Anyone can make money. You can post an offer in your supermarket for services you are willing to provide. You can post offers on Craigslist to sell your services. You can sell old merchandise on eBay and other online sellers. You can get a part time job. There are many other ways people can make money. The question is, why do you even need a money mindset if making money is easy?
While the dynamics of making money may be easy, if you are not taking the right steps, you won’t be making enough for it to be worthwhile. You not only want to optimize your money-making abilities, but you also want to keep the money that you do make. Further, you want to make it grow in the fastest possible manner and by the most amount. For this, you certainly want to consider taking on a money mindset.
You need to focus your efforts on opportunities that will give you the highest return. Most people aren’t taught how to do this. They learn it by trial-and-error. Which means, they will likely do the wrong things that will cost them a lot of money. That money took a long time to make.
Learning about the right approaches to money management can counter all of these problems. You can still use the methods discussed in the first paragraph to earn money for yourself, but you want to take that money and get them earning more for you.
Some people will strike it lucky. They will win the lottery, or they create an app that sells for millions of dollars. Can you depend on either of these? Are you going to come into money from a long-lost relative who passed away? Again, this is not something you should count on (unless you know for sure).
Even those “lucky” people who come into money somehow, wind up losing it all because they don’t have a money mindset. Time after time, you read about lottery winners who are broke. The biggest problem for them is all the relatives and friends that suddenly come into the picture. Also, spouses have differences of opinion on how this money should be spent.
People want to make money. You see the lavish lifestyles of celebrities and other famous people and wish you could have the same lifestyle yourself. But, is your drive for money blinding you to what is truly important in your life?
It is often said that if you do something you love, the money will follow. There seems to be something to this because you will approach whatever you love with passion. You’ll get better at it to the point where you are better than everyone else, or at least that is what you strive.
On the other hand, if making money is your driving force, how will you accomplish that? You will simply chase the dollar from one job to the next or from one opportunity to the next. You will get seduced by false offers of riches. Over time, you will look back and see that not much has been accomplished.
In other words, you didn’t give your previous level enough time to develop a foundation. You jumped ahead, and now you are unclear what to do. It’s a concept known as the Peter Principle, named after the person who came up with the idea, Peter Drucker.
Money isn’t as important as many try to make it out to be. For instance, what good is having a high-paying job when you have to work 80-90 hours a week? What kind of life is that? Many people who do this, look back at their lives and wonder why they did it.
While they may have a lot of money when they get older, they likely don’t have anyone to share it with. Another possibility is the heavy workload to obtain that wealth gets them to an early grave. The money they earned is useless to them if that happens.
If you are happy with what you are doing, money becomes a secondary priority. People do need money to live, and you shouldn’t settle to work for less than you are worth. But, when you can balance a decent amount of money with doing something that you enjoy, it will bring a whole bunch of satisfaction into your life.
Choosing someone to manage your finances for you is a big step. Who do you trust and how good are they? If you are lucky to find the right financial advisor, will it help develop your money mindset?
The advantage of having an advisor is they are not emotionally attached to your money. The disadvantage is they are not emotionally attached to your money. It is a double-edged sword and one that you have to monitor very carefully. Too many people make the mistake of keeping an advisor employed even when they are not doing as well as expected.
Ask potential advisors a lot of questions before deciding. If they are not transparent about how they are going to manage your money, it’s probably best to move on to someone else. They should have no problem making their plans for your money known. It’s important to remember it is your money.
This brings up an important point. You are ultimately responsible for the decisions made by any advisor you choose. While they may not be good and end up losing money on your account, you chose them, to begin with. This is why it’s crucial to pick a good advisor. Try to find people you trust who are happy with advisors they have used. Referrals from people you know are the best type of referrals.
On the other hand, you don’t want to micromanage your financial advisor. Good advisors are well trained and know the ins and outs of managing money. If you are constantly calling them to find out why a particular stock or bond is not doing as expected, you are not being fair to your advisor.
Of course, if they set up the plan with one expectation for your entire portfolio and it is not doing what you agreed upon, you need to be critical with the advisor.
You need to be comfortable with the risk the advisor is going to take with your money. Hopefully, they interviewed you about your risk profile and set up a plan with this in mind. It cannot be overstated that it is your money, and you are responsible.
Having the correct money mindset requires great self-discipline and many people struggle with this so if you want to harness the power of self-discipline, check out the featured resource below for a free report; download, read it and take action 🙂
Building self-discipline is a process that’s never-ending. It doesn’t matter if you’re a monk who is meditating on a mountaintop or the CEO or a multinational corporation – you’ll always be encountering challenges when it comes to self-discipline.
