Long term or Short term....

This is a critical few minutes as far as your financial success is concerned.

You’ll want to set aside some uninterrupted time to read and grasp the importance of this message.

IT’S THAT IMPORTANT!

When it comes to your money, do you think long term or short term? Predominantly?

All of us think both, but most of us think a lot more in one direction than the other.

Which direction do you think in?

Do you always want immediate gratification, or are you willing to exchange gratification today for some later in your future?

Would you like to know how you lean?

Look at your results. Look at your financial life.

In my practice, I see hundreds of people every year. They’re younger, older, richer, poorer, intellectuals, blue collar, professionals, business owners, investors. You name it, I see them.

When we talk about their financial goals, and I ask for their top 3, guess how many can even struggle to think of 3? Certainly, less than 5 in 100 can name 3.

Right away, that tells me a lot about this person or family.

We’ll talk about goals for retirement. I’ll ask, on a scale from 1 to 10, how would you rate yourself in accumulating the assets you’re going to need for retirement? Guess what the vast majority say? 1 or 2. A few will say 3 or 4. Very occasionally will I ever get a 6 or 7, and I virtually never get an 8 or above. Why do you think that is?

Everybody always tells me that they’d like to be in a position to retire. Some people say they never want to retire, they love what they do. I’m with them. But everyone eventually wants to be financially free, where they have enough income coming in from other sources that they don’t have to work any longer if they don’t want to.

So why is it that so few actually succeed at having a successful retirement?

Let me ask you again, when it comes to your money do you think more long term or more short term?

Statistically, about 95% of all people think IMMEDIATE GRATIFICATION. If they earn their money today, it’s gone tomorrow. Or worse, if they earn their money today, it was already spent a month ago.

That’s the majority I see it in my office daily.

Fortunately, there are those that have set aside a portion of their assets for their retirement. These people at least have half a chance at a decent retirement.

I’ve watched and observed successfully retired people for a very long time. How’d they get there?

Very few of them got there because of luck. Sure, a few inherited enough money for a nice retirement, or maybe they won the lottery, but they were the exception.

The most financially successful people I saw focused on 3 things. Earning their money, keeping their money, and growing their money. Poor and middle class people focus on one thing, SPENDING THEIR MONEY.

Most people are immediate gratification thinkers. Are you?

If you are, I can guarantee you this. You will never be rich, and you will never be free. You will never live the kind of retirement you’d like, and you will always struggle with money. It’s the universal law of cause and effect.

Most financially successful people think long term. They enjoy today, but plan to be alive tomorrow and into their future, and want those years to be enjoyable too. It’s a balancing act.

The big problem is that for most people, there is no balance. They’ve never learned how to manage money properly, and so they live a lifestyle beyond their means. The family earning $40,000 want to live like they’re earning $60,000. So they spend everything they earn, and go into debt for everything else.

If you are one of the majority, the Immediate gratification thinkers, admit it to yourself, and also admit to yourself that until you change the way you think, you will always struggle with money your entire life.

Or, you can join the 5%ers club. These are the small group of people who have developed the habits of success in life, and now achieve everything they set their minds to. You can choose to become a long term thinker, and a better money manager right now.

There are fantastic books on these subjects, or even better yet, go through this blog to find everything you need to join the group. That’s what this blog is dedicated to, the 5%ers.

Namaste,

Jeff

A Very Exciting Time.......

Have you figured out what the theme is to this blog?

Of course, if you’re a longtime reader, you already know.

But for the newcomers, this can be a most important day in your life.

And these could be the most important minutes in your life.

Have you ever noticed that there are always a very few people who seem to have far more success than everyone else? Maybe they’re just luckier than most.

But sometimes you know someone, and they just keep going from one success to the next. If they say they’re going to quit smoking, they do. If they say they’re going to lose weight, they lose it and keep it off. If they say they’re going to join a gym and work out, they do, as a regular part of their life. If they say they’re going to become wealthy, it’s done. In fact, everything they say they’re going to do gets done.

I call these people the 5%ers. They are in the top 5% of the population in every area of their life that’s important to them.

You can get there by luck. But in fact, there is a SCIENCE to success. Success has been studied by the greatest minds known to mankind, and has been written about and spoken about throughout the ages.

If you learn the science to success, and you apply it to your life, guess what’s going to happen? The results in your life will be more successful.

If you want to become a success in an area of your life, the chances are that there are others who have already become successful in that area. Who would you rather learn from, someone who is already successful in that area, or someone who isn’t? The Science of Success would tell you that you will always be better off to learn from someone who is already a success at what it is you want. In other words, you’re going to need teachers and mentors for you to become successful, so you might as well choose them wisely from the get go.

This blog is dedicated to those of you who have chosen to shoot for the top 5%, and join the 5%ers club. You want to learn and grow and have more success. And you are willing to pay whatever price you need to in order to join this club.

I am proud to proclaim that I am a member of this club! And I continue to look for every opportunity to grow.

This week is week #2 for my coaching program with Kevin Hogan. There’s a ton of information to absorb, and sometimes I feel like I’m taking a drink of water from a firehose.

I keep hearing that little voice inside my head telling me that I suck at this stuff, and I keep telling it not to worry, because once I’ve been doing this for a year or two, I’ll be a master.

Part of the Science of Success is in understanding how our subconscious mind works. Remember this, the subconscious mind’s job is one thing and one thing only. SURVIVAL. And so, its number one responsibility is PROTETION. That’s why it’s so hard to change. Change means getting out of your comfort zone, and that makes your subconscious mind uncomfortable.

That little voice inside your head is concerned about SURVIVAL. It isn’t concerned with your SUCCESS. Your conscious mind can be directed to focus on success. And it can listen to that little voice and override it. It can say to your subconscious mind…”Thank you for sharing”…. And then direct you to do the things that will lead you to success.

Do you ever hear that little voice inside your head telling you why you can’t or shouldn’t do something new or different? Sure you do. We all do.

The difference between the 5%ers and the rest, is that the 5%ers understand that they take ACTION despite the fears given by that little voice. That's the key, to take action despite your fears.

When you take complete control of your mind, you are on your way to joining the 5%ers club.

Are you ready to join?

Namaste.

Jeff