Quick intro. Let’s close the year right and let’s get started.

Clean up your space 

Clean your place and collect the things that you never use for the year and the things that have seen better days. Sell, donate or throw it away those items. In short, let it go. Its such a breath of fresh air to be totally free from stuffs. If you need some guide clearing out, you can refer to my previous blog post. 

Clean your heart

It’s not just our house that needs cleaning but also ourselves from within. Let go of all the negative emotions that you have towards other people. Whether you have settled the matter with them or not, do yourself a favor and forgive them. Holding on negative emotions is just an unnecessary baggage. Remember, you cannot control other people, but you can control your thoughts and your thoughts can change how you feel. Tell yourself, “I forgive you because I don’t deserve to carry trash emotions in my heart. I have so many things to be grateful for and I’d rather fill my heart with all those goodness.

Clear your head

Any thoughts floating in your head, just write it down. Don’t let yourself get distracted by pending projects, unaccomplished goals, errands to run. Don’t hold it in your mind. Use a pen and paper or go digital if you prefer and start to brain dump. Write down any thoughts you have and clear your mind.

Know your habits

At this point, I want to say evaluate your success and failure this year. However, I realized that we have tendency to underestimate our success and overestimate our failure. So instead, lets take a more objective route and take inventory of our habits. What habits contributed to your success this year? Is it waking up early, doing food log, working out? It’s the small things that we do each day that shapes our life, and little did we know that these small things bring us success.

Take a look on the failing habits too. Do you still procrastinate? Do you spend money on nonessential, so your credit card bills build up? This is more like digging on the root of the problem than just looking into problem.  Write down your habits, good or bad and get to know your habits.

Count the learning

Recall all the new things you have learned this year. Did you learn new skills? Have you read a good book or attended a lifechanging seminar or training?  Take inventory of your greatest discovery this year.

Know your numbers (finances, health, relationship)

I love numbers because the saying is true, numbers never lie. It tells you exactly whether you are accomplishing something or not. Two numbers we must know before the year end is your net worth and body measurement.

Let’s face it, two common goals we set each year is related to our health and finances. Before setting goals let’s get into our status first.

Net worth is computed as asset less liabilities. Asset is anything that you own (house, savings, investment) while liabilities (mortage, credit card loan ) is anything that you owe. With this I hope you’ll have a positive result. But don’t feel bad if you get a negative result, rather see it as an opportunity for growth for next year.

For the body measurement, aside from your weight, find out your BMI and Body fat percentage too. I won’t go into details as there are tons of resources in the internet on how to compute those numbers.

Plan your organization system

Organizing might be a dreaded task, but as an adult, we all have to master this skill. As Tony Robbins says, “if your life is worth living, it is worth recording”. Plan out how you can plot your days, month, year, how you will keep track your goals and record your progress. I always prefer to go old school with pen and paper, but you can definitely use apps if that’s works for you. Just make sure you know the tolls for organization before a new year begins.

Think of your ideal 2018 (Dream time!)

Setting goals can sometimes scares people or bring them to default (losing weight, earning more). So instead, I want you to imagine your ideal year. A good start is to ask yourself this question, “Wouldn’t it be great if   _______?”. For example, wouldn’t it be great if I weighted 50 kilos in 2018? Wouldn’t it be great if I’m improving my photography skills? Let yourself dream again and believe like a child!

You might be tempted to check online for inspirations, but I would say DONT. This is your life so don’t let the world or the internet tell you what your dreams are supposed to be.  Listen to your inner thoughts and let yourself decide on what you really want.

Write down success habits to go with your ideal year

Remember the habits inventory we did in step 4? Bring it out again and pick those habits that will help you achieve your new year’s goals. Think of the habits you need to form to fulfill your ideal life. Goals are achieved by actions. You don’t need motivations, you need habits. Form habits that will make you closer to what you really want to get.

Be thankful!

Finally, as the old saying goes, count your blessings. You may not have the best year this 2017, you may have had faced huge challenges, failures or disappointment, but remember if you had eaten 365 meals this year, you still live a better life than a thousand of people. There is always, always something to be thankful for. 

I remember a short Goldie and Bear episode I watched with my son. Bear with me, this is good! Bear went fishing with Daddy Bear and Goldie, and he was so upset he can’t catch any fish. What’s the good in fishing when you can’t catch any fish? Daddy bear told Bear that fishing is not just about catching fish. It’s also about getting into the boat, fishing together with your family and friend, enjoying the scenery, enjoying the view and most of all, creating memories.

