Late Bloomers

6 Things You Must Master For Financial Freedom

What are the six fundamental measures you need to know regarding your finances?  Without these, you won’t know where you are at financially, let alone be able to make a difference in your financial results. Your personal cash flow is the difference between your income (inflows) and expenses (outflows) in a given period of time.   Your best bet is to calculate cash flow on a monthly basis.

Income

If you get paid monthly, use that pay, and if you get paid twice a month, add the two.  If you get paid every two weeks, multiply your net pay from one pay period by 2.17 to get the true monthly income, and if you are paid weekly, multiply one week’s pay by 4.33 to calculate your monthly job income.

 

Next, add other income that you receive in cash (or check) that is received on a regular basis, such as child support or tips.

 

For most people, it is sufficient to use your net income, which deducts retirement-plan contributions, income taxes, and Social Security taxes. Add up all cash inflows to calculate your total income.

 

Expenses

Now calculate your cash outflows. Add up all the bills you pay on a regular basis.  This includes mortgage or rent payments, utilities (electric, phone, cable, oil, gas, etc.), fuel and transportation costs, and food. Next is insurance, tuition, child care, recreation/entertainment.  If you make other loan or credit card payments, add those.  Add up all expenses to calculate the total.

 

The most challenging part of measuring expenses for most people is monitoring where you spend cash day-to-day.  Set up a system to write down cash expenditures as you make them.  Record the date, amount, reason for the expenditure, and to whom you made the payment.  Ideally, you’ll do this for the rest of your life, but start with one month.

 

Cash Flow

Finally, subtract your expenses from your income. The difference is your personal net cash flow.  As a result of calculating your personal cash flow, you will understand where your money is going.  Once you have the facts, you can make changes—you can identify opportunities to save, invest, cut costs, pay down debts and so forth.

Once you know where you are, you can set goals for improving.

 

Net Worth

The Net Worth statement or Balance Sheet, is a tool to accurately calculate your financial worth and gain a clearer understanding of your financial situation.  Your net worth is the difference between all the things of value that you own (your assets) minus all the debts you owe (your liabilities). 

 

Unlike the cash flow, which is tracked over a period of time, the Net Worth is calculated at one point in time, and reflects the value of your assets and liabilities as of that moment. 

 

Assets

Your assets include anything you own that has cash value. This includes property, real estate, savings or investments, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, retirement accounts, pensions, cash, certificates of deposit (CDs), bank accounts, trust funds, automobiles, etc.

 

Your assets also include property and possessions that can be used to secure a debt.

When calculating your net worth, use actual market values for the assets listed.  For example, your home should be listed at its value if you sold it today. 

 

Liabilities

Your liabilities, or amounts you owe others, include loans, including your mortgage (if you have one), student loans, bank loans, car loans, credit card balances, department store cards, gas cards, taxes owed, such as real estate taxes or income taxes, child support payments, and any miscellaneous amounts that you owe.

 

Net Worth

If you have more assets than liabilities, you have a positive net worth, which is a good thing. If you have more liabilities than assets, you have a negative net worth. This is not such a good thing, but it's information you need to know.

 

Determining your “net worth” is perhaps the clearest indicator of your financial condition at any given point.   It is a great tool to see if you are on the path to meeting your desired financial outcomes.  Your net worth is also important to know if you’re seeking a loan or trying to make a major financial decision. 

Once you know where you are at in each of these six measures, you have the ability to set goals and action plans to make realistic improvements in them.

You’re Insane Like Bill Murray

What do you keep doing over and over again expecting a change?  Remember “Groundhog Day”?  Bill Murray’s character, named Phil Connors, relived the same day over and over again until he learned his lesson and was able to move on in life. 

Are you moving on in life? Are you looking to make a difference for yourself, but you keep ending up right where you started? 

Don’t be surprised.  That’s what it is to be a human being.  The old aphorism states:  “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result.”  But psychologists tell us some 90% of what we do, say, think, speak in a day is automatic.  It doesn’t take any conscious effort.

So we’re all crazy – doing the same thing over and over. 

