There are certain and specific actions that financially intelligent people take in order to build wealth and abundance. This leads to an understanding of the differences between the mentalities of the financially successful and the financially poor of this world.
Here are a number of habits of financially intelligent people:
Develop a plan of action
They create a comprehensive financial plan of action that they manage and implement on a daily basis. Review this plan regularly.
Save 10% of Income
They consistently save at the very least 10% of their earned income and utilize it for investment purposes or compound their money for long-term gains.
Minimize Purchasing Liabilities
They understand the burden of liabilities and how this can affect their long-term wealth.
Set Long and Short-term Money Goals
Money goals work hand-in-hand with an effective plan of action. Goals provide these people with both short and long-term objectives that keep them focused and motivated throughout their day. Having specific goals can increase the likelihood of achieving them. Sacrificing the short-term can help achieve the long-term goals faster.
Strategically Spend Money
Each and every purchase is thought through carefully. They understand the long-term consequences of making even the smallest purchase decisions.
They know that an accumulation of seemingly insignificant small purchase decisions will usually result in long-term consequences that will either add to their debt or provide them with opportunities to earn profits.
The financially intelligent have an uncanny ability to see into the future. Utilizing the act of foresight to help identify the possible consequences that can potentially result from each spending decision they make, they determine if the consequences are justifiable. If long-term profits don't result, then they will carefully weigh up their decision before taking any further action.
Seek Professional Financial Advice
Financially intelligent people understand that they don’t know it all. Hence they seek professional advice from experts who have a long history of financial success.
Interact with other financial intelligent people.
One must learn to absorb the characteristics, habits and daily rituals of those who have succeeded before them. For this reason, interact and socialize with other financial intelligent people. Through each interaction, you will gain deeper insights and knowledge that could be critical to your next major financial decision.
Look at the numbers
Before making any financial decisions, do the math. Risks and rewards should be considered very carefully.
Keeps Learning New Money Strategies
Financially intelligent people simply never stop learning about economic trends, money, finances, investments, property, shares, etc. For them, money is as natural as breathing air. Every moment throughout their day they are either listening to an audio program about wealth, reading a book, speaking to others about money, attending a financial seminar, reading the finance section of the daily paper and more.
Mentality of Success
Accountability
Often people make excuses and shift blame. If someone was going to make it financially and in any other area of their life, they needed to be accountable. Along with accountability comes action.
Gratitude
Every morning when you wake up, find five things that you can be grateful for in your life. You may need to train yourself to focus on what you can be grateful for because without gratitude you will never have true wealth.
Mentality of Failure
Instant Gratification
If you are the kind of person who seeks instant gratification in life, then becoming financially free is unfortunately not going to be realistic. Instant gratification is a silent killer that will keep you in debt - or just above the poverty line - for as long as you stay hypnotized within its subtle spell. You'll need to control impulse spending for a financially secure lifestyle.
Denial
Life is expensive, living in denial is another silent killer that will continue to sabotage your financial success for as long as it continues.
Blame and Excuses
The other two important qualities you need to have in order to be in the 96% of people who fail financially, is the ability to blame everyone else for your problems and to create elaborate excuses.
Set Effective Financial Goals
There are several methods and processes of setting and structuring your goals. Here is one example:
Specific
Be absolutely specific when setting your goals, and use only the present tense positive statements.
Measurable
Your goals need to be measurable, in other words, you need to be able to monitor your progress so you can measure your success.
Attainable
You also need to be able to conceive your goal in order to attain it. Unless you can see yourself achieving your goal, it is very unlikely to happen.
Realistic
Obviously, goals need to be within the bounds of logic and circumstance.
Tangible
Your goal needs to be something that is real or physical, that you can see and touch.
Inspirational
If your goals do not inspire you, it is unrealistic to expect that you will be driven to take action to achieve them.
Emotional
The more emotionally involved you become with your goal the quicker it will manifest into your life.