WealthWeek

PART II - VISION

In the last installment, I spoke about mindset and how it can undermine your progress if you let it.

All limiting thoughts aside – let’s be honest: how much money do you really want to make?

Will $100 Million do the trick? Or, is that amount too far-fetched to even register as a possibility at this point in time? Or, maybe it’s still not enough, in which case perhaps $1 Billion is more like it for you?

How much do you really want?

Many wealthy people who started form scratch will tell you that when they first set out to build their fortunes, the amounts that they originally envisioned they wanted to make paled in comparison to what they ended up with. Usually, they made much more – a lot more!

As you begin your journey, you should strive for a goal that will register on your radar as realistic, yet something that is still very ambitious for you. Later on, as you begin to reach your goals, you will start making new ones, and thus ascend to higher levels. I suppose, that’s how millionaires become billionaires.

A good way to determine how much you truly want is to work backwards, as if you have all the money that you want available to you know. Lets suppose for a moment that all this money of yours sitting in the bank. Further, we will assume that it is earning 10% interest per year for illustration purposes. I’m aware that you cannot get such a return from banks at today’s rates (at the time of this writing), but you can certainly get a 10% ROI through other methods. The question we want to know is how much passive income would you need in your life today in order to consider yourself financially free?

I define financial freedom can as having reached the day when you can stop working (if you choose to), and yet afford to live the lifestyle you desire and/or are accustomed to. Suppose you decide $200,000 a year (or, $16,675/mo) is what you would like to have. Then, you must have $2 Million invested (at 10% interest per year), according to our illustration above.

Does acquiring a net worth of $2 Million (not including your principle residence) seem like a realistic option to you at this juncture in your life? If so, then you can move to the next step. If not, keep going through this exercise until you find something that works and is comforting enough, yet pushes you enough to still create a few butterflies. You can experiment with interest rates as well (maybe you don’t think you can get 10% per year, or maybe you think you can get more)! Whatever the case, simply work the numbers… Once you know how much you need, you can start making realistic plans.

In continuing with our example, lets say that $2 Million is sufficient enough for you. Now, you have to decide how soon you want to generate that money. Can you make it three years, if you had a good money-making vehicle (such as a business or real estate investments)? Possibly… Depends on who you ask!

Lets say you decide that you foresee yourself being able to realistically accumulate the money in 5 years. Accordingly, then your money-making vehicle must net $400,000/year. This works out to $33,000/month. There are plenty of businesses or investment opportunities (or, a combination of both) that you could participate in to achieve this goal. The question is: do you believe it? Notice how I’m always nabbing away at the issue of mindset? I do this because mindset is always at play, in the background, either conspiring against your efforts or pushing you along like a faithful partner.

When I first started out, I used to think in the $1000’s (that is, making $5,000/month was good back then). Then, I changed my set point and ascended to the neighbourhood of the $10,000’s and then finally, into the $100,000’s, etc. I wouldn’t have been comfortable with the millions at first, but that is not the case now.

Some people won’t even look at an opportunity unless it makes them several million dollars per year. Others will be looking for hundreds of thousands, based on their own set points. And even still, a great many will look to make money in the thousands and be happy with that. Notice how the choice is really yours… That is, you can choose to make millions if you really want to and are up for the challenge.

If it becomes your goal to net $33,000/month so that you can reach $2 million in five years, you can very well do it. But, you have to believe this first.

Doesn’t this seem for too easy?

If you’re mind is itching to challenge the simplicity of what’s been presented here, PAY ATTENTION to your thoughts. Observe them. Once you’ve singled them out (their patterns, how they make you feel, their content, etc), learn to ignore them! They haven’t served you well thus far so why even honour them for another second longer?

Creating wealth can be this simple and it starts first with adjusting your mindset, then visualizing what you want and finally, taking action.

The next step is to make a plan, which I’ll cover in Part III. The planning part involves taking action, which you must do if you want to succeed! Once you’ve performed all these three steps, you simply have to have the discipline and determine (along with the proper mindset) to execute your plan and stick with it!

Start visualizing your financial picture now, without delay!

Until the next installment in this series…

To Your Success,

Eff Jay