​It has always fascinated me how people, living in the richest nation on earth, struggle with financial problems when the opportunity to achieve success and acquire wealth is on everyone’s doorstep.  

There are many reasons why.  Consider these two points of view.  

Let’s say two couples, each with $350, want to buy a dynamic new learning program, such as a weekend conference that costs $400 plus $500 in travel expenses.  

Couple One – they might see the price as out-of-reach, thinking “Hmm, We are $550 short, so I guess we can’t afford it and we won’t go.”  They pass without much more thought.  

Whereas Couple Two, possessing greater vision, might say, “Well, I may only have $350, but I can see the potential to make tens of thousands if we go to the Seminar, acquire that knowledge, and apply it.  So although I’m $550 short, I’ll find a way to come up with the difference… even if I have to borrow, sacrifice, and struggle… because it’s an investment in our future, our greater success and income later… and that future income will pay for the price of the program many times over.”  

Financial decisions should be about changing your purchasing criteria.  Rather than basing it on cost vs. available dollars… base it instead on potential long-term value gained vs. available dollars.  

If the value is there, don’t give up.  Maybe you should FIND the money you don’t have, even if you have to risk going into debt for a short while.

Don’t get me wrong - paying in cash, in full, beats borrowing.  But an investment in your knowledge and future income growth when the full amount isn’t readily available doesn’t always have to mean walking away.  

When an investment is in yourself – purchasing it on a credit card, and suffering with payments over several months, even at a high interest rate could still be a powerful investment.  When you grow your knowledge, you are investing in your future.  When I have invested in myself, I always achieve the greatest return.  What choice do I have?  To not invest - I will always be where I am verses to invest – I open the possibility for growth, success and a better future.  When I am confident that I will reap the benefits, those credit card payments just become a reminder of my investment in myself and how I need to apply the knowledge.

However if long-term value will not be gained – then walk away from the deal – even if you had more than enough to cover the cost.  

Not grasping this rudimentary concept in a reason so many people living paycheck to paycheck… and missing opportunities for greater income and wealth creation.  

It even sabotages companies when some leaders can’t see the broader visionary picture of the dollars they spend.

ACTIONS FOR YOU

Why not re-think your own buying strategies on major opportunity purchases, educational expenses, software programs, and a product that saves time, or reduces an expense somewhere else.

When cell phones first came out, many people -- even businesses -- couldn’t justify the monthly expense.  A great radio commercial is an example of greater vision thinking.  A plumber who had purchased a cell phone explained that it allowed him to place and receive customer calls anytime, anywhere, or any place.  He never missed a customer call and explained that “Just one leaky elbow joint and that sucker’s paid for.”  

Brilliant expansive thinking of the extended value return of knowledge or a product.  He justified the purchase and it expanded his income. How do you think about an investment in yourself or business?

The payback is not always money.  It might come in another form… maybe intangible… like establishing a new relationship, expanding a current relationship, building credibility, gaining influence in a new area, or prestige with important people, maybe even a door-opener to yet another opportunity.
 

The late motivational icon and sales trainer Zig Ziglar tells the story of the couple who could afford a $300,000 house, and found one they loved with a few extra amenities.  But it cost $340,000.  Unable to see the bigger picture, they walked away dejected, agonizing that they could never afford a $340,000 house.  Zig stopped them and said:  Wait.  This is only a $40,000 decision… you’ve already made the $300,000 buying decision.  

Are you missing great opportunities because of short-sighted affordability thinking?

(1) Create a can-do winning mindset.  It all starts inside your own head.  Stay unflinchingly positive (within the boundaries of reality).  Block out negativity, disbelief, past failures, bad advice from well-intending friends and loved ones.  Use positive affirmations or self-talk - CEP.  “I’m capable of anything I put my mind to.”  “I succeed despite negative conditions.”  “I overcome all obstacles that block my path -- I let nothing stop me.”  

(2) Take massive action.  When you start any new endeavor, discipline yourself to sit quietly for a short time and list everything you must do to get the outcome you want.  Maybe it’s 5 or 6 big actions, maybe 20 or 30 small.  Put them in time sequence and affix deadlines to each.  Then dive in the deep end.  Failure is often caused by half-hearted effort. Consistent winners ‘flood the zone’ with overwhelming action.

(3)  Get comfortable being uncomfortable.  Engage the difficult conversation.  Take a risk of failure.  Push past your perceived limits to get what you want.  Get over that your actions will anger or disappoint some people.  If you try to please everyone, you’ll accomplish nothing. Withdraw from the popularity contest.  Some people will dislike you.  Deal with it.  