The question you’ll need to ask yourself is – “Why am I trying to build self-discipline?”
Self-discipline doesn’t exist in isolation. It has to be applied. Where you apply it will be determined by your goals.
Below, you’ll find 7 things that most people need to exercise discipline with…
Having a daily routine is a MUST. If you live each day as it comes and in a haphazard manner, over time, your life will be a mess. It’s inevitable.
This is part of your routine, and it will help you achieve your goal. Self-discipline here will mean not skipping workouts and striving to improve on your personal bests with each session.
Ultimately, your habits will either make you or break you. Self-discipline is all about breaking the bad habits and replacing them with good ones.
You should do this gradually and it’ll be easier to make progress. Trying to do too much too soon can be extremely difficult.
It goes without saying that you are what you eat. If you’re overweight or have health issues like diabetes or hypertension, it’s crucial to watch your diet and eat what’s right for you.
Self-discipline will mean staying on track and not giving in to temptations. Changing one’s diet is one of the most difficult tasks to complete, but when done, can totally transform your health and body.
As mentioned earlier, exercising is one area where self-discipline is required. While you can lose weight with a clean diet, exercise is too important and beneficial for you to neglect.
Choose an activity you enjoy doing and get as much of it as you can. Ideally, you should exercise for 30 to 45 minutes daily. Even on days when you’re not feeling like it, self-discipline will mean going through the motions.
A self-disciplined person meets their deadlines. This means not procrastinating on your work and having a schedule to follow.
So, setting yourself tighter deadlines will mean increasing your speed and focus on the job at hand. Remember not to sacrifice quality for speed. You should be fast and still do a good job.
Family commitments or commitments to other people in your life should be met too. Do not sacrifice your family time just to build a business, or by the time your business is successful, you may not have a family.
Finding balance in life is almost impossible for long periods of time, but self-discipline will ensure that you not drop the ball in any one part of your life while focusing on your goals.
The way you spend your time will define who you are. Self-discipline will ensure that you spend it wisely rather than frittering it away on trivial pursuits.
We live in an age where people spend hours on social media, sacrificing precious time that could have been spent in a much better way.
Like Charles Darwin said, “A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.”
The 7 pointers are just some of the many that you should focus on when trying to discipline yourself. If you can manage these 7 well, your life will be fantastic and rewarding.
Do start working on them today.
You’re all fired up and want to transform your life for the better. You’re willing to eat clean, exercise hard, wake up early to hustle and grind – just so you can be the winner you want to be.
The motivational video you watched the previous night made you feel like anything is possible, and you just need to make the right changes.
So, you make the changes. You eat right, exercise hard, and do whatever you have to… only to give up one week later because it’s just too hard. The juice doesn’t seem worth the squeeze.
Or are you just not aware of what it really takes to transform your life?
All too often, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. One may have the best intentions but lack the fortitude to keep going because he/she has a false perception of how tough the journey is.
Just like how the phoenix rises from the ashes, to become a ‘new you’ the old you has to die – and this is a painful process. It CANNOT be done overnight.
You’ll have to make gradual changes every day. Aiming for 1% improvement daily is more than enough to transform your life, even if it doesn’t seem like much.
When breaking the mould, it will feel like you’re fighting yourself – and you are. All change is met with resistance. If you’re broke, you’ll find that controlling your spending habits is a tough job.
If you’re overweight and trying to eat clean, you’ll have cravings for sugary foods and junk food. If you’re trying to be productive, you’ll constantly feel the urge to check your social media or binge watch Netflix shows.
Herein lies the contradiction – and it’s something you must be aware of on the journey towards becoming a more disciplined person. You’ll be battling yourself at every turn, but you will overcome the challenges and rise to greater heights.
Self-discipline is intertwined with delayed gratification. If you’re avoiding the junk food today, it’s because you’re trying to achieve a fit and healthy body tomorrow.
If you’re working on your business while sacrificing time that could be spent on entertainment, you’re hoping to build wealth and financial freedom in future.
You’ll need patience to stay the course. This is extremely hard because the process is not fun, and you need to see progress to stay motivated.
When you’re impatient, it’ll feel like what you’re doing is not working. In reality, it is working. It just needs more time.
The author, Jim Rohn, once said, “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.”
This ties in closely with the previous point. Once the initial motivation to get started begins to fade, then the process will become a grind.
The key is to correct yourself after an error and to keep going. So, being aware that the process of developing self-discipline is a relatively long and rigorous one will make you understand that you’re in this for the long haul.
It’s a marathon and not a sprint.
Sometimes, you’ll need to change your environment to help stay disciplined. If you’re trying to build your business during the weekends when you’re free, you might wish to avoid hanging out with friends who like to hit the clubs and party hard.
