The Formula for Financial Freedom
Achieving financial freedom is a goal for many people. It generally means having enough savings, investments, and cash on hand to afford the lifestyle you want for yourself and your family—and a growing nest egg that will allow you to retire or pursue the career you want without being driven by earning a certain amount each year.
Unfortunately, too many people fail to achieve it. They are burdened with increasing debt, financial emergencies, profligate spending, and other issues that thwart them from reaching their goals.
Then there are unexpected events, such as a hurricane or earthquake—or pandemic—that overturn plans and reveal holes in their safety nets that weren’t visible before.
Here’s a ten-point strategy for accumulating wealth, becoming happier, and achieving financial independence in the years ahead.
What is Financial Freedom?
Taking control of your finances is the first step toward financial freedom. You have a steady stream of income that allows you to live the life you desire. You’re not concerned about how you’ll pay your bills or deal with unexpected expenses. You’re also not saddled with a mountain of debt.
It’s about realizing that you need more money to pay off debt and possibly increasing your income with a side hustle — more on that later. It’s also about making long-term financial plans, such as setting aside money for a rainy day or retirement.
We all want to make more money, and that is one objective we all share. However, only a small number of us, however, achieve the financial independence we desire.
We all want to be wealthy enough to never have to worry about money again. “Are you ready to do it or not?” is the sole question.
The good news is that today, more people than ever before are achieving financial independence. You may join them by doing appropriate financial planning and setting a goal to improve your personal finances.
1. Begin To Think Positively About Money
Thinking positively about money is an important part of being wealthy. Negative money thoughts are an emotional roadblock that must be overcome in order to reach financial independence.
You must get rid of the notions that more money equals evil or that money can’t purchase happiness. When you start thinking positively about money, you’ll attract more possibilities and open more doors than you ever imagined.
2. Rewrite Your Major Goals For Financial Freedom
Make financial objectives for yourself. Every day, rewrite and reread your goals on paper and consider how you might achieve them. It will take you between five and ten minutes to complete this task.
Writing and rewriting your goals, as well as thinking about them each morning before you start your day, will boost your chances of success.
3. Plan Every Day In Advance
Every day should be planned ahead of time. The nite before is the best time to do this. The act of planning each day, week, and month ahead of time will make you significantly more focused and exact in all you do.
When you work from a list, you’ll discover that you have more focus and a higher sense of self-control and personal strength.
You will be able to better control and track your spending habits if you plan each day ahead of time. Plan out how much money you’ll need for the week, the month, and the year, and where you’ll be able to save.
4. The Principle Of Concentration
Concentrate solely on the most valuable use of your time at all times of the day. To attain financial independence, the concentration concept is extremely necessary.
Almost everything you do in terms of goal setting and financial planning is designed to help you figure out which one or two things you should focus on above all else.
Perhaps more than any other skill or habit, your ability to build the habit of concentration will secure your personal financial success.
Your top priorities and time commitments should be in direct harmony with your financial objectives. Spend your time doing things that will make you happy.
5. Invest In Yourself
In the car, listen to audio programs. In a given year, the average person spends 500 to 1,000 hours behind the wheel.
You can become one of the most learned and skilled persons in your field by converting your car into a mobile university.
Take money management classes, read personal finance books, and search the internet for money-related information.
People will come to you for financial guidance very soon since you will have amassed so much expertise in this field.
5. Pay Yourself First
You’ve probably heard the expression “pay yourself first” before. But in case you haven’t, “pay yourself first” means putting a specific amount of money in your savings account before paying anything else, such as bills. And the act of paying yourself first has helped countless people inch closer to achieving financial freedom.
Why?
Because if you want to pay yourself $1,000 per pay period first, then whatever’s leftover needs to go toward bills. And if you don’t have enough to cover those bills, then you’re forced to pick up a side job to make up the difference.
By paying yourself first, you guarantee that you’re always putting money aside to invest in yourself. By doing the opposite, you only get whatever is left over, which usually isn’t substantial enough to help you experience financial freedom.
You can pay yourself first in other ways too. For example, if your company has a retirement savings program, you can ask to have money withdrawn for your retirement.
That way you’re investing in yourself and your future first. The money gets deducted from your pay so everything that’s leftover is money that you can put aside for your bills and expenses.
