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Saturday, October 24, 2020
Friday, September 25, 2020
Manage the Leaks: Your Key to Escaping the Money Trap
If you’re reading this article you’ve most likely experienced the sinking feeling of financial insufficiency at some point in your life, or you know someone who has. One of the most challenging parts of getting a grip on your finances is keeping track of where you’re actually spending all of your money. The recurring expenses are easy—rent, groceries, utilities—and are fairly easy to keep track of as you do your best to manage your money and the health of your financial goals.
You don’t have to be wealthy to have enough money to create wealth, but you do have to have one thing—awareness. You must be aware of where all of your money is going.
I often tell people that it’s not so much about how much money you make as much as it’s about how much you keep that matters in creating real wealth. A lot of that has to do with saving strategies, most especially on taxes. There’s enough information on how to win the tax game that several books have been written on the topic. For the purposes of this article, however, let’s focus on where you can make the biggest impact right now – the small, seemingly insignificant expenditures (the leaks) that quickly add up—often enough to be a difference-maker in preventing you from creating wealth.
To manage the leaks, you first have to find them. That’s a bit easier said than done, but, rest assured, it can be done. In fact, if your goal is to create wealth of any kind, it simply must be done.
Get a job.
Make a living wage.
Find an affordable place to rent.
Pay the rent every month.
Pay the utilities.
Buy some groceries.
Spend any leftover money you may have on things you don’t keep track of and don’t really need.
Now let’s take a look at some ways you can better manage the leaks to create the kind of wealth that’ll make a difference in your life.
First, awareness is everything when it comes to your money and how it’s allocated among your needs and desires. The fact that you’re reading this article validates your awareness. So, congratulate yourself on getting this far.
Next, you must have a determined desire to change. No one cares about your money like you should. Without a determined desire to do whatever it takes to create wealth you will likely quit and fail. Quitting should never be an option when it comes to mastering your money.
Nothing ever happens without action. Fortunately, mastering your money doesn’t take a master’s degree, but it does take action. The good news is that even small actions produce results. When I started learning how to create wealth, I started with $25. Period. It was all I had…until I discovered the leaks.
Once I became aware of the leaks, I took immediate action to change. In fact, I invested my first $25 based on the projected savings we discovered—a leap of huge leap of faith for me, but a commitment nonetheless. I’ll admit, that first $25 was the toughest money to part with. But the reality of it was that I wasn’t really parting with it at all.
The first lesson I learned by taking action was that, with every dollar I had set aside to create wealth, I was actually putting that money to work to create more money. This is where the magic of a money mindset comes to life. Once you understand how to make money work for you (instead of the other way around), you make an immediate shift in the direction of creating wealth!
So, now it’s your turn. Are you determined to stop the leaks and reclaim your hard-earned money? Are you ready and committed to putting that money to work for you instead of wondering where it goes every month? Even if you manage to discover $25 per month, it’ll be the start of a highly significant transition in your life that’ll pay huge dividends later in life.
Here’s to Your Best Life!
- G -
-----------------------
If you'd like to receive a notification anytime I publish a new article (currently about once per month), opt-in at my website: garywestfal.com
Once there, scroll to the bottom of any page and provide your contact information. You'll then be subscribed and will receive a notification whenever I publish a new article or provide updates to my books or appearances.
If you like this post, please recommend it to others!
-----------------------
Your Ultimate Guide to
Setting and Achieving
Every Goal You Can Imagine
“Gary Westfal rolls-up everything I have learned in a 40-year military career about Strategic Action Planning in one book.”
Lieutenant General Bradley Heithold, USAF (retired)
"A powerful book that provides an interesting
cross-section of three different points of view for
the balance of body, mind, and spirit."
~ Amazon Reader Feedback
Get your copy of this insightful book
on Amazon.com TODAY!
-------------------------------------------------------------
Get your copy of Gary's best-selling novel
FEAR Is a Thief is on Amazon.com
and is NOW AVAILABLE on Audible.com too! This inspiring book is the first in a self-empowerment series that was written to help people get past fear using five fundamental truths as a basis for understanding and taking action for a better life.
Get your copy today at FEAR Is a Thief/Amazon.
and is NOW AVAILABLE on Audible.com too! This inspiring book is the first in a self-empowerment series that was written to help people get past fear using five fundamental truths as a basis for understanding and taking action for a better life.
Get your copy today at FEAR Is a Thief/Amazon.
Also be sure to check out: KEY HORIZON, the second novel in the G. Weston spy series. This thriller is receiving rave reviews across the spectrum and has captivated a new following of "spy-fi" readers.