It doesn’t matter if you didn’t catch enough fish this year. Its good if you accomplished all your goals but It’s still ok if you didn’t. At the end of the day, it’s not just about the goal, its about who you become while reaching those goals.

This will be my last post for the year. I hope you found something valuable in my blog this year. Thank you for spending your time with me and I look forward to having you again next year. May you have a wonderful holiday season. 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I’m behind my normal blogging post, but I’m catching the wagon. Let me share with you my four favorites, a book, an app, an organizational tool and an internet find. Let’s get started.

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

This book belongs to my re-readable book list - list of books that I’ll read again for reference and inspiration. If you wanted to awaken your creativity, this book is a must read. The instant #1 New York Times Bestseller discusses the attitudes, approaches, and habits we need in order to live our most creative lives. Balancing between soulful spirituality and cheerful pragmatism, Gilbert encourages us to uncover the “strange jewels” that are hidden within each of us. Whether we are looking to write a book, make art, find new ways to address challenges in our work, embark on a dream long deferred, or simply infuse our everyday lives with more mindfulness and passion, Big Magic cracks open a world of wonder and joy.

I do love to read books in google play because I can always read the first pages or chapter for free and see if it is something I would love to finish. Big Magic is one of the books I purchased even before finishing the free chapter. You can tell, I really love this book. Big Magic inspired me to call myself an artist (because I never felt entitled to be called as one) and to find joy in creating. You can check the link below for the free sample of the book through Google Play.  

https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Elizabeth_Gilbert_Big_Magic?id=IVMmBgAAQBAJ&hl=en

The subscribers of my blog get an exclusive excerpt from the book. I find it inspirational, especially for creatives who feel like giving up. If you haven’t subscribed yet, clink the link to subscribe now.

link: http://eepurl.com/brS6Cb

Health App & Activity App

One of the habits I’m trying to build for myself is to keep an active lifestyle. Since I became a mom, I stayed indoors most of the time and live a pretty solid sedentary life. Our bodies are designed to move. Studies have shown that people who take fewer than 5,000 steps are considered sedentary or inactive. Between 5,000 to 7,499 steps daily have a low active lifestyle. 7,500 to 9,999 are somewhat active and those who reached 10,000 steps are the active ones. That’s why I love the Health Apps, particularly the Activity App, because it helps me know my numbers, keep track of my movements and eventually reached my health goals.

The Activity App has 3 activity rings which represent your activity goals - moves, exercise and stand goals, that you must close daily by reaching the set goals of steps, minutes of exercise and a number of times to stand in a day. This will ensure that you are living an active life. I’ve been using it for 3 weeks now and I haven’t closed all the rings/goals yet. But hey, I checked online and even active people are having trouble closing the rings as well. The good thing is, this encouraged me to be more active and to be constantly be reminded to move.

This App works with Apple Watch and I can say that the Apple Watch is totally worth it because of this App.

Kikki K Planner

I’ve been eyeing a Kikki K Planner for over a year or two, but I never make it to the website’s Buy button because of the price. But my good husband finally bought gifted this to me when he went to Singapore a few months back! It’s a Pale Pink Leather Personal Planner in size Large that includes an 18-month perpetual calendar and 7 tab sections that can be customized. You can check the link below for details.

I’m a planner person, I’ve been using a planner since grade school (I have a diary and a schedule taped on our wall) and it helped me a lot to stay on top of everything. What I like about the Kikki K planner is its ring bound so you can add pages if you need to and scrap pages that you don’t need. You can customize the tabs by adding separate tabs for Finances, Goals, Projects and others. It’s like having a planner, notebook, to-do list all in one place. Of course, it’s worth mentioning that its gorgeous tool for planning.

On the downside, I find it pricey. However, since this is refillable, you can use it not just for one year, but maybe a lifetime, so taking price per years of use, suppose you will use it for more than a year, makes the price reasonable. The other downside to some could be the size, the Large size is definitely not travel friendly. To me, it’s not really a problem because I don’t bring my planner when I’m out and about. I used it when I’m brain dumping (the process from David Allen’s Getting Things Done method), planning and updating my goals.

