Finding Financial Freedom

Finding Financial Freedom By Chris Widener Do you ever get this in your email box: Find Financial Freedom! Make $150,000 from home in the next 90 days! How about 10 times a day? Every time I get one of these, I think to myself, "Hmmm, Financial Freedom. I already have financial freedom, even though it doesn't look like what these emails promise me." Financial freedom is a buzzword for our generation. It is the pursuit of literally millions of people. So what is it? Is it that elusive? Can anyone get it? Let me start by saying that this article will not be about how to earn money, or even more money. Rather, it will be about how to find financial freedom, which may or may not involve making more money. Financial freedom - here we go! The first step in finding financial freedom is to realize that financial freedom has absolutely nothing to do with how much money you have or make. What? Exactly. Financial freedom is something that goes on inside of you. This is why someone who makes very little can be happy and someone who makes a ton can be extremely stressed out over his or her financial situation. So the first step is to realize that financial freedom is more about our attitudes toward money than about the amount of money. "Okay Chris, I'm with you. So what are the attitudes that provide financial freedom?" Here are a few that keep me in financial freedom. I do not have to worry about money. I used to catch myself saying, "If I had more money, then I wouldn't have to worry about ..." But do you know what? I don't have to worry anyway. I can control my income. I can control my outgo. I can make choices that can alleviate any of my worries. I also realized that things always work out. So why worry? I choose not to worry. I can be happy regardless of my financial state. I know people who are worth hundreds of millions of dollars and I know people who don't have two nickels to rub together. Some are happy and some aren't. And none of the people who have a lot of money say to me, "Chris, I've become so happy since I got money." They were happy before they had money and they are happy now that they have money. Their happiness has nothing to do with the money. I think it was the Billionaire David Geffen who said, "Anyone who says that money will buy them happiness has never had any money." Money will be a means to an end, not the end itself. Another way to look at it is that money will be a tool to build the house, not the house itself. I would set some financial goals if I were you, but go beyond that to know what greater purpose there will be when you reach them. What will the house be that you will build with that tool? I am free. I am free to earn - some people think it is bad to earn more money. It isn't. I am free to save - some people believe it is bad to save. It isn't. I am free to give money away - some people feel they will be better off hoarding it. They won't. I am free to spend - some people believe that they can't spend anything on themselves. They can. We are free to make choices. That is financial freedom. One of my favorite quotes is from Charles Wesley, "Earn all you can, save all you can, give all you can." That will keep you in financial freedom. Some other principles for financial freedom... Debt is the primary freedom killer. Want financial freedom? The first thing you should do is to get out of debt. That is priority number one. One of the reasons I have financial freedom is that I have no debt other than my house payment. And I work hard to manage myself and our home to keep us that way. For years I drove an old junker car, and while I looked bad, I had financial freedom that others who were in debt didn't have! There is an old proverb - The borrower is the servant of the lender. Who has freedom? The lender. Who doesn't? The borrower. Develop a plan to get out of debt! Embrace delayed gratification. Here is the principle: Buy it now and struggle later. Another principle: Delay it now, invest the money, and have all you want later on! And you won't even have to touch the principal! We tend to think that having it now will bring enjoyment, but unless you can do it and not cause yourself financial stress, you will actually get more from waiting to buy it later! Have more by managing better. The fact is that most of us earn enough. What would be beneficial would be to set our priorities and live by a budget. As we get control, our budget will loosen up a bit and we will find ourselves enjoying it more. Money that is already there can be your answer if you put it to work for you. Spend some time thinking through your attitudes about money. You may be surprised at how you can change a few, look at things a little bit differently and begin to enjoy true financial freedom!

How To Get Rich

In How to get rich Donald Trump shares his experience from business life in a short, sharp and to the point style. The book is an easy read with about 250 pages in the pocketbook format.

Donald Trump gives us all his best knowledge and tips from real estate, which is his main business, but also gives us his knowledge from his other ventures like the Miss Universe contest, his golf clubs and casinos, and from the reality TV-show The Apprentice.

The most breathtaking chapter in How to Get Rich is the one we get to follow Trump with his 24/7 schedule for one week “at work”.

After reading this I understand how he is able to run the Trump organisation with 20 000 employees, take care of all his buildings, hotels, casinos, golf courses, and new construction sites, along side being the star of The apprentice and running the Miss Universe Contest, and incredibly enough have time to play golf.

