Life is full of opportunity so what gets in our way of reaching our potential in life? What dreams or aspirations did you have but have now changed or given up on for some reason? Why?
So What Opportunity Are You Going To Create For Yourself?
What risk are you willing to take? In fact, let’s not call it a risk. What opportunity are you going to attempt this year that might get you further ahead and on your way to actually accomplishing what you want to do in life and becoming financially free and independent?
- New job
- New side opportunity
- Try investing
- Learn investing
- Ask for a raise
- Go to school/back to school
- Decrease/slow down your accumulation of debt
- Learn something new/Try something new
- Or are you going to stay the course and hope that somehow you end up with a different result….how has that worked so far?
Doing Good Things, But Could It Be Better?
I totally understand if you are uncomfortable trying something new. I was in your shoes about a decade ago. I had a decent job, but not a great job. I was doing what I studied in school and I was doing okay, but it wasn’t really going anywhere.
New technology was changing the industry and opportunities for growth were decreasing in journalism. Opportunities for advancement were not likely even decades down the road. Making a change seemed like a risky proposition because I didn’t know anything different. However, looking back the greatest risk was not making a change.
I talked with a few people who had left my business and how they adjusted and they said they wished they had left sooner and had no regrets. I didn’t meet one person who wished they had stayed.
I decided to apply for a few jobs and finished second place in a few interviews then nailed one job really well and have been able to more than double my salary and investments and have lots of potentials.
What would have happened if I stayed in my other job? I’d be doing the same things for minimal to no raises and trying to figure out how to support my family. Worth the jump and change….big time!
Investing in Changes and Opportunities
I didn’t do much but the bare minimum with investing in retirement for the first decade out of college. I read about making 3% and getting a match and thought I was doing everything that I should be doing. Had I stayed on that course I would maybe have around $40,000 in retirement.
I have been maxing out for the last six years and it is financially life-changing! So how long are you going to wait to make financially life-changing decisions?
Staying on the Course Can Cost You Big!
Had I stayed the course you know what would have happened? Well, I would have $275,000 less in net worth today. That is a huge number since most of that has been accumulated in the last six years. Sure we would still have a significant amount in savings and investments just under 100k total, but not a life-changing amount. I am so glad we didn’t stay the course.
We Can See the Top of the Mountain
The nice thing about being ahead at this point in life is there is no need to try and figure out how we are going to pay for retirement, college, and other financial obligations. We are already ahead of our initial goals.
When you have very little to no obligations and you are able to keep more than half of your money and watch your investments grow…it is an amazing feeling in life.
Everyone has a financial mountain to climb in their life. Sometimes you get a little way up and slide down or maybe even fall off the ledge, but at this point, we feel like we are not only within sight of the top of the mountain. We have a plan and system in place that will assure that we get there. It all starts with your spending and debt.
It Takes Time
If you are not patient I don’t know if you can really become financially independent in life. For the vast majority of people, it will take decades to get there. You can accelerate it by saving and investing more early on. But if we are climbing a financial mountain it takes time.
It took me 9 years of little effort and mistakes before I had my moment of realization. Now we are reaping the rewards of another 6 years of savings and investments. That is 15 years to get to this point…while the incline has been much greater lately it does take time, but it’s worth the time and effort.
Everyone has the same time and mostly the same access to investments…but we end up in different spots in our financial lives.