And yet, you want to make a difference for yourself.  What do you do?  Confront the automatic.  You have to notice how your automatic ways of thinking, being, doing, acting limit what’s possible for your life.  You have to put in place “tools” or practices that have you notice the way you are operating and how it keeps you stuck.

For instance, notice how you react when somebody cuts you off in traffic, or cuts in front of you in line.  How do you react when you work on a project, and the result doesn’t turn out the way you want?  What do you do when somebody tells you “no”?  Does the same family member always “get your goat” the same way every time?  (Important to notice at holiday times!)

When you become aware – conscious – you have power over your life.  You control your destiny, because you are no longer at the effect of your emotions and reactions.  Life is as magnificent and exciting as you determine, because it is in your hands.

How do you get that power?  You have to notice these reactions and consciously shift them.  Notice the thoughts you think, the feelings you feel, the emotions.  Then shift.  Consciously take on thinking new thoughts about the same situation.  If you usually get mad, decide you will not get angry.  If you get upset or sad, decide you will stay upbeat.  If you usually start to fight, walk away or divert the conversation.  Don’t do what you always do.

In fact, determine how you can view the circumstance(s) in an empowering light.  What can you say to yourself that you have freedom and power no matter what is happening?   That’s where you begin to make the difference for yourself.

Phil Connors (Bill Murray) eventually learned that there were specific actions he could take that got him the result he was looking for – the attention of Andie MacDowell’s “Rita.”  The actions were all about contributing to others and being of service.  He turned from a selfish sourpuss to a happy, generous man over the course of the days he was reliving.  Who will you become?

Decide - Commit - Succeed

One of the most important aspects to success is your commitment toward success, and more specifically, your decision to be successful.  How you operate - how you think as well as the actions you take - is what makes you successful.  
 
To make the difference for your own wealth and prosperity, you have to make a solid commitment to wealth and prosperity. It is a choice, and it is a choice totally independent of the circumstances in your life.  You can decide now, today, that you are taking on a whole new level of success, even with the "recession" glaring out at you.
 
"Decision" doesn't mean you kind of want to do something, or you're still thinking about it, or one day you would like to. It means you're cutting off every other option. You are burning the bridge. There is no other option. You are deciding now.

"First you have to decide to be successful. It all starts with the decision." - Richard Giannamore

"You can't give yourself an option. There is no option. It's either do or die. That is the kind of decision you have to make." – David Neagle

Most of us operate inside of "a hope, a wish, and a dream."  You think, "I would like to be wealthy, I want success," but you don't really believe you can attain it, and you don't make a conscious decision to achieve it.  This is where you lose out.
 
When you're operating inside of "hope, wish, and dream," it is easy to let your fears and beliefs stop you from taking the actions that would make the difference in achieving success.  It is easy to have the circumstances dictate your emotions, and have the emotions dictate your actions.  You will wait until you learn more. You try to figure out the right course to take. You get opinions from many people before proceeding.
 
Remarkably, once you decide to succeed - while action is required - all the pieces begin to show up as you step into that decision you make.  You begin to see opportunities you did not see before.  It doesn't matter what the boundary or obstacles appear to be, you will not be stopped by the circumstances.
 
But you cannot make the decision with a back door. There are no plans for what you will do "if this doesn't work out." You must be willing to commit 100% and operate in faith, trust and risk.  You must be willing to confront the discomfort and operate there.

"What we can or cannot do, what we consider possible or impossible, is rarely a function of true capability. It is more likely a function of our beliefs about who we are." – Anthony Robbins

"Your belief determines your action and your action determines your results." – Jim Rohn 

7 Steps to Realizing Your Vision

Think of the people who created extraordinary businesses from the ground up; people who have achieved extraordinary success – Bill Gates, Madonna, Oprah Winfrey to name a few – what did it take for them to realize their vision? 

 

They were willing to operate in the unknown – to be at risk, to operate in faith and trust.  And they never stopped pursuing that vision.

