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Top 5 Books Entrepreneurs Should Read When Starting a Business

6/29/2016

Do you want to start a business? Going out on your own is a daunting task for seasoned business owners and young entrepreneurs alike. Getting started is hard enough, made even harder with friends and family spouting off statistics like, “96% of all businesses fail within ten years”.

Starting a business is like getting a train moving. It takes a HUGE amount of energy and effort to get a massive locomotive to move just a few inches. Yet, once it starts moving, it picks up momentum.

Don’t get too nervous. I’ve found that if you do what successful people do, and have faith in the process, the train will start moving. Likewise, if you read the books successful entrepreneurs read, you’ll likely be a successful entrepreneur yourself. That’s why I made this post.

A good example is my own company, The Clean Thumb LLC. When I first started the business, I was anxious about all the potential pitfalls. Now, I’m sending out thousands of direct mail pieces, targeting specific markets, and business is really picking up. Of course, it's not that simple, but you get the idea.

The books I read along the way were the things that helped me push through my fear, develop a plan, and stay the course. I thought it would be a good idea to make a list of my favorite books I think all entrepreneurs should read when starting a business.

One Million In The Bank by Michael Slavin

I’m not sure where I heard about this book, which isn’t good, because I only read it about a month ago. It’s one of the best “start your own business” books I’ve read in a long time, because it gives the reader an instant reality check.

It lets you know that you don’t need thousands of dollars in startup capital, a fancy business plan, or a decked out office. All you need to do is pick a tried and true business, learn a little sales and marketing, and get help from people who have done the same thing. In retrospect, I did exactly this.

I picked a tried and true business. Cleaning is boring. Yawn. Who could possibly be passionate about scrubbing toilets? That’s not the point. The point is that the cleaning industry has been thriving for years and years, and office cleaning is virtually recession proof. No app is going to replace mopping floors, nor can the job be outsourced to someone in China.

I learned sales and marketing. I’ve been studying sales and marketing for years. I’ve worked several sales jobs and practically got a second degree in marketing. The cleaning business (especially commercial) is based on a lot of direct mail, so I studied copywriting legends like Dan Kennedy. I also get a ton of leads from Google PPC because I studied AdWords gurus like Perry Marshall.

I got help from people who have done the same thing. I networked my tail off to find people who succeeded in the cleaning business. I ended up finding three people who became pretty big successes in the janitorial services industry.

Don’t fret if you don’t have any mentors in your inner circle. You don’t need someone to physically hold your hand through the process. Look for online courses, books, and podcasts to help you get where you want to go. I read and listen to podcasts every single day. I even use THIS so I can listen to them in the shower. Dedication.

The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone

Grant Cardone is definitely a role model for me because his sales game is incredible and his real estate portfolio is tremendous. He’s headed for a billion dollars and nobody can stop him.

The biggest lesson I learned from this book is that most of us underestimate the amount of effort it will take to achieve a desired effect. For example, direct mail has a typical response rate of 1-2%. This means that if I send out sales letters to a hundred offices in my area, I should expect to get one or two responses. But what happens if I send out a hundred and get nothing? Should I give up? Not at all – this is just statistics. I might send a hundred and get nothing, but the next hundred letters might yield four clients. I just keep my faith in the system and keep plugging away.

The 10X Rule will help you increase your targets and your expectations. It teaches you to shoot for the stars so, even if you fail, you will land on the moon. Rather than thinking it would take me one hundred sales letters to get a client, the book helped me convince myself that it would take a thousand letters.

10xing your expectations will help you out a ton in business. It will allow you to stay the course where others would get discouraged. On a more practical note, it definitely helps with your customer acquisition cost. If you can reasonably estimate that your customer acquisition cost will be $50, 10X it to $500. Can you still be profitable? If the answer is yes, you’ve got an amazing business on your hands.

Act Like a Success, Think Like a Success by Steve Harvey

I’m a pretty big Steve Harvey fan, so I picked up this book when it first came out. Depending on your source, Steve Harvey is an entertainment mogul worth around $100 million. What people don’t see is the fact that he had jobs he didn’t enjoy, he had stretches on the road with no gigs, and a there was a period of time where he was actually homeless. Yet, he managed to overcome all of these obstacles.