Order your copy of these exciting novels today at Amazon.com
Tuesday, September 1, 2020
The Courage to Be Different
Ask anyone who has achieved any measurable level of success and they will likely tell you they had to find the courage to follow their convictions and to embrace the resolve to be different.
Success, by most measures,
is typically identified as the slow and steady progress toward a worthy goal.
As vague as the definition may at first seem to be, one thing is certain—most
of us clearly recognize success when we see it. We rarely see the struggle, but
we always see the results.
We admire the
results.
We envy the results.
We judge the
results.
We do this because we have
no idea whatsoever of the sacrifices and…the courage most successful
people had to embrace to get where they are in life.
It’s all good though. Because most successful people don’t
give a damn about what other people think. It’s what sets them apart. It’s what
makes them…different. It's what makes them courageous.
What about you? Are you
in pursuit of success? Are you following your convictions so strictly that
you’re demonstrating the courage to be different? If so, you already know you’ve
had to have to tap into your own source of courage in order to do whatever it
takes to achieve and sustain your version of success.
When you follow your
convictions, people notice. When people notice, your path becomes abundantly
more evident to others (and certainly to you as well) because your success
begins to take shape. When that happens, the seeds of your vision take hold and
become firmly rooted in your convictions.
The decision to take the
first step in your journey demonstrates your courage and is driven by the
belief you have in yourself, your ideas, and your motivations. The results reflect
a personal transformation, manifested by the courage to follow through and
pursue your dreams.
One of my dreams was to be a published writer. I spent
nearly three years writing my first manuscript. In order to
accomplish that, I had to have the courage to be different. I had to
become personally different if I were to have any hope of finishing my
novel. Writing had to become the priority around which the rest of my life
revolved. The decision to write was the easy part. The follow-through and
consistency would challenge me from time-to-time. But my convictions and
beliefs provided the motivation to push past temporary distractions in order to
complete my goal of finishing my first novel. My rewards were always there,
patiently waiting just beneath the surface of self-discovery. And those rewards
were beyond anything I could have ever imagined.
I began to experience
personal growth with each writing session. As an artist, I discovered that I
had a gift of being able to see things through the eyes of my characters.
Details sprang forth as I typed the words onto the page. I began to see
storylines unfolding before me in settings I had never before seen nor
imagined. Writing became a personally-satisfying, almost spiritual experience
for me. I had, in essence, become a writer!
They say if you want to be
a writer then you have to write. Sounds simple enough to apply to most anything
I can imagine, really. If you want to be an artist, then you should
probably pick a paintbrush or pencil and then have the courage to start
painting or drawing. Want to be a musician? Pick up an instrument…you get the
message. My point here is that, if you have a desire to do something new,
refreshing, different, unique…then tap into the courage to
acknowledge it and demonstrate the determination it’ll take to drive through
the obstacles and distractions that will inevitably find their way into the
path of your goal. You can do, be, have, or become anything in life, as long as
you’re willing to demonstrate the courage it takes to be different.
Until next time...
- G -
-----------------------
If you'd like to receive a notification anytime I publish a new article (currently about once per month), opt-in at my website: garywestfal.com
Once there, scroll to the bottom of any page and provide your contact information. You'll then be subscribed and will receive a notification whenever I publish a new article or provide updates to my books or appearances.
If you like this post, please recommend it to others!
-----------------------
Your Ultimate Guide to
Setting and Achieving
Every Goal You Can Imagine
“Gary Westfal rolls-up everything I have learned in a 40-year military career about Strategic Action Planning in one book.”
Lieutenant General Bradley Heithold, USAF (retired)
"A powerful book that provides an interesting
cross-section of three different points of view for
the balance of body, mind, and spirit."
~ Amazon Reader Feedback
Get your copy of this insightful book
on Amazon.com TODAY!
-------------------------------------------------------------
Get your copy of Gary's best-selling novel
FEAR Is a Thief is on Amazon.com
and is NOW AVAILABLE on Audible.com too! This inspiring book is the first in a self-empowerment series that was written to help people get past fear using five fundamental truths as a basis for understanding and taking action for a better life.
Get your copy today at FEAR Is a Thief/Amazon.
and is NOW AVAILABLE on Audible.com too! This inspiring book is the first in a self-empowerment series that was written to help people get past fear using five fundamental truths as a basis for understanding and taking action for a better life.
Get your copy today at FEAR Is a Thief/Amazon.
Also be sure to check out: KEY HORIZON, the second novel in the G. Weston spy series. This thriller is receiving rave reviews across the spectrum and has captivated a new following of "spy-fi" readers.
Order your copy of these exciting novels today at Amazon.com
Wednesday, July 1, 2020
What are We Fighting for?
