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This is Day 5 of 30 Days to Changing Your Game. Yesterday Nat Slavin expanded our relationship building skills with The List. Today Colin Lewis (who is truly one of the smartest people I know) is going to shift gears a little bit and talk about getting our financial goals in order.
What’s Your Financial Goal
By Colin Lewis (@ColinLewis)
Money may not be able to buy you happiness, but it sure can provide peace of mind. I think about money a lot, I like Napoleon Hill’s term of “Money Conscious.” I’m sure most people think about money a lot, in fact many surveys tell us that its right up there with sex as one of the most thought of subjects…… yet guess what…..very few executives or entrepreneurs that I have coached, add the financial aspect to their annual plans.
In my mid 40’s I strongly believe wealth has to be grown from the inside out. I never used to think that way, I lived an outside in life, there was the helicopter, goodness knows how many ‘flash cars,’ the sailing yacht, dinners at the swankiest restaurants in whatever city I happened to be jetting in and out of, and so on. Nice memories but then disaster struck….the millions of dollars I had in stock, tanked, virtually all gone overnight!
Of course I had the fancy toys that I could sell and get by, but the depreciation of their value was frightening. The 
Yacht that I got soaked on during the 5 times I used it (yep only 5 times) went from US$ 47,000 to a value of US$ 30,000 in just over 12 months….I might as well have stood in my back yard and had someone spray a hose pipe of water on me as I tore up dollar bills.
It was a very welcome lesson. Thoreau had it right when he said “simplify, simplify, simplify.” Today my toys are books and sport clothing…that’s it, that’s all I need – you see I learned the truth of what Paul meant in 1 Corinthians 16:2, “On the first day of every week let each one of you put aside and save, as he may prosper.”
Do you put aside at least 1 day’s income a week? After my set back I began putting aside 60% of my monthly income, some by investments in properties and some just in pure cash. This is one of the greatest pieces of advice for executives and entrepreneurs, we never know when disaster will knock at the door, that divorce which you never expected, the client that cancels the big order, the health problems that keep you from work but the insurance company won’t cover your income let alone your health bills.
Stop right now and answer this question – If you or your partner lost his or her job/income, how many months or years could you survive without adjusting your standard of living?
The advice I give people on my coaching program is start with the end in mind. You are 45 now, your very healthy and plan on living another 50 years, how much do you need? Do the math. If you want an income of US$ 250,000 a year after taxes, so you can travel, take care of the children’s education, the grandchildren, provide donations to charities close to your heart and have a degree of financial freedom. Guess how much you will need? The answer is US$ 12.5 million. I call this my “Financial Freedom target.”
That figure often frightens people, it shouldn’t – it should be a wake up call, a great challenge to go out there and earn it…because you are clever, creative, live in time when anybody can achieve prosperity. The authors of The 12 Factors of Business Success, (one of whom Dr Mollie Marti is a co blogger on Sarah’s 30 Days to Change Your Game Blog Series) tell us that “You are born with the right to pursue wealth and the potential to be rich. Your income is largely self-determined.” Many of the ancient sages and current day thought leaders tell us this but not everyone gets the message.
Now do another quick calculation – if you add up all your financial assets and subtract your financial liabilities, do you end up with a positive or a negative number?
The majority of people in their 40’s end up with a negative. Imagine if you could turn that around and start creating not just a safety net, but significant steps towards achieving your ‘end goal’ your “Financial Freedom target.” Because once you get absolutely clear on that target you go to work achieving it, what you think will be, will be. Isn’t it the best use of your time and talent whilst you have the faculties and good health to do so? Don’t wait, I encourage you to build that target into your planning now. Here’s a few questions to help you get started;
Do you have a clear, Financial Freedom goal that you could summarize in two sentences?
Could you adjust your outgoings to start saving more each month?
What steps will you take now to ensure your Financial Freedom target is met?
Colin Lewis is the author of Wisdom Notes. Through Wisdom Notes he aims to distill the knowledge contained in great books, interweave it with some of the wisdom of the ages, and provide the reader with a clear, illuminating picture of how to apply this in their every day life. This provides them with the opportunity to shift their consciousness to new levels of awareness. http://www.wisdomnote.com/
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