The 3 Decisions That Will Change Your Financial Life

There’s nothing worse than a rich person who’s chronically angry or unhappy. There’s really no excuse for it, yet I see this phenomenon every day. It results from an extremely unbalanced life, one with too much expectation and not enough appreciation for what’s there.

Without gratitude and appreciation for what you already have, you’ll never know true fulfillment. But how do you cultivate balance in life? What’s the point of achievement if your life has no balance?

For nearly four decades, I’ve had the privilege of coaching people from every walk of life, including some of the most powerful men and women on the planet. I’ve worked with presidents of the United States as well as owners of small businesses.   

Across the board, I’ve found that virtually every moment people make three key decisions that dictate the quality of their lives.

If you make these decisions unconsciously, you'll end up like majority of people who tend to be out of shape physically, exhausted emotionally and often financially stressed. But if you make these decisions consciously, you can literally change the course of your life today. 

Decision 1: Carefully choose what to focus on.

At every moment, millions of things compete for your attention. You can focus on things that are happening right here and now or on what you want to create in the future. Or you can focus on the past.

Where focus goes, energy flows. What you focus on and your pattern for doing so shapes your entire life. 

Which area do you tend to focus on more: what you have or what’s missing from your life?

I’m sure you think about both sides of this coin. But if you examine your habitual thoughts, what do you tend to spend most of your time dwelling on? 

Rather than focusing on what you don’t have and begrudging those who are better off than you financially, perhaps you should acknowledge that you have much to be grateful for and some of it has nothing to do with money. You can be grateful for your health, family, friends, opportunities and mind.

Developing a habit of appreciating what you have can create a new level of emotional well-being and wealth. But the real question is, do you take time to deeply feel grateful with your mind, body, heart and soul? That’s where the joy, happiness and fulfillment can be found. 

Consider a second pattern of focus that affects the quality of your life: Do you tend to focus more on what you can control or what you can’t?

If you focus on what you can’t control, you’ll have more stress in life. You can influence many aspects of your life but you usually can’t control them. 

When you adopt this pattern of focus, your brain has to make another decision:  

Decision 2: Figure out, What does this all mean?

Ultimately, how you feel about your life has nothing to do with the events in it or with your financial condition or what has (or hasn't) happened to you. The quality of your life is controlled by the meaning you give these things.

Most of the time you may be unaware of the effect of your unconscious mind in assigning meaning to life’s events. 

When something happens that disrupts your life (a car accident, a health issue, a job loss), do you tend to think that this is the end or the beginning?

If someone confronts you, is that person insulting you, coaching you or truly caring for you?

Does a devastating problem mean that God is punishing you or challenging you? Or is it possible that this problem is a gift from God? 

Your life takes on whatever meaning you give it. With each meaning comes a unique feeling or emotion and the quality of your life involves where you live emotionally. 

I always ask during my seminars, “How many of you know someone who is on antidepressants and still depressed?” Typically 85 percent to 90 percent of those assembled raise their hands.

How is this possible? The drugs should make people feel better. It's true that antidepressants do come with labels warning that suicidal thoughts are a possible side effect.

But no matter how much a person drugs himself, if he constantly focuses on what he can’t control in life and what’s missing, he won't find it hard to despair. If he adds to that a meaning like “life is not worth living,” that's an emotional cocktail that no antidepressant can consistently overcome. 

Yet if that same person can arrive at a new meaning, a reason to live or a belief that all this was meant to be, then he will be stronger than anything that ever happened to him.

When people shift their habitual focus and meanings, there’s no limit on what life can become. A change of focus and a shift in meaning can literally alter someone's biochemistry in minutes. 

So take control and always remember: Meaning equals emotion and emotion equals life. Choose consciously and wisely. Find an empowering meaning in any event, and wealth in its deepest sense will be yours today. 

Once you create a meaning in your mind, it creates an emotion, and that emotion leads to a state for making your third decision:

Decision 3: What will you do?  

The actions you take are powerfully shaped by the emotional state you're in. If you're angry, you're going to behave quite differently than if you're feeling playful or outrageous. 

If you want to shape your actions, the fastest way is to change what you focus on and shift the meaning to be something more empowering.

Two people who are angry will behave differently. Some pull back. Others push through.

Some individuals express anger quietly. Others do so loudly or violently. Yet others suppress it only to look for a passive-aggressive opportunity to regain the upper hand or even exact revenge.  

Where do these patterns come from? People tend to model their behavior on those they respect, enjoy and love.

The people who frustrated or angered you? You often reject their approaches.

Yet far too often you may find yourself falling back into patterns you witnessed over and over again in your youth and were displeased by. 

It’s very useful for you to become aware of your patterns when you are frustrated, angry or sad or feel lonely. You can’t change your patterns if you’re not aware of them.

Now that you’re aware of the power of these three decisions, start looking for role models who are experiencing what you want out of life. I promise you that those who have passionate relationships have a totally different focus and arrive at totally different meanings for the challenges in relationships than people who are constantly bickering or fighting. 

