Financial Success Isn't Difficult

Financial success isn't a hard task to master. It simply takes dedication, hard work and a little old fashioned commitment.

But it also takes a little knowledge. Too many consumers are ignoring what are financial truths. They run up large amounts of debt just to appear successful to those around them. They surround themselves with things that only make them feel better for a minute.

They ignore the fact that a debt-free and well managed financial life is a wonderful way to eliminate stress, which is all too common in today's world.

What do you need to do to become financially successful?

First, you need to spend less than you earn. Sounds easy, but it really isn't. It is easier to spend less than it is to earn more. You simply have to cut your costs. You have to stop charging on your credit cards and you have to stop shopping. Look closely at where your money is going. Look at what you already have around you. Get all those projects completed before you buy things for a new project.

You have to have a budget and stick with it. Budgets don't tell you how to spend your money, they tell you how to save your money. You can easily see where your money is going. You can identify areas that you can cut back on. Then, you can set spending goals. A budget is a great way to challenge yourself. There is nothing better than saving more money than you thought you could. Surprise yourself with a budget that works.

From your budget, you should be able to find the money to start paying off that credit card debt. If you are severely in debt, you may need to get a second job and sell some things to get a head start. Stop using those cards and start paying them off. They are draining the life out of your finances on a daily basis.

You should be contributing to a retirement plan. Research your options and take advantage of them. Don't wait until tomorrow, it will be too late. Start now. When you pay off your debt, put that money to your retirement as well. Who knows -- you may be able to retire early.

Once you have your debt paid off you should have a savings plan. There are goals that you can set for your savings. You may want new furniture or to go on a vacation. You should also save at least three to six months of money to cover your monthly expenses in the case of an emergency. This will cushion your budget from any repairs, emergencies, illnesses or job losses that may happen.

Financial success isn't difficult. It is simply a habit that you have to nurture and maintain. Take the time to sit down and get started. Work on it until it becomes second nature. The more you work on it, the better you will become at it.

Written by Yola Bastos Co-Founder of Women Flix and Founder of Beautifly Digital https://msha.ke/yolabastos/ 

Women Flix Limited, is a company limited by guarantee, was incorporated in England and Wales (company no. 13047578 ).

This is Where Everything Changes

That’s a pretty tall order but using the aforementioned ‘kaizen’ approach, we should see that it’s relatively possible to gradually introduce change that starts small and eventually becomes all encompassing. But before we go on, perhaps I should explain what I mean by ‘change everything’. Why do you need to change everything if all you want to do is get a little more energy?

Let’s take a look at one example and use that as a microcosmic example of why it doesn’t work to try and change one aspect of your health and lifestyle in a vacuum.

Why You’ve Failed to Get Into Shape

If you’re like an awful lot of people, then at some point you have probably tried to get into better shape. That might mean you joined a gym, or perhaps you paid for a training program to get written for you. And if you’re like an awful lot of people, then you may well have failed to stick at the training program or to see the results you wanted. Why is that?

Probably, it comes down to the simple fact that the training program was too ambitious. Very often, a training program will involve working out three, four or five times a week at a gym. As a standard rule, workouts will be somewhere between 40-60 minutes. So that’s immediately 4-5 hours of extra time that you need to take away from your current working week.

Then there’s the fact that you need to travel to and from the gym. This can take anything from 10 minutes each way to 30 minutes. Then there’s showering and then there’s the amount of extra washing you create and the fact that you need to pack for the gym. So what you’re really doing is taking about 10 hours out of your working week. That’s huge.

And more to the point, these are ten exhausting hours. And that’s before we’ve even considered the amount of work we’re expected to do in the kitchen: we’re supposed to be transforming our diets to be low calorie (meaning low energy) and we’re supposed to shop for the food, cook the food, wash up afterward. And it’s all stressful too. Cooking can be stressful and so can spending all that extra money on the gym, on the food, on the petrol it’s just too much!

There’s a good chance that the very reason you’re not exercising and getting enough activity right now is that you’re too tired half of the time. This is why so many of us let ourselves get into bad shape to begin with. It’s why we turn to junk food. And it’s why we struggle to stick at new goals. In short, we’re already doing as much as we can. So again, the problem here is energy.

