Tip One:

 

Get a clear financial picture of where you are starting from.

This means getting accurate personal financials (balance sheet, P&L, and statement of cash flow). You cannot chart a course to your financial dreams if you don’t know where you are starting from.

Tip Two:

 

Choose your S-Factor™ deliberately.

Your S-Factor is your cost of living. You determine it by adding together all the money you spend on your current lifestyle… This includes mortgage payments, groceries, vacations, cars, etc.

For you business owners out there who run a lot of your expenses LEGITIMATELY through your business, make sure for the purpose of determining your S-Factor you add those “grateful business expenses” back in.

When you see this number, ask yourself, “Is this the lifestyle I really want to be working for?” Cut back where you see fit, and upgrade or build into your financial plan to upgrade where you choose.

Don’t listen to other people who tell you you must have a certain outward lifestyle, you choose what is meaningful to you. Which brings us to tip three…

Tip Three:

 

Make sure you are creating a financial surplus every month, even if this means temporarily cutting back.

You will rarely become “wealthy” from what you save, but if you cannot cultivate the discipline of creating a surplus becoming and remaining wealthy will be infinitely more difficult. You build wealth out of investing, creating, in essence out of playing “offense” financially. But you keep yourself in the game by playing good defense (which means creating a surplus.)

The two biggest places to look at in your “defensive” game are tax strategy and consumer interest.

Tax strategy is a simple way to leverage your current income by increasing it by 10% or more through legally reducing your tax burden by 10% of more…

Consumer interest is money you spend on non-appreciating “stuff” that adds nothing enduring to your life. Redirect this money to your investment account.

Tip Four:

 

Front load your investment in your earning capacity.

If you’re at Level One in your wealth building (or even early Level Two for that matter), you need to leverage you biggest financial asset–your personal earning capacity. This means doing whatever it takes to improve your ability to create economic value.

Some people say, “I’ll take the classes, read the books, listen to the courses AFTER I’m wealthy.” But it doesn’t work that way.. You’ve got to front load this investment.

Remember, investing in yourself is the best investment you can make at Level One and Level Two… you’ll be able to reap rich dividends from this investment for years and years to come.

Tip Five:

 

There has never been a better time to get started then now.

What other time is there? Tomorrow? We all know what happens to people who spend their lives waiting… Yesterday? You can’t change what has already happened, only choose differently TODAY!

Yes I understand that it’s a tough economic climate right now–but so what. Waiting doesn’t help you, it merely reinforces a losing habit that will end up costing you everything.

So get started now–today. Start from where you are… start with what you have… better tools and opportunities will come your way if you get started now.

Read a new business or financial book this month…

Take a new business or financial class this month…

Upgrade or expand your peer group this month…

The time is, was, and always has been NOW.

I hope that this sparked some serious thoughts on your part, and that you take action on them.