Principles of Financial Success You Should Know (Part 1)
Financial success simply means achieving the financial status you have dreamed of. What has been your dream? Is it to become a billionaire, a millionaire or just to be able to pay for three meals a day? Whatever dream you have, you must know that they are achievable if you set out to pursue them diligently and vigorously.
Some people mistakenly believe that the only way to succeed in life is to work harder, harder and harder. In fact, it’s good to work hard because success doesn’t come on a gold platter. But it takes more than hard work to be successful in your business or financial life.
If your desire is to be successful after reading this article and after participating in my training course, then you must be prepared to observe the following principles:
1. Spend less than you earn: To gain financial freedom, you need to spend less than you earn. You should not consume everything you earn at the end of each month. You should have something left over from your salary or business earnings – don’t spend it all with nothing to save for the future. It is what you have left at the end of your expenses that contributes to making you rich, not what you spent. Your expenses actually make you poorer and enrich someone else. So when you are tempted to spend your entire monthly salary, you must resist the temptation.
2. Pay yourself first: So many people find it strange that they must first pay themselves before making any expenses with their monthly income. When you receive your salary / salary, for example, you must first withdraw your tithe; then pay a certain percentage (say 5-10%) of your income before spending the rest on whatever you want.
3. Plan for Uncertainty – Always consider problems and think of a way to overcome them should they arise in the future. Think of yourself, your wife, or your child who got sick suddenly. Consider that you have the opportunity to buy a valuable property at a very low price. Imagine a company in which you have suddenly been waiting to invest and you are presented with the opportunity to buy its shares. You must have some money kept in a separate account to deal with such situations. Make sure to deposit some amounts into that account periodically.
4. Have financial literacy: Business success requires a certain level of financial training. To win a gold medal in athletics you need physical training; To be successful in agriculture, you need a basic training in agriculture or agricultural science. To be a successful engineer, you must attend a university, polytechnic, or technical school. Along the same lines, business and financial management requires basic training for one to perform well. You should not launch into a business in which you do not have basic or elementary knowledge, otherwise you will lose your hard-earned income.
5. Set long-term goals: You must set long-term goals and work towards them. You need to define where you want to be in the next 1, 5, 10, 15, or 20 years. Knowing where you want to be will prompt you to work on the modalities to get there. If possible, write down your goals and keep them close where you can see them often. Reading them often will remind you that you have an unfinished task to complete.