A little disclaimer, by no means I’m encouraging anyone to splurge on a planner. I’m even telling you now that you don’t need a planner if you don’t use one. You can go with whatever works for you. But if you are a planner person like me, don’t shy away from quality things that will make you do what you love to do. We ought to find joy in things that matters to us. To me, writing things down is an everyday chore, planning is vital and having my perfect planner gives joy to what may seem to be a daunting task.

 https://www.kikki-k.com/leather-personal-planner-large-pink

Reviews.com

Whenever I want to buy something, I spent hours researching the internet. So when I came across www.reviews.com , I’m totally hooked. The site gives a thorough research, consulted experts and has elaborate reviews. If you are someone like me who tend to go for well-thought purchase by checking a lot of information, go ahead and check their site. Since winter is coming, I’m thinking of updating my skincare routine, so I’m checking on their face moisturizers review https://www.reviews.com/face-moisturizer/

That’s about it for this month. We’re down to last two months of the year, but I still have a lot to share with you. Thank you for visiting my blog. Keep coming and I’ll see you in my next post!

Financial literacy is not taught in school. I graduated college without anyone teaching me about budget, getting rid of debt, savings and investing. That’s why whenever I have an opportunity to educate myself about personal finance, I’m sure to be there. Seminars, lectures, books, videos, even pamphlets, I’ll grab it. In fact, my first financial lesson came from a Citibank flyer. Since then, I keep educating myself whenever I have a chance.

One of the best books on financial literacy for me, is Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich. This is a very old book, published in 1937 but I can say it is the king of all the books on personal finance.  It had sold more than 100 million copies worldwide and is listed in John Maxwell’s a Lifetime Must Read Book List. I thought I would share with you Napoleon Hill’s method for turning your financial desires to financial equivalent. This will help you set your financial goals and make it a reality. Let’s begin.

FIX YOUR MIND TO THE EXACT AMOUNT YOU WANT

Napoleon Hill says, it’s not enough to say, I want plenty of money. You have to be exact on this. Without a definite amount, you can’t set a definite plan. Goals should be measurable. You’ll never know if you are achieving it or not if you don’t have a target amount. How much is rich for you? For some, 1 million dollars is enough, to some its 20 million. Do the Math and be clear to yourself how much is your target financial goal.

DETERMINE EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT TO DO IN RETURN

There is no such thing as something for nothing. You must give something in return. People love thinking about having money, but not on what he intends to do to earn it. Know what is your goose that laid the golden eggs. Do you have a product to sell? Is it your skills or profession? Is it your talent? You have to be exact about it. When you find it, nurture it, improve it and take care of it. If it’s a product, keep on innovating. If it’s your skills or profession, keep on adding value to yourself by continuing education and practice. If it’s your talent, keep on improving.

ESTABLISH A DEFINITE DATE

It is important that your goal is time bound. When do you plan to retire? Five, ten, fifteen years from now? You have to think about this carefully. I remember, there was a point in my life, I said I want to retire five years from now. Too ambitious but why not, I told myself. But the reason behind this timeline is the article I’ve read about a lady who did it. When I came to my senses, I realized that by then, my son is just seven years old, he’s just starting in elementary school and who knows, since I’m praying for more children, I may have a toddler or two by then. Lesson learned, don’t just copy other’s goals. Take time to think through it.

Personally, one of the best ways to plan the definite date is to create a time line. In a piece of paper, number it from 1 to 10, each number represents a year.  Next to it, write down your age, adding 1 year as the year goes. So if you are 30 years old by the year 1, then you are 40 years old by the year 10.  If you have a partner and kids, write down their age too. Now, write down life milestones. An example is my story above, by year 5 my son will be 7 years old and might be entering elementary school. This will incur additional cost for our family, so I have to plan about it. Same goes when he goes to college. With this, you can totally see your timeline and decide your dates for retirement.  

CREATE A DEFINITE PLAN

Now that you have an exact amount in mind, you know what to give to achieve it and you have a timeline in place, it’s time to create a plan. This will take a lot of planning, but since you have decided on the important things, you can definitely create this one. What’s important is to begin at once, whether you are ready or not, to put this plan into action.

WRITE OUR CLEAR AND CONCISE STATEMENT OF YOUR GOAL

Write out a clear, concise statement of the amount you intend to gain, name the time limit to achieve it, state what you intend to give in return and describe clearly the plan through which you intend to accumulate it.

