Next up to bat in the 5 Categories of Success is the fourth and most sought after category, Financial! I don’t really know anyone, anywhere, that would say “no” to making a little more money. Some pursue money as if it is the very thing they depend on to sustain life, money being the very air they breathe. Success to many means having lots and lots of money and plenty of time to spend and enjoy having all that money. It’s all about being the P.I.M.P. with the 20 inch rims, the huge mansion and money all over the place. It’s amazing to see someone rise to the top and become wealthier than they have ever been, become the high roller they had always wanted to be, spend all of their money, and end up broke, depressed and out of luck.

Having a mansion, cars, boats, atv’s, planes, maids, employees, nice clothes and all that can dress up your appearance is NOT financial success. Financial success is about having assets. An asset is something of value, or something that can bring your more income…consistent income. The only thing in the list I just mentioned that may be an asset is the mansion. Everything else is a depreciating deficit…..things that cost you more money. Having the cars, boats, atv’s, planes, maids and nice clothes are results of having assets, if you so choose to accumulate those things.

Now, I know many people think that once they achieve financial success that all the other categories will fall into place. They will then have the time and money to improve themselves, their families and their spirituality. To most people, the money fixes everything and makes everything possible. Not the case! If you were a broke, miserable person before falling into financial success, you will eventually become a broke, miserable person again unless you change you! The financial success comes and STAYS because of who you are being. If you have not become the millionaire in your mind first, then you will not remain a millionaire for long, because your money thermostat is set much, much lower than that. To learn more about how to reset your thermostat, read “Secrets of a Millionaire Mind” by T. Harv Ecker. Great read!

Now, financial success to me, is after all of my expenses (ie bills, groceries, mortgage etc) I still have plenty of money to put a portion away for savings, donate a portion for a good cause, invest some back into strengthening my assets and to live an abundant lifestyle. That’s financial success. It’s not about having  just enough to get by. That’s three months away from homeless should tragedy strike. It’s true. How many people have lost homes because they were making just enough to get by and tragedy struck, they lost their job? Too many! I apologize, but I have to recommend another book here. It’s “The Richest Man in Babylon” by George S. Clason. That short, little book will teach you a bit more about what to do with the money you make.

The portal to creating financial success is Entrepreneurship. You must become an entrepreneur. By doing so, you are in control of how much or how little you earn, and the cool thing about entrepreneurship, is you can make a lot of money doing exactly what you love to do. If that is eating donuts all day, you can own a donut shop. If you enjoy teaching kids how to play basketball, you can organize basketball camps and three on three tournaments. If you enjoy it, chances are, you will do well. It’s about finding a way to make it happen. Most likely, things won’t be laid out perfectly for you with ABC instructions on how to create success. To me, that’s the exciting part of it all. You get to take ALL the credit for what you create!

If I can give you a few tips of advice in creating your financial success, it would be this:

1. Know what you want. Get very clear. Be creative with your ideas. Be different.
2. Mastermind with those people who have the results you desire to have.
3. Persist without exception until you get what you want. Learn that “The Buck Stops Here!” To learn more about that you can read “The Travelers Gift” by Andy Andrews.
4. Burn your boats, meaning, leave no escape routes or back doors. Play with all out MASSIVE action. Play small, get small results. Play big, get big results.
5. Be extremely consistent.

Anyone and everyone that has a desire to succeed and the willpower to pursue their dreams has to potential to achieve them. One of the most important concepts that I have learned on the path of financial success, is to simply “Enjoy the Journey!” Life is good and because of you, it will become better and better. Money isn’t everything. Money is a tool, or a gateway to achieving greater things in life. Use it to bless your life, the life of your family and the lives of others in a positive way…….and guys, there’s plenty to go around!

We have all heard of the people that say their biggest desire in life is to live “The Simple Life.” Not much responsibility, worry or care, just simply them and what they love the most. Out of all they have experienced in life, their truest desire is to live simple, to get away from the hustle and bustle of the world.  That’s the simple life!

I think that living “the simple life” has different meanings for different people. I have personally had conversations with people that say their idea of a simple life is living like a hermit in the mountains without clocks, a schedule or even a wife. Just them, nature, maybe a dog and no where to be. The more common idea of living the simple life is to own a home in a suburb somewhere, have a few kids, a mortgage, a dog and a white picket fence.

