Financial Freedom comes from financial responsibility. Making lots of money and having nothing to show for it isn't being financially responsible.
What you DO with your money AFTER you make it matters a LOT!!
I think far too many people focus on how to make the money and not nearly enough time focusing on what to DO with their money once they've made it.
Remember when we were kids and go allowance? The first thing we wanted to do was go out and spend it…all of it. Baseball cards, clothes, candy…whatever we could get. I'd say we start teaching our kids to pay themselves first…before we go buy stuff.
This is RAMPANT in the network marketing profession. Over-extending is common in this business.
In the network marketing profession, I've seen more people make millions then have nothing to show for it than you can shake a stick at. People start making money and they think it's going to last forever.
It never does. The run NEVER lasts forever. I'm not being negative. I'm being real. No matter how good your deal is, how great your company's product is, or how fast you're growing right now…the run you're on is not infinite. It won't last. It never has…and it never will.
I'm not saying companies all dry up and disappear. What I am saying is simple. There are cycles and seasons in everything.
Mommy and Daddy told us to “save for a rainy day.” They were right! It rains…everywhere.
And…when you're on the monster run of your life, where your group and checking are growing…and you think it'll never end, you couldn't be more wrong!!! It does. The terror your company is on at this moment, the momentum you are in right now…it doesn't last forever and ever. Be SMART!!! Save your money!!!!
Sure…upgrade your life. Get new carpets. Buy your house. Do whatever you feel like you need to do to be happy with what you got. But…if you don't have money in the bank, no savings to speak of, or nothing to back you up when your check adjusts, then you're going to be in a world of trouble.
Go read “The Richest Man in Babylon” by George S. Clason and live by it!
Pay yourself FIRST. Pay YOU before you pay anyone else. Pay YOU before you pay your bills. Pay YOU before you pay anyone or anything else off. You pay YOU first. Sock it away.
Financial responsibility starts here. It starts with you…by paying YOU.
THIS IS SIMPLE: It doesn't matter how much you make, what matters is what you keep.
I've had countless friends in this profession make literally millions and millions of dollars end up with literally ZERO to show for it. I mean…scraps. Bottom of the barrel. Living at mom's house in the basement. Millions to the basement.
Why? Piss poor financial decisions.
Let me give you some wise advice based on a long, long history in this profession. Save your dough. Yea. Go do what you're going to do to make you happy. Get the house. Have the cool TV. But…don't over-extend yourself and put yourself in jeopardy.
Let's look at your ability to survive if a financial storm hit your life right now.
#1: How much liquid cash do you have access to right now?
#2: Is that enough to survive for the next 12 months without you having to adjust your current lifestyle?
If the answer is “Not Enough” for question #1 and “No Chance” for question #2, then something needs to change.
Before you buy your second car that you can't drive, the boat you use once a month or your vacation house in Madrid…set yourself up for a disaster FIRST!
It's one thing to be driving a Bentley when you're making $200,000 a month and you've already banked a bunch of cash than making $25,000 a month and leasing one for $2500 a month to look bigger than you are.
Let me paint two different, very REAL scenarios for you. One is “Over-Extending and Being Stupid” and the other is “Living within your Means and Being Smart.” You ready?
“Over-Extending and Being Stupid”
You're making 50k a month on average. Not a bad check. Great job by the way! You've made it! For the last 24 months (and the only 24 months or your entire life), you've consistently earned over $25,000 a month You think it's a forever thing.
You go buy a house that costs you $2 million because you want to “show and prove to others” that you've made it. You now have an $8000 house payment. Why? Cuz you didn't have the cash to buy it outright. You feel the need to look REALLY cool, but you don't quite have the savings yet to justify it, so you go lease a $200,000 car for you and a $100,000 car for your honey. They cost you $4000+ a month in car payments. You buy a vacation place in Hawaii for $400,000 and put minimum money down. Your monthly on that is $2500 a month. Your big boat you put a down payment on costs you $1500 a month. That's like 15k a month out the door before food, travel, insurance, etc. etc. etc.
Your company makes a change and recruiting drops by 90% overnight. Don't think it can't happen? It did to me. Literally, overnight the landscape changed. Checks plummeted across the company. All of a sudden your 50k is 20k. Now…you're scraping. You're in a panic. Not good. The pit in your stomach you feel every day is the weight, the burden that you've created for yourself.
Save your money. Bank it. Invest wisely. It will rain on you…and it's better to have an umbrella of protection than a panic attack and a hospital visit, right before you head to the pawn shop.
Save your money. It's way better to be rich and look average, then look like a celebrity and be bankrupt. Be the Millionaire Next Door (another great book by the way) rather than the dude that pulls his Ranger Rover into the carport of his his one-bedroom condo that he's renting! I've seen it all my friends.
You don't need to prove it to anyone but yourself. You don't need to pick up the tab for all your buddy's because you make more. You don't need to SHOW your wealth or your “little extra you have” in your driveway or on your wrist.
Am I saying you can't have amazing things? Not at all. But…if you can't afford to buy a luxury car for cash, I probably wouldn't do it.
It's better to have a brand new Honda that's paid for in CASH than a BMW that costs me $900 a month just to look cool for somebody else. Impress yourself with your financial smarts rather than your friends who aren't paying your bills.
“Living within your Means and Being Smart.”
Here's a little example of being financially responsible. You're climbing through the ranks and starting to make money. Even at $1500 a month, you've already begun to bank and invest. You're still driving the same car from two years ago. Your check climbs. Your carpet in your 1500 square foot house needs changed. You swap out the floors and give yourself an upgrade. You got the new TV, the clean carpets and the house that you bought when you had a job. It's enough room. You keep saving. You keep investing.
Your check climbs to 50k a month. You're in the same house still. That extra 40k a month that you don't need to live on goes straight to the bank. You've put 40k a month to your savings and investing for the past 24 months. You've banked nearly a million dollars in savings.
Your company goes out of business overnight. Disaster strikes. But…not for you. You're good. No panic. No stress. You are golden.
While your friends around you are selling things left and right, asking to borrow money and taking any deal they can get, you stay calm, cool and collected. You're not in any rush to make a rash decision. You can take your time and make the RIGHT decision of what's next for you.
Do you see the BIG GIGANTIC DIFFERENCE??? I know you do.
Save your money.
Pay yourself first.
Stop being the rich hero and buying everyone's dinner.
Only buy stuff you know you can afford.
Live within your means.
Life is good. You did it! Great job!