The book is truly inspiring and will help you overcome whatever limiting beliefs you may have about improving your life. He tells a story about what happens when you put a flea in a jar. The flea will jump only high enough so that its head no longer hits the lid. If the flea has babies, the baby fleas are born with the ability to jump two hundred times their size. However, because of the environment where they can only see others jumping so as to not hit their heads, they begin to duplicate the same behavior. Steve tells you that you can’t concern yourself with duplicating the behavior of those around you; you have to break away from those negative influences.

One of the quotes that stick out in my mind involves asking other people for help. He said, “You have no idea of the number of successful people around you who are waiting for someone to come up and ask them for assistance or guidance. I could have saved myself a lot of pain if I didn’t mind asking people for things.” Learn from Steve Harvey – don’t be afraid to ask people for help. It will accelerate your learning curve like nothing else.

He goes on to talk about a study done by sociologist Annette Lareau that showed how kids from different economic backgrounds view asking questions. She found that kids from affluent environments believed they were entitled to ask for the things they felt they deserved. Kids from poor backgrounds feel like they’re viewed as weak if they didn’t know something. Because Steve grew up in a poor environment, he didn’t want to let anyone know he needed anything. His pride kept him from getting all that he wanted, needed, and deserved.

Remember, it doesn’t make sense for you to make mistakes if someone else has made them for you. Ask for help.

7 Strategies for Wealth and Happiness by Jim Rohn

While this isn’t a business book in the truest sense, it certainly changed my life. To be more clear, all of Jim Rohn’s stuff is life-changing. Here are two quotes that should be framed and put in your office:

“Success is no more than the natural consequence of consistently applying the fundamentals of success to life.”

Again, if you find the fundamentals that others have already figured out for you, you can be successful too. Just figure out what the fundamentals are by asking for help. I know this is too simple for most people to accept, but it’s true. Success involves becoming a better person. You should change, grow, and develop to get whatever it is you want out of life.
Here’s the second quote…

“Wealth comes from the conversion of effort and enterprise into currency and equity.”

Rohn talks about the importance of discipline in becoming successful. Opportunities flock to people who’ve developed skills and have the ambition to act. All good things come to those who are willing to swim upstream, and lack of discipline will inevitably lead to failure.

The book also points out that failure itself is rarely the result of an isolated event. It’s a consequence of many little failures. So if you feel like you’re not doing enough or accumulating a ton of small failures, be careful. If you consistently have small wins, you’ll get to the big wins.

Jim Rohn ended the book beautifully, too. He wants you to ask, “Why not?” What else are you going to do with your life? Why not see how far you can take it? Why not see how much you can do? Why not see how much you can become?

I strongly suggest you YouTube or Google Jim Rohn and consume all his content.

Winning Through Intimidation by Robert Ringer

With a title like this, I didn’t know what to expect, but this book changed my thinking for the better. To be completely honest, it got kind of dry towards the end, but the beginning of the book had several gems:

Theory of Next: You maintain a positive mental attitude by recognizing that no one deal is that important.

This was crucial for me to realize. In my line of business (everything from sales to janitorial services to pitching media products), most deals don’t close. The reason I can keep my positive attitude at all times is because I have the ability to say “Next!” and quickly move on to the next deal when things don’t work out.

If something doesn’t work, just forget about it, move to the next deal, and let the law of averages work its wonders. If I go on ten bids, I know I should close three or four of them. Do I lose any sleep over the ones that fall through? Not one bit. I keep moving forward because I know that the ones that do close are the ones that will pay me. The ones that fall through will never pay my bills, so I scream it out loud and proud… “Next!” Salespeople who are reading this can boost their income just by remembering this one thing.

Mortality Theory: Since your time is limited, it makes sense to aim high and move fast.

