It’s the last Friday roundup of the decade! Learn how to level up your skills with Brad and Jonathan.
New Year’s Resolutions
Many people look to the start of a new decade as a clean slate. Although it can be a good time to start fresh, you shouldn’t wait to get started on your goals.
It is interesting how we put these constraints on ourselves to achieve so much in a given amount of time.
For example, with FI, many of us put pressure on ourselves to achieve our number by a certain date. A different approach could be focusing on the goal and the systems instead of doing things based on the date.
It is completely possible to hit FI in a decade. However, setting the goal of hitting FI in a week or year is unreasonable. Don’t let the construct of time get in your way.
If you have the goal of hitting FI this decade, then assess where you are now. Once you understand where you are, then use our book, ChooseFI: Your Blueprint to Financial Independence, to map out your next steps.
Focus on building the systems that will help you reach FI through long-term habits. Don’t treat this like a binge diet, because those never seem to last.
These little little things that you can do, to put into place, so that not only is your day to day life better, but when you wrap these together, and you look over this longer period of time. 5, 10, 15 year period of time, you can change your entire life. You can change the trajectory of your family’s entire future for generations.
For example, MK became a published writer through her habits. She wrote 500 words every single day. Although she never expected to become a published writer, she made it happen through her amazing habits.
Everyday Courage
Jillian’s first episode will be launching in January. We’ve built a workbook to help you go through the podcast with Jillian.
The workbook can help you take action on the information in an intentional way. You can find the free workbook here.
Building A Business With Intentionality
Earlier this week, Jamie Masters joined the show to share her insights on business coach. Here’s the full episode with Jamie if you missed it.
Jamie broke down the steps she walks her clients through as they build their business.
Focus Your Efforts
As a business owner, it can be so easy to work in your business instead of on your business. Instead, you should focus on the big picture and your unique added value. Build a team to handle the other tasks that you don’t necessarily need to do.
If you are interested in building wealth by building a business, then a side hustle can be the perfect starting point. You just need to build a skill set and crush it when the opportunity presents itself.
Here are a few side hustle and business ideas that Brad and Jonathan mentioned on the show:
- Digital businesses
- Writers for website content
- Google analytics research for a particular business
- SEO skills
- Build Facebook or Google Ads
- Become a virtual assistant
- Edit YouTube videos
- Edit podcasts
These are just a few of the skill sets that are needed at ChooseFI. Think of all the other websites and niches that need your skills. You can get started by simply learning a skill and continually learning more.
An Inflection Point Of Growth
Jamie pointed out that when you hit a revenue of $150,000/year, you will likely need to start tweaking things to grow more.
At this point, you will need to build out your team. Unfortunately, this means potentially firing people on your current team. Be honest with yourself. If you aren’t honest, then it will be more difficult to grow your business.
Next, start to double down on the things that are actually working in your business. Often, a handful of things bring in the majority of your business. If you focus on what is working, then you can likely double your business.
Also, you cannot allow yourself to get caught up in checking things off your to-do list. Instead, focus on building out what will add value.
Do not mistake productivity for results. It doens’t matter what it is if it isn’t getting results… You can be the most efficient person in the world t something that is wholly unimportant, basically. And some people pat themselves on the back, ‘Look at how efficient I am’… but it’s important to look at what is effective and, again, what is adding value to the business.
Don’t work just to work. Instead, track your time and find a way to bring more balance to your life. It is not a good thing to be busy all the time if you are focusing your efforts in the wrong direction.
Tackle 2020
If you have been focusing on the spend less side of the equation, make 2020 your year of earning more. Consider salary negotiations or starting something entirely new.
Community Feedback
Let’s hear what the community has to say this week!
Advice From Jody
Jody wrote in to provide some advice for the community to avoid some headaches:
- Ensure that your parents, your spouse, and you have all of your estate planning documents in order. Make sure that you know where everything is. In fact, create a single document that has all of the locations on it.
- Start cleaning out and minimizing your possessions now.
- Make and pay for your own funeral arrangments.
It might be an uncomfortable conversation, but it is important to have it sooner rather than later. Filling out the legacy binder is a good place to start. Grab your legacy binder here.
John
John wrote in with a life hack about rechargeable batteries. If you have kids or lots of toys, then consider rechargeable batteries. Although they are pricy up front, you can get thousands of charges from each one.
Eneloop batteries by Panasonic seem to work well.
Take Action
If you aren’t sure where to start your journey, then start here. Remember, you have to take action in order to make your FI dreams a reality.
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