You don’t need to be a financial expert to be an expert in your finances.
Financial professionals might help you with how to get to where you want to be but they can’t tell you where you want to be and they definitely can’t make you do the work. Great advice is as good as you are willing to listen and implement.
Where are you on your financial journey and where do you want to be in the future? Other people’s stories can help you think through these questions. How did a situation affect a friend or family member’s financial state? Do you want to prevent that from happening to you? What are the things that you are doing today that might help or hinder your ability to reach your goals?
It all starts with the need for change. If you don’t want to change, you are not willing to listen to advice. You have to be sick and tired of being sick and tired (Dave Ramsey).
Then you have to take action. So, you see a problem you want to fix, now what? It can be hard to know where to start but these steps might help:
Step 1…
Online free resources: search the topic you want to learn more about and read blogs or watch YouTube videos. There are plenty of resources you can use to get familiar with the topic and hopefully narrow down what exactly you need to focus on.
Within personal finances topic, there are sub-topics such as budgeting, saving, paying debt, investing, etc.
Step 2…
Next, buy a book or course about that specific sub-topic. You might be thinking, why buy something when there are so many free resources available? When you invest, you pay attention. It doesn’t have to be thousands of dollars, but a $10-$15 book can change your life. Paid resources are better organized with actionable steps, templates. This is not the time to invest a lot of money if you are looking for basic information.
Step 3…
Take action: don’t’ just read and learn about finances for months or years. You won’t be able to learn everything at once; you keep learning new things every day. Give yourself a few weeks and just go for it. The longer the delay in taking action, the less likely you will ever do it, and more importantly, you won’t see the result you are trying to reach.
Step 4…
Keep learning and improving. Once you have started this financial journey, look for ways to improve or add on to what you already know. Continue to invest in yourself: this might include a high-ticket items (coach, financial planner, tax adviser, mastermind course, etc.). There will always be something you can learn. Take time to celebrate victories (big or small) along the way.
You have the power to change your destiny…
Your finances, your actions, your goals! Your goals determine your actions and your actions determine your results. There will be outside circumstances beyond your control that you will have to fight against, but you can’t afford to be your own obstacle.
“The top experts in the world are ardent students. The day you stop learning, you’re definitely not an expert.” Brendon Burchard