This is similar to The 10X Rule in the sense that you should set BIG goals. To me, it makes no sense setting little goals. You want big, juicy goals that will cause you to stretch yourself.

Tortoise and Hare Theory: Most situations in life are determined over the long term.

Earlier I said that starting a business is like getting a train moving. Don’t worry if you don’t have immediate success or even inklings of success after months of hard work. That’s completely normal. The person who has quick success merely wins a battle, but the person who is ahead at the end (winning consistently and applying fundamentals consistently) is the one who wins the war.

There you have it – five books about entrepreneurship that changed my life and the way I do business. Do you have any favorite business books? What books do you think entrepreneurs should read? Let me know in the comments below!

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Check Out My Interview Over at It Pays Dividends

6/24/2016

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I recently completed an interview about my book, Above Average Finance, over at It Pays Dividends.

Check out the interview here.

I've been following the site for some time now and it has some great content. It's one of my favorite blogs because it's practical and focuses on putting your money to work for you. Anyone familiar with me knows that I put a big emphasis on passive income, and getting dividends (from stocks or otherwise) is one way to get your life in order.

Thias asked some pretty good questions. If you check out the interview, you'll see my own answers to questions like:

"What was your motivation behind writing Above Average Finance?"

Well, it all started late one night on the back of a bar napkin... (kidding!)

"What is your background? Did you come from the finance industry or are you self-taught?"

"Who did you write this book for? Who do you think would benefit the most from it?"

"The general theme of the book is that being average isn’t going to lead you to a strong financial life. Why do you feel that this is the case?"

"Throughout the book, you bring up themes about the benefits of psychology when it comes to handling your finances. Why do you believe this is such an important concept?"

"Which topic that you cover in the book do you think can make the biggest impact in someone’s life?"

Hint: It's increasing your income! You're not going to coupon clip to way to the big leagues.

"Why should someone read this book?"

Go ahead and check out the interview! If you liked it, add It Pays Dividends to your bookmarks.

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Use Wise Consumer Habits to Protect Your Financial Interests

6/23/2016

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Photo used under Creative Commons from CafeCredit

Personal financial management is a challenging part of everyday life. In addition to short-term budgeting, effective money management accounts for long-range concerns like investment planning and retirement. Funding major purchases, like homes, college education, and unexpected expenses further complicates the financial picture for most families, calling for creative solutions - just to make ends meet.

With so much pressure to cover costs, personal finance can be an intimidating subject. Fortunately, staying true to a few basic consumer principles will guide you toward financial security. Use these sensible approaches to fortify your financial savvy and ensure a stable financial balance sheet.

Comparison Shopping Keeps You Informed

Consumer marketplaces have become highly competitive, challenging retailers to make creative connections with customers. As a result, there is more information available to shoppers than ever before. If you are committed to making the most of your financial resources, the glut of information can be used to your advantage, pointing you toward the best value. On the other hand, with so much promotion, consumers must sort through the interference, to find the best deals.

Online comparison resources are useful tools, particularly in industries like insurance and finance, where direct, side-by-side evaluations are published by third-party sites. The process enables browsers to compare goods, services, and prices in real-time, saving countless hours of research vetting individual providers. Reviews and other feedback found online can also be helpful, giving you a glimpse of authentic user experiences.

When you prospect for services, it is important to request several quotes for the project at hand. By enlisting at least three contractors to bid, you hedge against overpaying and set the stage for quality work. As you compare quotes, details become important, as materials and methods vary considerably. Review bids with an eye toward value, rather than simply accepting the lowest estimate.

Knowledge Empowers Financial Well-Being

The more you know about finance and economics, the more successful you'll be managing your household cash flow. Even if you are not a "numbers" person, essential financial knowledge furnishes a blueprint for protecting and preserving your financial security. Understanding the importance of a strong credit rating, for example, instills values and behavior needed to develop and protect a good score. And becoming familiar with various forms of credit gives you the tools needed to manage diverse personal financial relationships.

