Let’s be honest a million dollars isn’t much these days. But it is a financial milestone along the success journey. And although I am proud of the milestones I have accomplished, I am upset with myself for two reasons:
- That I didn’t set a financial goal early enough in life to shoot for.
- Once I did set a goal, I wish I would have set it higher.
So let me begin with that. My goal is to become deca millionaire next and to do it in a shorter amount of time than it took me to accomplish the first million.
I want to share this with you now, because if you are reading this you may have not accomplished this milestone yet and more than likely you may not have it as a goal for yourself either.
If you have accomplished the goal. Congratulations.
If it isn’t a goal for you, I would encourage you to make it a goal. Not because of the money. Although it is important.
More importantly than the money though, as my mentor said, is the skills and disciplines you develop along the way and the person you become on your way to this financial milestone. The skills you develop are what is important. The financial milestone itself is just the reward.
What is a million dollar net worth really anyway?
If you add up all of your assets, which could be cash, retirement funds, real estate holdings, a business you own, etc., anything of value that you own and could liquidate and you subtract your liabilities (debts), money that you owe. The remaining amount that you have would be a million dollars. This is your net worth.
Look, if you are like me you aren’t going to get some big inheritance at all. You aren’t going to land a job making millions of dollars. You aren’t within a company that you have ownership in and the company will sell for 10X.
You most likely have a good job and you have a good income, but this alone will not get you to financial freedom. The world is too expensive and too many things happen to us all. So it is up to you to figure it out and get on the road to financial freedom before you are too old to even enjoy it.
Back to the two lessons I learned.
Nobody told me that I should have a financial goal I should be shooting for. This wasn’t taught in high school and I definitely didn’t learn it from my parents. They were just getting by. It wasn’t until I started reading the right books and listening to the right people that I learned this concept.
My first goal wasn’t the right goal either. I wasn’t thinking big enough. I said if I could own ten houses and each house paid me $1,000 a month, this would be $10,000 a month. Once all of the houses were paid for this would be an amount of money I could live off of.
I didn’t think about the assets itself, meaning if I bought more expensive assets that generated more cash flow, than I would need less properties. I just wasn’t thinking that way, My focus was too small.
I was thinking the right way, meaning “begin with the end in mind” which is set a goal. What do I want and when do I want it. And then work backwards and develop the strategy on how you can accomplish it.
Which leads me to the next lesson I learned. I need to set the goal higher.
As of today, I have the benefit of hindsight., My hope is if you are reading this I may be able to provide you some insight that will allow you to get where you want to go.
At the risk of sounding a little out of touch for some, I now know $10,000 a month isn’t going to be enough for my wife and I for our lifestyle. We just have different ambitions and desires on how we live and want to live.
But from where I started in my journey, which was ZERO, just a good job, an education and a future of working for the next 40 years to hopefully retire. $10,000 a month cash flow with no debt seemed pretty reasonable and a worthwhile goal.
As I stated above I now have a new target and I am focused on accomplishing it.
Look, I have started several businesses throughout my career. I have had great jobs that paid well as well. But the one thing where I have had the most financial success is investing in buy and hold income producing real estate. Anybody can do it. You just have to have the discipline and work ethic to start doing it. I look at businesses for sale everyday and maybe I will end up buying one, but right now I am sticking to what I know and where I have had success.
If you are interested in learning more about strategies and lessons I have learned, then I encourage to sign up to receive my blog/newsletter.
To your success and your future.
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