How to Achieve Financial Stabilty

A vision without the means to achieve it is merely a dream. 

No doubt you’ve run across people who dream big. My own father was a big dreamer. He’d sit and contemplate traveling the country in an RV, vacation homes on the beach, or dream homes on the river. But he never had the means to make it happen.

Means comes in many forms – desire, action, roadmap, team, and money. 

If you have a dream, a vision, for a bigger future, it most likely will take some amount of money to make it happen. 

Your business must provide the financial stability you need to achieve your bigger future. 

Financial stability (notice I don’t say freedom or work optional or any of the other buzzwords) is determined by you. What does a solid financial house look like for you? What is your “rich?” This will help you figure that out.

The point is to not have to worry about your money. 

If you don’t have your financial house in order then you will never realize your bigger future. A life of true impact and significance will elude you. You will struggle to live your purpose. You will never be the self you were created to be.

Harsh? You bet. 

I’m not saying you have to be rich. I’m saying you must be in control of your financial life according to your lifestyle, goals, dreams, desires for your bigger future. 

I know plenty who do this with less than $75k of annual income. I know others who aren’t with $1 million. It’s all about YOUR bigger future, not anyone else’s.

But I’m also an advocate for being rich. The more money you have, the greater opportunity you have to make a huge impact for your family and your community. 

Rich for riches sake is a recipe for misery. Rich with a purpose is impact and significance.

Pillar 1 was about discovering your bigger future, your purpose, establishing your vision. Pillar 2 is about having the fuel you need to make it happen. 

Let’s start with your financial house.

You probably know your real house structure better than your financial house. You wouldn’t run your business without a CFO, so why would you run your personal financial house without one. Granted that CFO is probably you in both instances. But you understand the analogy. 

Just as your business has money coming in, so does your personal house. Money flows through to cover expenses, needs, wants, debt, taxes and eventually savings/investments (if there’s any leftover). Too often I see money getting sucked up by things we think we need, things we want, and many times we don’t even know where. 

Then you’ve got a lifestyle – which usually comes first. And when lifestyle comes first it really doesn’t allow us to do things like protect ourselves and our family, or create strong investments and  savings. These things are usually done last. 

This structure doesn’t put your family first, it doesn’t put your future first. It puts things first. It causes money to leak out of your household, rather than putting it to work for you. 

To build true wealth and true freedom, you need to reverse this order. Pay yourself first, protect your assets (including you), eliminate bad debt, reduce taxes, and still have an abundant lifestyle. Then you can build true wealth and true freedom. This financial house structure really works, both now and well into the future. Only then can you have the financial freedom you’re looking for.

This is just the start.

The majority of business owners I work with have business cash flow and structure issues. Which leads to personal cash flow issues. 

Making the business run well (without you) may be where you start this process. I’ll cover this in greater depth later. 

For now, getting your personal cash flow in the right order is critical. 

1. Pay yourself first

2. Give (if so inclined, more on the science of giving later)

3. Protect your greatest asset – YOU

4. Plug leaks

5. Eliminate/reduce debt

6. Live a lifestyle consistent with your values