Use Credit Wisely
Various forms of funding furnish needed financial resources. From credit cards to personal installment loans, creditors grant access to cash, in return for interest payments, membership fees and origination charges. The type of credit you use to finance purchases has a dramatic impact on the ultimate cost of the items you buy, so it pays to compare terms and apply the proper form of financing to each purchase. It wouldn't make sense to buy a car using a high-APR credit card, for example, when an auto loan is available at 3%. If you need a personal loan, compare rates online, or risk paying too much for financing.

Protect Your Score
Like it or not, creditworthiness boils down to a single figure - at least in the eyes of creditors. From your earliest credit relationships onward, it is important to preserve your credit score. Start by paying bills and credit obligations on-time - every time. And don't open unneeded credit accounts - which tend to drag down your score. Over time, through diverse borrowing and successful repayment, your credit score will grow, until you are seen as a safe risk for lenders. To make the most of your money over a lifetime, protect this privileged access to credit and the affordable financing it provides.

Stress Quality for Long-Term Value

Despite temptation to follow the lowest price, buying on the cheap doesn't always lead to the best value. Instead, quality materials and craftsmanship typically furnish better return on investment, particularly among frequently used items. When faced with discount pricing, put goods and services to the test, ensuring they meet your minimum standard.

Do warranties stack-up, as anticipated? Do you expect to use the item every day? Or is it for occasional use? Can a service provider furnish references from happy customers, attesting to the quality of his or her work? Are online reviewers giving positive feedback about the item or service? Answers to these and other important questions help you find the balance between cost and performance, known as overall value.

With so many money matters to address, it can be difficult to manage individual finances. Fortunately, though each person's financial circumstances are unique, applying proven financial wisdom contributes to universal financial success. Use these wise strategies to help pave your path to financial health.

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Things to Consider Before Investing in Tax Lien Property

6/23/2016

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The tax lien market has experienced significant change due to the progression of technology and the internet. Tax lien investing has the potential to be insanely profitable. It provides great ways to earn income passively. This type of investing has provided big breaks for real estate investors all around the country. While tax lien investing can provide excellent rates of returns, it can also carry substantial risks. As an investor, you need to know all potential opportunities and pitfalls that come with tax lien market.

What is a Tax Lien?

When a property owner fails to pay local taxes, the state in which the property is situated has the authority to place a lien on the property. The legal claim against the property for the unpaid amount that is owed to the county or state is called a lien. Many state issue tax lien certificate investment documents once a lien is placed on a property. A third party can buy the tax lien certificate at auction. This earns the taxing authorities the money they need to fulfill their budget commitments. A tax lien property cannot be refinanced or sold until the taxes are paid, and the lien is removed.Before investing in a tax lien property, it is important to understand a few things.

Interest Rates

The interest rates of tax lien property vary across different states depending on the statutes that govern the individual state. Determine what interest rate you will be paid on the tax lien property you invest in. different counties use a different sales process, which has a major effect on the amount of interest you receive.

The Redemption Period

Different states have different redemption periods. The redemption period greatly affects the liquidity of your tax lien property investment. For example, if a state has a redemption period of six months, it means you can receive your investment plus interest after six months, or you can foreclose on the property and take ownership if the property owner fails to pay you by the sixth month. In some states, the redemption period can take up to four years. A shorter redemption period presents higher benefits compared to longer redemption periods.

The Live Auction

It is important to determine when the live auction will take place. Investing in tax lien properties is all about knowing when and where the auction is taking place. This gives you time to make attendance plans. It also gives you the opportunity to reasonably determine a date range to begin seeking assignment purchases if the state offers them.

Auction Procedures

Determine the auction procedures of the state that you have chosen to invest in because the procedure used can affect your interest rate. State that uses a bid down the interest procedure greatly affects the rate interest you receive. On the other hand, if the state you chose uses a premium bidding method, it will affect the price you pay on the tax lien.

Assignment Purchasing

Determine whether the state you want to invest in allows assignment purchasing. If they do, determine how the assignment purchases can be made, either online, offline or even both.