 

Some people have a very strong vision for themselves and their lives.  It comes naturally for them.  Others of us, not so much.  We have some vague ideas, maybe.  Some hopes and wishes, but a vision?  Mostly not.

 

So if your vision isn’t there for you, if it’s not clear, how do you create and realize your vision? 

Well, you’ve got to do some thinking.  It’s an exploration.  An exploration of you and what’s important to you.  It’s an exercise, and it takes a bit of work.  Once you invest the time, however, you’re on the path to an extraordinary life with freedom, power and prosperity.

 

In this article, we’ll look at the basic steps for generating and realizing a vision.  In later articles, we will explore each aspect more closely.

 

1.  “Big thinking precedes great achievement” ( - Wilferd Peterson)

How big can you imagine? When you’re creating your vision, ask yourself the questions that get you thinking of the bigger picture of your life.  It’s not just about what you want now, but what is your life for?  What is the legacy you will leave the world? These questions can be tough to answer, and they require an exploration of what is really important to you. Questions such as:

·              What do you want out of life?  

·              What do you think it will take for you to achieve that? 

·              If you were to achieve it, what difference would it make for you, your family, your community, and the world? 

 

"In the long run men hit only what they aim at." — Henry David Thoreau

 

2.  Divorce your beliefs

That marriage is over!  You’ve got to be willing to let go, say good-bye to the beliefs that have kept you from articulating and pursuing your vision.  Your beliefs that tell you,  “I don’t have time to think about the future,” or “I need to deal with today’s problems.”  Your beliefs limit you, and tell you it’s not possible to achieve your dreams or vision anyway.   Don’t let your beliefs stop you from fully exploring and acting upon your vision. Don’t deny the exploration because you don’t know how to get there. 

 

The thoughts you have today create your future.  Be willing to look at what that vision is, despite what you believe could happen.  Be willing to dream, to imagine.

 

3.  Get the picture

Picture your vision in your mind’s eye.  Imagine feeling successful and accomplished. 

Imagine the sights, the colors, the smells, the sounds, the tastes, the feeling.  Imagine what your life will be like if your vision were fulfilled.

 

Here are more questions to ask yourself as you are creating your vision:

·              What is success to you?

·              What does living an extraordinary life mean to you?

·              What kind of person would you have to be to achieve it? 

 

4.  Write it down

Your vision is so important that you want to sit down and take the time to write it out for yourself.  You’ve got to describe it, imagine it, think it.  Let your mind wander.  Be willing to think big – bigger than you think you are capable of. The vision is beyond what is reasonable and predictable. 

 

Write about your relationships, your home, your activities, and your community.  The more detail you write down, the more real it becomes, whether you believe the vision is possible or not.  

 

5.  Create your vision daily

Commit to creating your future now, ongoingly, in the moment.  There is only now.  You create the vision with your thoughts and feelings right now.  You cannot wait for the future.  Practice creating the vision in your mind every day.  Be the fulfillment of your vision in the present.  Bring it into the now.  You don’t realize your vision by waiting for it to happen.  You create it with your thoughts and words and actions – now.

 

"The only way to predict the future is to have the power to shape it."  — Eric Hofer

 

6.  Share your vision

Sharing your vision with others makes it more real for you.  You become it when you speak it. You won’t want to look like a fool, so you will be in action.  The more you tell people about what you envision, the more willing you are to take the actions to produce the results. 

 

7. Take actions – now

This is the most important piece.  You must take actions to fulfill on your vision.  You take action now.  You take actions with no guarantee of success.  You live at risk, with faith in your vision, and you take actions consistent with what you see for yourself.

 

Your vision will not become reality only through thinking.  You have to take actions to fulfill on the vision.  You have to take actions consistent with the life you see and create for yourself in the vision, and you have to be willing never to stop or give up.    

 

“If your vision is big enough, at some points along the way you will fail to achieve the results you desire. When you master discipline, you will not let failing stop you.  You will keep going even when the results you want are not the results you produce.  You will not quit.  Your vision will keep you in the game.  That is the key to extraordinary success.”  —  

Richard Giannamore

 

 

The best part is, you have the opportunity to create and live the vision for yourself at any time.  Why not now?  What are you going to create your life as?  Who do you say you are in the world?  When all is said and done, what is the difference your life will have made?  That’s the game to create. 

