Learning how to manage money and gaining financial independence is a common New Year’s Resolution. As you know, the majority of New Year’s Resolutions don’t last very long. If you want to make things different this year, these three money management habits will help you to do that… {Read More}
Nov
2012
How to Put a Stop to Spending Habits That Break You
Are you realizing that you need to control spending more than you need to get out of debt or to increase your personal cash flow? If so, you’ve already come a long way in comparison to the general population.
Many people spend their entire lives broke or struggling and looking for ways to increase their personal cash flow or build multiple streams of income, but without first learning to manage the income that they already have.
However, being broke is more about your habits and your attitude about money than it is about how much money you’re making or how little money you owe. {Read More}
Oct
2012
Do you need Momentum to Succeed with your Personal Financial Plan
If you already have your simple personal cash flow plan and are working towards financial freedom, you might find that staying on track is the hardest part. I talk to people all the time who know what they need to do to achieve financial freedom or stay in good health, but the problem is almost always sticking it out for the long-term.
In this article, we’ll be looking at how important momentum is when it comes to sticking with your commitment and how you can use it to stay focused and on track with your financial freedom plan. {Read More}
Sep
2012
How to Change Your Spending Habits and Earn Financial Freedom
No one deserves to have financial freedom, but just about anyone can earn it if they know how to change their habits and if they have a definite plan to follow. However, earning financial freedom isn’t something which most of us learn to do during our lifetime and the most pressing reason is a lack of knowledge as to how to change financial habits.
In this article, we’ll be looking at a simple system for habit formation based on the principles of Powerspending. However, first it’s important to understand the nature of habits and why sheer willpower isn’t enough to change them…
Financial Habits are Emotionally Reinforced
Changing your financial habits is not a logical process and it has nothing to do with willpower or with money. Habits are emotionally reinforced and there’s no way that you can deny or get rid of your emotional drives… they are the very thing which make you human. Instead, you need to understand the emotional drives behind your financial habits and find a way to redirect those emotions so that they’ll work in your favor. For example, many people overspend because they aren’t happy with some area of their life (most of the time it’s their job).
As a result, they find themselves spending money on expensive toys and wondering why they can’t discipline themselves to get control of their spending habits. So as you work on changing your habits, understand that a strictly logical approach just isn’t enough.
The Four Pillars of Powerspending: How to Change Your Habits
There are four primary steps to changing a habit: knowing, unknowing, skills and desire. First you must know why your habits are what they are and what beliefs are supporting that habit. The next step is reconditioning yourself with empowering beliefs which will encourage new actions. Next, and VERY important, is that you need the skills for acquiring the new habit. This is why having a written plan to follow is so important.
Learning a new skill isn’t easy, and without a specific structure to follow, you’re going to have a very hard time sticking with that skill until it becomes subconscious. So once you identify what you need to “unlearn” and the new habits you need to develop, get a written plan and check back with it every day. Finally, you need to consistently reward yourself for the new behavior and to keep yourself emotionally engaged in the forming of the new habit and the rewards which it brings.
As you faithfully follow this process, your new habits will become easier and you’ll eventually wonder how they could have ever been difficult.
There is more…Click here to receive your free ebook on Personal Wealth Building and learn more…
Aug
2012
How to Build Good Personal Finance Planning Habits
Good personal finance planning and goal setting isn’t much good unless you can develop good habits. It’s been said that first you form your habits and then your habits form you. I would add to this that your habits form you and your lifestyle. That said, what could possibly be more important than your financial habits?
In this article, I’ll be giving you a peak at some of the strategies for using Powerspending to form good financial habits.
How Are Financial Habits Formed?
Your personal finance planning habits weren’t formed overnight, and they won’t be changed overnight either. This is why it’s important to start with small habits and build up some momentum. People normally try to tackle enormous goals, push themselves hard for a few days or weeks and burn themselves out. This is not the way habits are formed. Habits are formed through subtle changes over a period of time.
So don’t be afraid to start small when it comes to forming habits, and don’t worry about whether or not you’re getting a lot of results. Instead, focus on the fact that you’re building empowering habits and the results will eventually come.
Keep a Written Journal
Keeping a hand written journal (not one on the computer) will help you keep track of your progress when forming habits. There are a few reasons to do this. The first is that forming new habits will often challenge beliefs and perceptions which are being used to rationalize your old habits. Keeping a journal will help you identify these beliefs, which are often self-limiting and can cause you to sabotage your own success.
However, if you’re aware of these things, you’ll have a much easier time changing them and keeping them from getting in the way of forming new habits. Remember, your personal finance planning habits weren’t formed overnight, and they weren’t formed without reason. Most likely, they’re supported by beliefs which aren’t going to change easily. Keeping a written journal is the best way to become involved in identifying your self-limiting beliefs about money and replacing them with new ones.