Acquiring Lists and Information

Determine where and how you can acquire the list of a tax lien to be sold at the auction. Some online tools offer the sales lists from all of the counties. You can also check with the county treasurer or tax collector’s office to see if they have available lists. You can also find a list in legal notices of your local newspaper a few weeks prior to the sale.

The State to Invest In

States that have the highest interest rates or penalties are the most suitable investment place. A state's interest rate and the penalty are greatly affected by their sale method, redemption period, reimbursable fees and their foreclosure process. find the best available opportunities including the state of your residence.

Market Conditions

While investing in a tax lien property, make sure you take the current condition of the state you invest in into consideration. Investing in tax lien properties requires an exit strategy in order to monetize your investment. In areas where the market condition is strong, you may have to pay a bit more for the property compared to areas that have a soft market. Properties located in strong markets are easier to sell or rent.

Reaping the Profit From the Tax Lien Property Investment

A tax lien property investment requires you to pay the amount of the lien immediately in full to the issuing tax authorities. You must then notify the property owner that you are now the lien holder. The property owner will get a set time to repay you the entire amount of the lien plus interest.

If the property owner fails to pay you the full amount of the lien by the set deadline, you have the authority to foreclose on the property the same way tax authorities would have.

Lisa Patterson is a personal finance consultant. Practicing what she preaches, her personal portfolio covers over 30 properties. Her articles mainly focus on long-term investment strategies & risks.

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Why Compound Interest Won't Make You Rich

6/21/2016

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Compound interest won’t make you rich.

Okay, so that’s not entirely true. Compound interest can make you rich, but for most of us, the equation just doesn’t make sense.

Before we get started, let’s clear some things up. I am not saying that you shouldn’t invest. Investing is critically important, and compound interest is powerful stuff. But I want you to go into the game with your eyes open.

Secondly, let’s define “rich” as when you can be upper-class without working. In the United States, you’ll need about $5 million minimum. Of course it varies depending on where you live, but $5 million is an easy number to work with that makes sense for most of the country. If you invest all $5 million and get 5% per year, you’ll make about $250,000 in passive income.

For those who are unfamiliar with compound interest, it occurs when the interest that accrues to an amount of money accrues interest on itself. So, interest on top of interest.

In my book, I made some comments about compound interest that caught some criticism. Seemingly every single personal finance writer, blogger, guru, and television personality preaches the power of compound interest. They’re right – compound interest is incredible. Let’s check out the stats:

$10,000 invested at an 8% rate of return will be over $100,000 in thirty years.

Want to set things up for your future great-grandchildren? That same $10,000 turns into almost $22 million in 100 years.

Pretty cool stuff! But let’s take a big picture look at compound interest. For compound interest to be effective, you need three things.

1. Time

2. Investment Yield

3. Money Invested

It only took 74 years, but I finally afford one!

Let’s look at these three things in more detail.

Time

You cannot control time. It’s finite. While you can always make more money, you can never get more time, so use yours wisely.

The real secret is to separate your income-generating activities from your time. Like I mentioned in a previous article, having a job can be a wonderful thing, but it absolutely cannot be your only source of income.

I’ll be completely transparent – I’m spending my valuable time writing this blog because I know that I will only have to write this post once, but it will continue to generate revenue for me for many years. I’ll get ad revenue, sponsored posts, affiliate sales, product sales, and so on. This post will bring eyeballs to my site, which will generate revenue for me, even when I sleep. The potential return on this blog post is exponential and near-infinite. If you invest money into the stock market at age 45, you know you’ve only got 20-some years left until retirement.

How long are you willing to wait? I’m reminded of a story about Coca-Cola’s initial public offering (IPO). The company went public in 1919 for $40 per share. If you had invested $40 into a single share of Coca-Cola in 1919 during the IPO, your investment would be worth over $400,000 today. If you reinvested your dividends, you would have over $10 million.

Okay, so best case scenario, someone invested $40 for you (which was really like $600 today) on the day you were born and you never sold it. Even through depressions and wars, you held onto that stock. Oh, and you had the good sense to reinvest your dividends. You would now be 97 years old and worth $10 million. Pull the Ferrari up, Grandpa!

