Blog about Personal Finances, Investments, Money Management and Financial Freedom

It’s time to change your attitude

The difference between success and financial failure of any person is in their attitude.

Everyone aspires to have a good financial situation, but although the rules are the same for all, only a few are able to achieve it. Most people, when they turn 65 years of age, live of the Government or their relatives, and even some must continue to work to meet their own needs or help their children financially. It is not luck or inherited capital; the financial health of a person does not depend on having accumulated many college degrees or having climbed multiple positions in a large company, earning a good salary and earning good remunerations. The difference between  financial success and failure is in the attitude. It’s your attitude that determines your financial success.

The fundamental reason why only a small percentage of the world population achieves financial independence (between 5% and 10%) is because most people do not possess the necessary attitude to put their finances in order, set financial goals , plan their budget, and even protect their current assets.

There is no point on knowing how to make money, if you do not know what to do with it beyond spend it or save it under the mattress to meet unforeseen expenses at home. It is true that formal education has not acknowledge the importance of financially educating people, but a change of attitude that drives you to set your goals and manage your personal finances is the first step to print a change in your life and achieve the welfare that you want.

This change of attitude should begin acknowledging how you perceive money, savings and investments, ask yourself what does money means is for you, is it the most important thing in your life, it is a necessity, or simply a vehicle to achieve your dreams? Once you have an answer to this question, evaluate what your goals, your priorities and the risks you are willing to assume are and how important it is for you to protect your assets.

And at this point, with all these answers in hand, you are wondering ask: What do I do to change  my attitude? Where do I begin? I won’t suggest that you go to a bookstore to buy books on the power of attitude in the world of finance; in return Instead I’ll ask something easier without a cost: think of the five people who have the greatest influence on you, your way of thinking and your decisions; if you don’t have them, find them, but they have to be experts in the world of business and finance. They will be your reference group. Learn from their experiences, adopt their advice, focus on their ideas, study them, visualize yourself in their role as free and influential people and start thinking like them.

I assure you that’s the best way to start changing your attitude towards life, to business, to money and to finance; but you must do it now; you do not have to wait for anything. You must start to change your attitude right now, without further delay.

Let’s talk about financial intelligence

Financial intelligence incorporates multiple dimensions and transcends the mastery of the concepts of finance.

Robert Kiyosaki says: “Financial intelligence refers not so much to how much money you earn, but how much money can you keep, how hard that money works for you and for how many generations it has been preserved.” Obviously, obtaining financial independence by  constructing a business system (quadrant D) or by investing (quadrant I) requires that we have a degree of intelligence applied to the world of finance.

But financial intelligence is not only essential for those who live on the right side of the Cash Flow Quadrant; it is also needed by those at the left side: those who are not comfortable in their role of employees (quadrant E) or who independently and on their own work long hours to ensure economic sustainability (quadrant A). With certain knowledge and enough willingness to break emotional attachments, these people can begin to design a system of self-generating money and thus cross the threshold of their respective quadrants.

Obviously, financial intelligence is not limited to the mastery of the concepts of finance, but also is associated with leadership, strategic thinking, personal marketing, communication, negotiation, conflict management, social skills and management of emotional heritage, and others.

A good way to identify to what extent you possess financial intelligence, is checking the following items:

  • Your income is greater than your expenses (you have capacity for saving).
  • You manage to find new forms of income (in several quadrants simultaneously).
  • You have identified your financial goals and you have designed your task list to achieve them.
  • You know how to optimize and earn higher returns on capital.
  • You feel you are on the right track to achieve your financial freedom.

The people possessing a meaningful financial intelligence always think big, and regardless of the circumstances surrounding them, continually design plans to enhance their assets and reduce their liabilities, thereby obtaining greater profitability and liquidity while they improve their quality of life.

If you want to have a financial culture that is your ally in the life project you’ve designed, you must start by understanding the functioning of money as well as the psychological aspects that drive people to use it in a certain way.