Reward Yourself
Set some landmarks for yourself and find a way to reward yourself for sticking with your commitment to build new personal finance planning habits. Most of us are pretty good at scolding ourselves when we fail, but not good at rewarding ourselves when we succeed. So give yourself the best chance possible to succeed by rewarding yourself for developing good financial habits.
Before you spend any more money, download this FREE report on personal finance planning. Discover the simplest way to achieve financial freedom through the use of Powerspending.
Jul
2012
The Most Valuable Investment You Can Make Towards Your Financial Freedom
Financial freedom and independence are something which all of us wish for, but which few of us ever accomplish. What makes the difference in people who are successful in building financial freedom and those who struggle? The difference lies within how individuals invest their money, time and energy. People who have financial independence possess habits that result in building a lifestyle which is conducive to the achievement of financial freedom.
In this article, we’ll be talking about the most valuable investment you can make towards building this type of lifestyle for yourself…
The Most Valuable Financial Investment You Can Make
The most valuable investment you can make towards financial freedom has nothing to do with stocks, bonds, real estate or mutual funds. It has to do with the investment you make in developing good money management habits, good timing habits, and good habits for managing your energy. This is the foundational principle behind the Powerspending approach to building financial freedom and even wealth.
How are you spending your money, your time and your energy? Are you spending them in ways which will add value to your life or take away value? Are you spending your time, your energy, and your money towards the building of someone else’s dreams or towards your own? Most of us assume that financial freedom comes from finding investments which bring us a large monetary return and from earning more money.
While it certainly does help to have more money and to be able to find investments which bring the secret ROI, this attitude can also lead us on an endless search for the “holy grail” of financial freedom. In reality, the most valuable thing you can do is start developing good money habits using the resources which you have right now. Even if you are living paycheck to paycheck, and you are in tens of thousands of dollars of debt, there’s nothing stopping you from developing good money habits starting right here and now.
On the other hand, if you don’t develop these habits now simply waiting for a time when you “have more money” or if you keep looking for a “magic” investment that yields you big returns, you’ll probably find a way to get rid of the extra money anyway. This happens to people who win the lottery and Powerball jackpots all the time…lot’s of extra money plus poor money habits equals no money left.
So if you’re ready to make the most powerful investment possible for building your financial freedom, start focusing on managing the money that you have better and on managing your time and energy so that you’ll be well prepared for the opportunities which await you.
Before you spend any more money, download this FREE report on personal finance. Discover the simplest way to achieve financial freedom through the use of Powerspending.
Jul
2012
Not All Dollars Are Created Equal
Personal wealth building isn’t as hard as many people might think, but it does require a completely different set of habits that most of us are already used to. Many people don’t realize that it doesn’t take any more energy to succeed in building financial freedom than it does to fail. However, achieving this freedom does require smart investing and good wealth building habits, and those are not common knowledge.
In this article, we’ll be looking at some of the wealth building habits which are common to people who already have financial freedom. As you develop these habits, you’ll find that not all dollars are created equal. Instead, you’ll find that the value of a dollar areas depending on whether or not it’s being used by someone who understands smart investing and good money management.
Three Smart Investing Habits
There are three Smart investing habits which are common to anyone who succeeded in personal wealth building:
1. Simplicity
Smart investing plans are never overly complicated or sophisticated. Instead, smart investors only invest in things which they understand; this way they can effectively manage their risk and their emotions. When you over-complicate your investing plan, you have a harder time understanding the ebb and flow as you watch your returns fluctuate. This makes it tempting to bail out of the investment early, which is one of the reasons people don’t achieve long-term success with their investing.
2. Consistency
The popular financial coach and radio personality Dave Ramsey said: “a little bit of consistent effort equals a lot of results, while a LOT of inconsistent effort doesn’t equal much.” This is certainly true when it comes to investing. The more consistent you are in making investing habits, the easier it will be for you to stay committed and to achieve results. This is where the third smart investing habit comes into play…
3. Patience
One of the leading reasons why people fail to achieve such freedom is they expect results too soon. They want a lot of return in exchange for a little bit of effort, and thus they get involved in overly complicated investments or they change their investing plan too often to master any one type of investing.
If you want to get the most value out of your dollars and achieve in accomplishing financial freedom, you must adopt the wealth building habits which have made others successful: simplicity, consistency, patience. These are the foundation of effective personal wealth building and the keys to your success.
Before you spend any more money, download this FREE wealth building report.
Discover the simplest way to achieve financial freedom through the use of Powerspending.
Frederick W. James MD is both a seeker and teacher of balance. Keeping in mind the understanding, “There is always something to learn,” Dr. James knows life, like finance, is a balancing act that needs constant attention. This is the foundational thought of his behavioral philosophy that secured his wealth and guarantees it for others. After years of preparation, the career cardiologist created wealth to benefit his family and others. Now, this innovative system of responsible spending is available to all through his financial coaching program and book, Spend, Don’t Save.
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