Financial Freedom – keep counting the gains – live your life

A lot of times we get obsessed with saving for investing because we are unsure of the actual amount we could need for the future. It becomes a moving target. If you get to 100K you think you need 500K to survive. When you hit 500K you think you 1M to survive. This way you are never happy with what you have. You never learn to live your life in the moment and value what you have.

Something which I have mentioned earlier also, which I learnt from reading Dan Sullivan’s books and watching his videos, is the concept of counting gains.

So I started writing the blog posts on financial independence and freedom not because I had become wealthy but because I saw that I could find systems of investment which can help me grow. As these investments started growing I could take up activities which enhanced and expanded my life. And I wanted to share these learnings with everyone , so that others need not go through the same challenges which I went through.

From a stage where I had zero investments and zero financial backup, I kept clawing upwards. Now I can decide to feel sad that my investments have still not made a dollar denominated millionaire or I can feel happy that I was at zero and today I have hit some value while also living through lovely experiences along the way. This gives me the feeling of abundance.

When you are driving down from Washington DC to NewYork City you see the milestones for the amount of distance pending to reach NYC. Since the destination is fixed, it makes sense to know how much time and distance is left to reach it. However if you were to change the destination en-route from NYC to Rochester, then to Albany, then to Toronto, you will go crazy trying to figure out when you will eventually hit your destination. It then makes sense to think in terms of how much distance you have already gained towards your destination rather than how much is pending.

With your finances also you need to keep counting your gains and feel happy that you have been able to achieve some intermediate targets. Tony Robbins also had this concept of creating buckets and making investments according to the buckets. Once the bucket is full you need to use it. Like if there’s a bucket for vacations, then once the bucket gets full based on the target you need to go out and have a vacation. This way you will actually live your life.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Gap and Gain – Part 2

Habits, Happiness, mindset, self esteem

Continuing on this concept that I started of on yesterday, Dan Sullivan has a very nice method which I have gathered from his books and videos.

He talks of looking back 25 years. Assuming you are more than 40 years of age. Then checking out where you were 25 years back and where you are today. Chances are that you have come a long way in terms of your earnings, your experience.

Based on that he says that in the short term there could have been challenging times ever so often, but in the long term you would have generally made it with a lot of achievements to be proud of.

Once you remember those moments, then it becomes easier to come out of a “down” state and look at the future with hope.

I have shared multiple tactics over the years when I feel. One of them is to see how far I have come from 25 years back. It changes my complete mindset and makes me happy.

When I look at things that way, I do notice that I have actually achieved quite a bit for myself. Comparing the 25 year younger me with the present me actually makes me eel quite happy.

Try this for yourself whenever you’re in the self pity mode.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Gap versus Gain

Habits, Happiness, life

This is a term I heard from first Dan Sullivan, and similar terms then from Vishen Lakhani and Benjamin Hardy.

All of us want to grow. My team members and I all have a lot of aspirations for the future. The challenge that a lot of them face because of which they don’t enjoy the journey is that they are always looking at the horizon.

The horizon is such a place that you will never reach. It’s a moving target. It’s unachievable. That’s what gets us unhappy, depressed etc.

When you drive a car on the road, while your eyes are focused in the front, from time to time you look at the rear view mirrors to ensure that no one is coming too close to hit. When you look in the rear view mirror you also realize how far you have come. So while the destination is ahead and you are driving towards it, you also get to know how far you have come from where you were.

That’s the important thing that I learned from this term Gap versus Gain. While its important to be aware of how much is left to do, you can also from time to time look back and see how far you have come from where you started. That will cause you to feel happy in the progress you made from where you started.

Its just a perspective issue but it can make you happy and more focused for your future with renewed energy versus being anxious and depressed.

Till next time then, count your gains and make your journey worth remembering.

Carpe Diem!!!