sport football: Changing Your Financial Situation Starts With These Steps

October 21, 2024 | Listen Online | Read Online

Changing Your Financial Situation Starts With These Steps

I didn't become a multimillionaire by lucky inheritance. I built my entire wealth from scratch.

It wasn't easy. And I made a lot of mistakes on the way…

My first big haul came in the early 1990s, buying beaten-down junk bonds. And in the mid-1990s, I started making money hand over fist in technology stocks.

But when the market went against me, I made bigger and riskier bets. I lost all perspective and invested for my ego, not my bank account.

By late 1998, I'd lost it all. I went from wealthy to poor in less than a month. Ultimately, I was compelled to file for personal bankruptcy.

Friends, I've made an incredible amount of money over the years. I've lost an incredible amount of money, too.

I wasn't able to break this boom-and-bust cycle and truly build wealth until I learned one important lesson: Know thyself.

You see, to become successful at investing – or anything in life – you need to know yourself first. You need to know your own personality… Your strengths and weaknesses.

One weakness that inflicts most investors is they're easily swayed by the crowd. It's just human nature. When the crowd goes one way, most tend to follow.

If you're a person who's easily swayed by market sentiment, it's OK. I worked on Wall Street for decades. And I've fallen victim to market sentiment plenty of times.

So how do I protect myself from my worst emotional tendencies now?

It isn't because I have supernatural abilities. It's because I've set up defense mechanisms to prevent my worst proclivities.

First, I had to look in the mirror and realize I had a penchant to panic buy (on FOMO or fear of missing out) and panic sell (on FUD or fear, uncertainty, and doubt). I also had a predilection to take on too much risk.

When I learned to honestly appraise myself without beating myself up, I could implement strategies to protect my portfolio from the worst parts of my personality.

Here's why I'm telling you this…

I launched Digital Asset Daily to add clarity and value to the digital asset space. But even the most valuable investment ideas and commentary are worthless if you make emotionally driven financial decisions.

So in addition to providing world-class investment research, I also act as your coach, guide, and mentor.

Three Steps to Start Your Wealth-Building Journey

There are three concrete financial steps I took to rebuild and, more importantly, maintain my wealth.

First, if you want to build your wealth, you need money.

If you spend every penny you make, there's no way you can reach your financial dreams.

When I started on the path to my dream life, what I found was no matter how much I earned, I always spent it all.

But I didn't have a money problem… I had a spending problem.

If I wanted to be rich, I had to drastically lower my expenses and save more while improving the quality of my life right now by making better decisions. I didn't need the most expensive, most exclusive, newest thing.

I had to focus on buying quality items that could last 20 years or more. And learn the true cost of spending by figuring out the real cost of what I was buying.

For instance, I could save hundreds of thousands of dollars by buying a reliable car and keeping it for 15 years rather than changing cars every three years.

My personal rule of thumb to getting rich is to live well below your means, so you can save over 60% of your monthly income.

I know that sounds nuts… But it's doable.

For me, I had to have some tough conversations with my children and my then-wife. I made huge changes in our lifestyle, from downsizing our cars to chopping up credit cards and embracing "staycations."

Second, I had to look for outside-the-box ideas about how to create additional income.

For instance, you can focus on increasing your ability to earn more money by having a side hustle… improving your work ethic… or learning new work skills. I did all three.

I ran two consulting businesses on the side while writing two financial newsletters. I worked more diligently and started a program of personal skill improvement.

Each of these little changes didn't do much alone. But over time, they started to compound upon one another.

Soon, I had an explosion of money coming into my life. Because of that, I wasn't spending it all on a bunch of nonsense. That allowed me to put 95% of my investable money into conservative, income-producing investments and strategies.

The other 5% I used to speculate on asymmetric investments like bitcoin, Ethereum, and high-flying tech stocks. Many of those investments ended up making me a fortune – without putting my current lifestyle at risk.

I was finally off the boom-and-bust wealth roller coaster.

Lastly, I learned to step out of my comfort zone and reimagine what my ideal dream life would be.

I realized I didn't have to buy into anyone else's dream. You don't have to, either.

I want you to get crystal clear on what you want. What do you really want from this life?

I'm not asking you what you'll settle for.

Unhook your brain from a lifetime of conditioning that tells you what you should want… And figure out what you want.

You don't have to tell anyone else. (My recommendation is to keep it to yourself.) But you should write it down.

Once it's down, ask yourself, "If I could achieve this… How would I do it?"

It's OK if you don't know the answer yet. Just the action of opening your mind to accept a life radically different from the one you currently live will begin to move your life more in the direction of where you want it to go.

I didn't know how to answer this question when I first asked it of myself. So every morning, I'd sit at my desk and write out my ideal life. At the time, I was in an unhappy marriage in rural Pennsylvania.

Each morning, I'd write about the life I wanted. I wrote about the home I'd live in, the view of the ocean from my balcony, and the sound of the waves in the background.

I wrote about my workday, the people I interacted with, the type of romantic relationship I wanted, and the wealth I wanted.

I did this EVERY morning for months.

Within two years… I had converted every one of those dreams into reality.

Push Past Your Comfort Zone

Friends, I know confronting yourself isn't easy. It's hard to look in the mirror and not judge yourself.

If you think you're too mean or too lazy, judge the behavior – not yourself.

That bears repeating: Never judge yourself. Always make it about the behavior, not the person (you).

You may never be able to change who you are… But you can always change what you do, the actions you take.

No matter what you currently believe about yourself, know this… The person you are is beautiful. You're a miracle of life. And you have a gift the world needs.

But to bring that gift to the world, you have to do some work. It's one of the key lessons I've learned.

We're all humans… We all make mistakes. None of us is perfect.

Observe and learn from your mistakes without condemning yourself… And you'll be on the path to achieving not just financial success but life success.

Will it be easy? No. Will you have to go outside your comfort zone? Yes.

But if you can bring yourself to do that… to keep pushing past your comfort zone… You'll

have a life beyond your wildest dreams.

Let the Game Come to You!

Big T