Feeling Stressed? Contribute to Others

There’s a lot to get stressed out about these days.  You may have lost 40% of your retirement investments.  You may have lost your job, or seen your income fall precipitously.  Hundreds of thousands of home owners are in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure.

 

Dire economic circumstances bring the opportunity to notice the way you have been operating.  You can operate in fear and suffering, or you can shift and operate from a place of freedom and power, regardless of the circumstances you face.

 

Doesn’t seem possible?  Think about it: at all times you have the freedom and power to choose you attitude.  You choose what you think.  Are you going to let disempowering thoughts and emotions rule, or are you going to have the power?

 

One of the basic tenants of having freedom and power in your finances (and in life) is this:  You are sharing, contributing and acknowledging others.

 

You get the power when you share, contribute and acknowledge others.  This means you are not withholding your energy or your generosity.  It makes sense: It’s all part of the circle that giving is receiving, and receiving is giving.  Giving of yourself is a most precious gift, and you get rewarded commensurate with the generosity of your giving.  This is an important point to remember when the circumstances in life would seem to indicate it’s time to tighten the belt, give less, watch out for your own.

 

In these difficult economic times, it is more important than ever to have generosity present.  Live as if there is abundance, even if you don’t see it now.  You have the desire and the ability to make a difference, whether it is with your money or with your actions.

 

This is important for two reasons:  First, if you are stingy with others, people are stingy with you.  They withhold helping you.  Nothing moves.  You’re stuck.

 

Secondly, when you are giving it away, helping others to get what they care about, with no attachment, you are creating a flow of abundance.  Generosity breeds generosity.  You become of service to others, and when you are of service to others, prosperity follows.

 

If you play there, you will begin to see opportunities, regardless of how circumstances look right now.  When you can see and act on opportunities to contribute and be of service, you impact the circumstances.

 

How can you provide service to someone today? Who can you contribute to or acknowledge? Make it a daily practice, now and forever.

 

 

 

3 Steps to Happiness

Highly simplified self-help: It really only takes three steps to create success in your life:

1. Focus on what you really want.  (Stop focusing on what you have and don't want.)  Create the vision or picture of what success means to you and keep all your attention on that.

2. Get in action around what you say you want. Even if it seems impossible, take actions to fulfill on your vision.

3. Don't stop.  Never waver or vary from your outcome. Keep your energy focused, operate with integrity, and take the actions you need to take.   Keep going and going.

Shoes – And a Vision for Your Life

The other night in our Kick Start course, one of the participants, Jackie, shared that she had just purchased her shoes for when she goes on The View next year. You know what? I believed her!

Jackie joined our group about six weeks ago. She is career military and a single mother. She is a first-time entrepreneur for having recently completed the children’s book “Simon Says Share” – the first of a series that she envisions for teaching manners.

Jackie brought in her book, which is for pre-school children and includes several coloring pages. The story is simple and straightforward and her message for young children is clear – sharing shows you care and makes you feel good, too.

Even more special than the book, though, is Jackie. She’s warm, delightful and authentic: what you see is what you get. No airs about her. Just Jackie.

So what’s with the shoes?

From the moment she joined our group, Jackie came in with a vision for how she was going to produce, market, and publicize the books. She has family and friends that she has recruited to help with the production and sales. She announced right away that, “I’m going to be on The View.”

But you know how certain people, when they say something is going to happen – you believe that it is? Those are the people who see a vision, speak their vision, and take actions inside a vision. The ones who do what they say they are going to do, and turn out “lucky.”

That’s how Jackie is operating around her book. She immediately started using the tools that Kick Start provides. She wrote out the intended outcomes (goals) she is looking to produce, wrote out the actions to take each day, and made sure she did what she said she would do during the week between the classes. She wrote out intended outcomes for the week, month, quarter and into next year. She even chose the date in June next year by when she plans to be on The View!

