Each Saturday, I will find ways to encourage you to reach your goals.  Whether it’s a video, an inspirational message, a poem, or whatever…I will post these items to keep you focused on achieving your financial goals.  Remember that you are the sun and you will provide the light for the people around you to believe.  By embarking on this journey, you have already proven that you are a standout in the crowd, a leader.  You have shown the desire and willingness to improve your life by implementing new strategies and lessons.  I strongly believe that you will be the catalyst for a seismic shift in your family.

Today, our encouragement comes from Tony Robbins – 5 Ways To Wealth and Happiness.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je8Gr4ypmxk

Have a beautiful Saturday!

Action Step:  Be encouraged and do not forget to pay yourself today for the 52-week challenge!

Word hard, play hard!

It’s Super Bowl time, so let’s test your Super financial knowledge!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am an avid football fan (let’s say ‘glorified junkie’).  On the eve of Super Bowl XLVIII, I cannot think about anything other than football and team winning the game.  Although my beloved Tampa Bay Buccaneers neglected to make it to the big dance this year, my favorite QB of all time, Peyton Manning, will lead the Denver Broncos to a victory tomorrow.

I have been playing this game nonstop since the release earlier this week.  Check out the question asked that we discussed in Lesson #10.

Education:

Today’s lesson will test your knowledge of financial information.   You have worked hard all week with demanding lessons, so let’s unwind today.  Financial Football is part of Practical Money Skills for Life (www.practicalmoneyskills.com) a free, award-winning financial education program that reaches millions of people around the world each year.

Resources: 

Practicemoneyskills.com – A website to help consumers and students of all ages learn the essentials of personal finance.

Important terms from this lesson:

 Action Step:       Download and play the Financial Football game.

Today is about having fun, so grab the kids and play Financial Football. 

Available online at www.practicalmoneyskills.com/financialfootball, Financial Football puts students’ fiscal knowledge to the test in an online simulation game environment by combining the structure and rules of the NFL with financial education questions of varying difficulty. Visa has also released the game as a free iPhone app on iTunes, along with an optimized HD iPad version.

“Vision without execution is hallucination.”  – Thomas A. Edison

Yesterday, we kicked off Step One of our journey to create and develop assets.  In the last lesson, I asked you to create your monthly cash flow budget.  The budget is such a vital part of this process, so please continue working on that until you have an honest depiction of your monthly income and expenses. You cannot save or invest, if you don’t first find a ripple (refer to Lesson #6).

I found this quote in 2013 and it was an aha moment in my life.  “Vision without execution is hallucination”, has become my personal mission statement.  With that said, I would like to turn the quote around a bit and say, “execution without vision is a prelude to failure”.  That was my wrinkle to the quote, but it is germane to our goal of ‘financial freedom’.

I want you to envision financial freedom and what that would look like in your life.  I challenge you to document this vision on a VISION BOARD.  Here is a picture of a vision board on Oprah.

Here is a copy of my Vision Board for 2014 that I’m working on.  As you will see, it is not yet finished because this is my process.  When I find items that line up with my vision, they go on the board.  Remember the movie, Field of Dreams?  Well, this is my canvas of dreams.  a tangible reminder of my goals and when I sacrifice a moment of instant gratification, then I can go back to the board and be realigned by seeing my goals.

Important terms from this lesson:

1.       Vision Board      – Visual canvas depicting your goals.

Action Step:       Create your VISION BOARD for 2014!

1. Go to a local store (CVS, Rite Aid, etc.) and purchase a poster board and either glue or tape.  It doesn’t have to be fancy.
2. Think about why you are embarking on this journey.  What are your goals?
3. Begin finding items, clippings, articles, affirmations, or anything that reminds you of your goal.  Throughout 2014, I want you to add more and more things to the board.  At the end of this process, I want to help you see a way to manifest these items in your life.

“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it; boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.” (Goethe)”

Saturday is a day of rest and reflection for many of us.  Today, I encourage you to become a student of the lives and teachings of successful people.  The only way to transform your financial life, is to do the work.  A part of that work is finding your financial role model.  Today’s lesson is to listen to a financial giant who teaches on wealth and success, Tony Robbins.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7ZGag2hOIg

Important terms from this lesson:

1.       Financial Freedom                      –  Having enough wealth to live a life without limitations.

Action Step:       Find a financial role model!

My financial role models are Oprah Winfrey and Sean “Diddy” Combs, two wealthy individuals who came from meager beginnings to build successful lives of wealth, influence and prestige.

Who is your financial role model?  Learn about this person, follow them, read about them, hang a picture of them in your cubicle or office (okay, that’s a bit much), but you get the picture.  Remember when Rocky was going to fight the Russian in Rocky IV (one of my favorite movies)?  Well, he hung a picture of him on his mirror as his daily reminder of his goal.  Once you decide on your financial role model, make them a focal point of motivation.