By Goke Ilesanmi
To succeed in any endeavour, you need to have a clear sense of direction. People with a clear purpose naturally make progress on the roughest road, while those without direction achieve nothing even on the smoothest road. One aspect of success extremely cherished by almost everybody is financial success. Everybody likes to make money, even though knowing how to make money alone does not guarantee financial freedom. You also need to learn the fundamentals of managing it. Making or earning money is a lot easier than managing money itself. Some people swim in the ocean of financial success while others get drowned in the sea of financial insufficiency simply because of financial knowledge or lack of it. When you understand success principles and how to deploy them effectively, you will definitely achieve success, including financial independence.
Possibilities
If you make a commitment to yourself and you are willing to do what it takes to become financially wealthy, you certainly will. To achieve financial success, you need to always see possibilities. This is because you get financially rich through ideas, and if you do not believe in the possibility of your ideas, it will be difficult to achieve financial success. Dr. Michael LeBoeuf, a renowned business consultant and professional speaker says there is a potential millionaire and a wonderful life of personal freedom living within you, and the key to making it a reality is to see the possibility and make the right choices to create it.
Money-making laws
To achieve orderliness in the society, there are laws to guide people’s conduct. This approach also applies to financial success. Money laws are applied by financially successful people as well as financial institutions. Phil Laut, an author and financial expert educates that there are four simple laws that govern money. The first of these four laws is the earning law. The second is the spending law. The saving law constitutes the third, and it is about the accumulation of a surplus from your income. The last of these laws is the investing law. In his own submission, LeBoeuf also says four things you need to know about money are: how to make it; how to save it; how to invest it; and how to enjoy it. In his words, “Very, very few people manage to do all four, although almost anyone can. The answer lies in applying a simple principle that I call LeBoeuf’s Law….” This law is all about investing your time actively and your money passively.
Entrepreneurial/millionaire mentality
To achieve financial success, you need to have the mentality of an entrepreneur or a millionaire. Brian Tracy, a professional speaker, trainer and consultant says when you see yourself as being self-employed you develop an entrepreneurial mentality, the mentality of highly independent, self-responsible, self-starting individuals. There are some insights central to the issue of making money. One of such insights is called the Time and Wealth Grid. LeBoeuf educates that it is the scourge of modern-day living that plagues most of us: If you have money, you do not have the time. If you have lots of time, you are hunting for money. “And most of us could use a whole lot more of both. Welcome to the time/money trap,” LeBoeuf says.
We fall into the time/money trap by thinking with a paycheque mentality. Because most of us think with a paycheque mentality, we assume that having more of one requires sacrificing some of the other. LeBoeuf discloses that time and money are not one-dimensional trade-offs unless we assume they are and choose to live our lives that way. Paul Getty, an author and an American billionaire businessman says a man needs luck, knowledge and hard work to become a millionaire. But, above all, he needs what can be called ‘the millionaire mentality’: that vitally aware state of mind which harnesses all of an individual’s skills and intelligence to the tasks and goals of his business.
Paradox of financial success
Research shows that in many cases, more money, which indicates financial success, equals less freedom. The logic behind this conclusion is that the more money you have, the more options you have, and consequently the more time and energy you must spend making decisions and managing your resources. As regards time and wealth grid, five different types of people are identified. These are the Slave; the Grasshopper; the Employee; the Owner; and the Winner. The Slave has little or no wealth or discretionary time; while the Grasshopper has a lot of time and little or no wealth. The Employee represents those who work regular hours for a decent living wage that pays the rent and puts food on the table. The Employee trades time for money, and focuses on earning to spend. The Owner has much wealth but little discretionary time; while the Winner enjoys the best of all possible worlds.
Portfolio diversification
Another thing you can do to achieve financial success is to diversify your portfolio. Diversification involves spreading your money among different types of investments. Ron W. Blue, an American financial expert and adviser educates that by diversifying your portfolio, you reduce your overall risk. Blue adds that when his firm wants to help a client structure his or her investment portfolio, the firm follows a sequential strategy that includes diversification among different categories. He asserts that by moving from one category to the next, this approach gives an investor the ability to diversify within diversification, thereby strengthening the total portfolio. When it comes to investing money, most people pay brokers, financial planners, etc., huge sums to actively manage their money for them. The fees and commissions contribute to the investment professional’s wealth instead of the investor’s.
Last words
You need flexibility and positive thoughts to be financially successful. Flexibility gives us the power to do less of what does not matter and more of what matters. Thoughts are very critical to success. When you are positive-minded, you can achieve financial success.
GOKE ILESANMI, Editor-in-Chief/CEO of https://www.gokeilesanmi.com.ng and Managing Consultant/CEO of Gokmar Communication Consulting, is a Certified Public Speaker/Emcee, (Business) Communication Specialist, Motivational Speaker, Career Management Coach, Renowned Book Reviewer, Corporate Leadership Expert and Editorial Consultant.
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