If you’re trying to lose weight, your kitchen will need to be free of unhealthy food and snacks, so you’re not tempted to binge eat.
Making your environment more conducive to supporting your efforts will help ease the resistance you face when trying to build self-discipline.
Take note of the pointers here and remember that all the pain and effort will be worth it in the end. Self-discipline is the key ingredient to success.
As you can see, self-discipline is an important skill to master, and if you want to increase your power of self discipline then check out the featured resource below for a free detailed report; download, read it and take action 😊
If you have a great memory, you are one of the lucky few. This article probably isn’t going to add any value for you. For the rest of us, we have a difficult time remembering what we ate for breakfast this morning unless it just happened.
Keeping a journal can be a great way to improve our situations. Because we have a difficult time remembering what happened in the past, we can simply refer to our journals. These journals will contain entries that specify the events on any particular day, as well as personal notes to ourselves. These notes can be related to the events, or they can be completely unrelated. It’s up to you.
Try to avoid haphazard entries as the value of the journal will diminish. The journal is the reference book of your life. It also can serve as providing answers to problems you had in the past. The entries will contain notes about how you solved the problems.
It’s up to you whether you want to create this journal online or handwritten. There can be more of a commitment when you handwrite your journal. But, the choice is yours, as long as you keep it going and use it.
Some productivity tools can help in your efforts to journal. For instance, Evernote is a free online tool where you can create notes. You can date these notes and create a section called journal. They even have a feature where you can set up checklists or task lists. The information is saved in the cloud and is secure.
If the entire concept intimidates you, start out small. Don’t try to create volumes in your journal in the first few weeks. The journal structure that you come up with will evolve over time. You’ll keep what is working and scrap what isn’t.
A journal can help you recall information, but it also serves to help you improve your memory. As you continue to record your daily events, you are training your brain with this activity. You’ll end up relying on the journal less and less. Another great idea is to turn your journal into a book and sell it.
Using a journal is a good tool for self discipline too. Let’s look at some more ways to increase your self discipline.
We all want more self-control. Imagine how much easier life would be if eating right wasn’t such a struggle or a trip to the gym wasn’t a fight with self, regarding the desire for an extra hour of sleep.
Here’s how:
Understand What’s Particularly Tempting
We all have a weakness. Whether we can’t say no to the salty snacks or wind up staying up too late night after night, we’re looking at the same problem: A lack of self-discipline. By knowing what our triggers are, it’s a simple matter to defuse them.
Change Your Environment
Once you know what tempts you, the simple solution is to remove the trigger from your environment. Salty snacks? Stop buying them. Staying up late? Remove the lightbulb from your bedroom. Don’t be afraid to get radical and more than a little creative.
Set A Goal
Without a plan, how can you accomplish anything? Ask what you’re trying to change. What does your new future look like for you? Make an action plan to take you there.
Practice
Self-discipline doesn’t happen overnight. The only way you’re going to learn it is to practice it. Look at the plan you just created. What steps does it require? Push yourself to act on those steps, daily.
Break Things Down
Change is more natural to make when the steps are kept small and very simple. Break things down to their smallest components. What’s something small you can do today to help you build the habit of self-discipline?
Pay Attention To Your Body
Your physical health will always affect your willpower, so taking care of the basics, such as getting enough sleep and exercising regularly will help you to have better self-discipline.
Gain A New Perspective
The moment you start thinking you have no self-discipline, or that your willpower is a finite resource, you start limiting yourself. By changing your inner dialogue, you’re more likely to have success. Remind yourself often: “I’ve got this.” It truly is about mind over matter.
What’s Plan B?
When going into a difficult situation where you know self-discipline will be challenged, create a backup plan. Know before you begin just what you’re going to do if the worst happens. Implement as needed.
Use Rewards
When you succeed in your goals, don’t be afraid to allow yourself a small reward. As human beings, we’re wired to work our best when we know we’re going to get something out the experience we want.
Know How To Move On
Screwed up? Forgive yourself. Keep going. It’s normal for everyone to mess up now and again. It’s what you do next that matters.
Having strong self-discipline helps you to keep momentum going, especially when the going gets tough, but what are some other ways to help you build momentum?
You’re on the way! You have a goal in mind, you’re working hard to get there. It might be you’re after something personal. It might be you’re concentrating solely on your career right now. Whatever it is you want, you’re hungry for it. You can’t wait to see the culmination of all this hard work.
