How To Be Financially Successful
If you want to be responsible, you need to master your finances. Money, or more specifically the lack of money, can cause a lot of pain. Many of us spend more than we earn. That is a problem that this article will identify, demystify, and overcome.
How To Be Financially Successful
If you want to become financially successful and independent, you need to spend less than you earn and invest the difference - then re-invest the profits to create compound interest. That’s the principle that wealth is based upon. But the problem for most of us is that our expenses are higher than our income. We will only be free from slavery to money, when we make money work for us, instead of us working for money.There is no “Get Rich Quick” scheme that works without paying the necessary price. If you are willing, you can use the power of motivation to save money more intelligently. Your progress towards financial independence isn’t only related to how much you make but also to how much you spend.
How To Use The Power Of Motivation To Be Financially Successful
The 8 steps we are going to talk about in this article work. They are specific, measurable, and attainable by anyone on the face of this planet. They guarantee success for anyone willing to use the power of motivation to put them into practice.If you want to ensure you put these eight steps into practice you must be willing to use pain and pleasure to help you follow through on them. you must create the necessary leverage to ensure success. When I discovered the power of motivation I created financial penalties for not following through on my commitments.
For example, when I embarked upon these next eight steps, I made a radical commitment to myself that there was no turning back. I made a commitment in public. I got someone to witness my written commitment, usually, a friend
that I knew would ask me how I was doing on these eight steps.
The power of motivation works when you cut all bridges to everything other than the thing you are committed to. The power of motivation is that you create a reality in your life where the breaking of a personal and public promise is absolutely unbearable.
The 8 Steps To Financial Independence
By mastering the eight steps to wealth, you will master money, rather than having money master you. And it’s difficult to make money work for you at first. The problem is that momentum is working against you. If you have the momentum of a downward financial spiral, you must intervene, stop the momentum, and then reverse the momentum.
Without these 8 steps, you will be dependent on the kind of wishful thinking that causes so many people to fail. Don’t let these eight steps lead to mere head knowledge because if you do you will still remain a slave to money. Apply these eight steps and claim your birthright: the freedom to control your resources.
Step 1: Enjoy The Process
“ Learn to be happy with what you have While you pursue all that you want.” — Unknown —
In the light of the intention to be financially successful and independent, all things become clear. We all want to be able to do whatever we want, as much as we want, and as often as we want. The freedom to travel, golf, help the poor, do what you love, and enjoy the good things in life are a few of the benefits we could name.
Wanting to be financially successful and independent more than anything else is the key. That means that if your desire to spend more money than you earn cannot be controlled, you are going towards a downward financial spiral. In fact, your desire to save money must be bigger than your desire to spend money. Whichever desire is stronger will overpower the other.
Remember everything you do is to gain pleasure and avoid pain. If the process of this plan becomes painful, you will fail miserably. How can you enjoy this plan? What can you do to avoid linking pain to the process of doing the activities of this plan? How can you associate enough pain with not following through on this plan?
The only way to enjoy this plan is to control pain and pleasure instead of having pain and pleasure control you. You see, the only reason that people don’t follow through on the financial plans that they know would lead to success is that they associate pain with doing it.
If we want to enjoy the financial plan, we must increase the desire to gain pleasure. But the real leverage happens when we increase the desire to avoid pain. The forces of both pain and pleasure working to your advantage are what will reverse the momentum of a negative financial spiral.
Here are some practicals as to how to enjoy this plan:
1. Start by saving only 10% of your income
2. Find alternative ways to enjoy yourself.
3. Focus on the natural highs of life.
4. Measure your progress visually.
5. Take local vacations, it’s cheaper.
6. Prioritize your expenses and continue to spend on those things that are a priority.
7. Purchase secondhand and save on taxes.
8. Purchase what you need, not what you want.
9. Earn money on the side and dedicate this extra income to enjoyable activities.
10. Reward your progress.
Lastly, you must associate enough pain to not following through on saving 20% of your income. How can you do this? People will do more to avoid losing what they already have than to gaining more. Therefore use the power of motivation to create leverage for yourself. If you want to save 20%, commit that if you don’t follow through, you will lose something of value.