Of course, if you’re willing to wait many years to get “rich”, investing early is the way to go. If you’re under the age of 35, you’ve got one of the biggest advantages when it comes to planning your financial freedom. You can sock money away each and every month and let it work for you. The sooner you start, the greater the advantage you’ll have.

Investment yield

I don’t know about you, but I can’t call up Wall Street and demand to get a 10% return on my money this year. It just won’t happen. You have some control over taxes and fees, which can help you build a sizeable nest egg, but you can’t email your mutual fund company and demand a certain return.

Money invested

This is the only variable that you can truly control. You cannot get more time, and you cannot force an investment yield from the stock market. The way to subvert this fatal weakness is to invest bigger numbers. When you start thinking this way, your attention will shift. You’ll realize that real wealth is time. You’ll never, ever get more time. So when you use the laws of mathematics to your advantage, you can leverage higher numbers to bend compound interest to your will.

Compound interest works, but it’s much friendlier to big numbers. If you start with a million dollars, compound interest is a beautiful thing, and you can make that last a long time. However, the average earner in America has tremendous difficulty stuffing money away.

Finally, assuming that you’re a typical earner and you’re somehow able to sock away a huge amount of your income, how much are you sacrificing to do it? The average household income in America is about $50,000 and has just over two wage earners, meaning that average earnings per person is about $25,000. Trying to save $1,000 per month so you can have over a million at age 65 is a bit of a stretch. After taxes, you’re left with even less, and you still have to eat and get shelter. It’s not a good outlook.

“Well, get an education and get a better job!” you say. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the median annual earnings for a college graduate aged 25-34 is about $47,000. At that income level, saving $1,000 per month is 25% of his/her income. The Richest Man In Babylon talks about saving 10%, and people still struggle with that!

What Happens In Retirement?

Let’s assume that you’re somehow able to stuff away $1,000 per month every single month from the time you’re 25 years old to 65. You never miss a month. This implies you never had a major medical emergency and never lost a job or income source. Congratulations! You now have over a million dollars! It’s time to pop champagne like you won a championship game. Not quite…

As the years pass on, your purchasing power decreases. We’ll assume that on your 65th birthday you look at your account statement and see a cool $1.3 million. If you live until you’re 90 years old and never earn another dime (but also don’t lose any of your initial principal), you’ll have $52,000 per year. This isn’t bad at all, but certainly not rich. One million dollars isn’t really “rich” anymore. It now includes ordinary, non-rich people who just had the good sense to save for retirement. Those with just one million at retirement can’t sustain an upper-class lifestyle, and they know it.

If you want to get from point A to point B quicker, you go faster. This makes sense logically, but people still trudge along, either not investing anything at all or only investing a small amount. When you save and invest more money, you speed up. You can increase your income, not change your lifestyle that much, and reach your goals that much faster.

Compound interest is awesome, but it cannot accelerate wealth quickly. Getting a job and stuffing a few hundred into a portfolio each month won’t do much for you. You’ll still be better off than the average person, but it’ll take decades to propel your wealth into the stratosphere.

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40 Signs You Grew Up Poor

6/5/2016

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Do you have any childhood memories that make you think, “Wow, we were poor”? I’ve compiled a list of these from around the web. Some of them are funny, while others are downright sad. Check them out, and if you have any signs of your own, add them in the comments!

1. Not having Disney Channel. (But you watched “Zoom” and “Arthur” every day)

2. Making “lemonade” at restaurants because all you got is water.

Get the lemons and sugar packets - we're making "lemonade"!

Yippee! We get to camp out for a few more months.