Energy management is more important than time management by far when it comes to exercise so really you need to focus on getting more of that. So next let's look at what's sapping energy in your life. For many of us diet comes into play here and eating lots of junk food can certainly prevent us from feeling our very best and healthiest. So that needs to be changed. More important though is work.

If you are coming home from work stressed, then you're going to have very little energy for throwing yourself into a workout. Likewise, stress from other sources such as your finances or relationships can also have a negative impact on your ability to train. So you need to fix that too. There are practical considerations too like finances (staying in shape can be expensive!) and like space if you’re training at home (which is a good shout for most people).

Even if you’re not training from home, having a tidy flat/house to come home to can make all the difference in terms of your energy and how you feel and it means you have one less thing to do at the end of the day (tidying up in this case). Likewise, looking good will fill you with energy and confidence too which will translate to a better mood and more energy to attack workouts.

A lot of energy is linked with mood, as we’ll see later in this article. Then of course those other things do also come into play: time, motivation and the right program. The point I’m making is that picking a training program and pledging to stick at it just doesn’t work unless you’re also looking at what has been holding you back so far. Right now you probably fill your time with activity as much as you can and then crash on the sofa because you’re out of steam.

If you had the energy to work out, then you’d already be working out. You’re not, because you don’t. So don’t come up with an unrealistic 5-day workout plan until you’ve looked at the rest of your life – including your physical energy, happiness and mental discipline. You have to change everything if you want to get into great shape. And as you’ll see, this then makes changes in the rest of your life.

Working out will give you more energy. And when you get more energy, you will find you start to perform better at work. This will be helped by the fact that you now look and feel more confident and attractive filling out that suit/pencil skirt with a more toned physique. Working less means you’ll have more energy to train. Training means you’ll have more energy to do better at work.And these kinds of two-way relationships exist throughout your entire lifestyle.

Deciding What Matters

Your lifestyle is self-sustaining then and everything you do is supporting that lifestyle and making it harder for you to change. So where can you possibly start? As mentioned, one of the key things to think about is energy management and planning. Just knowing that you have a finite amount of energy throughout the day and making decisions on that basis. And this brings us to our first, super important tip: If you’re going to introduce something big into your life, then you need to remove something else.

This sounds like a big deal and many of us will be resistant to it at first. But it’s also true. If you’re going to try and exert yourself for 30 minutes after work every day, then you need to find a way to save 30 minutes of both time and energy. Getting up 30 minutes earlier will give you more time. But perhaps going to bed 1 hour earlier the night before can give you some more of the energy. Or perhaps you just make the decision to save energy by going out a little less.

If you have a weekly pub trip, then consider cutting that out (especially seeing as alcohol will sap your energy in the long term). If you have a very busy social calendar, perhaps consider seeing one friend less. That sounds harsh but life is all about making tough decisions. Or maybe you’d rather cut out one of your more tiring hobbies/extracurricular activities?

Again, it’s hard and it seems cold. But the simple fact of the matter is that every action needs an equal and opposite reaction. You can pull extra time out of thin air. But that’s what is going to bring us to our article and a somewhat more appealing sounding alternative: finding lots of little ways to save more time and more energy throughout the day.

This is where the concept of kaizen comes in. If you can save a little energy on the way to work, save a little energy in the morning, save a little energy doing the dishes well then you might just have a bit more to ‘spend’ doing the things you love and the things that are important to you.

Written by Yola Bastos Co-Founder of Women Flix and Founder of Beautifly Digital https://msha.ke/yolabastos/ 

Women Flix Limited, is a company limited by guarantee, was incorporated in England and Wales (company no. 13047578 ).

What to Do If You're Drowning in Debt

When your finances seem to be headed down a wrong path and your debt is getting out of control, be wise and take stock of the direction you are going in. There are steps you can take to prevent you from getting into further debt, and to help you eliminate some of what you are currently dealing with. Use these tips to help you begin moving in the right direction financially.

Put Your Credit Card in a Drawer at Home

If you have a difficult time saying no to purchases, take your credit card out of your wallet and put it into a safe place at home. Make a decision that you will leave it there and will only take it out when absolutely necessary. This alone will help force you to be more cautious in your spending.

