We’ve all done it before. We’ve been sitting in class, at the office or on the bus thinking about what our life would be like if we had money in abundance. The sad reality is that most people only ever dream of achieving high levels of financial success and very few go about actually attaining it. Why is that? Because most people don’t even know where to start nor what it takes to become financially successful. Fortunately, with a bit of motivation and the right game plan, improving your financial situation is entirely possible and here are the 5 core elements that must be in place if you want to see dramatic growth in your own financial life!
Number 1: Ongoing Education
One of the most important aspects of getting ahead financially is to be constantly generating income. Simply put, without income, you have zero ability to save and invest. In fact, I will take it a step further and say that your income is the bloodline of your whole financial state. No matter how much you embrace frugality, how fine-tuned your financial spreadsheets are or how many times you save a dollar price matching your groceries, none of these efforts will matter if your income isn’t on-point.
While I know that there exists a ton of people who have terrible saving habits or who subject themselves to wealth crippling investing fees, however the issue that pervades most people is one of income. I hate to say it but most people lack the ability to make more money. In fact, if it weren’t for standard cost of living raises at their job, they’d still probably be making the same income they were after graduating college. Now, this is not a knock on people, but it’s a reminder that making money requires an awareness of how money is made. Money is made when you provide value and this is why you need to ensure that you are continuously raising your ability to offer value to others. How do you do that? You continuously invest into your education by putting forward not just money but time as well.
These days, I live by the saying “what got you here, won’t get you there” and the simple truth is that the disparity between the income you’re making now and the income you aim to achieve is a disparity of value. I know in my own personal life, I saw noticeable rises in my salary when I started to acquire new degrees and designations. When I first started my career, I was making just over $40,000 but after getting a Master’s degree and two other accounting designations, my income has risen exponentially. Why is that? Because I have more knowledge and expertise to offer my employers.
I know my example of how I’ve raised my own value in the past may indicate that formal education is the only path to more income but it’s not. Today, we are fortunate enough to have access to a multitude of different platforms that can enable us to learn new skills or further cultivate the ones we presently have. From leveraging the power of YouTube university to blogs and podcasts, valuable information that we can use to make more money is all around us. All you have to do is seek it out, absorb it and apply it!
Therefore, your first step in streamlining your path to financial success lies in constantly acquiring new skills, knowledge and expertise and when you have more to offer, I can guarantee your financial situation will change for the better!
Number 2: The Ability To Sell
The word “sales” evokes different emotions for different people depending on the experiences you’ve had. For instance, if you’ve ever been jerked around by a slimy used car salesman then chances are the word “sales” makes you grimace. Contrarily, if you’ve ever closed a 5-figure deal then the thought of selling gets you pumped up with excitement. Well, regardless of how you feel about selling, it is an essential skill to master if you want to have any chance of getting ahead financially.
Now, like I said, the idea of selling will be different for different people. When I refer to selling I am coming at it from two different perspectives; at least one of which must be employed to make significant financial strides.
The first means of selling that will resonate with most people is selling your skills to an employer. Most people don’t perceive the act of applying for and maintaining a job as selling but it certainly is. Chances are, if you don’t do a good enough job selling yourself during an interview then you’ll be back to filling out endless job applications with the hopes that at least one of your attempts will come through. But, let’s say that good fortune is on your side and you do get hired — congratulations! The next step is to keep that job and use it as a stepping stone to greater and greater financial success. How do you do this? You continuously sell what value you bring to the table to your employer.
In the context of a white-collar work environment, this could be obtaining training or new designations that heighten your value offering and then demonstrating this new ability or proficiency in your day to day activities. How does this make you money you may ask? Well, when raise and promotion time rolls around, you will have a plethora of examples to demonstrate what value you bring to the table which will be essential in justifying why you deserve a bump in your upcoming year’s salary.
Moving on, let’s talk about the second form of selling which is selling a product of service. This is the form of selling you’re probably more familiar with and this method is essential in achieving an impressive level of income. Why is that you may ask? Because when you sell a product it offers you an important wealth factor that selling your skills to an employer will never have: reach. As an employee, you can only provide value to one single employer which means your value distribution is limited. However, when you can sell a product or service, you can reach the masses which means you’re offering more value to more people and as I’ve said before, “if you want to make a million dollars, help a million people”. Therefore, honing your ability to make an enticing product or service and getting it in the hands of the masses is essential for achieving superior financial results.
Number 3: Consistency
If you ask me, the only difference between those who become financially successful and those who don’t is that the former simply never gave up. I hate to say it but these days most people don’t have the mental fortitude to win big in the game of money. We have been so conditioned by the world of instant everything we live in that if we don’t get quick results, we quit, often blaming everyone but ourselves for our failures.
