If you want to get things done and you want to be successful, rich, accomplished, or whatever it is you dream of, then you must take it upon yourself to get up and take action. I myself am guilty of talking and saying I will do this or I will do that, but I never do. You have only a limited amount of time in your life, and you must take advantage of every minute given to you.
Ever since I was a small kid, I knew I wanted to be rich. I would always think about how one day I would be living in a big house with nice cars; however, I didn’t know the first thing about accumulating resources. All I ever did was think about it. I suppose when I was a teenager I finally gained the courage to start taking real steps towards making my dream a reality. I read up on personal finance, economics, and the stock market. I sold things on eBay that didn’t have any meaningful value to me, and I even opened a checking account and CD account when I was a teenager. I opted to open a CD account because I was too afraid of the unknown aspects of the stock market. I was afraid of what I didn’t know, and this was keeping me from opening an investment account. I read all I could about the stock market, but the more I read the more I realized that there was no way I could ever fully master the art of investing without actually doing it. The key is that I became comfortable taking on an acceptable amount of risk. It is hard for me to believe that I was once afraid of a little risk. I wish I could go back and coach my 15 year old self. It took a process of years for me to finally gain the courage and start investing. My mindset was always defensive before I actually started taking steps towards my goal. I would try to come up with excuses as to why I shouldn’t do something. I now know that if you want to be successful, you have to get up and do it yourself. No one will do it for you and very few people will help you along the way. Don’t be afraid to take the first step in the direction of your dreams!
I have a friend who is always investing in bonds in which right now he is actually losing purchasing power. He is nearly a mirror image of myself when I put my money in CD’s. He dreams of being rich, but he is afraid to take action. I encourage him to take action, but he is not ready for it. I even told him a very inspirational story of a business man my Dad is friends with. This gentleman was coming off a divorce at age 35 that set him back 10 years towards his financial goals. He refused to let the divorce hinder his progress towards becoming a multi-millionaire, and he took on a lot of debt and a lot of risk to franchise Taco Bells and Long John Silvers. Long story short he now owns over 100 franchised fast food restaurants, has a management team for each region, and he makes over a million dollars a year. This is an example of a man who knew what he wanted and was willing to take aggressive action to accomplish it.
Taking action in your life doesn’t have to be towards monetary gain. Have a crush? Go ask him or her out. Need to clean out your closet? Get up early one Saturday and clean it out. Want to try cooking dinner for your loved one? Set aside a night and try it out for fun. Whatever goal or interest you have in life, you must be the one that decides to do it. Give yourself that little push to get started. After that the rest takes care of itself most often. Dare to dream big, and dare to accomplish those dreams. Life is short, make sure you do everything you want to before it’s over.
Money and Medicine for Millenials 