I just asked my wife what her idea of a simple life would be and she said, “My idea of a simple life would be to live on the beach, in a hut with clothes made out of hemp, bathe in the ocean and just lay out all day!” I think her idea of the simple life wins the golden nugget for today! I wouldn’t think that hemp clothes would be that comfortable but obviously she is a beach bum at heart!

The word simple means, easy or not complicated. So the simple life is plainly a life that is easy, or not complicated. It is a life without much worry or stress, a life of simplicity. Although life can be complicated by nature, it is our choices that make it that way. We create our lifestyle. We either are the cause of our simple life or the cause of our miserable and complicated life.

My idea of the simple life involves a few key words. It involves financial freedom, so that the worries of bills, mortgages, rent, basic necessities of life, gas for my car or anything else that requires money will not be in my simple life. It involves complete time freedom. I mean the ability to choose for myself the schedule of the day, which is never set in stone and always subject to change. It involves service, the ability to give, teach and inspire those in need. It involves pursuing my hobbies and passions. It involves my family right along side me every step of the way.

That’s the simple life and in order to ensure that I have all those key elements in place, I have got to make key decisions right now that lead me closer to the simple life and the more I think about it, I am mostly there!

Know this, 9 out of 10 people who read this post will statistically NEVER reach their ideal lifestyle. They will never live their version of the simple life. Believe it or not but it’s true! Most people grow old wishing they had done things differently. They wish that had purchased that land or they wish they would have started that business. Your life can and will be just as you plan it to be if you choose to do so starting today. So tell me, are you hanging out with the nine……or are you the one?

I think it is fair to say that in order to grow or progress in an accelerated rate, one must get into the habit of taking risks. Am I right? Without risk, how can there be victory? How can one experience a win? Think about it. The person who reaches the top of Mount Everest doesn’t do so by not taking risks. The child who is just learning to walk doesn’t learn without the possibility that he might fall and hurt himself. Starting a business involves taking an initial risk right up front and then taking consistent risks on a regular basis. Every decision made has a level of risk to it. The degree of the reward most likely depends on the degree of the risk. The greater the risk the greater the reward.

Have you ever looked at someone who was extremely successful in business and thought that everything must have been as smooth as can be for that person? If you’re in a home based business, have you ever looked at the top income earners and thought, “Man, they just had the money sitting around to get started and everything was so easy for them?” Be honest! I know most of you have. I can tell you this much, you are absolutely wrong. Ninety percent of the time, it was a rough, risky, faith teetering journey for them. I know it was for me!

If you look at starting a business, whether traditional or home based, there are start up costs. Every legitimate business will have costs. Don’t ever expect to get started in your own business without forking out some money. Most people do not, I repeat, do not have the capital to get started. That’s why most people aren’t successful entrepreneurs. There’s risk involved right!? People run at the sound of risk. Well, most people do, but not the successful ones. They step up to the challenge and use what resources they have available to them to get to where they want to be.

A resource is anything of value that can be used or sold, available source of wealth, a new or reserve supply that can be drawn upon when needed.

Most people actually think that they don’t have these so called “resources!” You do! When we got started, we required a good amount of revenue. We were short in income every month as it was, how would David Allred come up with the money? I used my resources. What were my resources? I had stuff! I sold my jeep and made it happen. Did I love my jeep, YES! But what was I more passionate about? My jeep or my goals of financial freedom? My goals of course, so away with the jeep. Later on down the road we decided to take our business to the next level and required more funding. We looked to our resources again and saw that we had credit! What were we more passionate about? Zero debt or our goals of financial freedom? Financial Freedom!

Now, a few days ago I wrote a blog post on what it takes to be a Big Thinker. A Big Thinker has a different outlook than most people when it comes to making things happen. It’s just the way we think. Big Thinkers, leaders and successful entrepreneurs see 401K’s, credit cards, jeeps, cars, homes, savings accounts and banks as part of their own personal resource center. These are all things that we can use to propel our success. Sure, there is risk in using our resources, but what are you going to do, look at them and think to yourself, “Wow, those are some nice resources!” Do you want to set your 401K up on your mantle, all nice and pretty so that one day, one glorious day you can use it in your retirement. I’ve got a much better retirement plan than what a 401k can provide and you should too.

