THESE TWO KEY ACTIONS WILL IMPROVE YOUR ABILITY TO BUILD WEALTH
Anywhere from 60,000 to 85,000 thoughts run through our heads each day. No wonder we’re exhausted by the time we sit down for dinner.
Some of our thoughts—maybe tens of thousands of them?!—feel unrelenting, telling us we’re not enough or we don’t have enough. They can get us off on the wrong foot.
But there is a better way forward.
While it’s impossible to control intrusive thoughts, we can do things to minimize their effect on our conscious goals to improve our lives, including building our wealth.
Start by deliberately shifting your thoughts about how you view money, make money and manage it with these two key actions.
CLEAR YOUR SPACES, PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY
Choose ‘Good’ People to Associate With
I’d be playing with friends or later, in high school, venturing into the world with friends, and my aunt would tell me two things before I hit the door: 1) remember who you are and 2) choose your friends wisely.
What she meant was this: Be a good example for others while at the same time seeking out those who possess qualities to look up to, like persistence, determination, gratefulness and honesty. She was encouraging me to find friends and mentors who would inspire me to achieve goals, not bring my ambitions down.
Do the same for yourself. Invest in relationships that inspire you to become the person you’ve always wanted to be. You’re worth it.
Associating with positive and successful people also:
provides a valuable networking outlet for future collaborations
keeps you inspired and focused on your financial goals
Believe You Are Worthy
Without self-belief, we’ll never be enough. We keep chasing the next degree, experience, promotion, thinking that’ll be the answer to all our problems.
By not believing in yourself, particularly in your ability to build wealth, you sabotage all the potential greatness percolating underneath.
These self-doubts can seep in:
Thinking you can’t build wealth because you don’t have enough money. Many wealthy people started with very little. To overcome this damaging belief of not having enough, seek out the help of others who know how to successfully maximize the assets you have to build greater wealth.
Thinking you can’t make smart financial decisions. Grab hold of the negative story you tell yourself (“We’re trapped in this cycle of not managing our money well!”) and commit to finding a better way forward. To get better at managing your finances, stop telling yourself you’re bad with money.
TAKE CONTROL AND REMAIN STEADY
Start by literally tidying up the spaces where you handle your finances, including your desk or other designated area for finances. Clean out old paperwork, forms and digital records to weed out unnecessary financial clutter. Cleaning and organizing documents, both hard copies and digital, creates a sense of control and order.
BY THE WAY: The IRS says this is how long you should keep your records.
Treat your money with respect. Organized, up-to-date financial paperwork, along with a clear and designated area to attend to your finances and financial planning, shows you take your money seriously.
Face the role emotions play in managing money. Are your emotions and money scripts running the money-management show? Talk things over with an expert source to offer an outside perspective and provide guidance to course correct.
Money scripts, or the lessons we learned about money in childhood from family and important life events, condition us to react in a certain way to money management as we work to build wealth in adulthood.
Find out if you follow one of these four different money scripts: money avoidance, money worship, money status and money vigilance.
TIP: As you grow your wealth, work with a financial advisor who can steer you in a clear direction based on facts rather than detrimental, emotionally driven decisions.
Avoid the urge to spend, spend, spend. Constantly buying discretionary items holds you back from feeling like you’re in control of your finances, not the other way around.
No doubt, social media and peer pressure play into our desire for the shiniest new things. And it’s true, they do make us happier but only for a short time. It’s instant gratification, sideswiping your commitment to building wealth by telling you this car is THE THING that’ll make you feel like a million bucks, until the bills are due.
“Every dollar you spend is another dollar lost from your freedom goals. That doesn’t mean you become a money hoarder. But whenever you spend, always try to ask yourself: ‘Is this thing worth the freedom I’m losing?’” –author, Darius Fox
Stick to it. There’s no easy way to say this: You must develop discipline and commitment to achieve your wealth-building goals. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. But you can get there, in part, by making small mental and emotional shifts.
Avoid impulse spending. From “We’ve got to have this (over-budget) house!” to “It’s only $10, I’ll treat myself to another coffee and muffin,” impulse spending is a slow drip of lost money—and opportunity to put that money toward building wealth.
Use credit wisely. Pay off existing debt aggressively and prioritize debt repayment to minimize interest charges.
THIS WORKS TO CURB IMPULSE SPENDING (I’ve done it myself) …
Wait at least 24 hours before you buy it. Two-thirds of impulse shopping happens in our beds on our smartphones. Probably at night, when we’re tired and need a hit of happiness to send us off to sleep. Give yourself at least a day and, in the case of the 10 p.m. Amazon purchase, ask yourself if you’ll actually use this thing and pay cash for it now.
LAST THOUGHT
Remember, be grateful for the things you DO have in life.
It might not be what you imagined or where you thought you’d be by now. But your finances are only one part of you. Celebrate all of you! Are you surrounded by family you love? Do you have a circle of friends who lift you up, encourage you and bring you joy? Do you have a meaningful job, interesting hobbies?
Then you already have so much—and so much to build from to make it even better.
It gets even better. The energy you put out is the energy you attract. Gratitude increases positivity.
Indeed, there is a better way forward as you work to build your wealth. We’re here to help. Let’s get started today.
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results. All indices are unmanaged and may not be invested into directly.
There is no guarantee that a diversified portfolio will enhance overall returns or outperform a non-diversified portfolio. Diversification does not protect against market risk.
The economic forecasts set forth in this material may not develop as predicted and there can be no guarantee that strategies promoted will be successful.