READ IT TWICE DAILY

Read it first thing in the morning and last thing at night. Napoleon Hill suggested to read it aloud and as you read – see and feel and believe yourself already in possession of the money.

These steps are nothing without Faith. I love when he said that Faith is the starting point of all accumulation of riches. All thoughts which have been emotionalized and mixed with Faith, begin immediately to translate themselves into their physical equivalent.

Have you heard people saying, “I decided to do this because this is what God told me”, and wonder how these people hear from God? One of my life groupmates asked this and I thought this is a valid question. Who knows, people are saying this just to justify their decisions or appear spiritual. So today, I thought I would share with you my personal thoughts on how to hear from God. A little bit disclaimer, this is based on what I’ve learned and what I’ve personally experienced.

CONFIRMATION

One way of hearing from God is through hearing the same message again and again. There are times when Sunday preaching is about courage, your current devotional is about courage and your Christian friend unexpectedly shared something about courage too! Coincidence? Maybe not. When this happens, take time to reflect. It can be God’s way of confirming His personal message for you.

SPECIFIC WORD

This is one of my favorite, but to be honest, this is the rarest way of hearing from God. There are times when you are asking God for something and you open your bible and literally, God’s answer is in front of you.  Last year, there was a point when I was in doubt about our move to Japan. As I do my daily journal, the verse Jeremiah 29:7 speaks to me “seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you (into exile). Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper”. Because of this, the sadness was gone, I received peace and I once again believed that this is part of God’s plan.  However, as mentioned, this doesn’t happen all the time. If only God, answers prayers with emails! But the Bible says, keep asking, keep seeking and then you will receive, you will find. Pray to receive a specific word for your specific needs.

DAILY BIBLE READING

I’ve been a Christian for about ten years now. One thing that I learned over the years, that has become part of my life until now is Bible reading. The Bible is the word of God. It is His way to speak to us. It tells everything we wanted to know about. By reading the Bible, you get to understand God, yourself and His purpose for you. At first, it will not make sense. But as you keep on reading, you’ll eventually understand. I remember before, I only read my bible because I’m required to do so. In one of the church training, we have a notebook that we need to fill out with our daily reflection of our Bible reading. Of course, I don’t want to be that bad student who doesn’t do her homework! Eventually, this became a habit for me and even though I had finished with the training. I get used to it and keep on doing it until now. Reading the Bible constantly, builds faith and understanding of God’s way. When the times comes to make decisions, it’s easy to identify which decision is God approved. Being familiar with the Bible is like being familiar with God’s voice. It’s like building an archived of God’s perspectives in your brain, ready for use any time.

That’s about it. Bottom line, hearing from God is all about being in His presence. I remember ten years ago, I was a new believer of God, I was in college and a very grade conscious student. In fact, I’m hoping to graduate cum laude, but it was gone when I received a low grade in one of my subjects. I get the list of verses I usually hear from church and all I can see that is applicable to me is the verse “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). I talked with my churchmates and they say the same thing. I thought, well, it’s a safe verse to say, so why not? But I certainly put that verse in to action. When I reached my house, I locked myself in the room and cried. I cried and complain to God, asking him why. I remember myself saying things like, “I used to be by myself and I’m doing good, now that you came into my life, you ruined my dreams!”. I complained, blamed and yelled God. When I got too exhausted to cry and complain, I stopped and tell myself that I’m just wasting my time because no matter what I say, it will not change the fact that he is God. That moment, the very words I said bounce back to me, as if God is telling me, “no matter what people say, no matter what happened, it will not change who you are”.

I hope this helps you hear more from God. See you in my next post. 

I'm pretty much an optimistic person. But there are still times when no matter how I try to motivate myself, I'm still overwhelmed with negative emotions such as worries, doubts and feeling of failure. Finally, I understand where all these negative emotions are coming from, what’s its purpose and how to handle it.

First, understand that thinking negatively is actually a human nature. That's how our brain is wired. Our mind’s game plan is survival. Its main purpose is to protect us by eliminating change and keeping us in comfort zone. It’s called Cognitive Bias. In the past, it helped our ancestor to survive. Whenever they hear an unfamiliar sound, the mind thinks of threat so the body can prepare to defend. See? our negative thoughts are not a bad thing at all. It protects us, keep us safe and helps us survive. But sometimes it goes overboard, that these negative thoughts cause stress, hinder us from going big and scare us from change.

