How to have a successful year

In the past few days, a number of people have been writing ‘Lists’, in all manner of ways that you can have a successful year.

In my constant pursuit of self-improvement and financial strategy development, these lists got me thinking.

I’ve noticed over the years that the journey to financial freedom is one that constantly evolves.

There is no right way and more importantly, there is no ‘get rich quick’ way that works. Have you ever met someone who has achieved financial freedom following someone else’s ‘get rich quick’ scheme?

In reading some of these 2016 lists it reminded me of how you need to review your plans regularly to ensure you are on the right path, and that you are focusing on the tasks that will assist your progress.

Not wanting to miss out on the fun, I’ve created a list for you of 6 tips that will improve your financial success.

6 Tips on How to Have a Successful Year

1. Education

There is no surprise that I am advocating education, it’s the cornerstone of your growth and success.

I recommend allocating some of your time to educating yourself. This could be in the form of reading books or completing courses.

There are many great books available on the topic of wealth creation, the following are just a few of my favourites: Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, Adapt by Tim Harford, Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker and Learned Optimism by Michael Seligman.

If you are short of time, there are two great ebooks that are considered industry favourites, ‘The Science of Getting Rich’ by Wallace D Wattles and ‘Acres of Diamonds’ by Russell H. Conwell. Send me a message and I will happily email you both of these eBooks as my New Year gift.

Further, in 2016 I’m excited to be launching a number of courses that will be a summary of my 20 years of research and practical application. Stay tuned for more details soon on how you can learn with me.

2. Action

In my free special report, ‘The Essential Requirements to be Wealthy’, one of the elements of my ‘Wealth Formula’ is ACTION. Click the blue button below to access the special report

It is a surprisingly simple concept, take action, but it is one of the most difficult and least implemented.

I have attended and purchased a number of courses over the years, both for wealth creation and more recently business development, and one of the common themes from the presenters has been an acknowledgement that the number of people starting the program will be significantly more than the number that complete it.

This is an unfortunate reflection of our society…

The challenge for you this year is to ensure that you are one of those that take ACTION, and don’t be afraid for it to be massive action.

Each small step forward leads to another action and another step closer to your financial freedom.

3. Overcome your fears

Last week I discussed FEAR and how it can limit your success…

Over the years, the FEAR of failure or the unknown has been a significant reason for my biggest challenges.

T.Harv Eker has an excellent declaration for fear, ‘The Rich Act in Spite of Fear’. It is a nice link to the previous tip, Action. The rich ACT in spite of fear, they take action.

Identify your fears, what has been preventing you from success or action, write them down, including what you would do if they actually happened. More than likely you would be able to survive and carry on. I think the past 12 months is proof of that for so many of us, right?

Start work on taking action and acting in spite of your fears.

4. Meditate

The modern world is extremely fast-paced and demanding. There are so many different demands on your time, life gets so busy.

I learned a very valuable lesson in 2015 from Eben Pagan about rejuvenation and renewal.

In order to manage the demands of life, and to be more productive, you need to make time in your life for rejuvenation and renewal.

One of the quickest and most effective ways to achieve mental, physical, and emotional renewal is to take time out each day, say 20 minutes, for meditation. There are free apps available to assist you. I use Buddhify.

I have been using meditation for a while, after being resistant at first to the benefits, however, I would now say this is one of my favourite tips for the new year. The benefits are significant.

By taking the time to meditate, you give yourself the time to rest and reflect…the body and mind will relax, thereby enhancing your ability to be more productive and hence successful when you return to the rigours of life.

5. Invest BEFORE you Spend

This tip would seem to be the most obvious for financial success, but again the research suggests that this will be the most difficult to implement.

One of the major differences between the rich and the poor is that the rich invest a portion of their money before they spend any, whereas the poor spend their money and only invest if there is anything left over, which in most cases there isn’t.

This is a topic that I will cover in more detail in future blogs, but suffice to say that the key tip is to have a system to manage your money.

To be able to achieve financial freedom, you need to have your money working for you, and to do that you need to be putting some of your salary to work…

The system I teach in my 5 Steps to Financial Freedom course is to identify your monthly surplus and then automate that money into your wealth generator account to secure your financial future. I highly recommend checking out this course, which is priced so that everyone can access it. This could be the best money you ever spend. I’ve been told I should charge thousands for it, but that wouldn’t get it to those that need it. So jump on it, make it your new year gift 🙂

You will be amazed at how effective and quickly your money will grow.

6. Set Goals

I am sure you have heard this one before, you may have even tried it…

Goals are a common tip for people looking to achieve success.

Why is it then that goals are not a great motivator for success?

In most cases, you will have set goals in a traditional manner – think of what you want, put a timeframe on getting it and that would be it, right?

Well, I can guarantee that this is not likely to work on a consistent basis.

But there is a way to make goals effective in motivating you for success that involves a subtle addition to how you define your goals.

As normal, identify what you want, write it down and attach a timeframe to when you want to achieve the goal.

Now the subtle addition which I learned from Harv Eker. Define what you would consider the minimum achievement for this goal, the target for the goal, which is likely to be what you described in the first step, and then add an outrageous achievement.

This is called MTO (Minimum, Target, and Outrageous) goal setting.

By giving yourself three alternatives you are far more likely to achieve one, thereby enhancing the reinforcement loop that comes from success and therefore more likely to develop the habit of goal setting and goal achievement.

Conclusion

There it is, my top 6 tips for how to have a successful year. Now I could have added many more, I’ve seen lists of 40 and 50 items in the past few days, but I want this list to give you some practical steps that you can start doing today to move toward financial freedom.

If you take just one thing from this post, let it be that ACTION is what will change your life. It doesn’t matter whether it is with money, investing or any aspect of your life that you want to improve, nothing changes if nothing changes!

Let me know your thoughts, which tip will you implement today? Leave me a message below.

Click Here for Free Report – “The 5 Steps to Smarter Money Management”