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Think and Live Wealthy: 13 Guidelines for Becoming Financially Independent
“In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
Money is an interesting indicator of our state of mind. Emotions like paralyzing fear, envy, revenge, resentment, scarcity, hatred or bitterness usually reflect less than desirable state of financial affairs in our lives. On the other hand, emotions like peacefulness, kindness, contentment, appreciation, happiness, joy, love and serenity reflect the state of mind that is open to receive the abundance that Universe has for everyone…. Among many things, money is a language we use to express the best in us and the worst in us.
Your pursuit of wealth and financial freedom may reflect your intention to feel free and fulfilled, to communicate love and empowerment to others and to express kindness and generosity toward the less fortunate. Conversely, the pursuit of more money can be driven by various forms of fear—anger, insecurity, jealousy, or revenge. The latter often leads to disappointments, victim mentality and comparisons.
I invite you to use your “FEEL GOOD” compass to determine your “abundance receiving state”. When you feel good about yourself and your life, you are OPEN TO RECEIVE the goodness into your life: you attract and see opportunities; you get inspired by possibilities; you act assertively to realize them.
Abundance
Training your busy mind to focus on what works in your life; practicing seeing abundance all around you and experiencing it inside your body takes discipline and practice. Committing to daily “success rituals”, journaling; creating a dream-board of your dream life, making time for play and for stillness; quieting your mind by meditating and visualizing your amazing abundant life will help you get into a vibrational state that is aligned with infinite possibilities, prosperity and abundance.
Stuart Wilde writes in his book The Little Money Bible: “Once you get real, all your energy can go toward becoming what you really need and want to become. That transformation must be part of your story in this lifetime. Making money is not enough—you will have to do something that has meaning.”
Freedom
I am a real worshiper of freedom—personal and financial. It is my belief that you cannot have one without the other. Having wealth doesn’t guarantee you personal freedom. Conversely, having personal freedom without financial independence hinders your ability to have a joyful, fulfilling life.
Achieving financial freedom in your life requires cultivating a financial freedom attitude. Developing a wealth plan and an appreciation for building wealth, committing to practicing financial discipline as well as the mindset of sufficiency will get you to this worthy goal.
A person with the financial freedom attitude values freedom more than material possessions, is uncomfortable with having debt and appreciates saving and investing. A person with a financial slavery attitude values possessions more than financial independence; is not worried about accumulating debt and spends carelessly.
From my own practice of abundance consciousness and the quest for personal and financial freedom, I’ve compiled a ‘big picture’ list of guidelines that I follow and invite you to do the same on your journey.
13 Guidelines for Achieving
Financial Freedom
- Commit to becoming Financially Free. Invest in yourself by upgrading your knowledge and skills, practice “success rituals” daily, become unstoppable yet patient; persevere and enjoy the journey!
- Develop your personalized Wealth Plan. Have Clarity and Direction. Think big, start where you are and take inspired actions, no matter how small they may be at the moment.
- Get Guidance and Support. We all need guidance from people who’ve achieved what we want to achieve. No need to feel “alone against the world” – ask for help.
- Take control and assume full responsibility for your money and your financial goals. Learn practical money management tools and financial discipline.
- Follow the Financial Freedom rules. Spend less, earn more, borrow less, get creative about finding additional streams of income.
- Eliminate debt as soon as possible. Start with the one that has the highest interest rate. Be aware of compound interest that you pay upon borrowing.
- Strive to have multiple streams of passive income. This is a cornerstone of financial security and independence. This is your ultimate goal and it may take time.
- Develop discipline by growing your “money-jars” – spending, saving and investing.
- Don’t trust empty promises. Don’t let people convince you to invest with them. Do your own thorough due-diligence and see the value of the investment yourself. Past performance is not a reason to take chances with your money!
- Invest in what you know or learn about the area of your investment. For example, real estate, precious metals, stock market.
- Learn about risk management practices. These include diversification, asset allocation, position allocation, time horizon.
- Pay attention to the economic environment. Identify and ride the waves of the rising market; be aware of forming bubbles (e.g. internet stocks in the late 1990-s, real estate in 2007); get out before bubbles burst. All markets are cyclical; whatever goes up must go down.
- Live rich! Notice, enjoy and appreciate the abundance in your everyday life. Most of what you need to be happy doesn’t cost much. Your feelings create your experiences including those related to wealth. Set your intentions from the place of sufficiency; strive for what you believe in, act confidently.