This painful consequence will compel you to follow through on your plan. Believe me, this method absolutely works. If you progressively expand your comfort zone and enjoy the process, you will rapidly become financially independent and take control of your finances. Baby steps will lead eventually to quantum leaps.
Wanting to be financially successful and independent more than anything else is the key. That means that if your desire to spend more money than you earn cannot be controlled, you are going towards a downward financial spiral. In fact, your desire to save money must be bigger than your desire to spend money. Whichever desire is stronger will overpower the other.
The desire to Spend Money
↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓
Current Financial Condition
Current Financial Condition
↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑
The desire to Control Money
The desire to Control Money
The only way to enjoy this plan is to control pain and pleasure instead of having pain and pleasure control you. You see, the only reason that people don’t follow through on the financial plans that they know would lead to success is that they associate pain with doing it.
If we want to enjoy the financial plan, we must increase the desire to gain pleasure. But the real leverage happens when we increase the desire to avoid pain. The forces of both pain and pleasure working to your advantage are what will reverse the momentum of a negative financial spiral.
Here are some practicals as to how to enjoy this plan:
1. Start by saving only 10% of your income
2. Find alternative ways to enjoy yourself.
3. Focus on the natural highs of life.
4. Measure your progress visually.
5. Take local vacations, it’s cheaper.
6. Prioritize your expenses and continue to spend on those things that are a priority.
7. Purchase secondhand and save on taxes.
8. Purchase what you need, not what you want.
9. Earn money on the side and dedicate this extra income to enjoyable activities.
10. Reward your progress.
Lastly, you must associate enough pain to not following through on saving 20% of your income. How can you do this? People will do more to avoid losing what they already have than to gaining more. Therefore use the power of motivation to create leverage for yourself. If you want to save 20%, commit that if you don’t follow through, you will lose something of value.
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This painful consequence will compel you to follow through on your plan. Believe me, this method absolutely works. If you progressively expand your comfort zone and enjoy the process, you will rapidly become financially independent and take control of your finances. Baby steps will lead eventually to quantum leaps.
STEP 2: CREATE A PERFECT PLAN
If you want a foolproof financial plan, if you want a plan that will guarantee your success, then you must focus on your circle of control, not your circle of concern.
It’s so easy to deceive ourselves. It happens when we go to the casino, buy a lottery ticket, or invest in speculative stocks. It’s so rare when a person doesn’t depend on luck for his financial success. Unless we focus on our circle of control, the odds are working against us. You can’t force your boss to give you a raise. You can’t control the stock market. The one thing you can always control is your own personal decisions.
By focusing on your circle of control, you empower yourself to master your finances. To understand the circle of control is to understand the difference between luck and power.
• How much you save
• Your monthly budget
• Your Education
• Where you invest
• How hard and intelligently you work
It’s so easy to deceive ourselves. It happens when we go to the casino, buy a lottery ticket, or invest in speculative stocks. It’s so rare when a person doesn’t depend on luck for his financial success. Unless we focus on our circle of control, the odds are working against us. You can’t force your boss to give you a raise. You can’t control the stock market. The one thing you can always control is your own personal decisions.
By focusing on your circle of control, you empower yourself to master your finances. To understand the circle of control is to understand the difference between luck and power.
Things You Can Control:
• Your expenditures• How much you save
• Your monthly budget
• Your Education
• Where you invest
• How hard and intelligently you work
Not only is this plan 100% full proof but applicable to anyone, anywhere. By focusing on things within your circle of control, you empower yourself to succeed. I strongly encourage that you never focus on the circle of luck.
As you explore the next seven steps you will realize why the circle of control is so important. All will become clear - the difference between wisdom and ignorance, freedom and bondage, success and failure.
When financial independence is seen from the perspective of simplicity, the future begins to look much brighter. But don’t get too excited yet. Unless you follow the other steps you will only enjoy limited success. Don’t undervalue any of the steps because they are all equally important. Instead, act on each of the eight steps to ensure you will create the financial success you desire and deserve.
As you explore the next seven steps you will realize why the circle of control is so important. All will become clear - the difference between wisdom and ignorance, freedom and bondage, success and failure.
