Purpose will make you rich: The power of why.

I'd like to thank everyone for all the feedback and opinions on last week’s post - it helped immensely, please keep them coming. I've also opened the comments section at the end of each post to make it interactive...

I've spent a long weekend learning to ski in Bulgaria with my oldest school friends. Thinking and reflecting whilst falling down a mountain is a man’s version of multitasking!

Last week, I enjoyed hearing about extravagant purchases whether it be new houses, extensions, cars, gadgets, or the expense of weddings. All of which got me excited (and envious!). It seems everyone I know is making more money, has been recently promoted at work, or has achieved a better job by moving companies. What recession? Or perhaps it’s just a successful peer group, who knows?!

What also occurred to me, was the lack of general chat or celebration of acquiring new assets/investments (except new husbands/wives ofcourse :)). I thought: Even with more money, why don't we invest more? Why don't people share more investment experiences? Why isn't there more excitement around making money outside of work or business?

To add, following my last post I've received many questions like: Why create a blog? Why finance/personal development? Why should I care? Why crypto? Why stocks? Why bonds? Why property?

Connecting the dots, it spurred the message behind this post.

The Problem:

The reason people don't invest more is not that they don’t earn enough, don’t understand finance, aren’t educated, are afraid of losing money, don’t have time or aren't good with numbers. All these are just excuses, fears, and false beliefs that end up costing very real money. The opportunity cost of holding on to those beliefs is mind-blowing over time. So, what’s the real reason?

The only single reason people don’t invest more is that they don’t have a powerful enough WHY.

Simple, but it’s so important that I've spent an entire post on it. When something is important enough, you do it at all costs. You find a way. You don’t tolerate excuses. You learn, grow, and take all the action possible to make it happen. When you need a bigger house, or family car, to pay school fees, or the latest iPhone, you find a way to finance it now even if it’s beyond your current means. It might even spur you to take a risk and go for the job that you were previously talking yourself out of.

That said, the above liabilities are all guaranteed to take money out of your pocket. They are not income producing assets.

"Income is outcome."

"An asset is something that puts money in your pocket and a liability is something that takes money out of your pocket."

“When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favour.” - And when you invest, you CAN skew the odds in your favour!

"Work on the reasons first, answers second."

Opportunity in the why:

Personal finance is simply about freedom. Financial freedom and everything that comes with it. We all want to be truly free. To do more of what we want, when we want, and share it with those that we love. To live with generosity, peace of mind, and passion. The power to decide to work because we want to, and not because we have to. That changes the game completely, and personal finance holds the key to all of it. It’s not about making a living; it’s about designing a life.

"If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much."

Is it possible?

Over the last 18 months with time freedom: I lived in Madrid and Valencia for 3 months, I lived in the Caribbean with my father, I travelled all of South America with my brother, I travelled Turkey with my mother, and travelled both Bali and Vietnam. I've had the opportunity to support my grandmother in difficult times in hospital. Our connection grew stronger than ever. I read countless books, had the opportunity to take courses. I learned photography, (broken) Spanish, to dance salsa, play golf, to play the guitar and much more! I say this only to show how rewarding it is after 18 years being sat behind an office desk. Everyone's definition of freedom is different, but I'm sure the common thread is an income they don't have to work for.

"Rich people don't work for money, their money works for them."

- Ofcourse! They buy assets, companies, and pay lower taxes!

So, if WHY is most important. Then what's mine?

To create ultimate freedom and choice. To create a passive income that gives me the financial independence to achieve goals that I set, and live life completely on my terms. I want the time, energy, and resources to challenge what I can do, be, create, and become. I want to provide abundance for my family and remove disempowering beliefs at the deepest level.

I started this blog to do and share the journey to financial freedom for real people to relate. I want to build both knowledge, community, and a platform that can scale location independent. I want to serve, add value, and inspire people to create freedom and take control of their own lives. Personal finance is the road to living the life of your dreams and it’s my passion and mission to lead people to their next level. I want to have impact, connection, growth, and the excitement of the journey along the way.

“If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.”

A call to action:

Finally, beyond reasoning, it’s most important to take continuous action. I've invested in China equity ETFs this week, for diversification and to position for China’s re-opening. This adds to existing emerging market equity positions. My long-term investment portfolio is +8% year to date, and short-term trading portfolio is +85% year to date. I share that to make discussions real on gains/losses and how we can level-up from the experiences.

Trading learning: Self-discipline is everything. I left a short-term trading position on this week whilst off skiing and it cost me -10% of the year’s gains. School boy error. That said, it’s a great chance to highlight the importance of being disciplined with tighter stop-losses, and altogether closing positions when not focussed. Principle: We're here to make money, it’s not a game.

“We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.”

I'd highlight my outcome is not to give personal investment advice. That is the work of a financial adviser of which I am not. I do want to share new and old financial knowledge, inspire action, and create conversation around investment opportunities so we are equip to make better decisions. I'd like to share ups, downs, and everything that we can learn about traditional markets, non-conventional markets, and most importantly ourselves.

I've attached a great website for ETF resources which has everything you need to know about investing in ETFs:

https://www.justetf.com/uk/

Just ETF

A great ted talk by Simon Sinek on the importance of why, if you have time to invest 15 minutes:

https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=en

TED

What’s your why? and what are you investing in this week? Message me.