It's All Part of the Plan

Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is simply passing the time. Action with vision is making a positive difference. ~ Joel Barker

Yes I'm a Joker fan if you recognized the title as a quote from the latest Batman film, the Dark Knight. And which emotion did the Joker incite most? Yep, that's right (or at least I hope you said). Fear.

Fear is a very powerful emotional tool that prevents a lot of people from achieving their dreams. It's so powerful that it's been one of the main obstacles in hindering people from reaching their first million dollars. Why is that? Well for starters, some of us have strong doubts of our ability. Or, we fear the amount of work we'll have to put in, the sacrifices we'll have to make, the relationships we'll have to sacrifice, the cost of failure, the fear of embarrassment, the lost of respect, the troubles we'll cause, the label of "bankrupt" stapled to us wherever we go, the loss of our homes, our jobs, our families, all because of a desire to live life to its fullness. And so what do we do? We make excuses, we procrastinate, we delude ourselves into thinking we're ok just scrapping by, we think life will change when we're lucky enough to strike TOTO or 4-D or whatever lottery we take part in, we look at the guy driving the Ferrari and think "Lucky devil." and just continue looking, we blame the world for our circumstance, our parents, our teachers, our damn luck. Yes, we just wait. I waited too, for such a long time, without realizing I was missing out on opportunities everywhere. So I know exactly what waiting does to oneself. It does absolutely nothing.

If you want to see money coming into your pockets, wanting it is simply not enough. Yes, the first step is to desire it but then, you have to vision it, see it, feel it, believe that you can obtain it and then most important of all, act on it. The Mindset is crucial and that gets you acting. So what do you do now?

Now you start to aim, plan and do. Aim how much you want to retire on, or how much you want to earn each month, or how much you want to be able to spend each month, etc. Figure out what your objectives are. Is it to grow your money? Protect your capital? Save for an education fund for your kids? Are you saving for future medical costs? And then prioritize. Make this aim clear with real figures with real dates to achieve this by. Divide this into long-term goals (>5yrs), mid-term goals (2-5yrs) and short-term goals (<2yrs).>

Whew, sounds complicated isn't it? Well if it is, the first person you'd like to speak to is a financial planner. Wherever you are, you should consult a certified financial planner who is well-versed in the various investments and who is able to tailor your plan to your objectives. But believe me, it really isn't that hard to start.

You might want to educate yourself first. Here are some suggestions:

1. Personal Finance for Dummies

2. Mastering Your Personal Finance - Dennis Ng

3. The Automatic Millionaire - David Bach

4. Start Late Finish Rich - David Bach

5. Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires - Adam Khoo

6. Rich Dad Poor Dad - Robert Kiyosaki

Well, the weekend is here again. So take care and enjoy!

Cheers,

~K

Believe Your Path to Wealth

Believing a solution paves the way to solution ~ Dr. David Joseph Schwartz

Dr. Schwartz certainly knew what he was talking about. A leading authority on motivation in America, he authored his first bestseller - The Magic of Thinking Big about 30 years ago which became a bestseller. A trainer, consultant, lecturer and expert on motivation, Dr. Schwartz studied the subject for years and found that the key factor to personal success was the desire for it. That's the secret. Success, is not simply luck or circumstance but it's a choice.

Similarly, if you want to be financially free or even rich, you have to make a decision and hold strongly to that choice, desiring to see it through despite adversity, fear, worry or any obstacles come what may. In Napoleon Hill's historic book, Think and Grow Rich, the idea of belief and persistence are constantly emphasized. This is one book that most rich people have read before they became rich. I strongly recommend reading it as well to set it as a stepping stone to your success and financial independence.

But till that day comes, Believe.

Till next post,

~K

Want it? Believe in Yourself & Go for it

To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe. ~ Anatole France

You are destined to be a millionaire.

What was your reaction to that? Was it disbelief? Were you cynical? Did you go "Yeah right. Sure I will..." and then roll your eyes?

Yes, I totally understand why you'll think it impossible. Firstly, how many of us "normal" people have ever seen a $1,000,000 before? Yes, I can relate to that. Couple of years ago, I barely saw $5,000 in my account at any point of time. And when I did see it, mostly thanks to the December bonus, it was gone really quickly too. So lets not even think of a million dollars right? Don't answer that. Secondly, you'll probably say you aren't earning enough or aren't earning period, especially if you're a student, to even begin to amass such an amount. Lastly, you'd probably have truckloads of bills to pay & things you'd want to get. So that'd mean you'll be paying for all those goodies and not have much left to save.

Truth to tell, if you're gonna think like that, you aren't gonna be able to. If you want to be financially free, you got to think financially free. BUT most important of all, you have to believe that you can become financially free. Remember that it all starts from your mind. And there are many aspects of the mind that hinders the path to wealth and financial freedom such as fear, disbelief, no confidence in one's ability, laziness, procrastination, unwillingness to learn, false perception, inertia and many others. Only you can set right these sabotaging thoughts and prevent them from being an obstacle to your goal of being financially free.

I recommend reading these books in helping you change your way of thinking.

1. Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill

2. Secrets of the Millionaire Mind - T. Harv Eker

3. The Rules of Wealth - Richard Templar

These books are packed with valuable content and is too much to lay them out here in this blog. Nonetheless, I'll touch briefly on those that I feel are especially noteworthy in future posts.

Till then, think rich, think free.

You are destined to be a millionaire. Believe it.

Cheers,

~K

Mindset to Financial Freedom

My greatest challenge has been to change the mindset of people. Mindsets play strange tricks on us. We see things the way our minds have instructed our eyes to see. ~ Muhammad Yunus

While you're saving your hard-earned cash & building up your reserves, perhaps also clearing your debts too, lets turn our attention to something we can work on together while waiting for your savings to grow substantially.

As Muhammad Yunus realized, mindset is extremely important in how we perceive things to be. For example, if you grew up not liking the colour green, chances are you'd be fussy with your vegetables. Or, if you had a bad fright in a plane due to the horrible turbulence you experienced when you were a child, chances are you'd still feel this unreasonable aversion to flying every time you go for a trip. As you can see, the mind has a tendency to develop biasness due to the experiences we gather during our childhood development. Fear of insects, snakes, cats and/or dogs or distrust of foreigners, people of authority, etc. can mostly be traced back to bad childhood experiences.

My mother, for one, used to be terrified of swimming because she nearly drowned as a child in the sea. So for the great portion of her years she used to cling to the edge of the swimming pool or to my dad (who used to grumble or tease her about it heh). However, one day she decided to overcome her fear. She first started forcing herself to be comfortable in the water without holding onto the edge. Later she ventured into wading around and in a couple of months was swimming the breath of the pool. She never let her head go underwater though but the distance she's come & the achievement she's gained, is impressive. How did she achieve this feat? Simply put, she had a change of mindset.

Similarly, if you want to become financially free and/or rich, your mindset needs tweaking. A lot of times people say they want to get rich, even attempt to get rich, but their mind is not ready to get rich and so these people fall by the roadside frustrated & stop trying eventually. Therefore before the person can become rich, the mind has to become rich & think rich first. Only then can you change your attitude and attain the level of richness you sought.

Simply put:

Mindset leads to Thoughts which leads to Feelings which leads to Attitude which leads to Actions which leads to Results/Outcome

In the next couple of posts, I will expound on how to prepare your mind in order for you to attain that financial freedom you deserve.

Till then, keep saving!

Cheers,

~K