When financial independence is seen from the perspective of simplicity, the future begins to look much brighter. But don’t get too excited yet. Unless you follow the other steps you will only enjoy limited success. Don’t undervalue any of the steps because they are all equally important. Instead, act on each of the eight steps to ensure you will create the financial success you desire and deserve.
STEP 3: EXPAND YOUR COMFORT ZONE
I strongly urge you to pay attention to the amount of money you are going to spend today and tomorrow. I cannot emphasize enough how important this is. The desire to spend money can be stronger than lust. Unless you can overcome the desire to spend more than you earn, you cannot follow this plan successfully.
As I said before, the formula for success is: Spend less than you earn and invest the difference. How do you spend less than you earn? Make living within your means a must, not a should. The first principle to achieve this is to pay yourself first. If you control pain and pleasure, you could save enormous amounts of money. The more you save, the more you quickly you can become financially successful and independent.
“ He who loses money loses much; He who loses a friend, loses more; He who loses faith loses all.” — Author Unknown —
What prevents you from saving large amounts of money from your income? Your comfort zone. You have become accustomed to living a certain lifestyle. It’s your current lifestyle that causes you to be a slave to money. The way to transform your slavery into freedom is by stepping out of your comfort zone. But that is the problem. To succeed, you must learn to expand your comfort zone not only today but tomorrow as well.
“The quality of your growth is a direct reflection of how much discomfort you can comfortably live with” - Anthony Robbins -
Many mistakenly assume that how they feel today, will be the same feelings they will have tomorrow. But nothing could be further from the truth. Your comfort zone today is not going to be your comfort zone tomorrow. You see, you can get all excited about these steps today, go through the process of this plan and then experience the pain of discomfort several weeks from now and justify your way out of this plan.
If we want to be comfortable with this plan, then we must make it extremely painful for you to break this plan. Unless you make breaking this plan very unbearable, you will be compelled to reach for pleasure when times get tough. It is the presence or absence of comfort that determines the success of this plan.
As you get more comfortable with saving 20% of your income you can then expand your comfort zone and save 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, and finally 80%. You can master your finances comfortably if you take control of pain and pleasure in this area.
As I said before, the formula for success is: Spend less than you earn and invest the difference. How do you spend less than you earn? Make living within your means a must, not a should. The first principle to achieve this is to pay yourself first. If you control pain and pleasure, you could save enormous amounts of money. The more you save, the more you quickly you can become financially successful and independent.
“ He who loses money loses much; He who loses a friend, loses more; He who loses faith loses all.” — Author Unknown —
What prevents you from saving large amounts of money from your income? Your comfort zone. You have become accustomed to living a certain lifestyle. It’s your current lifestyle that causes you to be a slave to money. The way to transform your slavery into freedom is by stepping out of your comfort zone. But that is the problem. To succeed, you must learn to expand your comfort zone not only today but tomorrow as well.
“The quality of your growth is a direct reflection of how much discomfort you can comfortably live with” - Anthony Robbins -
Many mistakenly assume that how they feel today, will be the same feelings they will have tomorrow. But nothing could be further from the truth. Your comfort zone today is not going to be your comfort zone tomorrow. You see, you can get all excited about these steps today, go through the process of this plan and then experience the pain of discomfort several weeks from now and justify your way out of this plan.
If we want to be comfortable with this plan, then we must make it extremely painful for you to break this plan. Unless you make breaking this plan very unbearable, you will be compelled to reach for pleasure when times get tough. It is the presence or absence of comfort that determines the success of this plan.
As you get more comfortable with saving 20% of your income you can then expand your comfort zone and save 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, and finally 80%. You can master your finances comfortably if you take control of pain and pleasure in this area.
STEP 4: Invest Intelligently
If you want to make your money grow, if you want to see significant progress, then investing in a The manifestation miracle is the first and best investment you will ever make. To be successful financially, you can learn from your mistakes or other people’s costly mistakes.
If I gave you the option to choose one of the following: 1. double a penny for thirty days or $10,000, which would you choose?