Another part of the book describes the crisis he was in, in the early 90`s. He is telling a story where he is walking from his office to a meeting with his creditors which he owed 9.2 billion dollars.

He tells that he was passing a beggar on the street, and was thinking “This guy is worth 9.2 billion dollars more than me!”

Hearing this from Donald Trump was something I did not expect, usually you just hear of the tough New York business man. I could feel the humbleness that comes from an experience like that, and it makes him more human and approachable.

As you probably know, Donald Trump is the star of his own reality show “The Apprentice”

The Apprentice has become a mega hit which is going in to the third season and shows in many countries around the world.

We get to know how the show was created, and we get a close look behind the scenes of the first “Apprentice” round. This is very interesting, and if you are thinking of applying, this book will give you the inside tips from the Boss himself. The first round had 80 000 applications from where the 16 candidates was chosen.

To sum up the book in a short sentence: It is a great way to get Donald Trump as a mentor, without having to apply for “The Apprentice”

I full heartedly recommend this book to you; it’s entertaining and full of good advice.

Buy the Books here

Free Think and Grow Rich

Free Think and Grow Rich.

70 years after the book” Think and Grow Rich” was written, it is still a highly respected and read book. It has sold millions of copies and is a “Bible” for people who are searching financial freedom. The essence of the book is Napoleon Hill’s famous statement: “Everything your mind can conceive, you can achieve” The title says the same, in different words: “Think and Grow Rich”

The book goes through “The thirteen steps to riches” according to Napoleon Hill.

The whole book has a underlying tone of “You can do it!” mentality to motivate you.

The book offers a lot of questionnaires and practical exercises in addition to all the text. It gives you clear guide lines in how to set goals and reach them and how to make clear plans that you can follow thru. You are shown the way to realise your highest potential, and succeed in anything you set your mind to.

It also teaches you not to give up, and see all mistakes as learning opportunities. Napoleon Hill teaches that successful people never considers temporary failure as a permanent defeat.

Napoleon Hill used over 25 years to study over 500 of Americas most successful business men in the start of this century. He took this assignment on from Andrew Carnegie in 1908.If you like to know more about the life of Napoleon Hill, click here:
Biography and bibliography of Napoleon Hill

Andrew Carnegie was at the time the richest man in the world and had from being a Scottish immigrant with no money, worked himself the way to become a giant steel manufacturer. If you like to know more about the life of Andrew Carnegie click here:
Biography of Andrew Carnegie

Carnegie believed that any one could achieve the same success as him and wanted his success formula passed on to the world. This became Napoleon Hill’s life task.

The success formula is as relevant and useable now as it was 100 years ago. Maybe even more relevant since now people like me and you start to understand that it is not magic and lucky stars that make people rich. It starts with the way we are thinking.

The book teaches you to think differently, and if you are on your way to financial freedom this one is a must.

The only drawback with the book is that it can be formal and repetitive in the language it is written.( remember it was written 70 years ago).

The Napoleon Hill Foundation has a lot of books and a lot of study material on cd`s and videos, click on this link:
Napoleon Hill Foundation

The best part of this review is that you can get this book as an e-book for free! 

Click on the link below to get your free Think and Grow Rich!

Download the free Think and Grow Rich here! 

Rich Dad Poor Dad

Rich Dad Poor Dad gives you the basic education about money that you should have received in school. Robert Kiyosaki teaches in the simplest way possible about the differences of assets and liabilities and how a balance sheet works. He also teaches the basics of real estate and investing. The book is very educational and fun to read because he tells it like a story and it is definitely not like reading a book in school. He explains financial concepts in a way full of life and excitement by replacing the numbers with pictures and metaphors. In the start of the book he tells the story of his two dads. The one was his real dad which was highly educated and the one he calls his “Poor Dad”. The other was his best friend’s dad, which was an entrepreneur with very little school education. He was the on he calls his “Rich Dad”He learned from both but he is sharing the struggle he had as a kid to choose between the two very different ways of dealing with money.

He chose to learn from the “Rich Dad” and it is his teachings and principles Robert Kiyosaki is passing on to us. His “Rich Dad” became one of the richest men in Hawaii by building up his own company.

I learned a lot of basics in the book, and I will definitely use it again.

I warmly recommend this book to anyone who likes to get the basic’s right.

Buy this book in the cheapest way, on ebay!
Click here to buy "Rich Dad Poor Dad"