7 ways to improve your financial position

Do you ever wonder why some people seem to have more money, more freedom, and more choices in life?  Is it because they were born in a wealthy family or is it because of luck?

Whilst luck can be a contributing factor, the truth is that anyone can be financially free and have more choices in their life so long as you have the right mindset and your belief system is programmed right.

Think of your mind like a TV antenna. The more tuned your human antenna is (your mind), the sharper your focus will be, the more action you will take, and the better results you will get.

Here are 7 ways to improve your finances today.  You'll notice the common denominator is all about 'mindset'.

1.  Forget the past and start to feel good about money again

Many people walk around with "money shame".  Perhaps in the past you haven't managed your money as well as you would have liked, or perhaps you're still dwelling on that bad investment you made which you're having trouble getting over.

Here's a newsflash.  You cannot change the past, but you can certainly create the future you want by taking action today.  Drop the guilt, forget the mistakes, it is what it is and just move on.

2.  Set financial goals

If you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time!  My advice is to create a Roadmap for your financial future.  Be very specific with what you want and take massive action.

Your financial goals are nothing without purpose.  I often come across people wanting to build a portfolio of properties but seldom do they really understand why.  Is it to impress their family and friends?  Or is it to create wealth?

If it's to create wealth, then why does one want to be wealthy?  Reason I put this forward is because I know some wealthy people living miserable lives.  They're working ridiculous hours, making little time to enjoy the important things in their life.

Money is an empty victory.  If you have purpose as to why you want to be wealthy, then creating wealth will be more fun and stimulating.

Perhaps a goal for you is to retire from you daily work at a certain age.  Or to travel for one whole month every 6 months with your loved ones?

3.  Spend less and Invest the rest

I often hear this...  Life is too short.  Money doesn't bring you happiness.  You can't take it with you... and so on.  Whilst this is all true, money does bring you freedom and choice.  Rightly or wrongly, it's a fact.

So whilst you're alive, why not give yourself and your family more choices and financial freedom to live the life you want?

The only way you'll achieve this is if you spend less than you earn, and invest the rest into high growth assets that will ultimately pay you a passive income for life.  Property assets are a perfect example.

The benefit of investing in property is that the bank is willing to partner up with you and lend you the money to buy real estate, so you don't have to wait to save up the entire purchase price.  Then as your property assets grow in value, you can tap back into the equity to buy more and more; obviously within your means and within your borrowing capacity.

For me property investing is a no brainer (excuse the pun).  It's constantly in demand, it's a human need, banks prefer to lend against it (when compared to other assets), you can re-use the equity to buy more of it, it has a long proven history of growth, and the loan amount doesn't increase with inflation (e.g. a $100,000 home loan 20 years ago was a lot of money back then, today it's play money!).

4.  Analyse your financial blueprint

A friend of mine (who is a very successful business person) once said to me, "companies make nice things for people to buy, so why not let it be you?".

If you were born in a hardworking family where money was a luxury, then perhaps your financial blueprint may have beliefs that is holding you back from enjoying the good/nice things in life.

Today opportunities are endless and if you want something bad enough, then your belief will make all the difference to what you can have.

So for example if you want a house by the beach or a nice flashy sports car, then visualise exactly what that looks like (with colour).  If it's a red Ferrari that you want, then set your financial blueprint accordingly and take massive action to make it a reality.

Think about it, you can't buy the Ferrari when you're six foot under so you may as well do it whilst you're here, alive.

5.  FEAR is just an illusion

Do you know what FEAR stands for?  False Emotions Appearing Real.  The world is full of doubtful people and excuses.  The only thing holding you back from what you really want is, you guessed it, FEAR.

Program your mind (daily) by making positive affirmations to yourself, and believe that nothing is out of reach, except what you tell yourself.

If you are lacking a skill in something that you would love to do which you know will make you loads of cash, then get trained up.  Just do it and always doubt your doubts.  That's right, who said your doubts were right anyway, so doubt your doubts!

6.  Build up your savings

"You must learn to save first and spend afterwards" - John Poole.

Once you've made your first million, the next million is easier.  Moral of the story, you need to save as hard as you can to build enough cash so that you can invest, then once you start investing and make money, it's the old adage of money makes money.  Leverage and compounding returns are the two secret ingredients used by the wealthy and it's the main reason why the rich get richer.

If you've been a poor saver in the past, then it's never too late to start now.  Today is the best day to take action and work towards your financial goals... and dreams.

7.  Avoid unnecessary spending

If you think it's hard to save, then here's an easy and very effective exercise.  Write down all your expenses and break them into 'fixed' (like council rates) and 'variable' (like entertainment).  Then annualise your expenses and look closely at your top 10 expenses.

Question everything and make some changes.  Stop making excuses and trim unnecessary spend, at least until you have the required capital to start investing in high growth assets (like property).

If you can trim even just $50 a week, you should be able to hold at least one investment grade investment property which in turn will make you money (over time).  I'm sure if you look hard enough, trimming just $50 per week from your expenses will be a walk in the park!

Does all this sound simple.  It is, however the magic ingredient is ACTION.  Take action today and stop the excuses 🙂

Important information: This content has been prepared without taking account of the objectives, financial situation or needs of any particular individual. It does not constitute formal advice. For this reason, any individual should, before acting, consider the appropriateness of the information, having regard to the individual’s objectives, financial situation and needs and, if necessary, seek appropriate professional advice.