7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom WITHOUT Having to Get into Millions of Dollars of Debt!
So have you ever dreamed of becoming financially free?
To not ever have to worry about money again, no matter what happens in your life?
Whether it is a job loss, or you get sick, or the government raises the taxes, or whatever other challenge shows up, you are financially bulletproof enough to handle it!
And do you also crave to have the time to REALLY enjoy your life, and spend time with family and friends when YOU want, on YOUR terms?
This is what you dream of… right?
So why haven’t you achieved financial freedom already?
Don’t worry, it’s not your fault.
Society, in general, has set you up to fail.
Whether it’s been the education system, the Government, the media, sometimes it’s even our own friends and family.
The things you attempted in the past weren’t designed to help you.
Several years ago, I set out to create my financial freedom through property investment.
But after following some “mentors” that cared more about their own interests rather than mine, I quickly found myself in over my head with well over a million dollars of debt and trying to count every cent I had to increase my cash flow.
It’s hard to know who to trust, right?
Eventually, though, I have found a road through all of the crap and I have outlined it for you here in the 7 simple steps to financial freedom without having to get into millions of dollars of debt!
Step #1 – Become a Financial Freedom Warrior!
Okay, I’m going to get a little “woo-woo” here, but stick with me!
Your mindset matters!
What I mean by being a Financial Freedom Warrior is you have to decide and commit to creating financial freedom, and NOT STOP UNTIL YOU ACHIEVE IT!
The Warrior’s way is to conquer oneself, take action, adjust, take MORE action, keep going and accept NO EXCUSES UNTIL THE JOB IS DONE!
It’s time to step up and BE who you have to be!
– BE Financially BulletProof!
– BE a Financial Freedom Warrior!
Look, we all want more money, right?
Most of us “want” to be rich.
But are you willing to actually do what it takes to achieve it?
Most people won’t.
Most people try once or twice and give up.
Most people make excuses that they don’t know where to start, or how the technology is too hard, or they don’t have enough time, or they are not known, or not ready, or maybe, is it… that they are simply just too lazy?
Then, they slip back into the mainstream society that is holding them back, and they continue to complain, but NOTHING ever changes!
They continue to struggle.
They continue to turn up to that job they hate.
They continue to fight with their spouse over a lack of money.
Don’t you want something better?
This is where the Financial Freedom Warrior Movement is different.
A Financial Freedom Warrior will take on the traditional society and win.
A Financial Freedom Warrior will accept NO EXCUSES until the job is done!
A Financial Freedom Warrior will become financially BulletProof… so NOTHING can STOP THEM!
Decide NOW, that you too will be a Financial Freedom Warrior!
Step #2 – Create a net worth statement – And track it!
While I don’t believe in budgets and tracking every cent you spend, it’s important to know where you’re currently at financially and start to track your progress.
What you track expands!
After all, you won’t want to tick over to millionaire status and not realise it would you?
That’s worth celebrating!
Seriously, by tracking the progress of your net worth, for some strange reason, your money naturally increases, and you can celebrate each milestone that you reach as you go.
Begin by adding up all of your assets, such as your home, any investment properties, stocks, cash, or any other investments.
And then subtract any liabilities, such as loans, credit card or other personal debt… which will then give you your net worth!
Then you simply spend 5-10 minutes every 3 months re-checking the numbers and watch your net worth steadily increase.
What you track expands!
Step #3 – Domino your debts
See the credit card debt of $3,000 up above?
And the personal loan debt of $10,000?
Okay, it’s time to line this debt up like dominos and knock it over!
Let’s start with the lowest debt of 3 grand for the credit card.
Keep paying the minimum payment on your other debts, but let’s do everything in our power to wipe out this debt.
Don’t charge up any more credit and pay extra every month until this debt is gone forever.
Now, start on the next lowest debt, in this case, the 10K personal loan.
Any other debts you have, line them up like a domino and knock them over one at a time lowest to highest.
Start with a small win, and gradually increase your power.
Like a warrior!
Step #4 – Pay yourself first
Do you want to know the real key to financial freedom?
Spend LESS than you earn, and invest the rest!
Simple, but not necessarily easy.
In reality, speaking in my Australian slang, it’s kind of “arse about face”.
Instead of investing what is left over, because most people have NOTHING left over, in fact, they spend MORE than they earn (credit card debt).
You have to have a mindset shift and actually pay yourself FIRST!
