The Road to Financial Freedom May Start with an Idea.
My mom recalls how she once deliberated whether to buy a nicer cut of meat for dinner or scouring pads. As a mother of three small children and an income of about $12,000 per year, she didn’t have enough money to do both. In the end, she bought the nicer cut because she had company – her own mother. Yet after dinner, her mother asked where the scouring pads were. My mom thought, “I can’t win.” I’m very grateful that I don’t have to agonize over those sorts of decisions.
The brilliant life coach, Thomas Leonard, once said that you cannot be your best if you are under financial stress.
In a state of financial stress, you don’t make the best decisions. Over a year ago, my husband and I sold off a piece of our backyard for a nice chunk of change. Until that time, we had been operating on the edge financially, making just enough to get by. (Admittedly, our idea of getting by was rather lavish and includes a housekeeper, gardener and au pair.) But we didn’t have enough to feel as if we were getting ahead. While I knew that these were the expensive years (two small children, home renovation costs, a big mortgage, etc.) and that it would get easier over time, the situation was stressful – especially for my husband when facing monthly bills.
Now that we have a decent reserve of savings in place, we are both breathing a lot easier. We no longer feel such pressure to generate money. (We both have our own businesses and generate the income that we have.) Already, new business opportunities are appearing. When you don’t need it, you are more likely to attract it—a corollary to the law of attraction—and one of life’s big catch 22’s.
The amazing thing was that this piece of land and the opportunity to develop and sell it had been right under our noses all the time. We only thought of it when we were worried we might lose the house in the recession and started coming up with ways to save the house.
This confirms the spiritual principle that everything you need is right in front of you. It made me wonder, what am I not seeing that is right in front of me? After all, how many years did it take mankind to put wheels on suitcases? The wheel has been around since the beginning of history, but no one thought to combine the two until recently.
It is worth getting on the path to financial freedom (having enough money so that you don’t have to work) for the peace of mind it creates if nothing else. Here is a simple way to get started – write down ten or more ideas that could lead to financial freedom. Let’s start with $250,000 in savings as a number to start with. If you found a way to earn or save an extra $100 a day for the next ten years you’d have $250,000 (not counting any extra work on weekends or any interest earned).
Read the related article, Play For Financial Independence here.
Don’t worry if the ideas you come up with seem simple or even silly. Some of the most successful ideas are almost ludicrous.
The woman who wrote the book, Everything Men Know about Women, takes the prize, in my opinion, for best idea. The book is completely blank! It has become a bestseller and enabled her to buy a nice house.
The Post-It Note™ was a failed glue that wasn’t quite sticky enough.
The point of the game is to get you thinking about how you could become financially free. Maybe you’ve thought you’d like to try blogging or writing a novel. Or you’ve toyed with the idea of starting a business based around one of your hobbies or passions.
Set aside one hour a day for your financial freedom project. And, just by starting the game, even if that means you start by saving $10 a day, you will be on the path to financial freedom. Open a separate savings account and put in your $10.00 today. Congratulations! You’ve taken the first step on the road to wealth. Now write ten possible plans or ideas to become financially free and pick one to work on now. Keep at it, and you’ll be headed toward wealth and happiness.