6. Spend Less
Warren Buffett bought a five-bedroom mansion for $31,500 in 1958 and hasn’t moved out since. What is his net worth? $90.3 billion is a staggering sum. He now has the financial means to purchase a larger and more expensive property. His frugality, on the other hand, maybe the reason he is one of the world’s wealthiest people.
Kanye West, on the other hand, isn’t shy about showing off his wealth. He owns a house worth $20 million. With $53 million in debt, he decided to beg Mark Zuckerberg for $1 billion on Twitter at one point.
What distinguishes these two incredibly successful gentlemen? West spends money he doesn’t have, while Buffet spends money he doesn’t have.
The truth is that many wealthy people don’t appear to be wealthy. Every day, Zuckerberg dresses in the same uninteresting t-shirt and pants.
Purchasing fewer items can really assist you in becoming wealthier. When you spend less, two things happen to your advantage. For starters, you’ll have more money to save for your financial independence. Two, you’ll discover that you need a lot fewer items to get by, which will allow you to save more money.
This leads us to our next point…
7. Ask Yourself These Magic Questions
After every important meeting or event in your life, ask yourself the two “Magic Questions.” “What did I do right?” is the first query. “What would I do differently next time?” is the second inquiry.
You will improve faster than you can imagine if you assess your performance promptly after each meeting, sales call, and presentation.
Both of these questions have affirmative replies. You train a propensity to be even better the next time around by examining what you did properly and what you would do differently next time.
You may double or triple the speed at which you learn, grow, and improve in your career if you take a few minutes after a call or presentation to write down everything you did well and everything you would do differently.
Improving yourself and your work quality will, in turn, increase the amount of money you earn.
8. Be Generous To Others
Finally, approach everyone you encounter as tho they are a million-dollar customer. At home and at work, treat everyone as if they were the most important person on the planet.
Because everyone believes he or she is the most important person on the planet, when you treat them as if they are, they will appreciate your acknowledgment and respect more than you can imagine.
It is scientifically established that being more giving can help you attract more wealth and make you happy.
We’ve often heard it said,
“Money doesn’t buy happiness”.
9. Proper Maintenance
Taking good care of property makes everything from cars and lawnmowers to shoes and clothes last longer. As the cost of maintenance is a fraction of the cost of replacement, it’s an investment not to be missed.
10. Live Below Your Means
Mastering a frugal lifestyle by having a mindset of living life to the fullest with less is not so hard. Indeed, many wealthy individuals developed a habit of living below their means before rising to affluence.
This isn’t a challenge to adopt a minimalist lifestyle or a call to action to head to the dumpster with things you’ve hoarded over the years. Making small adjustments by distinguishing between the things you need and the things you want is a financially helpful habit to put into practice.
11. Get a Financial Advisor
Once you’ve gotten to a point where you’ve amassed a decent amount of wealth—be it liquid investments or tangible assets that aren’t as readily available to convert to cash—get a financial advisor to educate you and help make decisions.
12. Take Care of Your Health
The principle of proper maintenance also applies to the body. Invest in good health with regular visits to doctors and dentists, and follow health advice about any problems you encounter.
Many problems can be helped—or even prevented—with lifestyle changes such as more exercise and a healthier diet. Some companies have limited sick days, making it a notable loss of income once those days are used up.
Obesity and ailments make insurance premiums skyrocket, and poor health may force earlier retirement with lower monthly income.
But the truth is that
- Money is necessary for happiness.
- Material prosperity predicts life contentment, and the higher our economic standing, the more content we will be with our lives.
- Not only does our sense of well-being and life satisfaction increase when our money improves, but so do our happiness metrics.
As a result, by focusing on money goals that inspire you while simultaneously cultivating a positive attitude toward money, yourself, and life in general, you may assist to improve both wealth and happiness.
And after you’ve arrived, evidence suggests that being generous with our money makes us happy—and wealthier!
Conclusion
Financial independence can assist you in gaining control over your finances and, more significantly, your life. It’s all about living within your means, being a little frugal, and ensuring that money is spent on necessities like food, shelter, and yes, even vacations (relaxation is important too, you know).
You’ll get closer to achieving the financial independence you deserve if you follow the financial freedom ideas in this article. So take a look at your money, create other sources of income, pay off that debt, and you’ll be debt-free in no time.