Everyday, we wake up, and do the same things that we did the day before. We live in a world of habits. Did you know that you probably put your right shoe on before your left? Every. Single. day? In a world of habits, we go through life each day and do the same things, day after day, week after week. It’s easier than thinking about doing things that are outside of your norm.
People that are financially successful usually don’t just fall upon great jobs and have money given to them. Sometimes it’s easy to say that financially successful people have been spoon fed and that they have it easier than us. Let’s be honest with ourselves; is that a reality, or is that just what our perceptions are when others have something we envy? The financially successful people that I know have worked hard to get where they are today, and it wasn’t because it was given to them, or at anyone else’s expense.
Let’s focus on what we can do to better ourselves, and stop blaming the government, our job, or our financial situation, and take action at what we can do each day to be our best selves.
1) Make goals and write them down
This is so beneficial, and it holds you accountable each day. Where do you see yourself professionally and personally at the end of the year? What about in 5 years? It is important to truly ask yourself what your goals are. Whether you are making goals about money, personal goals, or both, if you have a goal you’d like to reach, you are much more likely to reach it if you write it down.
2) Surround yourself with positive and like-minded people
Have you heard the phrase, “you are what you eat?” This also rings true with, “you are who you hang out with.” It seems pretty obvious that if you surround yourself with positive people, then you will be a more positive person yourself. Sometimes, however, it’s hard to even notice if some of your friends are being negative. If you start to listen for it, I bet you will peg it. Do you ditch those friends? Maybe not, but do start making plans more often with those that bring you up. Once you notice the negativity, or the friends who always talk about other people, hearing that will just sound boring and tiresome. Would you rather share your goals with the friends that are always going to play devils advocate, or would you rather share your goals with friends that are going to boost you up, and follow-up on your achievements?
3) Live within your means, and pay yourself
Living within our own means can be a hard task. The more money we make, the more we feel like we can afford a bigger house, or a better car. It’s so easy in our world today to get caught up in free shipping on Amazon, and holiday bargains that taunt us with the shiny new items. Step back and remember that we should be budgeting our income and prioritizing what we buy. And by the way, have you actually paid your future self this paycheck?
It is important that you understand your own financial statement. How much money are you ACTUALLY paying yourself before you are spending your money on living expenses? When I say paying yourself, I mean paying your future self with money in your retirement account or toward investments. Once you break down what you are spending your money on each month, decide if you are buying “extras” with any extra income. It’s so easy to spend our entire paycheck just because we have it. Do you really need to have an extra large car payment, or a camper payment? Just because you can afford it, doesn’t mean you should buy it. Pay yourself! Put money in a Roth IRA, or save for investing in something. If you make $3000 a month, you should probably be investing 10-15% of that in your future self, aka your retirement account. That’s $300-$450 each month. Can you imagine how rich your future self will be with the accumulated compound interest?You can do it, just take it out of automatic payments, you probably won’t even notice!
4) Do your homework
I know. Who actually likes doing homework? But honestly, when else would we have time to work on real estate investing if we don’t do it outside of our salaried job? Everyone is busy. I get it. I have two kids, both are in sports, both parents are coaches. I GET IT! Have you ever calculated how much time you spend on social media at night? Don’t do it, it’s embarrassing. Do, however, spend less time on social media, and more time searching for potential real estate deals, or network with other real estate savvy friends. Join us at our monthly MeetUp group! Find a way to make it work, and if that means that you have a little bit of homework at night, or on the weekends, then so be it. Once you get your first real estate deal, it will start to become a habit. Besides, you even get to decide what your own homework will be.
5) Come up with solutions instead of complaining about the problem
It is so easy to blame someone or something else for our shortcomings. Again, let’s get honest with ourselves, and start coming up with solutions to our own problems. If you want to be financially successful, decide what you will do in order to get that way. If you want to get better at something, or smarter at something, figure out what people you need to talk to or what books you can read to better yourself. If you want to get in shape, what kinds of things do you know you need to do in order to achieve that goal? Sometimes it’s a hard realization to make, but you really are responsible for the way you live and connect in this world.
Creating opportunities for financial freedom 