When I ask this question to the average person, always choose the $10,000. And it’s difficult at first to understand the value of compound interest. But when we do the math it becomes evidently clear that this is the way to financial success. We will be free from slavery to money when we make money work for us.
If you chose the penny this is what would happen to you after seven days: you would have 128 cents. After fifteen days: you would have $327.68. After twenty days: you would have $10,485.76 (already surpassing the other offer). In thirty days: you would have a whopping $10,737,418.24. That’s ten million dollars. Which do you want now? The penny that will double for thirty days or the $10,000 dollars?
The easiest possible way known to compound your money quickly is in business. If I gave you the $10,000 dollars and asked you to go and make money with it, I’m sure you could come up with some ideas, couldn’t you? Within a year, could you bring back $20,000? Or, would you bring back $2,000 of the original investment? A lot of that depends on your business knowledge. However, with some coaching, I believe anyone could make 50-100% profit on their capital investment.
The Secret: Don’t invest in intangibles. (For example, when you go and get a loan from a bank for business, they limit where you will invest their money).
In fact, banks will rarely lend you money for marketing, offering consulting services, or any other intangibles. Instead, they lend you money for inventory, assets, and other tangible assets. This helps the bank secure their investment in you. If your business doesn’t work, they still have tangible assets with which to secure the loan.
They can use these to cover their loss. In the same way, this part of the plan requires you to think like a banker when you invest your savings. Invest in inventory assets, not intangible services. If you follow this advice you will make your money grow five to ten times quicker than the average investment available out there.
- Invest in houses or property.
- Start a part-time business leasing cars.
- Purchase a yacht and charter it.
- Write a book and self-publish it.
If you want to secure your investment, 90% of your capital must be invested in inventory. It’s important to understand this because it could mean the difference between success and failure. When we invest our money into tangible, high-demand, and easy-to-sell items, we will increase our chance of success. The problem is people don’t want to work on their investments. They want to let some experts take care of their money.
If we want to compound interest at 50-150% a year, then you need to put a little work into your investments. And it’s difficult at first to begin doing this because it’s not within your comfort zone. But if you want to compound your money yearly instead of each seven years, you need to do the work yourself.
It will not only grow your money ten times faster but also give you the peace of mind that comes from taking charge of your financial well-being.
It’s important to understand the difference between yearly compounding (meaning doubles each year) and seven-year compounding. If all you have is $10,000 that doubles yearly, in seven years you will have $1,280,000.
That’s over a million dollars. On the other hand with a $10,000 investment that doubles in seven years, you only have $20,000. You must understand that the number of years that it takes for your money to double is the key to everything. Only through some kind of a business vehicle will you be able to make investments that are significant, and not just trivial.
If I gave you the option to choose one of the following: 1. double a penny for thirty days or $10,000, which would you choose?
When I ask this question to the average person, always choose the $10,000. And it’s difficult at first to understand the value of compound interest. But when we do the math it becomes evidently clear that this is the way to financial success. We will be free from slavery to money when we make money work for us.
If you chose the penny this is what would happen to you after seven days: you would have 128 cents. After fifteen days: you would have $327.68. After twenty days: you would have $10,485.76 (already surpassing the other offer). In thirty days: you would have a whopping $10,737,418.24. That’s ten million dollars. Which do you want now? The penny that will double for thirty days or the $10,000 dollars?
The easiest possible way known to compound your money quickly is in business. If I gave you the $10,000 dollars and asked you to go and make money with it, I’m sure you could come up with some ideas, couldn’t you? Within a year, could you bring back $20,000? Or, would you bring back $2,000 of the original investment? A lot of that depends on your business knowledge. However, with some coaching, I believe anyone could make 50-100% profit on their capital investment.
The Secret: Don’t invest in intangibles. (For example, when you go and get a loan from a bank for business, they limit where you will invest their money).
In fact, banks will rarely lend you money for marketing, offering consulting services, or any other intangibles. Instead, they lend you money for inventory, assets, and other tangible assets. This helps the bank secure their investment in you. If your business doesn’t work, they still have tangible assets with which to secure the loan.
