We’ve seen this time and time again throughout our history – depressions, market meltdowns, economic turmoil, financial crises, great collapses. Just turn on the news and you hear about unemployment, high interest rates, mass layoffs and they all seem to have ‘cute’ names to go with them, such as the “fiscal cliff”, and most notably in recent news, the sequester.
Now, I’m not going to go into a long, drawn out (and probably slanted) post about who’s fault it is or who’s to blame, or even what it could mean for you and your family. To be honest, you probably already know the details of what cuts are going to be made and where.
I’m sure you might have even seen videos similar to this one 9 (ABC News’ Jon Karl tells you what the sequester means for ordinary Americans).
The point is that with everything that’s going on, a lot of people out there are facing a problem that is unfortunately not uncommon – jobs will be lost, income sources will dry up, and we’re all going to take a hit. So instead of talking about political points or economic ideology, I want to ask you one simple question…
Is Your Income Sequester-Proof?
It doesn’t matter if the answer is yes or no. If you’re one of the few who, no matter what happens to the economy, your financial future is secure, then you already know the value of multiple streams of income and diversification.
If your answer is no, and you’re one of the millions who, if your income stopped for a month or two, you would be financially strapped, or possibly lose everything like I was, keep reading.
Instead of DOOM AND GLOOM in the mainstream media, I want to convey an idea that you should take seriously, because people losing their jobs and income streams drying up happens all the time, to people everywhere – as I said, it not something that’s uncommon.
The idea I’m going to share with you is one of hope, and with the right action, is the light at the end of the tunnel that could lead to financial independence for you, as it has done for many (myself included – though I am still on my way).
Surviving The Sequester: A Guide To Financial Independence
When I decided to write “Surviving The Sequester: A Guide To Financial Independence,” my first thought was to create some type of step by step process that you could follow, but decided against a “do this” type of manual. Personally I think you and I both will see PLENTY of that in the weeks and months to come…
Instead, Surviving The Sequester: A Guide To Financial Independence will be a few solid ideas that lead to me being where I am, because truth be told, no matter what I do or where I do I’ll be able to make money and that is a life skill that everyone needs. Would you agree?
Surviving The Sequester: A Guide To Financial Independence
I know this is unusual, but let’s play a game…
I want you to calculate your monthly living expenses – not monthly income, but monthly expenses. Take out a piece of paper, and make a list of all of your bills and payments, expenses, and other financial obligations.
Once you have that number, round it up to the nearest $100.00. So let’s say your monthly living expenses are $5,133.79, round up to $5,200.00
Put that number aside and let’s take it a step further…
Most financial advisers suggest you have at least nine months’ living expenses saved up for a rainy day, (that was last year, based on the average amount of time it takes to find a job, or eight months plus one to allow for the time you have to put in before your first check comes).
Check your savings. If your monthly living expenses were $5,200.00, do you have $46,800.00 in savings? If you lost your job today, or if your current income suddenly dried up, would you be be okay, or would your life become a struggle to stay afloat?
IDEA #1: Surviving The Sequester: A Guide To Financial Independence
To be fair I didn’t have you do this exercise to bring you down, but to raise the first idea of Surviving The Sequester: A Guide To Financial Independence.
That is – Know where you stand and have a clear, immediate financial goal. Think of this as your rock bottom, meaning if you’re income drops below this level – you’re in trouble.
Your goal should be to make more income than your living expenses, and keep in mind that this doesn’t include all of the nice extras we enjoy, or savings, so if you don’t make more than your living expenses, something’s wrong.
Here’s the good news – You CAN fix it!
IDEA 2: Surviving The Sequester: A Guide To Financial Independence
Idea #2 of Surviving The Sequester: A Guide To Financial Independence is the safety net – that is making sure that you have breathing room for emergencies in case something happens.
Following the example, I save 10% of my income, but here’s the change in mindset. Most people, when they think about saving, they think about it as a loss and think about what they can do without in order to save.
That’s wrong! I know I’m spitting in the face of all the financial advice that we’ve all heard about sacrificing for the greater good here, but it’s a mentality of poverty. Instead of figuring out what you can do without in order to save, how about you find ways to increase your income by 10%?
