Connect the Dots
Aside from being a simple but fun game, connect the dots is an expression that brings logic into focus and makes the logical move easy to see. That is why I am making this reference to health to build wealth as I hope to help you build a better mindset for money.
Need or Want
What we need is essential to our well-being.
What we want is not always a good thing, especially in large quantities. Like pastries, they taste good but if you eat too many you will find that they lose their appeal.
That is food. However, handling money has similar concerns. Take care of your needs, first. Then, save for the wants.
Forced Diet
If you eat too many unhealthy foods, your body may react in such a way that your doctor may put you on a forced diet, to salvage your health.
The same goes for using too much debt, which is spending money you do not have yet. You are using up future earnings, which will jeopardize your ability to provide what you need to survive soon, as the payments come due.
To recover, or salvage your future finances, you will need to stop using debt to pay for what you already used. This is fundamental to your future needs. Sacrifice now or sacrifice more later.
Sacrifice to Eat Better
Simple delays are a means of sacrifice. Using or eating less than we want is a form of sacrifice. Adding a little knowledge will help us understand how to do that.
Some tips I have received to help my diet work better relate to keeping my focus on the calorie density of foods which translate to being smart about the portions I eat of various foods. The sacrifice is not in the types of food I eat but how much I eat and when.
The same could be said about managing money. If you consume or spend less than you get from income, you will be able to put some back for things you need in the future. Avoiding debt will take sacrifice, putting off the wants to make sure you have your needs covered.
Exercise to Get Stronger
Walking and other forms of aerobic exercise will make you tired. However, that will help you rest better. Lifting weights will build strength and help your endurance and even help you be able to walk longer. That is building physical strength.
To build your fiscal strength, you should work to build your income over time. In the short term you can add income with a second job or a side hustle (business). That is very helpful if you have allowed debt to build and have the desire to get it paid down so you can save more. And it helps to be in better physical condition to do that.
The important thing to note is that you must keep your spending level below your basic (first job) income to keep your expectations reasonable and not make a second job a necessity.
Work to provide extra income can be demanding on your time. Discipline and time management will give you more control over those demands. It will help you get fiscally stronger. And give you more incentive to seek the job you need to provide the income that will make saving possible and extra work unnecessary.
Work on What Will Help You Endure
When we eat less than we want and eat more of what we need, we will feel better and get our weight down to have less stress on our joints. Adding more exercise will build our endurance, which will make working less of a task because we will rest better, if we are careful not to overdo it and make ourselves too sore.
The same can be said of your mindset for money. Test your financial strength by looking at what you have in the bank and what your monthly obligations are and ask yourself how long you can pay your bills without an income. The answer may be a concern, especially if it is less than six months. Remember: Your available credit is not the same as an emergency savings account. Using credit will only add to your obligations.
Then, as you train yourself to live on less than you make, putting the difference into a savings account, with the intention of living on less and saving more each month, you will see yourself in a more durable financial condition. Give it a chance to work. If you make the effort, you can realize a dramatic change in less than a year.
The key will be to make each succeeding year better than the last. If you do that, then, when your time comes to get out of the workforce, you will have enough to endure the demands of your retirement and be able to enjoy it!
Discomfort to Comfort
Restricting what we eat and making ourselves walk more along with other forms of exercise can be very uncomfortable and difficult to make time to do.
However, if we do make the time and do our duty for our health and welfare, we will find some comfort in being able to do some things we really like to do and be able to enjoy them more.
The same can be applied to our sacrifice with money. It can be uncomfortable to delay getting something we want to be able to pay cash for it. But, once we save enough to make the purchase, there is great satisfaction in the pride we feel for making the effort and realizing there is no debt to pay later. The deal is done, and we can start looking ahead with a free mind!
Practice Make Perfect
The admiration we have for athletes is understandable. They train for endurance, and they practice their skills until they can do them better than most. It may not be perfect but practicing skills will increase your chances for success.
That is discipline. Walking is a discipline to help you maintain your good health or build a better chance for good health. Sacrifice, patience, and enduring the discomforts to eventually realize our goal are aided by discipline.
Your financial independence depends on your discipline with money. Delays in spending to be able save. Sacrificing some fun things to be able to pay cash for something you feel is important, a want. These take patience and discipline to be able to avoid debt and the added interest payment on things already used that will cut into your ability to pay for your needs, comfortably, in the future.
Healthy Wealth
When we eat too much and do too little, our bodies will slow down because of the extra weight, which can lead to other health issues. The health care costs will mount, and our lack of energy will cause us to be less efficient with our daily plans.
Once you are regular with exercise, even before losing the extra weight, you will feel more energetic and be able to rest better, which will help your mood. You will gain more respect for the disciplines that can make better health possible.
The same can be said of working on financial independence. When you allow debt to be a big part of your financial picture, payments on debt and the interest on the unpaid balance will eat into your future purchasing power.
The alternative is to make saving a priority over spending. Yes, you will have to sacrifice and work a little harder until you have saved enough to cover most every emergency, including an extended period of unemployment.
Your state of mind, the internal peace that you will experience with a large savings account will surpass the feeling you get when the credit card company raises your credit limit.
The great thing about saving and wise investing is that it keeps on giving. Sales become more affordable, which equals more saving. Income opportunities requiring tools or training are accessible, which could mean more income turning into more savings. And investments that earn interest and dividends help to grow your savings. That all sounds very positive and unlimited in the ability to compound to your benefits of saving.
That sounds like a healthy way to build wealth. Can you say that about using debt?
The Ants
Jim Rohn liked to make reference to Ant Philosophy. Ants have a good mindset about their well-being. They think about winter all summer. When winter comes, they have plenty to eat. They also think about summer all winter. So, when they get a warm day, they go back out gathering food for the next winter.
What is your philosophy about getting ready for the difficult times in your life? Do you think like most people that difficulties are unlikely to come and if they do someone will come to your rescue, like a credit card company?
Remember: There is a limit to the generosity of a credit card company.
Live Long and Be Healthy
I want you to live long because you are healthy. Some live long despite their health. How miserable would that be?
What is your goal? Make the needed sacrifices, delay the wants, and discipline your time and plan for a better you in both health and wealth!