Secrets to Success (5/10): Focus Your Time & Money
“You are not really free until you are economically free. If you exclude finances from the blessings of God, you are in danger of being enslaved, because the rich rules over the poor. You need to prosper in order to exert the required measure of influence on the world.” — The Parable of Dollars: Proven Strategies of Financial Success by Sam Adeyemi
Investor’s Business Daily’s 10 Secrets to Success
- Take Action: Goals are nothing without action. Don’t be afraid to get started. Just do it.
- Never Stop Learning: Go back to school, read books, get training and acquire new skills.
- Be Persistent and Work Hard: Success is a marathon, not a sprint. Never give up.
- Learn to analyze details: Get all the facts, all the input; learn from your mistakes.
- Focus Your Time & Money: Don’t let other people or things distract you.
Letters to a son:
Lee, being in the military, you do not have the privilege of being master of your time. But then few are. But we must try. Surrender every minute reluctantly. There will always be people fighting for your time but there will be very few fighting for you and your family – that’s your battle. And the battle is fought minute by minute and dollar by dollar.
Something I have been doing more lately is “lowering the Dome of Silence” over my day. What I mean by this is that I choose not to listen/read the news or podcasts and I choose not to play any video games until I finish my work day. I shut myself off from the world and focus only on what I must get done for the day.
I have found this so beneficial and energizing and productive. I get what I want to get done more quickly and thus have more time available to do what I want to do and I have found that my emotions and attitude are so much better.
In the evening, if there is time, I may then cast abroad and see if the world is still standing. So far, the world has done pretty much the same as it always has – whether I knew about it or not. And as Steven Samples, in his book The Contrarian Leader states: If it is important someone will tell you.
My advice on money is this: Money is your time commodified. IOW, buy time with your money.
What I mean by this is manage your finances in such a way that you can do what you want with who you want and when you want.
Manage your finances so that you can pay others to do what you do not want to do.
Its not that you’re too good to do certain things, its that you only have one life and you want to leverage it to the fullest doing the things God called you do with the people you love the most.
This doesn’t happen overnight, but just like with your time, surrender your dollars very carefully. The more you can put your money to work for you the sooner you will not have to work for your money.
This doesn’t mean that you will not work – God has a work for you to do – but it does mean that, under God, you will get to do life on your terms.
There is nothing more soul numbing than having to work just to make money to pay your bills. Sadly, most people spend their lives living under this bondage. But you don’t have too. Focus your time and your money towards freedom and independence. Do what you do for the love of God and those He’s called you to serve, not just to survive or impress others.
Life’s too short for that.
Love, dad
The ONE THING for today: Having a lot of time and money at your disposal does not make you a success, its using the time and money at your disposal wisely and purposefully that allows you to succeed.
