There are two kinds of economy that must prosper to make this year better than last year for you. The first is the global economy. This is the economy that affects the prices of Goods and Services. This economy has the least impact on your personal prosperity. The second is your personal economy. This is the economy that affects your purchasing power, financial stability, and personal peace of mind. This economy is the economy with the greatest impact on your personal life.
Thankfully this economy is within your control, and you can create a prosperous personal economy regardless of the state of the global economy. This is true because in every economy and at the end of every year there are two categories of people. The first are the winners that end the year with more prosperity and the second are the losers that end the year losing their prosperity. Thus, there is no question that every year brings with it prosperity opportunities. The big question is will you locate your own prosperity this year? What do you need to do to prosper regardless of the state of the global economy? And what steps must you take different from last year especially when you have a track record of carryover unachieved goals every year?
The answer is simple.
To create a prosperous personal economy this year you must master how to do three things well.
The first is to understand the advantages or upsides and the limitations or downsides that you bring into the year. Everyone comes into a year with upsides and downsides. Thus, one of the things that will determine your success this year is what you bring into the year. The second is the Opportunities that exist in the year and whether you can position and leverage those opportunities well. And the third is understanding how Not to Increase your disadvantages or downsides within a given year. The more disadvantages you end up with at the end of the year the lower your chance of achieving success next year. So, let’s look at each of these components and how they can affect your prosperity this year.
1. Understanding what you bring into the year
Everyone comes into the new year with something and there is never a time in your life where you will have nothing to begin with. This means that your success this year will depend on the quality of what you bring into the year. And there are two thing that you bring into a year. The first are advantages or upsides and the second are disadvantages or downsides. The advantages you bring into a year are what you need to move from where you are now to where you want to be. Without advantages, there will be no way to move from where you are now to where you want to be. The disadvantages or limitations that you bring into a year are all the things that can hold you back. To move ahead in any given year you must overcome, subdue, or eliminate your disadvantages. Thus, the worse way to think about success in a year is to have the notion that the year itself will perform some magic to make you wealthy. And even worse is to think that the help you need will first come from outside sources. Help come from outside sources when you have first begun to help yourself. This means that true financial breakthrough begins with you, and it begins with leveraging on the advantages you already have. There must be something you have, own, control, can do, or can get, to begin your prosperity this year. And until you master the art of starting with what you already have, you will not make significant progress this year.
So, what kind of advantages do you need to have to make this year a prosperous year for you.
There are Nine of them.
The First is Knowledge. Knowledge is the seed for growth and the beginning of financial transformation. This means that the number one problem in most people’s financial life is ignorance. When you know and have more relevant and refined knowledge you will do better. Thus, the quality and type of knowledge that you bring into this year or acquire during the year will affect how far you go. Unfortunately, most people are busy acquiring the wrong knowledge. They are acquiring Knowledge that has little or no impact on their financial prosperity. There are about five common sources of knowledge for most people in a given year. The first is the news, the second is social media, the third is through formal education, the fourth is by observing other people and trying to be like them and the fifth is from religion. Unfortunately, none of these sources currently give you the kind of knowledge that enhances prosperity. The news only increases your fear and anxiety as it thrives on bad rather than good news. Social media increases your fantasy and unrealistic expectations as it thrives on the fake lives of other people. Traditional education and certifications load your mind with theoretical knowledge that has little or no power to elevate your income. Following the lives of other people who are also trying to figure out their lives is the fastest way to walk and live in error. You will only achieve your greatest success living your own life. Religion focuses on doing and carrying out busy religious activities rather than Abiding, Knowing, Maturing, and becoming. Thus, at the end of the year you have not only acquired irrelevant and unimportant knowledge, but you have also become more ignorant in the knowledge and affairs that can truly produce wealth. If you must prosper this year you must focus on the kind of Knowledge that creates wealth.
The second advantage you need is skills and there are two types of skills. The first are high-income skills and the second are low-income skills. High-income skills are skills that produce high income with minimal workload, responsibility, and time investment. Low-income skills in contrast are skills that require enormous workload, responsibility, and a long time to produce significant income. You acquire high-income skills by developing knowledge and skills that can create, own, and control your own income-producing assets. When you own income-producing assets you move from hustling for wealth to positioning for wealth. You acquire low-income skills when you develop knowledge and skills that make you a good labourer or worker in the income-producing field of another person. When you are a worker or labourer hustling becomes your default way of life. Thus, the more low-income skills you have and develop this year the lower your chances of ending with a more prosperous life.
The Third advantage you need are Assets. Wealth Creation is all about owning and Controlling income-producing assets. This means that you must own or control something of value to create maximum wealth this year. Thus, if you come into the year owning nothing and do not create, acquire, or own your own income-producing assets this year wealth and prosperity will be far away from you.
The Fourth advantage you need is Rich Relationships. Relationship is a valuable wealth currency just like money. In fact, rich relationships can do for you what money cannot do for you. Thus, the more rich and wealth-creating relationships you bring into the year or develop during this year the higher your chances of success. Rich relationships expand your opportunities, possibilities, leverage, and options. Wealth draining relationships expand your liabilities, stress, and financial load. This means that the only way to succeed this year is to significantly improve the quality of your relationships.
