How To Activate Your Personal Success
It's the moment you've been waiting for. Your first success in your personal journey to financial independence. However, while you might be feeling relieved and ready to celebrate, keep your eye on the ball here—this is only just one step in a long and complicated process that will continue to develop over time.
Don't get cocky. Keep being proactive and take action towards your goal so that even this small success becomes a catalyst to an even bigger improvement than it already is!
In order to understand how to achieve personal success as well as maintain it, we need first of all to go over what it actually means... and what it's not.
What is Personal Success, Anyway?
"Personal success" is a misnomer when it comes to the financial independence movement. Some people describe this as "financial freedom." However, they are actually two different things with two distinct meanings.
One definition of "financial freedom" is that once you reach this financial level, you are completely free of debt. This is simply not true, though, as we all know that life does not stop when we reach this level.
"Financial freedom" is not having a lot of money. It's freedom in what you do with your money and how you do it. It's the freedom to choose your own future, to live life however you want, based on what you want to be doing—not necessarily what the government wants.
Another way of saying "financial success" is that most people can achieve this level of financial independence by age 40 or so. This is simply not true! You might think that because it has been said for so long that one could get financially free at 40, or even early in one's 30s, that there must be something to this statement. However, this is false.
The truth is, most people (maybe even all) will not reach this level of financial independence by the time they are 40 years old. In fact, only one in six would ever reach it by the time they were 60. And even among those who do get to the point at which they can retire early, they won't be financially free. The majority of people that can retire really early on will still have some kind of work that they must do in order to sustain themselves financially.
So why do so many people think that "financial independence" means having a lot of money and retiring early? Because that's what most Americans believe and want to believe... especially those with a college degree. But it's not what's true or healthy for most people.
You want to be able to pursue your own path and live the life you want. It is actually a healthier goal to have financial independence than just being wealthy, because a lot of times when people say they want to achieve "financial independence" they are really just saying that they want to retire early. And this goal is much easier said than done... at least if you don't have a lot of savings already in place and can't count on a steady income stream outside of your regular job.
So one could say that having a lot of money, or "abundance" as it's often called, is not in and of itself the best thing. What is the best thing? It's not the money itself; it's what you do with it. It's the quality of your life and how you live that has everything to do with your happiness and well-being.
What this means for most people, especially if they don't have a lot of savings already in place, is that you must achieve some level of financial freedom before you can truly achieve financial freedom.
How To Achieve Personal Success
There is something that will always be true in this world: Your personal success will create your business success. You cannot have one without the other. So yes, it's true. The higher your personal goals, the easier it will be to achieve business goals as well.
Most people want to achieve financial independence because they think of the freedom that it brings, and the life that it allows them to live. And, for many people pursuing this type of life is a completely natural desire and even an imperative of a healthy and happy life. But you have to realize that there are consequences to pursuing this goal, especially if you haven't been managing your money properly for some time now.
The Work/Life Balance
You want to achieve financial independence? That's fine. But most people don't realize that there is a hard-to-find balance between life and work. Most people would like to think that once they reach financial freedom, or even just get a big promotion in their career, that it will be smooth sailing from here on out. However, once you hit this point you really have to start managing your time wisely.
Remember how I stated at the beginning of this article that your personal success can only bring about business success? Well, the reverse is also true.
What I mean is that if you have a lot of personal struggles, then it will be a lot harder to achieve business success. And the problems that can arise from having personal struggles are health issues, stress issues, and relationship issues. You see, all of these kinds of issues are what prevent you from achieving success in your life.
So how do you deal with these problems? Well, the first step is realizing that they do exist and that they can certainly stand in the way of your goals. The second step is to realize that this doesn't mean that you have to give up on your goals or settle for less than what you truly want out of life. The third step is to realize that this is a challenge that everyone deals with, and you can overcome it just the same as anyone else.
The last step is to take action. The best way to do this is to create your own personal development plan by taking some time out of each day to make sure that you keep yourself balanced in every area of your life—mentally, spiritually, physically, and financially. This will ensure that you are always moving forward in all areas of your life rather than falling behind at any one area and getting stuck there. When you can move forward in every area of your life together, the result will be far more positive than if you were only focusing on one or two areas at a time.
For example, you may think that it's the only way for you to achieve success in your business career if you don't have a lot of money. However, this is not true. You can create your own success no matter where you are in your life and what challenges you're facing. The key to doing so is managing your time properly and creating a plan for yourself that will enable to see small improvements each day that over time will add up to big successes.
Chapter 8: The "Cure" For An Unhappy Work/Life Balance
So I've said it many times before: Your personal success equals your business success and visa-versa.
Conclusion
I understand that achieving financial independence can be a very daunting task. This is especially true if you have been struggling with your finances for a long time. But do not give up on your dreams just because it's difficult. Keep in mind that the more you believe in yourself, the more likely it is that you will succeed in achieving what you want out of life.
Now, let's take a look at some concrete steps to take in order to achieve success no matter where you are in life, and to achieve success even if your work/life balance is already out of whack.