…only everything seems to be moving so slow…
So, what do you do when momentum is lagging? Easy. You find ways to build it. Try these quick tips guaranteed to make things happen:
Visualize The Future
Take some time to consider where you’ll be in six months. What about next year or the next five years? Seeing yourself in the future is a really positive way to keep your momentum going. If you can get excited about the you of tomorrow, you’ll find yourself fighting to become that person right now.
Get Up And Do Something
It’s so easy to grow stagnant. Rather than binge-watch the latest Netflix sitcom, how about getting up to create some mischief of your own? Go play a game, take a walk, spend time with friends. Do inspirational things to fill you with enthusiasm.
Learn Stuff
An active mind is a creative mind. The act of learning, even in small increments such as 10-15 minutes a day, will still improve cognitive function. In short, by keeping your mind active, you will pick up momentum.
Act When You Don’t Feel Like It
If you’re waiting for the muse to strike, stop. There will never be a perfect time to work. Momentum means keeping going, even when you don’t feel like it.
Put Your Phone Away
Giving yourself the gift of uninterrupted time does wonders for momentum. By turning off your phone for an hour, you’ll give yourself the freedom to relax, recharge, explore, and forge ahead.
Quit
When it comes to momentum, if you’ve found you’re slowing down, it might be because what you’re doing just doesn’t work. In this case, sometimes the smartest thing to do is to stop. Don’t waste time beating your head against a wall when you could be making progress elsewhere.
Do Something Scary
It’s the challenge that pushes you to new limits. When you do what’s easy, momentum lags. This is why it’s so important to challenge yourself to do the things you never thought you would.
Remember, whatever you can find to help keep the momentum going, embrace! If affirmations help, post a bunch of them everywhere. Put on music to get you moving. Create a social life around people who support you wholeheartedly. You’re the one in charge of your destiny, it’s up to you to act.
As you can see, self-discipline is an important thread throughout this article and if you want to increase your power of self discipline then check out the featured resource below for a free detailed report; download, read it and take action 😊
At some point in everyone’s life, they will come across obstacles. Many people are not prepared for these obstacles, and it causes them to stumble. But when you discover that obstacles can be opportunities, then you will be better prepared to handle them.
Many people are plagued with alcohol addiction. Some will come to terms with it and seek out help for their situation. It is not easy for them, but when they are on the road to recovery they can use their experience to help others.
Sometimes it can be as simple as being there for those who are still struggling. Other times, these people will hold seminars about their experiences in the hope that others will see they are not alone.
When we come across obstacles, we are often tempted to wish they would just go away. This seldom works as we usually need to take action to overcome obstacles.
Simply ignoring your problems thinking they will somehow manage to solve themselves will only make your situation worse. The good news is, in many cases, when you come up with a plan for your obstacles you will find they can be overcome.
You will be amazed at how many people settle for these obstacles and do nothing about them; perhaps they use them as an excuse for the way their lives are headed.
But realise that you don’t have to tackle them alone; in fact, you are always better off doing this as part of a team.
Join groups where people have dealt with the same obstacles you are dealing with. They can offer suggestions or point you to the right programs or solutions.
What you don’t want to do is to join these groups in the hope they will solve your problems for you. These groups can also help you make new friends and even establish future connections or professional endeavors.
Another opportunity in obstacles is the strength that you obtain during the process of solving them. You will learn a lot about yourself during this trying time. It may be worth you documenting what you are going through and this could form the basis for a book that could be used to help others.
You can bet that there are others in a similar situation to yours, s if you have found a way to overcome a particular obstacle, don’t you think that others would want that information too?
When you find other people who are looking for a solution, you have the opportunity for a business or venture.
People are willing to pay to solve a problem or at least reduce its impact.
When you solve that problem for them, they often tell others who are experiencing the same problem, so the venture feeds on itself. This makes your solution an easy sell.
Talking of obstacles, do you think that age is an obstacle nowadays? It may have been in the past but what about now? Well, let’s take a look at that…
Kids spend a good part of their childhood wanting to be older. They are proud of reaching certain milestones like age 10 and then age 16, etc. Parents try to encourage them not to rush their lives as they know life goes much quicker and seemingly so the older you get.
And there is an obstacle for people who are under 25. It’s harder to get a loan without someone cosigning, and insurance on automobiles is quite expensive for this age group. Rental car companies usually don’t even rent to them until they reach 25 years of age.
But, eventually, they reach the age where they don’t have restrictions anymore. That is until they start approaching their 50’s. It seems companies don’t want to hang onto these aging employees. This is because they can find someone younger for much cheaper.
While companies are not supposed to discriminate based on age, it’s quite easy to find other reasons not to hire these people.
This is narrow-minded on the part of companies. Many of these aging employees hold years of experience and knowledge. While generally, their younger counterparts are cheaper, it will take them years to gain the experience and knowledge of the older employees.