They can use these to cover their loss. In the same way, this part of the plan requires you to think like a banker when you invest your savings. Invest in inventory assets, not intangible services. If you follow this advice you will make your money grow five to ten times quicker than the average investment available out there.
Some Ideas:
- Buy used cars, fix them and sell them at a profit.- Invest in houses or property.
- Start a part-time business leasing cars.
- Purchase a yacht and charter it.
- Write a book and self-publish it.
If you want to secure your investment, 90% of your capital must be invested in inventory. It’s important to understand this because it could mean the difference between success and failure. When we invest our money into tangible, high-demand, and easy-to-sell items, we will increase our chance of success. The problem is people don’t want to work on their investments. They want to let some experts take care of their money.
If we want to compound interest at 50-150% a year, then you need to put a little work into your investments. And it’s difficult at first to begin doing this because it’s not within your comfort zone. But if you want to compound your money yearly instead of each seven years, you need to do the work yourself.
It will not only grow your money ten times faster but also give you the peace of mind that comes from taking charge of your financial well-being.
It’s important to understand the difference between yearly compounding (meaning doubles each year) and seven-year compounding. If all you have is $10,000 that doubles yearly, in seven years you will have $1,280,000.
That’s over a million dollars. On the other hand with a $10,000 investment that doubles in seven years, you only have $20,000. You must understand that the number of years that it takes for your money to double is the key to everything. Only through some kind of a business vehicle will you be able to make investments that are significant, and not just trivial.
STEP 5: Increase Income And Lower Expenses
The only way to spend less than you earn and invest the difference is to lower your expenses or increase your income. If we are not increasing our income, then we are staying within our comfort zone. Without being aware of it, we will allow our comfort zone to limit our financial progress. Indeed, the comfort zone is the power of motivation working against you. Without breaking out of your comfort zone you can neither increase your income nor lower your expenses.
In fact, increasing your income or lowering your expenses are both within your circle of control. That means your financial progress is not limited by luck. It’s so important to be focused on your zone of control because it determines your success.
In fact, increasing your income or lowering your expenses are both within your circle of control. That means your financial progress is not limited by luck. It’s so important to be focused on your zone of control because it determines your success.
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By using the power of motivation there is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to increase your income by 10-90% annually. And when you start asking for ways you can increase your income, you begin to get answers.
I cannot emphasize enough the importance of asking good questions. But you have to discover this for yourself. Which is easier? Increasing your income or lowering expenses?
For most people lowering their expenses is easier. The best decision you can make is to budget your expenses. Without it, you have no roadmap and no sense of where you are going financially. Secondly, and more importantly, is the need to track your expenses daily.
Make sure no funds are spent without recording it. This enables you to track how well you are following your financial plan. It also holds you accountable for your spending and will cause you to be aware of expenditures that might later prove to be trivial or unnecessary. By keeping close tabs on your expenditures and your budget you will ensure that you meet your savings goals.
The Envelope Method
One of the easiest and most recommended ways to control expenses is to use the envelope method. The envelope method simply requires you to pay yourself an amount of money for each area of your life. You pay yourself once a week. For example, you could limit $100/ week for food, $50/week for entertainment, etc.What you do is you put the money dedicated to each expense into an envelope.
When the money is gone, you consider yourself broke and manage with what you have. The problem is that you may want to reach for your savings account and give yourself more money.
To succeed with the envelope system, you need to do it weekly. Secondly, you need to commit to never spending more than the money you have put into the envelope.
But the moment you mismanage the money is when you will need to control yourself not to spend even more. If you “fall off the wagon” you will screw up the entire system. In fact, this has happened to me a few times, where I mismanaged the envelope system and had to eat crackers for a couple of days. But the pain I experienced from my mismanagement helped me to do a better job of it in the future.
How Can You Save Money?
1. Lower the entertainment bill.2. Sell your car.
3. Cancel cable.
4. Rent instead of paying a mortgage.
If you want to be in control of your money, then you need to list your expenses in order of priority. But this so easy to do that a lot of people overlook the importance of such activity. That’s when you need to do what the failures are not willing to do.
List your expenses in order. Why? When times of crisis come, and believe me they will come, you will be ready to let go of some of the least important expenses, without jeopardizing your financial plan.