And the way to do this is to shift some money to a separate bank account the MOMENT you get paid.
This is money management 101.
Not some dreaded budget, but a simple to run system to manage your money.
The easiest way to do this is to set up a 3-bucket system.
How it works is this: You have a general account where any income you receive goes into, such as your pay, business income or any other money you receive.
You can nickname this your “necessities” account.
From here, ideally, you would transfer 10% of your income into another account labelled your “financial freedom” account, which you use for investing and creating safeguards so you are financially bulletproof.
Also, transfer another 10% into another account labelled your “long-term saving and spending” account used for any dreams you have, like travel, a swimming pool, a nice car, dinner at an expensive restaurant, or any other fun you want to have.
Hey, if you are becoming financially free, you want to enjoy yourself along the way, right?
A warrior’s way is to live and love life now, not one day in the future!
You can also use some of the LTSS savings to wipe out some of your liabilities and debt as you go along too!
Now, you can use what’s left in your necessities account to pay your bills and for everyday living AFTER you have paid yourself first.
The reality is, if you don’t pay yourself first, there will be nothing left over.
Reverse the process and you will be surprised what a difference this makes to your bottom line.
I actually add another couple of accounts in my money management system, but this 3-bucket process is the simplest way to get started NOW!
If you do nothing else, implement this strategy and you will soon be on the warrior’s road to freedom.
Step #5 – Increase your cash flow (add an income accelerator)
Okay, at this point you may be thinking, “that’s all well and good, change your mindset and manage your money better, but my situation is different, the bills keep coming in and there is always some extra expense that keeps coming up” right?
I completely understand.
I’m married and I have four daughters, and believe me, even when they start entering their twenties they still have their hand out needing (or wanting) this, that or the other!
I firmly believe that if you were to use the strategies above from school, then we would all end up financially bulletproof.
But the fact is that we aren’t taught these principles at school.
Most of us are searching for a better financial future in our thirties, forties or fifties, and we have financial commitments and responsibilities.
We need MORE money – plain and simple.
But how do we get that money?
Society teaches us that we work extra hours, extra shifts, get another job, and we end up not seeing our family or friends, burnt out, angry and miserable.
And it’s still not enough!
So what’s the answer you ask?
We need an income accelerator!
And it has to be online!
I don’t care if it’s network marketing, affiliate marketing, selling digital information products, or eCommerce physical products from Amazon, Ebay, Etsy etc… It HAS to be some sort of online business so it can be leveraged for the work you do.
The goal here is to create freedom.
Building a business online, while it does take some time and effort, can be built in your spare time and leveraged to pay you over and over again.
This will get you the cash flow you need to set you free.
This extra cash flow will allow you to do four things:
- Increase the amount of money you put into your financial freedom account to grow your wealth faster.
- Increase the amount of money you put into your long-term saving and spending account so you have a better lifestyle.
- Allow you to eliminate your debts and liabilities faster.
- Allow you to put money back into your business so that can repeat the first three steps and grow and scale your business to whatever level you desire.
If you want to eventually leave that crappy job you can.
If you want to spend more time travelling with family or friends you can.
If you want to build an empire you can.
It’s entirely up to you.
That’s REAL freedom, don’t you think?
Step #6 – Find a blue ocean
Okay, now you can see the advantage of an online business, but you probably don’t know where to start.
The good news is that even though you don’t realise it, you are actually an expert already.
Your whole life has given you experiences that you can share that can help other people.
Think about what hobbies, passions, skills or specialised knowledge on certain topics you may already have.
What could you teach to others that can help them?
Essentially there are three big markets: Health, wealth and relationships.
You can break these markets down further into sub-markets.
For example, Wealth could be real estate, investing or finance.
Health could be nutrition, diet or weight loss.
Relationships could be dating advice or marriage advice.
Do you have any experience in these areas?
I am sure you do!
The trick here though is to break it down even further into a micro-market or what’s known as a niche.
The mistake most people make is that are too general and the market they start in is a red ocean because of all of the sharks in there.
The idea is to find a nice clear blue ocean that you can enter with little competition.
The riches are in the niches.
All it needs it a bit of a different perspective on what you already know.
Step #7 – Become BulletProof
Now it’s time to put this into action and become financially bulletproof.
It’s time to set up your Financial Freedom Warrior Online Cash Machine!
