6 REASONS WHY YOU WILL NEVER BECOME FINANCIALLY FREE

Many people want to be financially independent to do whatever they want, whenever they want with whomever they want but only a few of them become so.

So if you are one of them, let me give you 6 reasons why you are still not financially independent.

#1 You think it’s impossible

I spoke with many people about financial independence and each one of them completely agrees on the fact that financial independence is great.

Not worrying about money, travelling wherever we want, buying whatever we want without feeling guilty…is something many people want but only a few of them will ever achieve simply because they will tell themselves:

“Stop dreaming! That’s not going to happen, that’s too good to be true…”

Which boils down to:

“That’s impossible”

That belief is what prevents most people from ever reaching financial independence because if they believe something is impossible they won’t take any action. They won’t read any book about finance, they won’t attend seminars, they won’t interview people who are already financially independent, which is necessary to become financially independent.

#2 You don’t have any plan

If you say that one day you’ll be financially independent make sure you have a plan. Having a strong desire to get something is not enough, you need to implement strategies otherwise that’s just dreaming.

So can you tell me what is your plan for the next 5 years? What will you implement exactly in the future to reach your financial independence?

If you can’t answer both questions, finish reading this article and start writing down your plan. I don’t want you to procrastinate! If you tell me that you’ll make it tomorrow you won’t do it. So start making a plan and stick to it!

#3 You spend all your pay immediately

Don’t be like 80% of people; pay yourself first! That’s the rule n°1. No matter what you’ve read so far about wealth creation or financial independence saving money must be your priority.

So what do I mean by paying yourself first? “Paying yourself first means that every time you get any income you want to immediately put 10% of your money aside (on another account for example). Before paying any rent, any taxes, any loan, food, clothes…”

#4 You take advice

This point is also really important. A lot of people who want to become financially independent take advice from other people around them. That’s a big mistake so if you do it, stop it now.

When you take advice from your friends, family, colleagues…you won’t get any benefits, unless they achieved what you want. The only thing they will give you is thousands of reasons not to invest, not to undertake, not to do this or that. They will hold you back with their fears and expectations.

Only take advice from people who already have the result you want to get!

#5 You don’t make sacrifices

We tend to think that financial independence is something that we will get with time and patience. Time and patience are necessary of course but a lot of efforts are required too.

You need to make some sacrifices! I know when you come back from work or school you’re tired and the only thing you want is lay down on your sofa and watch TV, go on Facebook or watch videos of cute cats on Internet.

If you want to be financially independent forget all of that and read books and watch educational videos about what you want to achieve for example.

You need to get your head right if you want to create wealth. That’s a part of the sacrifices you need to make.

With time you’ll see that you will enjoy it. Reading books will be almost like seeing money coming in into your bank account. But if you notice that after reading 1 or 2 books you don’t enjoy the time you spend getting educated on that topic, you should forget about becoming wealthy. Because what’s the point of becoming financially independent if you don’t like the process involved?

#6 You are not grateful

You need to recognize the wealth you already have. Be grateful for being alive, for having a family, friends…if you are not, financial independence will bring you nothing. Don’t think that money will bring you happiness. If you don’t see the beauty in your life today, you won’t see it tomorrow with $1billion.

WEALTH IS OF THE MIND, INCREASE YOUR WEALTH CONSCIOUSNESS

Wealth is simply a subconscious conviction on the part of the individual. You will not become a millionaire by saying, “I am a millionaire, I am a millionaire.”  You will grow into a wealth consciousness by building into your mentality the idea of wealth and abundance.

The trouble with most people is that they have no invisible means of support. When business falls away, the stock market drops, or they lose their investments, they seem helpless. The reason for such insecurity is that they do not know how to tap the subconscious mind. They are unacquainted with the inexhaustible storehouse within.

A man with a poverty type mind finds himself in poverty- stricken conditions. Another man with a mind filled with ideas of wealth is surrounded with everything he needs. It was never intended that man should lead a life of indigence. You can have wealth, everything you need, and plenty to spare. Your words have power to cleanse your mind of wrong ideas and to instill right ideas in their place.

The ideal method for building a wealth consciousness

Perhaps you are saying as you read this chapter, “I need wealth and success.” This is what you do: Repeat for about five minutes to yourself three or four times a day,”Wealth Success.” These words have tremendous power. They represent the inner power of the subconscious mind. Anchor your mind on this substantial power within you; then conditions and circumstances corresponding to their nature and quality will be manifested in your life.

You are not saying, “I am wealthy,” you are dwelling on real powers within you. There is no conflict in the mind when you say, “Wealth. Furthermore, the feeling of wealth will well up within you as you dwell on the idea of wealth.

The feeling of wealth produces wealth; keep this in mind at all times. Your subconscious mind is like a bank, a sort of universal financial institution. It magnifies whatever you deposit or impress upon it whether it is the idea of wealth or of poverty. Choose wealth.

Why your affirmations for wealth fail

I have talked to many people during the past thirty-five years whose usual complaint is, “I have said for weeks and months, I am wealthy, I am prosperous,’ and nothing has happened.” I discovered that when they said, “I am prosperous, I am wealthy,” they felt within that they were lying to themselves.

One man told me, “I have affirmed that I am prosperous until I am tired. Things are now worse. I knew when I made the statement that it was obviously not true.” His statements were rejected by the conscious mind, and the very opposite of what he outwardly affirmed and claimed was made manifest.

Your affirmation succeeds best when it is specific and when it does not produce a mental conflict or argument; hence the statements made by this man made matters worse because they suggested his lack. Your subconscious accepts what you really feel to be true, not just idle words or statements. The dominant idea or belief is always accepted by the subconscious mind.