Once you prioritize your expenses, you can eliminate the ones that are the least important. Doing this will lower your monthly expenses by 30-40% a month. Unless you are already living on a tight budget, you will find plenty of opportunities to lower your expenses.
The other method of increasing savings is by increasing your income. Obviously, once you have mastered the art of saving (paying yourself first) you will then need to increase the inflow of funds to make significant progress towards your financial goals.
How can you increase your income? To succeed in increasing your income, you need to stay focused within your circle of control. If you are unwilling to control your opportunity for higher income, you are limited to your present circumstances. But that isn’t a real problem if you spend less than you earn. It just means your financial progress will take more time.
Here Are Some Ways To Increase Your Income:
1. Increase your education.
2. Get a second job.
3. Work more intelligently.
4. Work longer hours.
2. Get a second job.
3. Work more intelligently.
4. Work longer hours.
STEP: 6 Monitor Your Progress
If you want to stay motivated, if you want to stay committed, then you need to monitor your progress. Why? Unless you can see progress, you will lose sight of the consistent reinforcement that is necessary to fuel your goal. Only if we truly want to be successful financially, will we be willing to follow through on this step.
This means unless you are willing to do whatever it takes to succeed, you will not follow the steps within this plan. But if you got this far in this article you are one of the few who is willing.
Step 6 entails setting up a graph where you can see your income, expense, and interest rate on your investments. When you create this graph, please make sure it is large enough to last you a few years.
Coaching is something I would recommend when you begin to do something you have not done before. Often when we begin doing something new, we give up after we discover it takes discipline. This is why a coach becomes handy. A coach helps you stay accountable for these steps.
Your daily goal is to spend less than you earn. If you earn $100 per day then you should be spending no more than $70 if you are saving 30%. As you continue hitting your daily goal, you’ll make significant progress. What will happen eventually is your investment interest will surpass your expenses. When you arrive at that point you are financially successful and independent.
This means unless you are willing to do whatever it takes to succeed, you will not follow the steps within this plan. But if you got this far in this article you are one of the few who is willing.
Step 6 entails setting up a graph where you can see your income, expense, and interest rate on your investments. When you create this graph, please make sure it is large enough to last you a few years.
Coaching is something I would recommend when you begin to do something you have not done before. Often when we begin doing something new, we give up after we discover it takes discipline. This is why a coach becomes handy. A coach helps you stay accountable for these steps.
Your daily goal is to spend less than you earn. If you earn $100 per day then you should be spending no more than $70 if you are saving 30%. As you continue hitting your daily goal, you’ll make significant progress. What will happen eventually is your investment interest will surpass your expenses. When you arrive at that point you are financially successful and independent.
STEP 7: Expect The Best But Plan For The Worst.
What happens if your business suffers a downturn, or if you are employed, what happens if you lose your job? A perfect plan must adapt to worst-case scenarios. This is the part of the plan where you might be tempted to ask 100’s of “What if?” questions.
What if there is an emergency that requires $1,500?
What if someone steals $2,000 from my assets?
What if one of my investments goes bad?
What if I get sick?
What if I lose motivation along the way?
What if the worst happens and my business ideas don’t work?
The majority of these problems can be solved by having an emergency fund (I recommend something in the order of three months of salary). This way, even if you get sick, lose your job, get robbed or lose on an investment, you are prepared to handle the challenges at hand. Having $6,000-$10,000 in emergency funds can give you real comfort.
In fact, this should be your first financial goal. But you are not going to do it unless you give up the idea that everything will go perfectly.
When you accept the fact that problems do occur, you are on your way to being prepared for the worst. The only question that we haven’t handled yet is “What happens if you lose your motivation?” This is the next step.
What if there is an emergency that requires $1,500?
What if someone steals $2,000 from my assets?
What if one of my investments goes bad?
What if I get sick?
What if I lose motivation along the way?
What if the worst happens and my business ideas don’t work?
The majority of these problems can be solved by having an emergency fund (I recommend something in the order of three months of salary). This way, even if you get sick, lose your job, get robbed or lose on an investment, you are prepared to handle the challenges at hand. Having $6,000-$10,000 in emergency funds can give you real comfort.