It’s not rocket science. If you become aware of the differences in how people approach these three decisions, you’ll have a pathway to help you create a permanent positive change in any area of life. 

This piece was adapted from Tony Robbins' new book, Money Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom.  

Source: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/239312

Tony Robbins Warns "The Crash is Coming"

The new Book "Unshakeable".

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Five Tips for Young Entrepreneurs

Starting a business is not for the faint of heart. When the economy is soft, and jobs are limited, entrepreneurship is often the best way for a young adult to gain practical experience in their field of choice. To be sure, it can be scary, but so can sitting around waiting for a call for an interview for that perfect position.

With that in mind, here are five tips for planning your first entrepreneurial venture.

1. Find your obsession. "Find your obsession" is different from "follow your passion." Your passion is something you love doing. Your obsession is something you cannot live without doing. And there's a difference. A passion is sometimes borne from a hobby, for example, photography. You may be passionate about photography, but when the pressure is on to make money with photography that passion can wane in the drudgery of the daily work. Conversely, if you are obsessive about photography, rarely will any part of the work seem like drudgery. Passion will burn out; obsession rarely does. Obsession is what you need when starting a business.

2. Decide on your operational end-game. Once you find your obsession, ask yourself this: Do you want to have a "practice" or a "business?" A "practice" is a business that is dependent on your direct involvement, whereas a "business" can become independent of your involvement and still be successful.

A "business" in this context is one where you can rely on the collective work of others you employ to produce income, or survive as an ongoing concern if you were unable to work in the business on a daily basis. It can be bought or sold regardless of your involvement.

Having a practice means it is difficult, if not impossible, to separate the work output of the business from your personal output. For example, if you have a unique skill or ability on which the income of your business rests primarily on you to do the work (e.g., an accountant, yoga instructor, consultant, or tattoo artist) you are likely to have a practice. It is unlikely this type of business could not be bought or sold without your involvement.

There's nothing wrong with either option, but it is important to understand what kind of business operation you want five years after you start because it will shape your decisions today. If you know you are going to be happy making a living as a tattoo artist chasing your obsession, then your business decisions will be made with this in mind. However, if your goal is to have a tattoo shop with ten employees in five years, your approach needs to be different. Keep in mind that most small businesses start as practices and evolve. Moreover, those who just wanted to "do their thing" end up trying to manage a business and are no longer working at their obsession.

3. Start your business "on the side." Many say "jump" into entrepreneurship without a net. Having done it that way many times, I suggest you do not unless you have no other choice. The financial pressure is too high for most people. The pressure to make rent payments, buy food, and put gas in your car will have you chasing business that isn't worth your time or in your area of focus so that you can survive. You will lose focus of what you are trying to accomplish, and few obsessions can withstand that pressure. My advice: Start your business on the side if you can. Get or maintain a job to have some income flowing. You will feel less pressure and be able to stay focused on our business goals. Then strive for your "choice number" with your business income.

4. Determine your "choice number." Your choice number is that number which allows you the opportunity to choose between going full-time with your business or continuing to work for someone else. It is easy to calculate: Add up all of your current monthly expenses (all of them, Netflix, Hulu, gas, car payments, rent, food, beer, or concert tickets), then add 25% more to that number. So, let's say your monthly expenses add up to $1,500. Add 25% more-$375.00-for emergencies, and you are up to $1,875.00. I would suggest rounding up for a little extra cushion to $2,000. So, $2,000 would be your "choice number." Once your business is generating $2,000 per month, you have enough money coming in to cover your monthly costs and the choice as to whether to keep your day job or go full-time into your business with some financial security is now yours. Bear in mind the choice number can fluctuate some, so remember to revise accordingly.

5. Take advantage of reputable free resources. There are many, many free resources to help new entrepreneurs. My favorite starting point is SCORE ( http://www.score.org ). There you can find local resources, webinars, on-demand courses, as well as other resources to help you get started. The U.S. Small Business Administration ( https://www.sba.gov ) also offers many free resources and tips. Sometimes your local community college will offer free or low-cost courses for new entrepreneurs.

Although these tips do not cover everything a new entrepreneur might need to know, they are a good starting point for planning your first step into your own business.

David Harkins is a serial entrepreneur, which is a more professional way of saying he is still trying to figure out what he wants to be when he grows up.

When not working for himself, he has had a fulfilling career in marketing, advising both large and small companies including several in the Fortune 500 and many of America's largest nonprofit organizations.

He has extensive training and education in advertising communications and media production. He holds a Bachelors of Business Administration with an emphasis in Entrepreneurial/Small Business Management, and he is pursuing a Master's Degree in Entrepreneurship.

In his spare time, he consults, speaks, writes, hikes, explores, and creates art. Although, not necessarily in that order.

He writes about entrepreneurship at http://www.mrharkins.com.

Webmasters and other article publishers are granted article reproduction permission as long as this article in its entirety, author's information, and any links remain intact. Copyright 2017 by David L. Harkins.

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