A few months ago I was running down a dark and dusty road in Kabul. I had been there for about five months and I am still here. One of the joys about being in the Army, twelve month long deployment to places that you never really wanted to go to in the first place. As I was running I was thinking about life and the things that are the most important to me. I then started to think about the fact that on a very frequent basis I am forced to be away from my family for twelve months at a time. This thought bothered me a great deal. So, for some time I have been developing personal plans that would make it possible for me to no longer be forced to be away from my family for such long periods of time. These plans that I have been working on do not guarantee that I will not go on another year long deployment or that I will get out of the Army anytime soon. However by developing plans I have created options in live.
What do I mean by options? I mean that I have choices. For example, if I have more then one source of income, then I have a greater degree of independence and freedom in my live. With that freedom I am no longer worried about losing my job, because I have established other sources of income. Case in point, I have been in the Army for some time now and will be eligible for retirement in about seven years. However there is a strong possibility that I might not want to stay in the Army that long or the Army might not want me to stay in for the next seven years and I might be faced with the possibility of losing my salary. I think that most people are faced with the same types of issues in their lives and so, it would behoove all of us to create and implement plans that bring about a greater degree of Financial Freedom in our lives. This one simple act would free most of us from living with the fear of being fired from the JOB and not being able to pay our bills and provide for our families.
There have been some really great programs created instruct people in wealth creation. One of my favorites is "Multiple Streams of Income" by Robert G. Allen. It is well worth the investment. See the link titled Wealth Building it take you to Nightingale-Conant's website were you can find some of the most excellent educational programs on the subject of personal development.
So, what I did to help me develop my plans was to formulate a series of questions that would get my mind working and thinking about what I want and how I will get it. The process helped me to create a sort of map that if I follow it I will ultimately reach my destination.
These are the questions that I asked myself:
What do you want?
Why do you want it?
How are you going to get it?
When will you get it?
By writing down these questions my mind began to focus on finding the answers and creating a vision for what I want my live to be. If this sounds a little strange that is okay. I do call myself the business fool. Most people in this live do what they do because that is what they have always done and if you ask them why they do what they do they will tell you something like this, because that is what everybody else does. Personally I can't think of a more idiotic reason to do something. Why would anyone do something just because everyone else is doing it? Most people in the United States are drowning in credit card debt and are living pay check to pay check. However, that jut does not sound appealing to me. I for one decided long ago that I would not live that way and that one choice has made my live a thousand percent better. It is one of the most liberating feeling to be free from the bondage of debt.
The questions were my first steps to actively creating a life of my own choosing. There is a great book call Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach that demonstrates this principle through the story of a young seagull named Jonathan Livingston.
My point is that we all need to take control of our lives by actively planning and executing that plan.
More to follow...
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