The Fifth Advantage you need is sources of income. The worse number to have as far as your income source is concerned is One. One source of income is too weak to give you the kind of prosperity that you desire this year. Besides all income sources have advantages and disadvantages. And the only way to truly optimize your income is to combine it with sources that can make up for or cancel its disadvantages. Your salary for example is a regular and consistent income. But its disadvantage is that it is a laborious source of income that only reaches its peak after sacrificing years of your youthful life. To optimize salary, you must combine it with another source of income that complement this disadvantage. This means that multiplying your sources of income is not a random process, there is a science and formula to it. If all you do is add and combine any source of income that you find you may end up with more stress and workload than income. Worse of all is that some sources of income are channels of losing money rather than making money. Thus, the best way to create your own solid income portfolio is to choose income sources that complement each other and cancels each other’s disadvantage.
The Sixth Advantage that you need is a disciplined savings culture and solid Cash Reserve. Having a disciplined savings culture is the fastest and easiest way to elevate your financial life. If you lack the discipline to save, then you also lack the discipline to acquire or improve any of the other advantages listed here. Thus, having a disciplined savings culture is your first step to freedom. Your second step is to make your savings fail proof. This means that you must shield your savings from losses due to bad investment decisions and unplanned expenses. The third step is to give your savings a clear and specific mission. And the most profitable mission for your savings is to help you gain financial freedom. Thus, your savings must be structured to give you financial freedom. And there are only two ways to do this. First, you must save big portions of your income- 25%, 50% or 70% is recommended. Second, you must build cash reserves that can produce stable passive income that is worth the value of your salary. Building stable passive income that is worth the value of your income is the only way to transfer your source of livelihood from active income to passive income. And this is the fastest way to achieve financial freedom. If all you focus on this year is to save big, make your savings fail-proof, and build stable passive income that is worth the whole or certain percentages of your current income, you would have prospered more than 80% of the population.
The Seventh Advantage you need is good Health. Health is wealth and a very potent destroyer of accumulated wealth. Thus, the quality of health you bring into the year can either support your wealth creation activities or deduct from it. When you have good health your productivity, energy, attention, and focus increase and so does your wealth. When you have poor health, symptoms of bad health choices or even fears of impending health dangers your productivity, energy, attention, and focus is distorted. Thus, the only way to prosper this year is to increase the activities and habits that promote health and reduce the activities and habits that promote disease.
The Eight Advantage you need is Productive Time. Time by itself carries little or no wealth advantage. The only time that has impact on wealth is productive time. Thus, if all you do this year is worry, fight, do more of the same old things, try to be like others, or do all the junk activities that waste time, you will end up broke and miserable at the end of the year. But if you choose to invest time in productive activities that create wealth and increase your odds of success then you will enjoy prosperity. Thus, the place where you spend time and how you use your time this year will determine your level of success.
The Ninth advantage is the Supernatural. There are certain things that are beyond your effort, understanding or capacity as a human being. To get through these things you need the help of the supernatural. While you may be able to achieve some level of success on your own, there are certain heights in wealth that may be difficult to achieve without the help of the supernatural. To get the kind of supernatural help that leads to wealth you must develop a close relationship with your source. Intimacy with your source is the only way to gain insight into certain truth that will help you on your wealth journey. This same intimacy will keep you grounded during difficult times, help you stay glued to your values, and standards, and help you find your true wealth path and succeed in it. Regardless of what or who you believe, you must know that there are certain heights in wealth you cannot attain without the help of the supernatural.
Now that you know the Nine advantages that will affect your prosperity this year, we will review in the part two of this article the disadvantages and limitations that will affect your prosperity this year and what to do about them. We will also look at what a new year truly offers you and how to live in a year without Increasing your disadvantages. Stay Connected.
Perhaps you need help developing your advantages and maximizing your odds of success this year, we can help you send an email to info@createsolidwealth.com.
About The Author
Grace Agada is the most sought-after Financial Freedom Expert in Nigeria. She is a renowned Author, Financial Freedom Advisor and Keynote Speaker. Grace is Popularly known as the Queen of Financial Freedom, the Breadwinner’s Advocate and the Middle-Class to Upper-Class Mentor. Her goal is to help working professionals and breadwinners move their success and livelihood from a paycheck to their own solid passive Income. Grace is the Author of three books and possibly the most widely read financial articles. Her articles are spread across seven national newspapers and four of the most popular Nigerian Blogs. Grace is also the Founder of the University of Wealth, The Rich Retirement Life Quarterly Publication, The Wealth Creator Quarterly Report, and the Wealthy Business Blueprint Program. Grace has been featured on BBC Africa. Business Day TV. Inspiration FM. and inside Naijatv. And she consults for Numerous Top Organizations, Company Directors, CEOs, C-Suite Executives, and High-Income Professionals. To connect with Grace, send an email to info@createsolidwealth.com