The truth is negative thoughts are inevitable. It’s always there, popping in your mind whenever it wants. But the good news is you can handle it. And no, it’s not by thinking positive thoughts. In fact, if you try to think contrary to the thought, you might amplify it even more. It’s like your brain will tell you, “See, you are trying to push the negative thought away because you know it’s true”.

All it takes is acceptance. Acknowledge the thought. This way, you are removing the tension and this will allow you to get your brain on board in overcoming the negative thoughts. Simply put, it’s like telling your brain “hey, I get this. You are right to say that this thing is worth worrying, the doubt is valid that it might be a wrong decision, I might fail and its scary to try new things. However, we will never really know until we get there. Besides, I can learn from this experience and it will make me a better person no matter what the result is. With this, you acknowledge the negative thought that its true but tolerable and you are willing to deal with whatever result it might have.

It also helps to keep an archived of exemplary examples. Sometimes, our mind tends to give us negative thoughts because it’s tapping in to the things we have in mind. We could be keeping an archived of negative experience we experience ourselves or we see from other people. We might have accepted negative thoughts relayed by our parents, teachers, friends and other people we spoke with. So, it’s best to reprogram our memory bank. Recall your own success stories. Find exemplary people who overcome their own negative thoughts. Feed your mind with empowering thoughts. As they said, garbage in garbage out; positive thoughts in, positive thoughts out. Don’t wait until you’re feeling down before you look for positive thoughts or exemplary examples. Keep a habit of keeping your thoughts in good or positive shape.

Personally, I feed myself with positive thoughts daily by journaling. I usually read a passage or two from the Bible, meditate on it and see how I can apply it in my personal life. On days I feel uninspired, I read back my old journals and it usually put me back on track.

Finally, take action. Get up on our feet and do something.  Instead of wasting your time and energy dwelling on your thoughts, start focusing on the solution. Even if you are loaded with positive thoughts or exemplary examples, it’s no use until you put it in to actions. Let’s not confuse inspiration to getting things done. So yeah, just do it.

That’s about it. I hope this short post will send a ray of sunshine to someone who needs it. 

From time to time, take a seat back

Feel life. Feel the time passing by.

Watch your life and see what’s up.

I don’t want to go with the flow

I don’t want to be toss by the wind.

I’m all about calculated risk, intentional move and purposeful living.

Seat back and have a careful look at your life

Dream. Imagine and take a leap of Faith.

Then take steps again. 

Time flies and now we’re half way through 2017. Being the goal-oriented person that I am, I’ve check in with my new year’s goal to see what’s up. I’m happy to see progress to almost of all aspect, including our financial goals. This inspires me to share with you our strategy and what I consider steps to financial freedom.

I have read tons of personal finance or financial coaching books. For me, two books stands out, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and Dave Ramsey’s book. Napoleon Hill’s book gives the best concept about money while Dave Ramsey’s book gives the most detailed and helpful how to. I’ll be sharing about how to’s today so most of the concept are from Dave Ramsey’s book Total Money Makeover, with a little tweak from me.

Just a little declaimer, personal finance is “personal” in nature. While these things works for me (and hopefully will work for you too), this are just a guideline and not an absolute rules. With that out of the way, let’s begin.

Live Below your Means

The first step to financial freedom is to create an excess by spending less than what you earn. To do this, set aside a certain amount of money (20% ideally) for savings. This will force you to live below your income. If this will become your habit, you’ll rarely have problems with your finances.

However, I understand that there are some who have negative cashflow. The expense that needs to be paid is bigger than your income. This happens to me too.  We have to find a way to get out of this situation. You have two options: increase your income and decrease your expenses. Better if you do both. To increase your income you can either get a part time job or sell your stuffs. To decrease your expenses, you can google right now and see tons of ideas on how to do this. As an example, you can cut subscription plans, bring lunch instead of eating out, lower your mobile plans, the possibilities are endless.

Another way to help you live below your meas is by Creating a Budget. A budget is about allocating your money to particular spending, setting the limits of each category. Dave Ramsey said, if you don’t you’re your money where to go, it will leave you. So before even spending, create a budget. Personally, two days before payday, I created my budget. This way, you know where and how much money to spend. In the future, this will help you make sound financial decisions.

