports and television and hope the government will take care of the rest. Generally, this is the type of stuff I want to talk about because unlike the trite conversations most people have with each other, this shit actually matters!

However, this was Christmas and I wanted to avoid any conversation which could potentially put a damper on the holiday cheer and I wanted to simply enjoy the holiday microbrews I found in the store and gorge myself on home cooked tamales.

As my family talked, my sister turns to me and asks me, “Ferny, so tell us. When is all this going to turn around? Are we on a recovery?”

My answer: “Nope” ::stuffs face with tamales::

My sister: “When is it going to get better?”

My answer: “It’s not.” ::chugs beer to wash down tamales::

My sister: “What do you mean? What are we suppose to do then?”

My answer: “Buy a bunch of silver, stock up on booze & non-perishable food, keep firearms handy and think of a country you may want to move to if shit hits the fan…” ::chugs beer:: “Mom! Mas tamales por favor!”

And with that, their attention was mine and while slightly buzzed and bloated on tamales, I proceeded to tell them what I had learned about how our financial system works, why politicians are slaves like us, why/how we temporarily avoided a financial apocalypse in late 2008 and who benefits the most from the way things have worked for the past 100 years.

That conversation was extra long and I certainly don’t want to write a 20 page blog post. However, there are some key things you can read and watch right now, which will help bring you up to speed and help you not only survive during this period of instability, but actually thrive! And in a twisted way, actually look forward to it because of how you’ve positioned your assets and prepared.

Robert Kiyosaki says, “Those of us that prepare for the worst of times, will always enjoy the best of times”

This is what you need to do…

Education & Investing 101:

There are some key resources, which will get you 90% of the way there in terms of getting up to speed…

1) Watch Mike Maloney’s Video at Russian Bank Conference (Part 1 | Part 2)

2) Read Guide to Investing in Gold and Silver by Mike Maloney

3) Watch the documentary Collapse with Michael Ruppert. (Can stream on Netflix)

4) For more killer video education, go to www.wealthcycles.com

5) Buy gold and silver only after doing 1-4, go to www.goldsilver.com

Make Money:

Another thing you should be focused on is making as much money as you can quickly, so you can afford to invest in commodities like gold and silver… here’s how I’m doing it…

Top Tier Affiliate Marketing (High Commission) from my experience, is the best way to make large sums of money quickly, if you have previous business, marketing or sales experience or are a fast learner.

The only program I recommend is using CarbonCopyPRO to promote PRO U and Automatic Millionaire products by David Bach. Commission potential range from $600 – $20,000 per sale, depending on the product sold and your qualification level.

You’d be joining the same team in PROU as Jay Kubassek (Marketing Partner), Mike Dillard (My Sponsor), Ann Sieg (Newest High Profile Team Member), myself and Raymond Fong.

Click here to learn more about how to make money big and fast with Top Tier Programs

Folks on low budgets, see next option…

Network Marketing (Low Entry Cost, Strong Potential for Residual Income): Setting all your opinions as a result of the pitches for juices, potions, soaps, etc., from family members, the fact is Network Marketing is HOT right now, because of the shitty economy. But like any good business decision, choosing what to sell has to be directly in line with good business principles and the demand of the market. When people are going broke, they don’t care about health, juices or keeping their home clean — they care about money and survival.

Promoting Gold and Silver coins via Numis Network is the only network marketing program I recommend, because it offers the following benefits:

1) Low Attrition (Autoship is silver coins and people like getting money in the mail)

2) It’s network marketing and everyone is searching for a way to make extra money right now — EVERYONE!

3) The product is something you actually want to have pile up in your garage (silver and gold coins!)

4) My team consist of the top internet marketers in the world, we’ve built a custom system to leverage our skills and make promoting Numis simple!

Click here to learn more about Numis Network and the NumismaticPRO marketing system

Investment Education, Opportunities and Wealth Creation:

Like anything, acquiring money is only small part of the battle. Keeping your money and even multiplying it for generational wealth are what the rich have mastered, as if they were alchemist cloning gold from a lab. It’s pretty crazy!

The best and most cost effective education on what the rich do to create wealth with ease can be found within Mike Dillard’s The Elevation Group. I use to belong to a private organization, which cost up to $20,000 per year for access to this information and gave you no where near the access and opportunity that The Elevation Group provides, and in a format which can be referenced in an on-going basis as you implement.

For the first time in history, this information is now available for the masses at a very low cost. The free 90-minute presentation by Mike Dillard available through EVG is alone worth, the cost of entry… yet he’s giving it away.

Click here to sign up for the EVG waiting list.

Conclusion

Well, there you have it. From now on, when people ask me what I think about the crisis, politics, etc., I’ll simply point them here. And feel free to point them to this page as well, if you have found this information valuable. And yes, in promoting these programs I do make money if you participate… that’s the beauty of it!

If this offends you, please leave and never return. If it excites you, then I’m excited for you.

Now if you excuse me, I’m going to grub on some left over tamales!

-Ferny

« Older Entries

The Truth About an MIT Education (or Any Other)

Getting a “Pop” & Taking “Bumps”

Pops & Bumps

The Art of Falling

Show Time

Comic Book Heroes

MIT Football on Sept. 11, 2001

Dillard’s predictions coming true…

The Day After Tomorrow

Get to No Excuses 4!

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