Discover what works for you. If some of these ideas are new, challenge yourself to learn more! Take small steps if you must, examine your money habits, continue cultivating abundance consciousness and upgrade your knowledge and skills if needed. Believe that financial freedom is achievable regardless of where you begin… as long as you have a strong DESIRE TO BE FREE. Ignite your passion and expect miracles!
Would you like to get support on YOUR journey to Financial Freedom? I thought so! That’s why I formed an intimate Facebook group of amazing, talented and driven women who are aspired, just like you, to become financially free. Interested?
Here where you can join: Wealth Building for Powerful Women: Make Your Money Work for You
To your Health, Wealth and Freedom!
With Love and Gratitude,
Millen Livis
About the Author Millen Livis
Millen is a Wealth architect and Financial Independence Coach, entrepreneur, and a bestselling author. Being a Possibilities' Catalyst, she uses her intuition, business, and investment expertise to support entrepreneurial women (like you) who want to master their money, live their purpose achieve financial prosperity and freedom. With her physics and business education, corporate and entrepreneurial experience, money management know-how, mindfulness practices and transformational coaching skills, Millen has a unique ability to guide and support clients in achieving extraordinary success in their lives.
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Wonderful advice Millen! Of all 12 tips, the one that resonates with me the most is #4, Take control and assume full responsibility for your money and your financial goals. In fact, I believe accountability is the key to thriving in every area of our lives. It takes courage and there’s no question that sometimes life does test us to the extreme, but those are also the times when we have the greatest opportunity for growth. Thanks so much for your advice and inspiration!
Thank you for your feedback, Marquita! Yes, life does sometimes test us to the extreme… and assuming full responsibility and knowing that you’re able to handle anything that comes your way, albeit imperfectly, is a big confidence booster and an important factor in succeeding with any endeavor.
While reading this I couldn’t help but think of the spiritual aspect of money and abundance. How important it is to not only look at abundance in physical terms, but to see it in a larger picture of who we are as spiritual beings. Of all of your tips, I think I love #13 the most. Allow abundance to be the way you walk through the world and what you see as you are on your journey. Take the example from nature where there is little competition, just being. “A flower does not think of competing with the flower next to it. It just blooms.” Not sure why that quote came up for me, however, I think it speaks to there being enough for us all and seeing that abundance comes in the form of energy, as much as it does in the form of a tangible and physical form. If we “live rich”, as you say, Millen, that paves the way for all else. Thanks for this wonderful post!
I couldn’t agree with you more, Beverley, abundance is much more than physical or material wealth! Since we exist on both physical and spiritual planes, we experience abundance in various physical and spiritual ways… Love, Gratitude and Fulfillment are aspects of Abundant life not less than any material wealth. Thank you very much for contributing to the conversation!
Love that list and there are few nudges for me too, thanks Freedom is my top value and without abundance we can’t even see or feel freedom xoo
Glad this post resonated with you, Suzie! Thank you for stopping by and sharing your opinion.
Reading your post from the perspective of a Chartered Accountant, Millen, these are precious guidelines that many people fail to follow and then wonder why they aren’t able to make their money work. Diversification of portfolio and knowing how to manage risk are imperative wealth building activities. I know of people who invest in gold and property which is good but having some liquid funds in store is equally important because many assets do get affected by the economy and as you rightly point out paying attention to the economic market is important.
More important is the mindset and the commitment to create wealth. When that is in place along with a healthy attitude to money, we can achieve our goals.
Oh, you are so right, Vatsala! The mindset and the commitment to create wealth are “must” for success in any endeavor, including building wealth and achieving financial freedom. I am happy to see that these guidelines resonated with you! Thank you very much for sharing your feedback!
Excellent list! It is so important that we play an active role in our financial wealth. I love that you added #13! It is al about mindset, appreciation, and gratitude! Thank you for the awesome tips!
Thank you for stopping by and your feedback! Glad that the list of guidelines resonated with you. Yes, you must take full responsibility for creating the life you want, including financial wealth. And at the core of wealthy, abundant living is abundant mindset… that includes gratitude. Thank you again for contributing to the conversation.
Beautifully written Millen and I agree with everything. For me, the most important part is how attitudes about money define how we relate to money. As a kid I would always pick up the pennies that I found. I came to realize that I had a penny mentality. Now, my focus is manifesting abundance which is not limited to money. The universe is a great provider of abundance if you let it.
Your sharing about your habit as a young child to pick up pennies is very interesting, Joyce… It shows that you respected and appreciated money from the very young age! And yes, the Universe is an abundant place and wealth is so much more than just material possessions. Thank you for contributing to the conversation.
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