Cancel Any Retail Credit Cards

Retails credit cards typically have high interest rates. It is also difficult to keep from spending when you feel like you have several options as to where the money will come from. Get rid of these cards and keep only one main credit card, which is hopefully the one you have taken from your wallet and placed in a safe place at home.

Pay Back Your Debt as Quickly as Possible

If you have a balance on any credit card, be sure to pay at least the minimum monthly amount each month. Do your best to pay back your debt, and as quickly as you can manage. By paying off your debt, you will eliminate some of the interest that continues to build as time passes.

Consider a Second Job

If you can work even an extra day per week, it can help you pay back your debt sooner. At the very least, it may give you that extra wiggle room so that you do not get yourself further into debt. It will take up some of your free time, but will be worth the sacrifice in the long run.

Creatively Find as Many Ways to Save as Possible

Look for every way possible to save money. Whether that is by clipping coupons or shopping only during sales, make it work. Find other ways to save in other areas, such as your electricity bill. Be vigilant about turning lights off when you leave the room, and about unplugging appliances that are not in use, since they continue to drain energy when plugged in.

Take a bagged lunch to work instead of buying fast food. Make a coffee at home before you leave for work instead of stopping at the drive-thru on the way there. Stop spending on unnecessary purchases in order to save on items you don’t really need anyhow.

Learning to be frugal takes a little bit of preparation, but gets easier as time goes on. It might seem like a chore at first, but the benefits are numerous. You will become a more creative person and save your hard-earned money. What better benefits could there possibly be than that?

Written by Yola Bastos Co-Founder of Women Flix and Founder of Beautifly Digital https://msha.ke/yolabastos/  

Women Flix Limited, is a company limited by guarantee, was incorporated in England and Wales (company no. 13047578 ).

Using Feng Shui for Wealth

Have you ever considered that you might be able to use the ancient art of feng shui to help you attain wealth? You can, but first you have to consider some important factors that you want to keep in mind before you begin. First of all, consider what you want to accomplish when you think that feng shui will work to make you wealthy in your particular case.

If you are experiencing specific financial setbacks right now and are thinking that they can be andquot;cured andquot; with feng shui, that's wrong.

In addition, if you want to use feng shui to acquire wealth, you need to also consider what will be required of you as you use feng shui to attain it. In fact, no ancient practice, science, ritual or art will suddenly provide you with money and wealth with no input from you; you will still have to do your part. In essence, then, you can't just andquot;askandquot; feng shui for wealth and have it magically appear on your doorstep.

How are these things tied in with each other, then? Many believe that you can use feng shui to attain wealth, and some have said that their own experiences of this were actually successful. What did they do to bring about these results? What things did they avoid in their pursuits of wealth?

You need to remember that feng shui at its essence is all about balance, harmony and calm. You need to bring these elements into your everyday life when you consider your avenues for wealth, including work and employment.

Can you think of any ways in which you bring a lack of balance or disharmony to your career? A lot of modern companies stress that teamwork is very important. If you don't agree, you are risking your job. If you don't have the correct attitude, you are risking your career and that is certainly no way to build wealth! If you aren't comfortable at your workplace you need to decide whether to seek another job or whether to try harder to fit in.

Also, when talking about feng shui for wealth, you should remember that feng shui encourages positive energy for accomplishment. If you are trying to enhance the relationship between various members of your family, you should bring upbeat colors and elements to the family room. This will have the result of making everyone feeling alive and full of energy. This positive feeling encourages family closeness and satisfaction with one another.

So, if you're looking to apply feng shui for wealth, you need to apply your personal, positive energy toward pursuing that wealth. This means working hard, not being wasteful with your finances, and being ambitious as well. You absolutely cannot have one without the other.

Unfortunately for many, there is no magic cure when trying to use feng shui for wealth. Painting your front door red or hanging a crystal over a mirror is not going to be enough to fix your finances or to make you wealthy. You will still need to do the work that's necessary. But by applying the real principles of feng shui including harmony, balance, and positive energy, you may find that your circumstances vastly improve and in turn, your wealth will increase.

Written by Yola Bastos Co-Founder of Women Flix and Founder of Beautifly Digital https://msha.ke/yolabastos/ 

Women Flix Limited, is a company limited by guarantee, was incorporated in England and Wales (company no. 13047578 ).