3. Hamburger buns were unnecessary expenses, so you ate hot dogs on sandwich bread.

4. You had to water down your soap bottles three or four times before throwing them away.

5. You have a plastic cup collection. (Whew, this one hurts).

6. Eating barbeque sauce sandwiches… or any other condiment sandwich.

7. Having your school supplies put on layaway. (If you’re charitable, ask to pay off peoples’ layaway to help their children. I think this has way more impact than Christmas payoffs)

8. Having “camp outs” at the fireplace because you couldn’t afford the electric bill.

9. Having church people leave boxes of food on your porch.

10. Sitting next to the window so you can read by the streetlight.

11. Powdered milk. Enough said.

12. Having your parents distract you with chores or trying to get you to go to bed early so you “forget” about dinner.

13. Going out to pick up soda cans/bottles so you can exchange them for cash.

14. Taco Bell was a luxury afforded only for the highest of celebrations.

15. Having the heat turned on because it was your birthday.

16. Using dish detergent as bubble bath.

I don't know what school has this lunch, but it definitely wasn't mine!

17. Cutting off the legs of your jeans every summer to make shorts.

18. Going to the local toy store, playing with the toys there, and then going home.

19. Trying to heat your house with the oven.

20. Never going shopping, but having your mom show up with clothes she just “bought”.

21. Playing the “put stuff back” game.

22. Having to mark “homeless” as your living situation on your school application. (This one made me sad - found it on Reddit)

23. Getting free lunch at school. Kids would be jealous of your free lunch, but you would be jealous of their whole life.

Cereal AGAIN? Okay, maybe it wasn't too bad.

24. When you “got” to take the bus everywhere.

25. Tying grocery bags to your sneakers with rubber bands to make rain boots.

26. Not being able to get your best friend a birthday gift, so you make a gift basket of your own stuff.

27. Not being able to go on any school trips.

28. “Vacationing” at grandma’s house.

29. Saving and reusing tinfoil and plastic bags.

30. “Do you got McDonald’s money?”

31. When you got your first PlayStation 2. In 2009.

32. What’s a babysitter? Never had one of those.

33. Rolling up the toothpaste bottle so you can use every last drop before buying another.

34. Eating cereal for every meal.

35. Putting water in the ketchup bottle just so you can make it last.

36. Asking your mom for Oreos and getting Hydrox. Or asking for anything and getting generic stuff.

37. Buying clothes at least one size too big because “you’ll grow into it”.

38. Thinking that the terms “use by” and “best before” on your food are just suggestions.

It's not that bad. It only "expired" four months ago.

39. Cleaning the house involved a ton of bleach and vinegar.

40. Using Febreeze to cover up the smell of your dirty clothes.

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Why Money Shouldn't Be Your Goal

6/3/2016

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This might seem like a crazy post to have on a personal finance website, but it might be one of the most important things you ever read. A pretty bold claim, you say? Read on.

I was re-reading one of my favorite books, Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill, when something incredible dawned on me. Napoleon Hill doesn’t really talk about money. Then I looked at other wealth creation books of the same ilk – one after the other – and came to the same conclusion.

When you think of “wealth”, what comes to mind? Did you think of a private jet? How about a beautiful home on a tropical island? For some, it may be a mountain ranch with all the time in the world to ride horses and enjoy the sunset. For most, it’s probably doing whatever you want, whenever you want. But it probably wasn’t physical cash or a bank account with a few more digits.

Money is only valuable because we collectively agree that it is. The actual paper on which money is printed is near-worthless. If someone says they want a lot of money, what they really want is the stuff money can be traded for: that ranch, a luxury car, a private plane, and the freedom of time to enjoy life.

What am I getting at? It seems so simple but most people don’t get it. I looked up the world “wealth” in the dictionary and found “an abundant supply”. Nowhere in there does it say an abundant supply of money.

If anything, money is the measure of your true goals. If you can put a dollar amount on the things you want, you can connect to the number on an emotional level. Wanting to make “a lot” of money is an uninspired goal. Compelling, emotional reasons of why you want the money can lead to you to generate both financial prosperity and happiness. Money is just a number if you don’t have plans for it.

Our entire lives, we’ve been conditioned to think that money is the end goal. We should slave away for it, work our fingers to the bone for a meager amount, and hoard it. We treat our money as scarce and our time as limitless, because most of us trade away our time (which we can never get back) for a commodity of exchange that has no value unless it’s being traded. Think of that for a moment.