Save for the rainy days (Emergeny Fund)

It is important to keep a good amount of savings in your bank account. Do you know Murphy law? It say’s “whatever can go wrong, will go wrong”. Emergencies like hospital bills, house repairs, car repairs and the like will happen.  Having an emergency fund saves you from whatever that can go wrong.

How much should be your emergency fund? Ideally, three to six months of living expenses is a good goal. This should be a liquid fund (available in cash) and not locked up to any investment instrument.

But what if you are in debt? Should you pay the bills or build the emergency fund? Dave Ramsey has a very good suggestion. He said, Build a Starter Emergency Fund first. Before you pay up your debts, build the Starter Emergency Fund which equals to USD 1,000 or PHP 50,000 as soon as possible.

The more you are in debt, the more you need to prioritize having an emergency fund. Why? If emergencies happen, and you don’t have an emergency fund, you’ll be left with no choice but to borrow money again. Now you have bigger debts and eventually, you’ll be trapped to borrowing and repaying cycle again and again. Stop the cycle and give your best not to borrow again.

Get out of Debt Fast

In today’s world of credit card and easy loan application, everybody sees loan as something normal. But the truth is, debt is a money borrowed that will be repaid at a premium. There’s so much misconception about debt but I don’t want to elaborate on this. Bottom line, there’s no such thing a good debt. So, get out of debt fast. There are tons of strategies but personally, the Debt-snowball method is the best one.

The debt-snowball method is a debt reduction strategy, whereby one who owes on more than one loans pays off the loans starting with the one with the smallest balances first, while paying the minimum payment on larger debts. Once the smallest debt is paid off, one proceeds to the next slightly larger small debt above that, so on and so forth, gradually proceeding to the larger ones later (from wikipedia) . This strategy may not be financially sound, as you’ll pay more interest expense with this method, but it is the most encouraging one. What it does is creating momentum, a little victories (when you fully pay the smallest loan) that will push you to keep going. It has the most positive emotional effect that will motivate you to finish strong.

Get Insured

We all have loved ones we care about. We can plan our day, our week, our whole life but we can’t boast about the future. Only God knows when its times up. If it happens, it’s more relieving to know that your love ones are covered at least financially. Getting insurance gives you that peace of mind. Whether to get a traditional term insurance or the new ones, VUL products is up to you. If you asked me, the traditional insurance is the best route. I won’t go on details right now as I believe the comparison deserves a separate blog post. Also, if you are employed, best to check with your HR. Your company might be paying an insurance premium for you. If that’s the case, you don’t need to get one for yourself.

Let your money work for you (Invest)

Emergency fund. Check. Insurance. Check. Zero Debt. Check. Now you can invest. Let your money work for you by putting them in money market securities, bonds, stocks and other investment instrument. You can start with Mutual Funds or UITFs. You need to know the fundamentals before investing but you don’t have to know everything about it. Start small and keep on studying. Then keep on investing.

Should you wait until you have three to six months emergency fund, debt free and with insurance before you invest? Ideally, yes. Investing has risks involved. There’s a chance you won’t get your money back so it’s best to secure the foundations of your financials first.

However, it is also important to note that the sooner you start investing, the better chances of winning. So if you are so eager to start investing, at least secure the bare minimum of the foundation of your finances.  A starter emergency fund of PH 50,000, a debt repayment plan in place and at least a PHP 100,000 life insurance coverage. Please note however, that this is only applicable if you have a stable job or a stable source of income. If your income is commission based or project based, it’s best to have a fully funded emergency fund, zero debt and insurance in place before investing.

Give

Financial freedom is more than having a lot of money. It’s about living a life free of money concerns. It’s being free of greed and selfishness. The best cure to this is giving.

First of all, give to God what it due to Him. The bible is very clear on this. By giving to God, we acknowledge that He is the source of your blessings; He owns everything and what we are just His steward. To me, it’s so liberating to know that it’s not me but there’s a Higher Being in control of everything.

Give to those in need. Tony Robbins says, by giving away a portion of what you earn, you are teaching your brain that you have more than enough. Knowing that you have more than enough creates a feeling of gratitude that will allow you to create even more.

That’s about it. Be sure to check the book Total Money Makeover if you want more details about these steps. Also, I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to leave comments, questions and further suggestions below. See you in my next post.