Got money to burn and wondering how to spend it? Maybe it’s $10,000, $20,000 or just $500. There are obvious smart things you can do with your money or you could just enjoy it and get some self satisfaction out of it. If you’ve recently looked at your quarterly investment reports, you might be well inclined to spend the money on something you enjoy rather than watching it disappear like a puff of smoke.
There’s probably no perfect answer, and I’m not a financial advisor, but what you should spend your money on depends on:
Your Financial Goals
Your Current Financial Situation
In other words, the best answer varies from person to person. If you are not carrying any debt, plan to max out your 401k and IRA this year, and already own a home, you might feel comfortable enough spending it on a nice vacation. If you’re interested in making more money, you could:
Buy Investment Property
Purchase Assets (art, stocks, antiques)
Start a Business
On the other hand, if you are carrying debt, your best bet may be to get closer to living a debt-free life. Start with your high interest bearing debt, such as credit cards, and work your way down from there. Student loans and home mortgages generally come with low interest rates, but if you do not have any other debt, consider owning more equity or paying off a big chunk of your student loans.
The bottom line is you have to ask yourself if you want to do what’s right or what feels good. If you want to do what feels good, make sure that you won’t have any regrets. If you want to do what’s right, pull out a calculator and find out how to get the most return for your dollar – whether it be to pay off your bills or invest it elsewhere.
Don’t forget to keep your long-term strategy in mind and think about how your decision can help or hinder you from achieving your goals.
There are many levels of motivation, some more effective than others and some depend on your personality, but knowing what motivates you may propel you to achieve your goals. So are you motivated by fear or does the desire to succeed motivate you?
Some people are incredibly ambitious, would eat their own, and will do anything it takes to become number one. I’m sure a psychologist would determine that there’s a underlying fear of acceptance or punishment for not winning, but these types of people have the eye on the prize that seems to continue moving forward. One one goal is achieved, the target moves forward to the next level. It’s a frustrating mindset because there may never be a sense of achievement when you’re chasing a moving target.
Particularly where there are already signs of failure, the fear of not achieving tends to be a stronger motivator than the idea of succeeding. The thought of losing money is generally a stronger motivator than the idea of earning money. The thought of becoming overweight is more motivating than the idea of becoming fit, and even less motivating is the idea of remaining fit.
It’s an interesting introspective that may be able to help push you to not only achieve more, but to go after achieving a long-term goal with everything you got. If fear is a stronger motivator for you, use that to your advantage in order to keep your focus and achieve your goal. It’s interesting that as some success is achieved, you may find it harder to press on and strive to achieve more. But when there is little or no success, and the fear of failure or a negative outcome is still present, people tend to put extraordinary effort into reaching success.
What do you do to motivate yourself and remain focused?
Growing up, I always wondered what made wealthy people so differnet than the middle class or low-income earners. After all, we are all human and for the most part capable of the same things. If something has been done in the past, then it can be done again. It’s amazing how World Records are broken all of the time. As one person sets the bar higher, a new level of expectations for excellence is created, which drives people to the next level. When you change you change your mindset from those thoughts that may be preventing you from achieving more in life – whether financial or other personal goals – you can completely change your ability to achieve more.
I don’t watch a lot of television, but one of my favorite shows is The Biggest Loser. You constantly hear people on The Biggest Loser ranch saying, “I can’t,” but the trainers push people beyond what their mind would ordinarily allow them to achieve. The contestants constantly surprise themselves at the things that they are actually capable of, just because they had someone right there to enable them from removing any mental barriers.
Think about what it is you really want to achieve – not just to get out of debt or earn a six-figure income, but think about what ultimate goals you have. Be realistic, but stretch yourself beyond your belief system of what you are able to achieve and write down what your ultimate goal is. Most people think, “With a 5% raise a year, I can be making $X in 10 years.” That sort of mindset is holding you back from accomplishing what you are actually capable of. What big picture objective would you wish you could achieve:
Earn a million dollars in a year?
Build a multi-million dollar business?
Own multiple real estate buildings that bring in $100,000+ in monthly cash flow?
These goals may seem unrealistic at first, but they are obtainable. Figure out what your ultimate goal is, and then ask yourself what you need to do to get there. What resources would you need, what type of education would you need, and what barriers are in the way that need to be deconstructed? Work backwards in your thought process in terms of where you want to be, what you need to get there, and what you can start doing today to put the wheels in to motion.