Everyone else views all of these things as their so called “Safety Nets!” These are things to fall back on in case things get worse. So what do they do? They hang on to them, save them, store them, don’t even think of them as being a tool that will move them closer to their dreams. So these resources just sit there, un-resourceful and useless.

So what are these things to you? Are they safety nets or resources?

In my eyes, one day lived passionately following my dreams is better than a thousand days lived wishing I would have! Use the many resources you have to make that happen!

I think there may be a little confusion as to what the term, “Time Freedom,” really is. So many people are seeking it, yet very few really find it. Time Freedom is a concept. It’s a lifestyle and so much more. It’s what allows Fathers to truly be a powerful influence in the lives of their children. It makes it possible for mothers to really and actually be the “Stay at home Mom!” It’s the freedom that allows you to persue your dreams, hobbies and ambitions without restraint. It is probably the most sought after thing in the world.

A lot of people associate Time Freedom with Financial Freedom. Financial Freedom can be obtained while taking all of your free time to obtain it. So many sacrifice their time freedom to get the financial freedom. On the flipside of the coin, a bum has all the time freedom in the world yet, no money! So you can have one without the other.

The big difference is, you can always get more money, but can never really get more time. The clock of life is ticking and when the batteries run out, our time to make a difference in this world is over. The ideal lifestyle is to have them both. Have the money and the time to enjoy it!

Here are a few things that are NOT Time Freedom, just to be clear:

1. 2 weeks of paid vacation from your employer.
2. Weekends off from your business or employer.
3. Only having to work 40 hours a week.
4. 2 or 3 hours in the evenings to devote to family time and hobbies.
5. Summers off, as most teachers get.
6. The ability to take a day off here or there or swap work days for a family event.
7. Having Sick Days!

Now that there is zero confusion, time freedom is a very simple thing to define, and it means doing whatever you want, whenever you want, however you want, or just not doing it at all, if you don’t want. That’s it! True time freedom is being in complete control of your day. No boss to take orders from, no schedule to rule your day, no job to take you away from your true passions, no business that robs you of your personal life. It’s having complete and absolute control. If you wake up in the morning and feel like taking a drive out of town with your family, you do it. If you feel like not working at all that day, it’s your choice.

Now the trick is to be able to do all that you want to do, while still having the income flowing in. Wouldn’t it be great if there were a simple way to get them both, Time Freedom and Financial Freedom? If I knew the way, or at least one of the many ways, would you be interested to know? And once you found out how I do it, and thousands of others have done it, will you believe that it can happen for you?

That’s the key! Will you believe it can and will happen for you?

Ahhhh, tax time! Have you received your W-2′s yet? What does it say in box 1? “Wages, tips, other compensation” right? What is the number figure in that box? 40k, 50k, 60k? Are you proud of that number? When you look at that W-2 does it make you feel good about yourself and the last YEAR of work? Are you proud of what you do and do you feel that your family is getting all they deserve out of that number in box 1? Now here’s the best question of all: Are you ready to do that all over again this year for that same number or just barely more? Are you ready to give another year to your employer?

If you anwered “Yes” to those last two questions then this website is not for you. If you answered “No” to any or all of the questions above then you deserve to stick around. This site will teach you of a way to make sure that this year the last year you will ever receive a W-2 form from your employer, because you won’t have one! Once you fill out the form at the bottom of this post, I will teach you how to take that pathetic number in box 1 of your W-2 and add another zero on the end of it. I will teach you how to make that number in box 1 a monthly income. I will teach you how to get out of the rat race and to fire your boss because frankly, you won’t be able to afford to work there any longer. I will teach you how to create a life of freedom, both time freedom and financial freedom through a simple business opportunity.

Don’t just think about it, do it! If not now, when? I don’t want to see you in the same place next year, staring down at your same old W-2 with that same number in box 1. Financial Freedom, Time Freedom, true Wealth, and ultimate happiness are all being held back by just a few things: Your fear of change and the false security of that pathetic W-2! Make a bold decision for you and fill out the form for an interview!