Spend Time Getting Ready
I often quote Jim Rohn, a motivational speaker, who helped a lot of people build a better mindset for money in their lives. One quote was both simple and profound, “We spend most of our life just getting ready.” He went on to explain how we go through school—elementary to prepare for middle school. Then, on to high school, which would prepare us for going on to college or a trade school. Then, we would be prepared to get a job.
Then what? At this point, are you ready to handle a paycheck?
Are you ready for many of the decisions in keeping a household in order?
Do you reflect on your latent talents and your abilities? Do you know what skills will be beneficial and profitable to have?
The answers can be difficult to develop. Looks like you have more to do to “get ready”!
Learning Skills to Get Ready
There are fundamental skills to help us manage our time and our opportunities.
Management is a concept. Roughly it means to keep things organized for a given purpose.
Managing time means giving time value and investing it to get a positive return. That will mean trying to avoid what will waste your time and planning to give a purpose to each day. Taking care of our needs can seem so mundane and unnecessary. But if those needs are ignored that could lead to problems and cost us dearly, later. I am referring to monitoring our health—which includes annual physicals, keeping the right foods in the pantry, making sure we have adequate insurance to cover our risks—auto, life, health, and many other simple items that are easy to put aside with costly results if ignored. We need to make time to reflect on what needs to be addressed to keep us safe and in a healthy place.
Taking care of these mundane items will help us to relax and pursue the important steps to build skills that will provide opportunities to increase our potential for the future. Reading and researching can sound like more mundane activities and are easily set aside for more enjoyable activities. However, too much fun now may mean you will not be able to afford more fun in the future.
Organizing is a skill that may not come naturally. However, this skill can save time and energy. Keeping things in order and making priorities can help us define our purpose for each day. We will be more apt to get the right things done each day.
Buy Time by Getting a Job
After you have prepared yourself to get a job, through some form of education, you can learn to manage your paycheck.
A big part of my helping you build a better mindset for money is to help you manage your paycheck.
So, what can you learn to be able to improve the value of each paycheck? And, by value, I mean making good use of each paycheck.
So many people just get a paycheck and think it is their right to spend it. And, though I do not dispute the paycheck is yours, I would like you to reflect on the value each paycheck has for your future.
If you manage each paycheck well, your future can be much brighter. That is the central reason why you must learn to budget, to live within your means, which means spending less than you make.
Understanding what you can afford is managing your money. Evaluating the cost compared to the benefit it brings you over time will help you make better spending decisions.
Using a budget will help you center your attention on what you can afford and when to stop spending.
Without a budget, credit card companies can sell you on getting something you cannot afford now, which will cut into what you will be able to afford in the future. You will learn that interest paid on a loan is a cost that carries no benefit.
My point is that making good use of your paychecks will allow you to save money which will help you to prepare for better opportunities for your future. If you are not worrying about how to pay your bills, you will have more time to learn new skills that will help you to seek out bigger paychecks!
Simple Skills Others Avoid
Learning requires some time and effort. And most people cannot be bothered, which is good news for you!
When you know how to do something that other people need done, that makes you valuable to them. Some simple skills could lead to a part-time job or business that can supplement your income and possibly prepare you for a future opportunity.
As an example, there are so many opportunities surrounding maintenance and construction.
Building construction requires some basic understanding of physics, how things fit together and function. With some reading, taking classes, research on areas of interest, videos onYouTube, etc., you can start to build that understanding of construction, especially if you add some experience working with someone who knows how to do that kind of work. In time, you could become an expert on certain aspects that interest you. Then, others will be willing to pay you for your skills.
Other areas to consider are auto maintenance, cooking skills, small engine repair, and gardening skills.
At one time, I had my own lawn care business. I learned a lot from that experience. Mowing was just part of the business. I also had to help my clients know what a weed was and how to identify insects. I removed leaves in the fall and often helped with small landscaping projects. I was in the business long enough to know money can be made with the right knowledge and equipment. Read. Study. And maybe you can prepare for such an opportunity.
My grandfather farmed. And I have seen that opportunity ebb and flow over the decades. However, knowing what sells and the effort it takes to grow it and the right equipment, and another opportunity presents itself.
More Areas of Opportunity to Consider
For about six years, ending with the credit crisis of 2008, I had a Real Estate License. I went through training to prepare me to take the state license exam.
That became a side hustle for me. But, more importantly, it introduced me to people making money in real estate. There are those who do title searches, who do appraisals for mortgage companies, who do inspections for potential repairs, and who invest in property to make a profit through rentals or upgrading to resell.
Rental property is a long-term investment. There are many good sources of information about what it takes to become an investor in rental property, whether private property or commercial property. There is a lot to learn, and you must learn to be patient. If you are patient enough to make saving a priority in your personal budgeting process, you will develop the patience to work through all the steps it takes to be successful in the rental business.
There are many more areas of opportunity. What will you try to learn to prepare yourself for the many opportunities around you?
Skills to Add Over Time
Learning good management skills will always be important and helpful with any venture or job opportunity. However, over time, a refinement of those skills could evolve into supervision of others or managing a project.
When you find yourself in that situation, it will be important for you to know how to delegate. As a supervisor, you will instruct, advise, and plan. Delegation is how you will get more things done than you could by yourself.
The hardest part of being a manager or a supervisor is the fact that you are removed from most of the “doing”.
Directing, planning, and scheduling are what makes a manager valuable. Those are skills that can be very important as we age and become less active physically. A mind over matter perspective.
Standing Still Is Not Moving Forward
If you are standing still, just getting by, wondering what will come next, or just hoping to make enough money to eat tomorrow, then, you are NOT ready for your future!
Over the years, I would often say, “Why does life have to be so hard?” The answer to my question was always staring back at me. The answer was to do what you can to prepare for a better opportunity.
Yes, it will take some time and effort. But opportunities and your future financial freedom are waiting on you to prepare!
Make the effort. Make the time. Read the books. Learn what you need to know to be prepared to move forward!