Have you ever driven ten minutes to get gas that’s ten cents cheaper? You get ten gallons and save a dollar. That’s equivalent to six dollars per hour. If someone were to call you and offer you a job for six dollars per hour, would you take it?

Money is like water. Think of a single drop – miniscule, powerless. A single drop might be a dollar or two around your house. What can you get for a dollar? Not much. Yet, take those drops and add them together. Sooner or later, you will have a flow (an income stream) strong enough to carve canyons and shape your life. Even small amounts of money put to use in the right manner can be deceivingly powerful.

The bulk of the population is told “go to school, learn a skill, and get a job” and so on. These people deceive themselves into believing that they are earning money. “Of course I earn money! I go to work every day!” you might exclaim. That’s not earning money; that’s perilously grinding out a living. Trading your most precious resource for something you’ll hoard anyway.

If you get a good education (whatever that is) and get a good job, you’ll be rewarded with raises and promotions and job security. There’s no such thing as “job security” – security comes from within. If you truly believe there’s security in a job, you will be completely devastated if you lose it. Your belief system, utterly shattered, will have failed you and you will have lost everything.

Now, I am not saying you shouldn’t get a job. All of us are employed in some fashion. The right jobs are wonderful and if you truly enjoy what you do, the money is an added bonus. Not the goal. Some people make working for others to be this big awful thing that you just have to do in order to squeeze out a living and keep the lights out. What misery! Your goal shouldn’t be to keep the lights on. I understand that your basic necessities have to be met, but if you goal is simply to keep the lights on or to make money then, friend, your goal is too small.

The truth is, finding the right job is incredibly difficult, and it might take you some time to find out that you aren’t even meant to be at a job. Am I sounding a little too much like a “rah rah” self-help book? I’m sorry, but it’s the truth. Wealth isn’t about generating money. It’s living your life the way that you want to live it.

For most of us, we are incredibly restricted in our lives. Continuing with the job example, you can’t talk to your boss a certain way. You can’t wear what you want – most jobs have a uniform, or at least a dress code. You can’t be creative when you want. Even if you are creative at work, most offices mandate that anything done on equipment owned by the company is intellectual property owned by the company.

Some people quit their jobs to follow their passions, whatever they may be, and make very little money. Others follow the money all through the week and go fishing on the weekends. Neither person is happy all the time, but they’ve found pockets of happiness in doing the things they want to do.

Money isn’t the goal. Rather, it’s a tool to achieve our real goals, which involve living our lives according to our dreams and our own design. Having a bunch of money isn’t wealth. It’s a consequence of achieving real wealth. Your finances, employment status, or time constraints don’t control your path to real wealth. As long as you have the correct beliefs in place about what you can have, do, and become, you will remain focused on your ultimate goals.

Here’s the crazy part: you are already living your life the way you want to live it. You are (at least partially) responsible for your results. Sometimes we struggle so much, and accept whatever comes our way, that we lose sight of the fact that we have the power to choose our own life. So when someone tells me that his ultimate goal is to be able to choose what he does, when he does it, where he does it, and who he does it with, it sounds absurd. He could do that now.

There is no reason to settle for something that makes you unhappy. That doesn’t mean that every second of your life is going to be unadulterated bliss. Not a chance. But it does mean that if you don’t like your current situation, you have the power to change it. When this truly “clicks” for you, it will be incredible.

As humans, we are meant to strive for more and reach for greatness. Yet, people will desperately try to convince you that striving for more comes from a deep-rooted unhappiness. They’ll tell you to be grateful or to be happy with what you have. They want you to believe that if you aren’t happy with your current circumstances of if you want more out of life, there’s something wrong with you. This type of thinking is incredibly dangerous, because it persuades people to deny their desires and dreams. “Stay down here with me and the rest of us who’ve given up,” whispers the rest of society.

Don’t do it. Denying your true ambition is the most difficult road anyone could travel. If you think you’re struggling now, just wait until the mental anguish of smothering your dreams hits you like a head-on collision. When it does, it will likely be too late.

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