I know I have addressed this subject before in one of my older posts for those who dutifully follow my page. But the subject of planning for a time when you shall not be able to actively work for money cannot get old. It cannot also be exhaustively addressed in a single short article.
Today I turn my attention to a simple principle of focusing on the bottom line. As shared here before, long-term financial health is a sum total of simple daily habits faithfully executed with military precision.
What I mean by the bottom line is understanding what is important and what is not important for your financial well-being. As it turns out, it is possible to be busy or appear to be busy but actually never do the things that matter most. A big milestone for financial freedom is to know how to de-clutter and get the right things first.
Here are five ways to be sure you are focusing on your bottom line:
- It is purchasing power that ultimately counts not the things you own – what most people never quite figure out is that when you are no longer able to work or earn, what you need is real cash in-flows to allow you to meet your daily needs. Your needs do not end with your working life- in fact most times they increase because you may no longer have many benefits that were covered by your employer. While you hear people say to pay yourself first out of your salary –this is what exactly it means. Keep part of what your earn for these rainy days;
- It never is too far away – many young people get fooled by their youthfulness or energy to think they have an eternity before their body gives in to age. Building your purchasing power starts the day you start earning. Your youth is the biggest asset that you will ever have before age catches up with you. Just know it always catches up with you sooner than later;
- Every day counts – by the time you start noticing money or finding it easy to earn money, a lot of effort was spent on daily routines that seemed worthless. Those small sacrifices and things that you must do, even when you don’t like them, are the ones that create a base for momentum to build up. Remember how little by little water (even drops) collects up in a container to eventually become a powerful force that can destroy anything on its way;
- Motivation comes on its own from small wins, one at a time – those who exercise know very well all it takes is to get started, even on the worst days when you do feel not like it. The motivation to succeed can only come as you move along –it doesn’t come while waiting to get started. That simple step you take is the one that eventually becomes a 10km walk; similarly, that single shilling saved is what eventually turns into a thousand or a million; and
- It never is that serious – it is ordinary people who eventually grow into millionaires or billionaires. In fact, people with real cash cannot easily be picked out from the crowd. But how do they distinguish themselves? They just do normal ordinary things and create normal good habits to align with their financial and wealth goals that the rest of us don’t do.
So when they succeed, they just look the ‘kawa’ guy next door while in actual sense they are swimming in money the rest of us can only see in our dreams.
As I conclude, take time every week or month to just ask yourself how you’ve addressed your bottom line in that week or month. That is how real winners grow!