You wake up, go to work, go back to sleep and do it all over again without any clue how to make your financial dreams come true. You might be thinking you have no way to know you’re on track for Financial Freedom.
So you found some great info online, signed up for a ton of online courses or bought a boatload of books that show you how you can get rich right?
Great! Cause the cool thing is there isn’t just one way to reach your financial independence- there are infinite ways!
But the million dollar question is: how do you know you’re doing all the right things to reach your financial freedom dreams?
The good news is there are definite ways you can know if you’re on track for financial freedom. And the even better news is you can modify your path at any time to make sure you achieve all of your Financial Freedom goals one step at a time.
5 easy Ways to Know You’re On Track to Financial Freedom
#1 Do you have a Financial Freedom Vision?
The first way to know you’re on track for achieving Financial Freedom is whether you have a vision or a blueprint you are working towards.
- Do you know what Financial Freedom is?
- Do you know your net worth?
- Do you have a debt repayment plan and understand how debt is destructive to your Financial Freedom? Should you use the snowball or avalanche method?
- Do you know how much money you need to generate from your side hustle so you can retire from your full time job?
- Do you know how much you need to have in the bank so you can live off of without ever having to work again?
- What does your life look like without any debt and plenty of time to pursue your passions?
Related: The Beginners Guide to Financial Freedom
These are some of the questions you should have answers to which will establish your Financial Freedom baseline. Without a vision it’s impossible to know where you’re going. Every successful person we’ve studied developed a Financial Freedom vision and focused on it day in and day out.
It was a part of who they were regardless of what their life looked like at the moment. It kept them moving forward each day towards their goals. Randy and I sat down as a couple and created our Financial Freedom vision and it’s become a huge catalyst to where we are today.
We learned how to get rid of the paycheck to paycheck mentality, renovated our house in 6 months and sold it in under 6 weeks!
Related: 10 Steps to Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck
We used the profit from the sale of our home as a way to start paying off our debt and invest in a commercial cleaning business. We also started this blog as a way to track our Financial Freedom journey and generate passive income. You can find out more About Us and how we got on our Freedom Road.
We are currently looking at other opportunities to generate multiple streams of income like growing/selling micro greens and investing in stocks, mutual funds and real estate crowd funding. It all started with having a vision!
get your own Financial Freedom Vision here and begin transforming your life today.
Financial Freedom Vision
#2 Do You Blame Others For Your Failures?
Truth Versus fact
Another way to know whether you are definitely not on track to reaching Financial Freedom is you constantly blame others for your lack of success. This is because you still haven’t come to the realization that you are responsible for your life and don’t know how wonderful you really are.
It might be a fact that other people or circumstances may have seemingly created situations in your life that have held you back but the truth is you are the captain of your ship my friend, therefore you CAN change the trajectory of your life.
Like it or not, that’s how you were designed.
You no longer have to be subject to or be a victim of your past, people or circumstances. You can have, be and do anything you want– but you have to believe this first.
You were designed with the ability to create your life through your thoughts and feelings and you are so special that you were created with a purpose and a calling too.
When you accept these fundamental truths to how you and the rest of us were all created, you immediately begin to shift things in your favor.
The truth is when you blame other people for your problems you give your power away. Can you imagine that?
Blaming: Abundance Block
When we point to other things outside of us as the root cause of our problems we perpetuate the problem and block the solution. When you begin to walk in the truth that you have control over your life and begin to put a plan, goals and steps to making your dreams come true- success is inevitable. Isn’t that exciting?
Take Action
- So make a decision today to take full responsibility for your life, your actions and your thoughts. No more blaming others or things ok? Pinky swear
- Forgive the past and people and move forward with the life you deserve.
#3 Do You Have a Habit of Complaining?
Complaining: Abundance Block
Complaining is an abundance blocker. That might be a shocker but it’s true. People that complain are also part of that same group that don’t know who they are and what power they have.
Complaining focuses all of your energy on the problem and once again blocks the solution. If you want to have more money to pay your bills but only focus on not having money, you’ll never be able to receive that money making idea.
Maybe you want to find a way to save more and cut costs but you’re focused and complaining about how expensive everything is then that too will block that money saving idea from being delivered.
When you have a plan in place and are working towards a definite purpose you will resist the temptation to complain about your current finances because you see them improving.
Take Action
- Remind yourself that you are growing and the situation is temporary.
- Reassure yourself and affirm that you deserve Financial Freedom. Complaining is a symptom of frustration and a sign that you’re not focused. You have a plan, stay focused on the solution and be grateful.
#4 Do You Have an Attitude of Gratitude?
Being grateful ties into every area of life. When you have a consistent attitude of gratitude you are on track! If complaining is an abundance blocker, gratitude is the abundance WD-40! It’s the substance that releases the abundance in your life like a runaway river. Not being grateful for what you have now is a common reason blocking many from abundance. You can never get more of what you want in life if you are not grateful for what you have.
I see it as the coolest catch 22 because increasing in life is dependent on appreciating where you are. And you can never get around this.
So how do you do that? How exactly do you appreciate where you are if you’re not happy where you are?