Here’s what you need to understand; failure is a main ingredient in financial success. How do I know this? Because I’ve failed more times than I can count but those failures were essential in my quest to achieving all of my biggest accomplishments in life to date. For instance, I’ve failed many tests and exams on route to getting my CPA designation. I’ve also suffered the disappointment of getting 5 views on a YouTube video I’ve spent hours working on however because I’ve stuck with it I now have a channel that makes me over $100,000 a year. Again, I truly believe that whoever is willing to hold on the longest wins but it takes showing up day after day and most people don’t want to do that.
Now, I’m not saying that being consistent will guarantee that you meet every goal you set for yourself. No matter how consistent I could have been at honing my basketball skills, there’s no way at 5’9 and with no innate athletic ability that I would have been able to crack an NBA starting lineup. However, in my opinion, most endeavours that do not require any natural born skill or trait are totally achievable with consistent effort. This is because with time, you can improve and master just about any skill you choose. This means that once you’ve set your eyes on where you want to end up, it just comes down to putting in the work day after day!
Number 4: Mentorship
Working towards your goals without mentorship is like biking in first gear; sure you’ll eventually get to your end destination but it’s going to take you a lot longer than it had to. You see, what most people overlook in their quest for impressive financial wealth is gaining the wisdom and expertise of those who have succeeded before them. I’m not sure if the idea of picking the brains of others just never crosses people’s minds or that they don’t know where to start when it comes to fostering a mentor relationship but I can tell you first hand that having someone who can guide you on your wealth journey is the closest thing to a money hack that exists in the world today. Why is that? Let me explain.
If you ask me, having a mentor is like having a Gameshark while playing Pokemon Blue back in 1999. With your Gameshark, you had access to cheat codes that could give you all the resources you needed to essentially play the game on easy mode and the same can be true when you find the right mentor. The right mentor will not only allow you to save money by teaching you how to avoid costly business or career mistakes but will save you something more important: time. I know when I was building my YouTube channel, getting proper guidance saved me months of stagnancy and allowed me to ensure that each day my channel and influence grew just a bit more!
Now, like I said, not everyone is fortunate enough to already have top-tier mentors in their lives but here’s where you can start if you want to get the guidance you need to be successful in any of your upcoming financial endeavours. First, seek mentorship through the resources that are the most accessible to you. For example, seek out blogs, YouTube channels and read books around the topics you’re interested in. Once you graduate from these free resources, start to invest into higher level content through courses and seminars. These avenues generally offer the most rich content and when applied should allow you to quickly recoup your investment. Finally, get out there and network. Offer value to those in your field or simply demonstrate an interest in what they do and over time you will start to build relationships with those who can expedite your path to riches!
Number 5: Patience
If mentorship is the greatest tool you can leverage to become wealthy then patience is it’s personality equivalent. Patience is by far and away the most important trait you must possess if you want any chance at becoming rich. Why is that? Because building wealth is a marathon and not a sprint and if you’re constantly trying to shortcut your way to wealth, you’re never going to get there.
Now, I will admit that even to this day, being patient is something that I struggle with. I’ve definitely been known to cut my microwave time short and eat my food cold because I couldn’t stand waiting. Fortunately, in most cases, being impatient just meant a lackluster eating experience but this lack of patience has definitely impeded my financial success many times in the past.
For instance, back when I first started trying to make money online, I tried my hand at every single business model you can imagine. I tried social media management, Amazon FBA, dropshipping and the list goes on. And you know what I concluded? I concluded that none of these business models were viable. Sure, there were thousands of people making a killing via these means but since I couldn’t make it work I ignorantly blamed the business model and not myself for my failures.
It’s kind of like dating. If you’ve never had a successful relationship then at some point you need to see that you’re the common link between all your past failures and that maybe instead of them being the issue, the issue is actually you.
My issue in my past business failures was not being patient enough to ride out the learning curve that was required to gain enough proficiency to eventually make it work. Who would have thought that only trying a platform for a week wasn’t enough to become a master at it! However, when I reflect now on those laughable times, one thing has become clear.
Anything of grandeur that I’ve achieved in my lifetime has required a high degree of patience. From building up my physique to getting my CPA designation, all significant achievements take significant investments of time but more particularly patience.
Therefore, on route to financial success, don’t get in your own way by lacking the patience required to see your actions through. Be the tortoise in a world full of hares and when you accept that winning takes time, achieving all your wildest financial goals will be inevitable!