Step one is to find a quality product in your “blue ocean” to promote as an affiliate.
Promoting someone else’s product is the quickest way to get started online and start making some cash.
How it works, is that you promote someone’s product by writing a review on your website, or posting to social media, or creating a short video and uploading to YouTube.
You are given a “unique link” known as an “affiliate link” that you embed in the article or the video comments section, and when someone clicks on that link and buys – That sale is tracked back to you, and you make a commission of generally around 40-50%.
Many quality products can be found selling for several thousand dollars and sell like hot cakes!
People will pay handsomely for information that helps them.
By selling affiliate products you are leveraging someone else’s knowledge and expertise and it is the quickest way to begin.
Step two is once you gain some experience, you can begin selling your own info products such as eBooks and online courses.
I created my first eBook, by stringing a few of my blog posts together, I added a few quality images and sent it off to Fivver.com, and for 5 bucks they flashed it up and made it look very professional.
I have sold that eBook for $17 and it still sells on my website for $7 today.
I also created an online course with a series of screenshot videos that I have sold from $97 to $197!
Remember, you don’t need to be an expert, you just have to teach people one step ahead.
People will pay for your knowledge and help.
Step three is to add some residual income into the mix.
Residual income is regular income that comes in month after month.
A good way to do this is to create a membership site, but I like to leverage other people’s membership sites and software.
This is a great way to create a residual income that comes into your bank account on autopilot.
Getting paid over and over again for work that you have already done!
Cool, right?
Step four is to get all of these products and plug them into a sales funnel.
A sales funnel is just a series of web pages that follow one after the other, offering your products and services.
You can then follow up by email – marketing your products time and time again into the future.
Start by offering people a free lead magnet such as a cheat sheet, free report, checklist or eBook in exchange for their email address and then you can follow up with them for as long as they keep subscribing.
The key is to also provide them with heaps of free value as well as just promoting your offers.
This is how you can really build trust and a relationship with your followers.
These four steps add up to…
Automatic Profits…
So what’s stopping you?
So why the hesitation?
Commonly, I come across four major myths that stop people from taking action.
- The technology is too hard
I hear this all of the time.
People believe that they don’t know how to create a web page or website and that it is just too difficult.
Ten years ago, this may have been true, it used to cost thousands and take ages to build a site, but today the technology has advanced so far.
If you can write and send an email and operate Facebook then you can build a business online.
Most of it is all drag and drop and filling in the blanks.
Several years ago, I knew NOTHING about computers, but now I have built websites, sales funnels, written eBooks and created online courses… and the technology is getting easier and easier.
My wife’s 90-year-old Grandmother has learned how to use Facebook and I have no doubt that she could build a website if she wanted too.
The cost is minimal as well.
WordPress is free, and a few extra bells and whistles shouldn’t cost more than a couple of hundred dollars a month.
You don’t need to spend that at the start, but try building a traditional business for that sort of money.
- Not ready
People don’t think that they are ready to start an online business.
They don’t know enough, they are not an expert, and they need to learn more.
For a start, you know more than you think.
To help people, you only have to be one step ahead.
You don’t need to know everything.
You can be a results expert and teach what you know or you can also be a research expert and find out the answers.
You can also be the role model, and lead and inspire people.
One step ahead!
- Not known
Who is going to listen to you if no one knows who you are?
We all started from scratch.
The biggest, most successful “guru” started with zero followers.
No one knows you until you start.
Start now!
Create content, post, do the work.
Taking action and doing the work, gets you known.
Start now!
- No time
We live in busy times.
There is always so much to do and there are constraints on our time.
But what is your priority?
Continue in the rat race or freedom?
Busy work or our life’s work?
A desire to be rich or a commitment to be rich?
We all have the same 24 hours in a day.
We have the time, it’s whether we are prepared to make the time that will lead to our freedom!
A financial freedom warrior will make the time!
A financial freedom warrior will accept NO EXCUSES until the job is done!
It’s time to become financially bulletproof…
It’s time to become a Financial Freedom Warrior…
Join the movement…
If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them below.
To your freedom,
John W. Newman
Helping you create TIME AND FINANCIAL FREEDOM by building a PROFITABLE Business Online!
Dream It… Believe It… Then Achieve It!
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Hi John. I’ve heard a lot of this before. I know Robert Kiyosaki teaches the idea of paying yourself first, even if it means you can’t pay one of your bills. That scares the crap out of most people. I’ve been there and your creditors get over it eventually.
