8. Defining Financial Success for Yourself
Financial success looks different to everyone. To you it may be a large home, new Mercedes in the driveway, and ample money in the bank to do with as you please, when you please, and whenever you please. For some others it might be the peace of mind to know that the necessities are covered along with a few wants.
What Is Financial Success?
Envision, for a moment, yourself in your old age sitting and looking back over your life. What would make you say that you achieved financial success in your lifetime? When you think about the question, “What is financial success?” what is the first thing that comes to mind? Is it acquiring more material items, or as I call it, “stuff”? Maybe paying all your bills early, extensive travel, or eliminating the mountain of debt that’s hanging over your head. Maybe you want to feel fulfilled, or feel that you have the freedom to do whatever you choose, or you may just want to consume more things. Usually the answers you supply when asked that question are superficial layers that need to be peeled back before you get to the core of defining this meaning of success for your life. It might take some time for you to get to your true realization. Financial success likely represents every good feeling that you want to experience to a greater degree. On an emotional level, money equates to a happier, freer, more meaningful life, but it’s not the money alone that does it. Without purpose, it can be a hollow victory.
The reality is you can’t live independently from your finances.
No matter what you do or where you go, finances are needed to carry you through. You can’t look at creating a spending plan and then think about enjoying your life separately. You must fuse the two to ensure that you have the resources to live the life you desire. Not embracing this concept is one of the reasons many people experience a sense of depression when their sources of finances run low or become stagnant. Your financial life dictates how you run your household, take care of your family, and support your friends. It also sets the tone for your mindset and emotions. If your personal assets are not in order, it’s more challenging to get ahead in other areas of your life. You constantly focus on what you don’t have, causing your financial growth and maturity to become stagnant, putting the rest of your life on hold, never embracing the change that could ultimately improve your life and place you in the right direction for success.
Financial success looks different to everyone on this planet. No one has the perfect meaning of success although many try to accomplish the right look. If you want true happiness and long-term success, you must define what financial success means to you and have a vision of what success looks like in your own life. Think about it. Is it being self-sufficient, having multiple streams of income, a beautiful marriage and family, a great job, or maybe a business of your own?
Many see success as the accomplishment of an aim or purpose; therefore, financial success should be the accomplishment of a financial aim or purpose. In determining your own definition of financial success, think about what you are aiming for and what purpose you are fulfilling financially.
I’ve interviewed hundreds of individuals and I’ve asked the following question to put it in perspective. Here are a few examples of what financial success means to different people:
Money isn’t dictating any of your day-to-day actions.
Not having to worry about if you’ll have the money to cover a bill or buy a meal.
Not having debts other than the usual costs of living (electric, phone, food, and so on).
Doing something you want to do rather than you have to do.
Supporting your family without depending on employment.
Achieving financial success means you are in control of your money, instead of it controlling you. You tell your dollars where to go, instead of them doing what they want to do. Your income doesn’t necessarily determine how financially successful you are, your choices and priorities do. If you are struggling, financial success might seem like a distant dream.
The gist of the way John Maxwell used to put it was that success means knowing your purpose in life, and from that, growing to your maximum potential while sowing seeds that benefit others.
Thought Question
How do you define financial success?
Mind Changer
You can reverse poor thinking as well as the influence it has over your life by focusing on thoughts of freedom, determination, and pure will to position yourself for financial success!