A house, a car, long haul flights and an all-inclusive or five star hotel stay can be some of the biggest purchases you’ll make in life.
Note how you feel when you consider the 5, 6 or 7 figure sum for the first time. How does that change once you’ve decided to take the leap and pay the bill? And once it’s been paid? It’s an interesting mental transition.
You can get rich quick but it’s unlikely to be easy. First define what quick means. In an 80 year life, I’d say quick would be 5 years, though you could stretch it to 10.
You also have to define what rich is. So let’s say USD2.0 million. That’s a reasonable sum. If you put that in a dividend stock like IBM and received 5% per year plus some capital gain, you’d have USD100,000 per year income and a growing capital base. This would be more than 3x the average salary of a US worker and they’d never have to lift a finger for it for the rest of their life. For the average person, that would be life-changing and feel rather rich.
Can it be done? Of course it can. You can achieve anything. It is rare but happens 1,000’s of times per year.
Example can be found in tech startups, sports, entertainment, music, finance, sales and small companies. In 5 years, a person can go from 17 and obscure to 22 and minted. It won’t have been easy but it was very quick. Now go make it happen!
Have you ever had these thoughts? Should I party now and hope things get better or should I spend a little time preparing for my future life? The tough part is deciding what the optimal balance is for this constant, once-in-a-lifetime consideration. Should I spend and enjoy today or save now and spend later? The ratio adjusts at every moment, consciously or not. Now is the time to make better, conscious decisions.
I happened upon a video today that reminded me of this point made by Thomas Sowell, and possibly others too. Everything in life seems to be about tradeoffs. Certainly everything to do with money. We like to think there are absolute solutions but really they are just more, or less, palatable tradeoffs.
It’s how you find new opportunities, business partners, ideas, solutions and adventure. Get out there. Mix it up a little.
This is very important to remind yourself of daily. It will also help you live up to a higher standard. By using the powerful “I am” statements, such as “I am worth it and I am deserving of wealth and abundance”, your confidence and coincidences will grow. Try it daily for 30 consecutive days.
Have a real good look at them. Are you spending well? Do you get great joy from what you purchase? Is there anything you are buying that is unnecessary?
When you buy something, you are donating your money to a company, its employees and its owners. Although you get something in return, that presumably you must have, your money gets transferred to the stakeholders. Make sure you are happy with that donation.
Get things done early. When you are ahead of the game, you will be able to excel more quickly.
Where do I want to be in ten years? Write down 3 versions of your future. Maybe you’ll be retired. Perhaps you are working in your dream area. The other option could involve moving home or country.
What would my ideal life look like? University? Married? Kids? High income job? High status job? Great investments? Retire your parents? Where do I live? What do I do? How many holidays each year? For how long? Where? Doing what?
Am I willing to sacrifice pleasure today for a better tomorrow? Most people aren’t.
Do I need to work on my discipline? Are there some messes I need to tidy up (physical, environmental, mental, emotional, spiritual)? Get one sorted at a time. Start today.
Tough questions will move you forward faster than anything in life. Can you handle the truth?