Cause and Effect
It’s really simple but it takes diligent effort. It requires you to consistently work on changing your perspective. You’re actually where you are because you are not happy – not the other way around. Get it? The cause is your being unhappy and the effect are conditions that show up that reaffirm you’re not happy.
Your lack of gratitude creates a void where things you complain about or blame take form. It’s a little freaky but it’s true. If you begin to focus on the multitude of things you’ve been blessed with, you’ll see how different your life will become. There are so many things to be grateful!
- a comfy mattress
- a good night’s rest
- a hot cup of coffee
- running water to shower
- clean water to drink
- a dry roof to live under
- nice furnishings
- a job which helps you pay your bills
- money for food
- an amply supplied grocery store
- variety of foods to choose from
- eyes to see
- ears to hear
- funny movies
- sunshiny days
- the sound of happy, chirping birds
Get the picture? There are infinite things to be grateful for and when you pass up on the opportunity to give thanks for them you are essentially taking them for granted.
Take Action
- Make it a practice to focus on your blessings in the morning when you wake up.
- Take immediate control of your day by appreciating all of the things that create joy in your life.
- In every situation you feel like complaining or blaming pause count 5-4-3-2-1 and find something to be grateful for!
The more we started focusing on our Financial Freedom Vision the better we felt and the more grateful we became. We made it a point to focus on the life we wanted versus the debt or the bills or when we lived paycheck to paycheck. We celebrated little wins like when we paid off a credit card or found another way to cut costs. Gratitude became the sun shining down on us helping us find our way as we focused on all of the good in our lives.
#5 Do You Look Forward to Payday?
There was a time when we didn’t know how to manage our finances. We didn’t have a handle on what was coming in or going out so we dreaded payday. There was no consolation that payday was going to improve our financial situation and it was more of a reminder that we weren’t where we wanted to be.
When we decided not to settle for less and begin wanting a better life for us and our kids- one that didn’t include debt but did include the pursuit of our passions, time and money freedom, everything changed.
How we felt about money changed, the uncertainty and uneasiness with handling money changed and the fear of running out stopped. So how you feel about money is another easy way to know you’re on track for Financial Freedom.
Create a Plan
We put our Financial Freedom Roadmap in place, organized our finances, learned how to budget and started looking at ways to generate passive income. And even though we were still not where we wanted to be, it was a relief knowing we were working towards it.
When we got paid, we’d separate our money into the Me, Giving, Storehouse, Financial Freedom and Expenses accounts and felt good that we knew exactly where our money was going.
Organizing Your Finances
The biggest problem we had was that all of our money was initially going into one account. Once we gave our money a purpose, the stress went away of not knowing where our money was going, or were we spending too much on this or that.
The Expenses account would continue to decrease as our bills were paid and that felt good because that account is supposed to have a 0 balance once all of the bills are paid. But our Storehouse and Financial Freedom accounts began to increase and that felt good because we knew we were no longer living paycheck to paycheck.
When you keep all of your money in one account (savings/bills) you’re either going to spend it all or not manage it wisely. It’s either decreasing or increasing and it’s confusing because your money doesn’t have specific purpose.
When you have a plan in place it removes the stress and negative feelings that are associated with the problem. It’s essentially the feeling of being in control of your finances. We created monthly goals for saving, spending and paying off debt which created a huge sense of relief every payday.
There was no wondering “where did all of our money go?” or frustration over not being able to save the amount we wanted at the end of the month. There was progress! Getting control of our finances shifted how we felt and created the momentum we needed to see major improvements in our finances.
Negative Emotions: abundance Block
Negative feelings associated to money create an abundance block. When you dread payday, when you worry you’ll run out of money between paychecks, when you worry how you’ll pay bills, wondering if you’ll have enough for Christmas,
Take action
- Think about how you feel when you pay your bills, buy clothes, buy groceries or deposit money in the bank and write down the emotions you feel.
- Think about all the things you can do with money and write down the emotion that you feel. Focus on these emotions. If you have a Financial Freedom Vision and a plan in place, you’re taking control of your life.
- Release the feelings of gratitude when you handle money and think of all of the blessings you’ve been able to experience with money.
- Be diligent in making sure you feel good when you think about money. See any negative financial situation as temporary and focus on what you are working towards. These minor mental tweaks can help you make big gains.
Hopefully this list of tips can help you gauge where you are in terms of reaching your Financial Freedom goals. As you can see anyone can be successful that takes control of their finances by:
- Creating a Financial Freedom Vision
- Stops blaming others
- Stops complaining
- Learns to be grateful for what they have
- Changes their emotions associated with money
Remember there are only three ways you can fail:
- when you quit
- when you don’t improve
- when you never try
Finally, stay on top of your progress, do your due diligence and check-in regularly to make sure you’re on track.
Are you on track for Financial Freedom? What habits do you need to change to refocus on Financial Freedom? What lessons have you learned while pursuing your financial goals?
- 2023 Financial Freedom Update!
- 5 Easy Ways to know you’re on track for Financial Freedom
- 15 Reasons Why You Should Get Out of Debt Fast
- 10 Steps to Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck
- The Beginner’s Guide to Financial Freedom