True Source of Wealth

Your subconscious mind is never short of ideas. There are within it an infinite number of ideas ready to flow into your conscious mind and appear as cash in your pocketbook in countless ways. This process will continue to go on in your mind regardless of whether the stock market goes up or down, or whether the pound sterling or dollar drops in value. Your wealth is never truly dependent on bonds, stocks, or money in the bank; these are really only symbols necessary and useful, of course, but only symbols.

The point I wish to emphasize is that if you convince your subconscious mind that wealth is yours, and that it is always circulating in your life, you will always and inevitably have it, regardless of the form it takes.

4 WAYS TO PULL AHEAD OF YOUR COMPETITORS IN BUSINESS

The road to profits is paved with unfair advantages.

Think about that statement. It's the reason why some of the best ideas can flop, and why some of the most average people can be wildly successful. Somewhere along the way there was a competitive advantage.

1. Position strengths to weaknesses
Even if your competitor has a better product and is willing to sell it at a lower price, you can still win. Every competing company has weak points -- places where your brand can outperform. Things like domestic customer service or extended guarantees on a product can go a long way if done right.

Your job is to find these points and exploit them in your marketing and presentations. Let your prospective customers know why these selling points are important and why it makes your brand  a better choice.

2. Stay lean
This is about maximizing value and minimizing waste. Value refers to features a customer wants to pay for while waste essentially is everything else.

This means you must be in constant contact with your clients and understand why they're buying your product. Ask them how you can enhance it. Any additional features your product offers -- no matter how attractive -- should be dropped if your clients don't want them.

3. Go after large clients
Larger clients can often result in more business and increased revenues, which means more resources for marketing and hiring new employees. But large clients can also be easier to service than smaller companies. It's a strange phenomenon, but smaller companies sometimes need more hand holding and have more service issues than middle-market companies with established systems.

Additionally, larger clients can give your company credibility when meeting with other potential prospects.

But don't worry if the idea of approaching a larger company scares you. Your smaller size should be an advantage since it allows you to move faster and continually think outside of the box. Also position the idea that a change in vendor will inject a sense of freshness into the project its working on.

4. Know your numbers
I'm surprised how many entrepreneurs don't know the critical numbers that can either make or break their business. Here are a few of the basics that every startup should be tracking:

·         ACV (Average Customer Value). This refers to how much money the average customer spends with you over a given period of time. 

·         CPA (cost per acquisition). This is your cost every time you acquire a new client.

·         ROI (return on investment) on marketing campaigns.

·         Break even. This is the volume of sales you need to cover the cost of making sales.

Every company will have different numbers, but identify them for your business and then commit yourself to tracking and improving them.

Just like football, business is a game of inches where the smallest advancement or advantage can mean the difference between winning and losing.

  

CHANGE THE WAY PEOPLE TREAT YOU, STARTING WITH ONE WORD

My life has been full of people who have treated me poorly. I’ve had bosses who expected too much and took advantage of my time and assumed I would work long hours beyond my pay. There have been boyfriends who gave very little and took far more than I ever wanted to give, and still had the nerve to act like it wasn’t enough. I’ve had friends who waltzed into my world, wrecked havoc, and then disappeared. 

In fact, at certain times it has seemed like people did this to me on purpose — like I was some kind of target for those just waiting to inflict more hurt. And in a way, I was.

The first time I heard someone say the words, “We teach people how to treat us,” I didn’t want to believe it was true. If it was, then much of the pain I had suffered over time was my fault as well as the fault of those who had inflicted it. That reality seemed painful and unfair. But at the same time, I felt the tiniest glimmer of hope at the sound of these words. 

Because if they were true, if I could really teach people how to treat me, then there was hope of a world where people would treat me with the respect and care I deserved. So I decided to give it a try. 

For me, it started with the word no. This wasn’t a word I had used very often, so I had to practice. In the mirror. Literally.

No, you cannot have my phone number.

No, I won’t go on a date with you.

No, I can’t stay late this week.

No, I can’t help you with that project.

No, I won’t have a conversation with you when you’re angry.

No explanation. No defense. No justification for why I couldn’t do the thing someone else wanted me to do. Just the simply exerting of my power into the universe to choose what I wanted, to draw a boundary around myself. 

It didn’t come naturally at first. I had to exercise it, like a muscle.

In fact, as I started to practice, I realized there were several lies I had been believing for so long, they had been preventing me from using the word no. I had to confront these lies and uproot them as I went along. They went like this:

• When I say “no” I’m being mean
• Wanting things is selfish
• Other people deserve to get what they want more than I deserve to get what I want
• I owe people an explanation for my actions 

Sometimes I would try to explain myself and I would get tangled in my explanations, and feel like I had to backtrack or justify. Other times I would say “yes” when I meant to say “no” and I would have to go back and change my answer. It wasn’t always pretty. I hurt people’s feelings. I disappointed them. I lost friends, not because I was being mean or malicious, but because I wasn’t giving the things I had given so freely for so long. 

But something wonderful started to happen when I said the word no. I realized I had the power to teach people how to treat me. 

Three things happened:-

1. People who cared more about what I was giving them than they did about me — went away. It’s amazing how fast people’s true motives are revealed when you cut them off from what they were stealing from you. 

2. People who loved me, changed. It didn’t happen overnight, and it wasn’t seamless or easy, but those who really cared about staying in relationship with me changed the way they related to me. The best part is, many of them actually say they like me better now! Some of them say it’s like the real Fortune came to life. 

3. Even those who don’t know me treat me differently. It’s weird. It’s almost like I carry myself differently. I don’t have this figured out perfectly, but the feeling like I was a magnet or target for people who wreak havoc has disappeared.

It took me a long time to come to this place, probably about five years from the time I first started practicing “no” to the way I feel now — like I am not a victim to my circumstances or relationships, but that I’m a mutual participator in my life.

I only wish I would have started sooner.