(4) Be accountable -- do what you say you’ll do.  This is integrity… living up to your commitments.  You’ll create allies and win people to your cause by being reliable.  You can win alone occasionally, but life is a team sport, and you’ll need help most of the time.  Being dependable is being there for them, so they’ll be there for you.  

(5)  Do only what you’re passionate about.  Let others do the rest.  And pick people who are passionate about what you’re not.  I’ve surrounded myself with an amazing cadre of reliable and enthusiastic people to help me where I am weakest.  I hear people bellyache “Living your passions all the time is impossible.”  Baloney. I enjoy what I do each day – if you don’t change your routine.    

(6) YOU own your time, your cell phone doesn’t.  People whine and moan incessantly that they get nowhere because there aren’t enough hours in the day.  They let the cell phone interrupt their conversations or work.  What bothers me the most is people who interrupt a conversation to take a call from a number they don’t even know whose it is – now that is rude.  If that’s you, stop it.  Take back your time.  Stop letting friends, co-workers, video games, and email control you.  Plan your day – schedule time for the email, and other interruptions – you will take your time back.  

(7) Deal with facts, not assumption.  It is easy to believe what others say, even if it isn’t based on facts.  The phrase “People say” drives me up the wall.  Get the facts.  ‘Facts’ matter more than our flimsy wishes or unfounded thinking.  Winners design and build their futures around universal facts that don’t and won’t change. 

ACTIONS FOR YOU

High achievement is not a one-time event… it’s all about consistent, winning behavior over a lifetime.  If you diet for a few days, then quit… or exercise for a couple weeks, then quit… or manage your time well for a month, then quit… you’re toast.  

Discipline is required.  Yes, it means following through, it’s painful and may require sacrifice.  Just put on your grown up pants and get to it.  

You eat every day, sleep every day, brush your teeth every day… without thinking about it.  If you want repetitive success, you need to develop the same rigorous habitual disciplines about all winner behavior.  It’s what high achievers do. 

That’s right, the next 20 days are it. Why? I’ll get to that in a minute. But first…

Do you want 2016 to be the best year of your life?  Sure, who doesn’t?

But here’s the trap of the unmotivated:  They think simply turning the page of the calendar magically delivers new riches gift-wrapped to their doorstep, effortless triumphs, and nothing but sunshine and soft landings. Good luck with that.

Here’s the rude awakening:  On Jan. 1, grocery prices will be right where they were the day before. Education still expensive. Wars still being fought. Businesses still struggling. Unemployment still high. And crime won’t stop.

The world doesn’t change just because the ball drops on Times Square. Never has. This isn’t pessimism… it’s the cold reality of life.

My point:  2016 will not be your best ever if you just cross your fingers, wait by the phone, and hope. Takes more than that. Much more. You can’t change the world, but YOU CAN CHANGE YOU.

Launch off the couch, energize our attitude, dream loftier, plan better, immerse yourself in new learning, acquire new skills, seek new ventures, unleash your passions, throw caution to the wind, banish negative thinking, take action.

Shorelines are littered with carcasses of lazy folks who died waiting for their ship to come in. Meanwhile, aggressive winners are swimming out to get their ship and pull-towing it in to dock.

ACTIONS FOR YOU

Do you really want a super 2016? Not just saying’ it?  Enough to do whatever it takes?

If yes, then get serious. Over the next 20 days, find quiet time for yourself to PLAN the outcomes you passionately want in the next 12 months. Write them down (they’re goals!), each on a separate sheet of paper (or electronic). Give each goal a target deadline for completion… written, sequential, time-dated action steps toward achievement… and a list of benefits that will come to you once done (to keep you motivated).

 List resources you’ll need and how you’ll acquire them.

Put it all in a binder -- it’s now your life planning blueprint -- and review it every day, preferably early in the morning. Stay focused and on-path. Navigate around obstacles, or plow straight through.  Let nothing derail you. Not family, not friends, not co-workers. (You’ll have detractors. Ignore them.) Track your progress, celebrate your wins.

THAT’s how you make next year your best ever. By taking control. By owning it. By being CEO of your own life.

Research abounds verifying that goal-setters and action-takers are the most successful people among us. My favorite is the Yale study. Some years back at a 20-year reunion, returning seniors were asked if they set goals for themselves upon graduation 20 years earlier, and how much money they currently made. Turns out, only 3% set goals back then.  And here’s the kicker.  That 3% out-earned the other 97%… combined.