In the class sessions, when participants or the facilitator (me!) suggest her the goals aren’t big enough, she immediately “takes the coaching” and increases her goals. She is willing to confront what she knows how to make happen, and operate in faith, trust and risk that the actions will be revealed to her as she goes along when she takes the actions she sees now.

So that’s how Jackie came to buy the shoes. I haven’t seen them, but she says they’re perfect for when she will be on The View. Next, she says, is to buy the skirt and the blouse...

Obama missing the mark on our education system

Senator Barack Obama missed the mark in his recent speech (commented on by Chicago Sun-Times columnist Lynn Sweet in her blog on September 9^th), when he said that the way to educate our workforce effectively is to upgrade and revamp our schools.  I agree that some revamping may be in order but that will not make the difference that our students need right now.

The senator mentioned that an educated workforce is essential for America to compete and win and that two-thirds of all new jobs require a higher education or advanced training.  As the need for skilled workers rises, our pool of qualified people entering the workforce is dwindling due in part to the high dropout rate in many urban cities.

What will make the difference to engage students to stay in school and get the education they need are programs that teach the practical skills needed in the workplace, and that make the connection from their classroom work to their future career.

Obama also said, and here is also where I disagree, that knowledge is the most valuable skill you can sell.  Knowledge is wonderful. I love to learn and have information about many subjects: such as science, history, animals, and global warming, to name a few.  But knowledge by itself, without the practical skills to implement or adapt the knowledge that we have, is more than a waste of time.  We are kidding ourselves that with the knowledge we automatically will make the leap from knowledge to implementation without action.  What is more valuable than knowledge is the skills our workforce needs to be creative, adaptable and flexible with the knowledge that they acquire.

The best place for our high school students to learn these skills needed to be successful in the workplace is from an afterschool program called The Entrepreneurial Course for High School Students, taught by a nonprofit  organization called EntrepreneursNOW, Inc.  (www.entrepreneursnow.org)  In nine weeks, starting from nothing, and with the weekly guidance of a facilitator, the students open businesses and sell products at a Business Fair.  The students are not told what business, or how to legally earn the money to start the business, and they work in teams that they did not choose.  They practice skills designed to enhance their focus and their problem-solving abilities.  When they are through the nine weeks they are not the same children.  They are truly ready to meet the world with power and a knowing that they can succeed.

By Pamela Gail Bogart-Macfarlane

Entrepreneurship: A Valuable Experience for Life

No matter how you earn a living, an entrepreneurial approach to your work can be both personally and financially rewarding.  Having an experience of entrepreneurship, whether for extra spending money or for your bread and butter, teaches you ways to approach goals and obstacles that bring out the skills needed for success in any venture.

 

When you launch an enterprise, be it baby-sitting, a lemonade stand, a convenience store, or a high-tech service company, you enter an exciting arena that tests your adaptability, creativity, resilience, and vision for what you want to accomplish.  You practice skills that serve you well throughout your life, at work, at home and in your community:  critical thinking, problem-solving, innovation, creativity, enrolling communication, and teamwork.

 

Regardless of the business you start, as an entrepreneur you quickly realize that you are responsible for everything, even things you delegate to others.  You have a stake in the success of the enterprise, and where you engage other people, that means you have a stake in their success as well.  Take this approach with your workgroup, committee, or sports teammates, and you’ll be amazed at the ideas that start to flow, the work that gets accomplished, and the “can do” attitude that spreads throughout the team.  And when people work together this way, innovation and creativity flourish, and they can solve problems they didn’t know how to solve.   

 

 

Ordinary people, extraordinary results

The $-Road to Riches-$ is about ordinary people willing to master the practices to produce wealth and prosperity, and to achieve extraordinary results in all areas of life.

You do not have to, nor can you, change who you are. You change how you operate and freedom such that circumstances will have no impact on your path to realizing your dreams.

See the newly-posted video of ordinary teens producing extraordinary results in The Entrepreneurial Course for High School Students in Hartford.