In fact, this should be your first financial goal. But you are not going to do it unless you give up the idea that everything will go perfectly.
When you accept the fact that problems do occur, you are on your way to being prepared for the worst. The only question that we haven’t handled yet is “What happens if you lose your motivation?” This is the next step.
STEP 8: CREATE AND MAINTAIN YOUR MOTIVATION
If you want to guarantee your success, if you want to ensure long-term commitment, then you need to understand how motivation prevents people from achieving financial independence.
In fact, as you are reading this article, there are literally thousands of people who have done all the previous six steps successfully. But they lack one singularly important skill: self-discipline. That means they will eventually give up doing what they know they should do to be successful financially.
The one way to ensure you don’t lose your motivation three months from now is to create it in advance. How? If you associate pleasure in following this plan, and pain to not following it, you will make consistent progress until you succeed. It’s that simple.
But it’s not something you can do one day and forget about.
Only when you condition the association of pain and pleasure to your daily life does the motivation last for the long term. If you haven’t conditioned the motivation within yourself then you will simply slip back into your old habits of money mismanagement.
Since you already associate pleasure to making money, how can you associate pain with not following through?
Think for a moment about what comfort, joy, and sense of gratefulness you will lose if you don’t do this. If you have children, will they model your plan? If you have a spouse will he/she always worry about money?
Where will you be five years from now? What will you say to yourself if you don’t change five years from now?
I used to think these questions were enough to create the necessary leverage to succeed. However today I realize it is not. The problem with the mental pictures you make, as I ask you these questions, is that they are temporary images that will disappear three months from now.
In fact, as you are reading this article, there are literally thousands of people who have done all the previous six steps successfully. But they lack one singularly important skill: self-discipline. That means they will eventually give up doing what they know they should do to be successful financially.
The one way to ensure you don’t lose your motivation three months from now is to create it in advance. How? If you associate pleasure in following this plan, and pain to not following it, you will make consistent progress until you succeed. It’s that simple.
But it’s not something you can do one day and forget about.
Only when you condition the association of pain and pleasure to your daily life does the motivation last for the long term. If you haven’t conditioned the motivation within yourself then you will simply slip back into your old habits of money mismanagement.
Since you already associate pleasure to making money, how can you associate pain with not following through?
Think for a moment about what comfort, joy, and sense of gratefulness you will lose if you don’t do this. If you have children, will they model your plan? If you have a spouse will he/she always worry about money?
Where will you be five years from now? What will you say to yourself if you don’t change five years from now?
I used to think these questions were enough to create the necessary leverage to succeed. However today I realize it is not. The problem with the mental pictures you make, as I ask you these questions, is that they are temporary images that will disappear three months from now.
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If you want motivation to last long-term, then you need to have consistent reminders of why you are doing this. Unless the benefits of financial success and independence are crystal clear each day, you will lose your motivation in a short period. But if you receive daily reminders about why you want financial independence, you will sustain the motivation that fuels this plan.
What are some of the compelling reasons why you want to be financially independent?
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What penalty are you willing to give yourself in order to help you follow through on this plan?
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Do This One Thing And You Will Succeed - I promise
If you want these compelling reasons to last long-term, then you must make them real. One of the ways to make sure you follow through on your plan is to have a friend who holds you accountable. It doesn’t necessarily take a coach to hold you accountable but someone who desires to make sure you follow through on your plan.
Why is this important? The power of justification will overpower your mind.
When someone else, other than yourself, measures your progress, you have the power of leverage at work. If you give yourself a financial penalty (and I highly recommend this) then make sure the other person is holding on to the money. If you want to stay accountable, you must show your friend or buddy proof that you’ve done what you said you would do. The progress must be visual.
If you can’t prove to your buddy that you held yourself accountable then the person will penalize you for not following through. For example, if you commit to saving 30% of your income, the person holding you accountable must see the bank account statement.
You must tell him the exact amount of money you are committed to saving and on which date. For this purpose, you should have a separate bank account.
What are some of the compelling reasons why you want to be financially independent?
