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One big idea, one dream, one vision, and you can change everything. That's all it takes to make it big. We have all heard this and other phrases like it. One may be tempted to believe that this is truly the case when listening to TV interviews or reading articles about famous actors, athletes, or CEOs of major corporations. For example, Hip Hop Superstar, Kanye West is considered to have had his big break in 2000 when he started his work at Roc-A-Fella Records. Another famous figure, Bill Gates, the creator of Microsoft, is said to have had his break in the 1980s when he was developing software for IBM. The same types of stories can be found for nearly all highly successful individuals. The truth however, is that success is almost never a singular event in time and space in which an individual has the right idea, at the right time, in the right place. But rather, success is discipline practiced every day. The same is true for financial success. The Wealth Education Exchange will share with you the best indicators that your big financial break is imminent.
1. Your Goals have a plan attached. Douglas Everett once said that "There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality; and then there are those who turn one into the other.” Proper financial planning is the bridge between your goals and reality. The household budget is the most basic and most powerful tool for planning out your financial goals. Without a plan (AKA, budget), you are indeed living in a dream world and will be waiting for your big break indefinitely.
2. You are actively following your plan. Your plan is action-based and has measures in place to show you where you've succeeded and where you are struggling. We teach our clients and students to live on a budget, which is simply a detailed plan of how to spend an expected income. If there are categories in the budget that you see are being overspent each month, you need to find the root cause of it, and adjust your budget appropriately. It's not enough to have a written plan. You need to willfully purpose in your heart to actively live the plan as it is written and use it as a guide for your behavior.
3. You have failed. The mountain of success is no different from a pile of failures. The only difference is whether you are standing on top of it or if you have allowed yourself to be buried by it. Give yourself the grace to forgive yourself, so that you can learn from your mistakes and grow stronger because of it. By having this perspective, you will make a habit of minimizing your losses when things do not go according to plan despite your best efforts. On the other side of the coin, you will be able to fully capitalize on opportunities as they arise.
Success is not a singular event, but rather, it is a few small positive decisions made over a long period of time. When you become a millionaire, and the reporter asks you "what was your big break?", the news will only accept the same simple story, which ignores the countless hours, sleepless nights, and mishaps. So, in reality, the big break is merely a big hoax. One cannot learn to reap the finest harvest, while neglecting to learn about tilling the ground, pulling the weeds, fertilizing the soil, and planting seeds.