I am a process person, I can learn anything and do anything as long as there is a process. Throughout grade school and my teens, I understood money. I made it and spent it, that was my understanding of it. That was the depth of my knowledge. I don’t recall learning a very solid financial plan in school that made sense to me. Maybe they taught it, but I just didn’t hear it.
I was introduced to a financial plan by my mentor Jim Rohn, he had what he called the 10-10-10 plan. He basically said you gotta have a financial plan, and this was the one he came up with. He said never spend more than 70 cents out of a dollar. And use the other 30 cents this way. Tithe the first 10%. Tithe can mean giving to charity or giving to a church. You choose. The point is give it to something. I have discovered the more I give the better I feel. Obviously, I get excited about having the ability to give money and who it will help, but I like the feeling personally that I get when I give away money. The second 10% you should save. Save it, don’t touch it. The last 10% you should invest. He called it active capital. Maybe you buy something for $2 dollars and sell it for $4, but use the money to invest in something that will provide a return, either short-term or long-term.
I am sure Mr. Rohn says this somewhere in all of his teachings, and maybe he counts this 10% in the investment part of his 10-10-10 plan, but I haven’t heard it clearly stated that way from him. But I think you should invest no less than 10% in your personal and self-development. Mr. Rohn would agree I am sure. The great Brian Tracy says, for every dollar you invest in yourself on your personal development, it will have a $30 dollar ROI in your lifetime to your bottom line. No other investment you can make will have that rate of return.
Mr. Rohn has a quote that I love: “Never begrudge the money you spend on your own personal and self-development.” I agree with that statement, but the thing that I would add is that you have to be intentional about your personal and self-development. If you just go through the day without a plan, you most likely won’t fit it in to your day. It has to be built-in to your day.
So what is my financial plan, I suggest. Depending on where you are in your life and financial situation, I would suggest that you allocate 10% of your money to invest in yourself. Maybe you use a combination of Mr. Rohn’s plan and include the 10% investment in your self somewhere in your budget. The investment could be a book, attending a seminar, a program on (you name it), a health plan, etc. Invest in something that will make you better. When you get better things will get better.
Brian Willett
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