.1
.2
.3
What penalty are you willing to give yourself in order to help you follow through on this plan?
.1
.2
.3
Do This One Thing And You Will Succeed - I promise
If you want these compelling reasons to last long-term, then you must make them real. One of the ways to make sure you follow through on your plan is to have a friend who holds you accountable. It doesn’t necessarily take a coach to hold you accountable but someone who desires to make sure you follow through on your plan.
Why is this important? The power of justification will overpower your mind.
When someone else, other than yourself, measures your progress, you have the power of leverage at work. If you give yourself a financial penalty (and I highly recommend this) then make sure the other person is holding on to the money. If you want to stay accountable, you must show your friend or buddy proof that you’ve done what you said you would do. The progress must be visual.
If you can’t prove to your buddy that you held yourself accountable then the person will penalize you for not following through. For example, if you commit to saving 30% of your income, the person holding you accountable must see the bank account statement.
You must tell him the exact amount of money you are committed to saving and on which date. For this purpose, you should have a separate bank account.
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Eventually, if you can’t prove to your buddy that you have been diligent it will become self-evident. Eventually, if you don’t save consistently, you will not have enough money to prove to him that you have done what you said
you would do.
In fact, after a year it is going to be next to impossible to show proof that you don’t have. Now the reasons I am asking you to do this should be obvious to you. However from experience, I have learned that many people simply don’t understand how strong the power of motivation can be when it is working against them.
From experience, I can tell you that you will not hold yourself accountable to your goals unless they are measured and monitored by another human being. You must recognize the truth about motivation. By nature, motivation is not your friend. In fact, it is your enemy waiting to make your life a living crisis. It is up to you to turn this enemy into an ally.
Time And Matter
If you want to take control of your motivation, then follow these steps:First, find someone who you trust and will hold you accountable.
Secondly, measure your progress according to time and matter. Time means you have scheduled dates for you and your friend to monitor your progress. Matter means you have something tangible to show your friend.
Third, give the financial penalty (money) to your friend who will hold on to it until you are done.
Fourth, ensure that your friend will penalize you no matter what you say to him. In fact, use the contract form, so you are both clear about the conditions of the agreement.
The Daily Motivator
If you want to be motivated daily, then you must make the pain of not following through real. For example, when you choose the financial penalty (money you will lose), you must give the money to someone. But one of the biggest mistakes is to give the money to someone you love.Instead what you want to do is give the money to someone who doesn’t deserve it. In fact, if it’s someone you really dislike, even better. Secondly, you must have a picture of that person posted on your wall, which will remind you daily about the pain of not following through. If you don’t have a picture of the person, find someone else.
Finally, along with the picture of the person you don’t like, post up the compelling reasons you wrote down. This will ensure that you associate both pain and pleasure, ensuring that you have the power of motivation working for you. And make sure you read these compelling reasons at least once a day.
What Happens If You Lose The Money?
If you don’t want to lose the money, then make sure you have a big enough amount. This means you must associate enough pain to losing the money. For example, losing $1,000 for me is unbearable. Especially to someone
I don’t necessarily like it. I know that this $1,000 would be enough to make sure I follow through on my goals daily.
What about you? How will you feel if you lose $500, $1,000, or $3,000? How does it make you feel when you think about losing that money? Is losing the money more uncomfortable than the effort necessary?
If it is then you have a winning strategy for motivation. In fact, if you follow this plan accordingly, you should never have to pay the financial penalty.
Now you have a perfect plan for perfect motivation. Nothing can stop you from making real progress toward your goals. You are on your way to financial success.
by Michael Boll
I don’t necessarily like it. I know that this $1,000 would be enough to make sure I follow through on my goals daily.
What about you? How will you feel if you lose $500, $1,000, or $3,000? How does it make you feel when you think about losing that money? Is losing the money more uncomfortable than the effort necessary?
If it is then you have a winning strategy for motivation. In fact, if you follow this plan accordingly, you should never have to pay the financial penalty.
Now you have a perfect plan for perfect motivation. Nothing can stop you from making real progress toward your goals. You are on your way to financial success.
by Michael Boll