Financial independence is something you should start to think about if you haven’t already, and you should make it one of your priorities. It should be on the top of your goal list.
Financial independence means that your passive income covers your monthly living costs. Let us say that you need 2000 $ a month to live comfortably. You will need to acquire assets that will pay you that amount every month without you lifting a finger. Those assets could be apartments, royalties from a book or a song you wrote, dividends from your investments, etc.
Financial independence, like almost everything in life, has two extremes.
One extreme is becoming a monk. One way to become financially independent is to not need anything. Monks are outside the concept of money. They live in a monastery and have daily chores for which they get food and accommodation. They are financially independent because they live outside the concept of money.
The second extreme of financial independence is to have all the money in the world. Billionaire is a word that could describe this side of the subject. If being a billionaire is your goal, you must consider your monthly expenses. The 2000 $ we discussed earlier may not even cover your tips for one week. Yachts, private jets, cars, houses, and all the people you need to maintain them will cost you a lot of money, so you’ll need to earn more every month just to cover all that.
Take out a nice, fresh, and crisp piece of paper, and calculate and write down your monthly expenses. After you write the amount, start searching for ways to decrease that amount. Eliminate costs that you don’t actually need and redirect those amounts to investing in your future. Buy 2 Coca-Cola shares every month, for example.
The first step is to aim. Aiming at financial independence does not guarantee that you will ever achieve it. But not aiming at it will guarantee that you will never achieve it.
“If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.”
— Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Aim!
The second step is identifying where you are and where you want to be between the monk and the billionaire.
The third step is to evaluate yourself. If you are making 1000 $ a month and you want to make 4000 $ you will need to work on yourself. Set time apart daily for self-education and self-improvement. Improve the way you talk, the way you walk, the way you dress, the way you greet people, your handshake, your smile, the way you blink, the way you eat, what you eat, and so on. You need to understand that your monthly income is in direct proportion to the person you are. If you want more money, you can steal it from somewhere or somebody else, or you can start to work on yourself to become more valuable to the marketplace.
Like everything else in life, you should start this journey with God. Life is not easy, never was, and never will be. Having God in your corner will ensure you have hope and the necessary strength to go on when you encounter life’s obstacles and will give you fulfillment and peace when you hit your goals.
God is not negotiable.
He is a must-have!
With love, yours truly, Cristian.