I also follow Kiyosaki’s advice about houses and cars. If you own them for your own use they are not assets. They are liabilities. If you have a mortgage you will pay the bank at least twice what your house is worth. Then add on property taxes and maintenance. You will never get back the money you invested. Same goes for the car. If you own someone else’s house and get positive cash flow on it then you can call it an asset.
Now I do exactly what you said. Debt is gone and I fill my own buckets before I give to anyone else’s. My net worth is much higher than it ever was before (in other words, it’s a positive number 😉 ).
Stick to it and follow the plan. Excellent post John.
Glad you liked the article, Ben!
I don’t completely agree with Kiyosaki on owning your own home, although the tax system in Australia works a bit differently than in the United States.
I put it in the category of a secure investment, I know you can’t sell off a bedroom if you need some extra cash, but owning your own home is something that most people should aim for, as long as it’s just part of your investment strategy!
As long as you are paying yourself first, investing, eliminating debts and increasing cash flow with an online business of some sort, then you will end up financially bulletproof!
Thanks for your feedback Ben 🙂
Hi,
very nice article.
Thanks Sagar, glad you liked it 🙂
John,
At first, this article sounded to me just like every other fundamentals of money that I have a hard time reading (because many experts think improving cash flow means increasing income but that’s called revenue. Cash flow is a pattern).
THEN you took me to #7!! Now you’re talking.
I like the ideas of creating an ebook out of blog posts and online courses from my expertise. You have inspired me today to keep moving in that direction.
Blessings,
Mike Jay
Thanks Mike, I am glad you took the time to read all the way through 🙂
Having good money management skills is important because if you don’t manage your money properly, it doesn’t matter how much you earn, you will end up losing it.
Just think about how many lotto winners that end up broke again, or all of the sports stars that wind up bankrupt, despite earning millions!
But the reality is that for most people, with families and cost of living pressures, we need to earn more money – and building an online cash machine is the best way to do this!
Best of luck Mike 🙂
This was a very good read. Being an online entrepreneur myself, I truly like the spin “without having to get into millions of dollars of debt.” Primarily, because at one point all I felt like was that I kept dishing out money! I was just that desperate (or dumb) to succeed. Thank you for your straight to the point steps/pathway to success. I will definitely keep up with the blog!
-Nerissa S.
Cheers Nerissa,
I find that a lot of aspiring entrepreneurs begin investing in real estate and often need to rack up a lot of debt to make this strategy successful.
The reality is that most people struggle with cash flow and end up selling before making any real gains.
The better way, I have found, is to create an online cash machine by building an online business and then funnelling that extra money back into other investments, such as property and shares.
This way cash flow is under control and you have a much better lifestyle and real freedom!
Thanks for commenting 🙂
I love this post! These are greats tips on becoming financially free. I have started to do one of your 7 steps which is to pay yourself first. I am putting 10% into some long term investments and will be opening another account and put some money in there each month.
Awesome Harjit!
Following this strategy of paying yourself first means that you can never go broke and one day, you will definitely be financially free!
Nice work, keep it up 🙂
Hi John
Inspiring post, i really enjoyed your points, and the steps needed to change your life. All the time we are bombarded with ads about buying new cars, and other things,and getting into debt.
It is crazy, we need to learn about saving, investing, and INCREASING our income. Having a business online, or 2, or 3, is definitely the way to go!
I am taking these steps already, and i am now a Financial Freedom Warrior.
Cheers
Awesome Greg!
Unfortunately, society teaches us to buy more things and get further into debt to get them.
To be financially bulletproof, we need to have a mindset shift and do things differently from the average!
An online business, together with sound money management principles, is the best way to put society to the sword!
Way to go Warrior! 🙂
I love that statement that you made about becoming financial bullet proof this is something that everybody wants but is not will to do what it takes to get there through proper planning and sacrifice,
Your post gives great knowledge about how to go about this. This is really awesome information that can really help anyone to have financial freedom
Glad you liked the post, Norman!
The great thing about this strategy is that you don’t have to make great sacrifices to achieve it… It is all about creating a lifestyle that will give you real freedom – time and financial freedom!
But you do have to have a mindset shift to think differently and make the effort to prioritise what you do to have success.
That’s why the first step is to commit to your long-term success!
Your freedom is worth it!
Cheers 🙂