What I did was add 10% to my rock bottom, so $5,200.00 became $5,720.00. Idea #2 here is a change in mindset. Don’t say “I can’t“, but instead ask, “how can I?“
And I realize this may be a long term goal for most people, and I know it was for me, however the truth of the matter is that the only way to get out of money problems is to make more money than your problems can demand – have enough money around so that money will never be a problem.
By asking “how can I?” you put your brain to work trying to figure out ways to make more money. We have a saying that millionaires are millionaires because they find two or three ways of making money doing what they already do – my mentor taught me that.
So, what have you done all your life? Did you know that your career, even though it probably seems mundane to you is in demand? Think about how many people are going to school or trade school to learn what you’ve been doing every day.
Can you help someone if they asked you about what you do? Can you offer advice? What experience can you pass on?
What if you could leverage your knowledge and experience, even with hobbies you’re good at, to make more money?
IDEA #3: Surviving The Sequester: A Guide To Financial Independence
And now that your brain is firing on all cylinders here is idea #3 of Surviving The Sequester: A Guide To Financial Independence – choose the right engine to drive your success. This engine can be a business opportunity, an affiliate program, a joint venture, or anything else that will allow you to focus on doing what you do, without distracting you into doing something else entirely.
My engine of choice, (obviously), is blogging. It allows me to advertise, publish articles, drive traffic, capture leads and more. I would go as far as to say if you aren’t blogging already, you should start immediately, but make sure you’re using the right blog platform to do so.
When deciding on what engine you’re going to use, there is a mindset tweak there as well. A lot of people tend to look for free, but remember you typically get what you pay for, so free isn’t always the best approach.
In fact you want to look for opportunities where others are making good money and there is plenty of verifiable proof – Any cost associated with it isn’t an expense but an investment that will help you get to where you’re going.
IDEA #4: Surviving The Sequester: A Guide To Financial Independence
Take IMMEDIATE and CONSISTENT action to achieving your goals. For example, learning every day, publishing some kind of content and networking. Don’t allow yourself to be one of those people who slack off and sit around all day and expect money to just flow in rivers because you share a status update or two.
A lot of people fail that way and they’re quick to say “this doesn’t work” or “it’s a scam” when the simple truth is that they were in opportunities where countless people were making money and they didn’t because of they lacked the mindset, action, or consistency to be successful.
IDEA #5: Surviving The Sequester: A Guide To Financial Independence
This one shouldn’t come as a surprise… surround yourself with successful people. I could go on for a week about the benefits of the right team and being surrounded by those who are like-minded and will help you answer questions, and push you toward success and help you through the tough spots.
What’s the Bottom Line?
I know this was a VERY long post, and truth be told it could have been much longer – I can teach a month on this topic and give you a new idea or concept every day and you’d pick up something new…
The bottom line is this…
Do EVERYTHING you can to make sure that no matter what happens, you and your family will be taken care of.
It doesn’t matter what it is, just do SOMETHING! And speaking from experience, if you don’t make your own plans, chances are you’ll end up part of someone else’s.
That’s why I do what I do. Surviving the sequester is just a term for making it through hard times, but I didn’t want to just survive – I wanted to live.
If you’re reading this, NOW is the time to take action. NOW is the time to set your goals high. NOW is the time to make success a reality and live the life you and your family deserves, because nobody else is going to make it happen for you.
I went from making $80k a year to $0 overnight because of the economy. I started 2012 3 months behind and on the verge of losing everything, and you would not believe how people looked down on me and called me lazy and a failure, and every other name in the book because I was “mooching” off of my family.
That’s no place to be. Learn from my story – Learn from my experiences. Take Massive Action!
Why not start RIGHT NOW? Watch the video below, then CLICK the “Get Started” button and join me and my team. We’re creating new 5 and 6 figure earners every month and most of us only work a few hours a week!
CLICK THE BUTTON below and get started today!
Topic: Surviving The Sequester: A Guide To Financial Independence
