How to increase your wealth by setting meaningful goals and investing in yourself
It is a New Year and a fresh start. This is the first New Year for as long as I can remember that I have been excited for the coming year.
What’s the difference this time? I spent most of December working on life goals for my family and I. Goals for January, 2022 and through the next decade. This gave me much more focus on what we want, and more importantly, how to get there. Now I view most decisions based on this and I can already see my progress.
The problems with New Year’s Resolutions
I do not make New Year’s Resolutions because, having tried them several times, they never work. In many cases, a resolution is mostly a strong wish with no solid plan.
I liked the idea of having muscles again or playing guitar for my friends but if I am honest, I did not really want to do the work or create a realistic plan to get there and stay motivated. Keeping motivation is about enjoying the journey-consistent small wins and celebrations to keep you on track, and reflecting on how far you have come. Always set goals with the journey in mind. Do not let any setbacks throw you off. Keep working on each step.
Setting and achieving goals
With a solid plan for the next year and beyond broken into smaller action steps for small wins along the way, and a checklist I can look back on, I am excited about the future and feel the motivation building. However, I know it will not always be exciting-that is why small wins, celebrations and reflection are so important.
Every step in our plan is tied to our long-term goals. For example, in the future we want to travel around the country and live in the countryside, so right now, I am studying and practising for my local driving tests. Getting the licenses will also give us the freedom to rent or buy a car when we need it.
Decision making
It is important to me that my brain is running on maximum capacity, so I reduce the decisions I need to make in the morning (my most productive time) by looking at my checklist for the month and having the document, website, video etc. I need to work on next, loaded for when I open my laptop. This frees me to focus on exactly what needs to be done and avoid procrastination or getting lost.
I also have visual cues-I prepare my mug for coffee, clothes, bag and anything else I need for the day the night before. This allows me to autopilot non-essential decisions, freeing up my brain for productivity and bigger decisions. Everything I need is laid out in my room or in places I will pay attention to in sequential order as I work through my morning routine.
Investing in yourself
In my view, the fastest and most effective way to grow your wealth is by investing in yourself. What does “invest in yourself” mean and why is it important?
Investing in yourself to me means increasing my income, education and skills, and buying tools that can help me achieve my goals. It is powerful because it is something I have a lot of control over and the growth is exponential. It also means that if your money disappears, you have the skills to build it back again.
My target is to build wealth. One way to do this is to increase my income and invest the increase into solid, appreciating assets (e.g. stocks, real estate). How can I increase my income? I could sell more of my time (get another job/side hustle), but selling my time is not the way I want to do this, as I already have two jobs and one of my goals is to spend more time with family. This means I need to earn more per hour, and/or generate passive income. I chose both.
In December, I applied to do a higher qualification through my second job. Although it is a financial hit in the short term, it will allow me to get a pay increase in both jobs and will provide me with valuable skills and knowledge towards my bigger goals of owning my own business. I also spent money on a great, reliable laptop to enable me to increase productivity, complete my qualification and do the work and research I need to reach my goals.
Investing in yourself is not limited to spending money though. I listen to a lot of audiobooks and YouTube videos to learn more about wealth building and the skills and knowledge associated with it. This can be done for free but I am also considering paying for an audiobook subscription. By increasing my knowledge, I can increase my skills. By increasing my skills, I can make better decisions and increase my income further and invest the difference into more solid assets.
As mentioned earlier, over the long-term, I see owning (not necessarily running) a business as the way to exponentially increase income and free up time. To do this I need the knowledge and skills to do this-I need to invest in myself.
No more “resolutions”. I encourage you to make meaningful life goals with a focus on enjoying the journey. Do you just like the idea of the end result or will you enjoy the process too?
Work towards your goals every day, step by step, and celebrate the little wins, reflect on how far you have come in a few months’ time. You will be amazed at what you can achieve in a few months.
If you would like me to write in more detail about any of the topics discussed (or not), comment below.
thejourneyx 