Another problem is people are living longer and many are not willing to retire at age 65, or whatever limit is set by governments. They have a lot to offer and they like the challenge of working. It is supposedly healthier for their minds to keep active as well.
Some companies will offer early retirement packages to people of a certain age. While these packages are not as lucrative as they used to be, it is still generally a wise idea to take them when offered. If you don’t it is likely you will be cut eventually anyway, with no package to rely on.
In many instances, this early retirement policy causes gaps in the business, and they end up hiring the same employees back as consultants. This may seem like a waste but it’s important to remember that consultants don’t add to the headcount and can be let go at a moment’s notice.
One solution is to keep on a group of aging employees as trainers and mentors. They have much to offer in the way of knowledge transfer and they can be a great benefit to the company when new hires are added to the payroll. They can help new employees get up to speed quickly by showing them the ropes as they have already been there and done it!
Whatever you want in life will require discipline to achieve and overcoming obstacles is a small part of this. But if you want to know more about harnessing the power of self-discipline, then check out the featured resource below for a free detailed report; download, read it and take action 🙂
As you are probably aware, the current health situation has resulted in many more people working from home for the last 16 months or so. But is this going to become the new normal for people?
Working from home can be a real benefit to some people, but there quite a few people who don’t like working from home because they feel less productive.
Working from home requires a lot of self-discipline and isn’t for everyone. You can also find yourself working longer hours because there is no commute to and from a workplace and before you know it, it is 6pm already and your spouse is calling you down for dinner!
So, can you be more efficient when you work from home? Well, I believe the answer is ‘Yes’ but it does require effort and a shift in thinking and the way you may approach your to-do list for the day.
Let’s take a look at how you can become an efficient homeworker by applying a few simple hacks to make the most of your work hours to get stuff done!
Working at home gives people the flexibility to be at home, while still being able to collect a paycheck. But, does working at home automatically make you get more done?
Being able to spend more time with your family is another benefit people associate with working from home. You can be home when your kids come home from school. You’ll be able to go their afterschool activities such as sports games.
People who work at home learn that it has unintended challenges associated with it. For instance, while it’s nice to be around your family, are they letting you get your work done?
Are you spending too much time with your family that is taking away from your responsibilities to your job?
You need to work with your family to set up boundaries. This means you should dedicate a space like an office that you use to work. When you are in the office, your family needs to understand that interruptions are off limits, unless it’s an emergency.
You will also need to handle interruptions by neighbors that may visit. While many of your neighbors will be commuting to work, there are more people working from home today. This increases the chances that some of your neighbors are working from home as well.
It’s tempting when you see them outside, to see what they are up to, etc. It’s okay to do this once in a while, but don’t let it interrupt your job.
You may end up working more hours even when you factor in the lack of commuting. Your boss may be inclined to call you up after work hours and ask you to handle some tasks. If she does this to all employees, then you may not be able to do much to change that.
However, if she is singling you out because you work at home and she believes this gives her permission to call upon you, this may be something you need to handle.
And while you’re thinking about efficiency while working from home, what about your house itself; can that be more efficient too?
There is a lot of attention given to being greener. Aside from the political ramifications of the initiatives, making your house more efficient can help the environment but can also save you a decent amount of money.
Appliances are rated using the Energy Star rating system. The better the rating, the more you will save money. But, it’s a bit more complicated than this. You need to factor in the type of fuel your house uses.
The better the system, the more you will save with these appliances. So, even high rated appliances won’t do as well with an inefficient system.
While it is true that efficient houses command a higher selling price, you may not get as much as you put into making your house efficient.
Of course, you may still choose to move forward with changes because you want to be ecologically conscientious. There is nothing wrong with that. But, if your motivation was to save costs as well, there are other factors to consider.
You should also speak with your local municipality to find out if there are any rebates or tax incentives when making your house more efficient.
This is becoming a popular trend. You do have to meet certain conditions, and again, you have to weigh what you are spending on the benefits you receive. Also, with systems like solar, electric companies may be required to buy back unused power from your system.
Energy companies are also offering deals and incentives. For instance, you may be able to get free installation of solar panels offered by solar energy companies. They make their cost back from the percentage of energy that you save, or they receive the amount the electric company buys back from you.
You should consider speaking with your utility company as they often employ experts who are familiar with all the variables that you will have to deal with. Be aware that these consultants often work for the utility company so their motives may come into question. You should consider hiring your own expert to keep them on the level.
All this talk of efficiency requires a positive mindset and self discipline and if you want to know more about increasing discipline, then check out the featured resource below for a free report; download, read it and take action 😊
