New Year resolutions are a trap – a distraction. Don’t mistake dreaming for real change.
Welcome back! Hope you all had cracking festive season. Despite eating enough to sink an ox, despite drinking enough to sedate a horse, I’ve come bouncing out of the corner, and present myself again in the service of your entertainment, enlightenment and profit.
This year, I vow to continue my fight to unmask the mysteries of the market, to rattle the cages of those who would hold you back (including yourself) and to valiantly stir shit where ever there is shit that needs stirring. Politicians, bankers, media moguls, look out!
Let this year be the year where we all celebrate in our financial freedom.
Ok, maybe this cape isn’t enough to make me a super-hero, and the truth of it is, these blogs aren’t just a selfless, spirit-of-Christmas gift from myself to the world. I also get a lot out of them. I use them to get my own thinking straight, to test my own understanding, and to put the puzzle pieces together and answer my own questions.
And I always learn a lot from the comments, even if it’s just to know what narratives are dominating at any given time. And I know I’ve got some pretty brainy readers. So keep ‘em coming.
So let’s jump into it. Today, I want to start off the year by looking at one of the most basic building blocks in creating wealth – the ability to call down positive change into your life.
The need for this should be obvious. Unless you already have as much money as much income as you want, you’re going to need stuff to change.
There are two ways this can happen. It can happen on it’s own, and you just sit back and hope that the universe arranges itself around the lines you want. Or you make it happen.
If you’re in the first camp, then you may as well stop reading now. You’re wasting your time here. I’m not winning any literary awards, and I’m not interested in being ‘entertaining’.
But if you’re in the second camp, then I celebrate you for throwing yourself in the ring, and pitting yourself against the great challenge of life. To be a master of your own destiny. And I want to help.
But how do we make changes in our life? How do we buck the inertia of patterns and habits, and break free into the clear skies of our own destiny?
There are libraries upon libraries that have been written about that topic. But I’ve got a few thoughts too, so I’ll be throwing them out there as the year goes on. Try them on, see how they feel. If they work for you, then great. If not, let them go through to the keeper.
Everybody’s journey is different.
Now, this time of year, I hear a lot of New Year’s Resolutions, especially around money. This year, I’m going to break free of debt. I’m going to set myself up for retirement. I’m going to replace my day job with passive income.
New Years seems to be the place to make those big-picture changes. To try and break the cycles.
Most people are just seem to be living out their financial years in a kind of ground-hog day loop.
December and January is the silly season and it’s time to get silly with the credit card. Forget responsibilities and live large. Then in February the reality of what they’ve spent (and the credit card bills) hit. The kids go back to school and it’s time to knuckle down. March it’s school fees and they’re still chipping away at the credit card. Then it’s Easter, thank God, time to put the head in the sand and escape on another holiday. Hope it works itself out.
In May, it hasn’t worked itself out, and they’re back where they were in February. They spend the winter months bunkering down, and by spring, they’re just starting to feel like they’re getting ahead, but then the silly season hits again and around and around we go.
Living reactively with your finances just doesn’t work. We’ve got to get proactive about it. Make some real long term plans.
And by long term plans I don’t mean New Year Resolutions. I actually think they’re a trap that keep people from making the changes that they need to.
Most New Years resolutions tend to be framed in massive game-changer type shifts. I’m going to lose 20kgs. I’m going to quit smoking. I’m going replace my income.
These are worthwhile goals, but they’re not strategies. They’re not a game plan. And because they’re so big, they seem overwhelming and this sucks the motivation out of you, and you give up.
You never hear people make resolutions that they’re going to save an extra 50 bucks a week, but it’s these manageable shifts in direction that lead to real and lasting long term changes.
If you’re going to make a resolution around money and wealth, make this year the year you get a real strategy in place. The kind of big picture dreaming you get in resolutions is great if you use it to set your sights on where you want to go. But it’s just the first step.
Break it down into goals. Get a game plan together. There are people that can help you do this if you need help.
Read up and skill up. There are some great skill-sharing seminars out there. Shop around and try them out. I know it can be overwhelming, but with a bit of old fashioned hard work and persistence, you can make headway.
The important thing is to believe in yourself, and don’t get spooked if it all just seems like mystical mumbo-jumbo.
I’ve made a lot of money out of the market and I never finished high-school.
Financial planners and so on want you to believe that you have to have a PhD in economics to make money, but it’s garbage. Any one can do it. You just got to stick at it.
Anyway, here’s to the New Year. Let’s make it a cracker.
erica says
and a continuing great new year for you too. Look forward to upcoming emails
Debbe says
Thanks for the insight – I passed this on to a few in my family I feel could benefit from understanding ‘it’s not necessarily the goal but the game plan’ that will change your life. I like to do this will all my goals – focus on the game plan, because without it, the goal means nothing, and won’t be achieved anyway.
Sanjay says
Makes lot of sense I do believe it is that simple and this year want to gather courage and will to do it make my mark on that millionaire list