Like a slow boil, an erosion of cohesion is
taking place across America. Emotions are strong, opinions are diverse, and
discord dominates. Why? What have we become?
Recently, I’ve watched as politicians,
pundits, news media, and community organizers vie for a dominant position on
perhaps one of the most sensitive topics of our time – race in America. Each
side carries a self-serving agenda in the hope of acquiring power to assert
their will, viewpoint, or motive across the very eclectic people of America
using race as the basis of their argument. And not one of us likes it. 
As a nation, we have historically existed because
of and in spite of the predominant
diversity of our demographics. We often clash over ideals and are a passionate
people when it comes to the protection of our inalienable rights as Americans. It’s
not always pretty, but we find a way. Even yet, we remain one of the strongest
forces on the planet among all others, some of whom may never taste the very freedoms and rights we take for granted on a
daily basis. Ask anyone who has served or traveled abroad just how real that
statement is and they’ll affirm it.
Keep your passions in check.
I’m a white male. I generally lean
conservative when it comes to a political point of view. I’m not overly
religious but operate from a highly spiritual perspective. Like you, I have
opinions, viewpoints, ideals, and passions. I also have a culturally wide
diversity of friends and family. Those who know me know that I don’t give one
damn about the color of your skin. My opinions are based on the content of one’s
character and whether or not he or she is a unifier or a divider. The best I
can offer to a person of color is empathy. I have not walked in their shoes, so
it is true that I have no idea of the disparages they encounter. But it goes to
my point that if we collectively seek truth and healing, the cultural divide
will strengthen us instead of
continuing to exist as an American vulnerability.
It is said that we can learn a lot about a
person in the first seven seconds of meeting them. I believe that to hold true
for most of us. But the ugly divide that predominates our country at this time
demands a lot more time than seven seconds to come together and move past that
which divides us. The key to conquering that divide is in our approach.
Agree to disagree…without decay.
Most people don’t simply want to get their
way. They want to be heard and they want their opinion to be respected. It’s
really that simple, because when we respect the viewpoint and opinion of
others, we gain empathy. When we gain empathy, we gain insight. And when we
gain insight, a powerful healing effect takes place that brings us together. Only
then can we collectively break away from those things divide us and thus, begin
to move toward that which unites us.
An opportunity.
We have an opportunity before us today that
will define us as a nation. That opportunity has revealed itself to us on a
grand scale by the increased rhetoric that continues to dominate the underlying
issue. That issue is that there still exists a deep racial divide in this
country that we need to get past. The opportunity lies in how we handle it.
It’s not up to politicians and media news outlets to exploit this opportunity
because, as we’ve seen all too clearly, their judgment is clouded by their
agenda.
It saddens me that those who have led this
country (both past and present) seem so willing and ready to brush aside the
opportunity to effectively lead us through the steps of healing we so
desperately need as a nation. The opportunity to find common ground and come
together as a nation is lost in personal, political, or cultural platitudes.
The opportunity that lies before us is one
that requires us all to respect the differences we have while keeping an eye on
the topic. Let’s not make it any more personal than it already is. OK, easy for
me to say–or is it? There have been many times when I’ve mistakenly injected my
own bias or “feelings” into a topic when there was no reason to do so. The
result: communication breakdown, discord, and resentment. The broad societal
similarities can be seen from almost every conceivable perspective on a daily basis.
Leaders need to lead, advocates need to
advocate, rights and opinions need to be protected, and healing needs to take
place. America needs a voice of confident calm to overtake the “conversation” I
keep hearing that we so desperately need. I’m not convinced that voice should
come out of Washington because, as I said earlier, they seem to be mired in
their own ineptitude and shortsightedness.
I personally believe the rising division in
our country is not about race insomuch as it is about the sociopolitical and
economic realities we’re facing. As a matter of opinion, I believe that, as a
people, we should all strive to move past the blatant ugliness of the 1960’s and 70's.
We are genuinely hurting in this country, as is most of the world. The economy has
been battered about by the effects of the pandemic, unemployment is much worse
than we’re told, savings are at an all-time low, the nucleus of the family has
deteriorated, and we are more concerned about the uninformed opinions of celebrities
than we are about those who are on the front lines of social injustice. It’s true we all have
differences. But those differences rarely rise to the feverish pitch they have
recently. What am I missing?
There is simply not enough room in this
forum for me to depart on a diatribe of recommendations to address the issues
that divide us. Suffice it to say, however, that we all need to take a step back, focus on the issues while doing our
level best to keep our emotions in check for the sake of effectively addressing
those issues. Because the moment it gets personal, the conversation is over.
Until next time...
- G -
"Arguing isn't communication, it's noise." ~ Tony Gaskins
-----------------------
If you'd like to receive a notification anytime I publish a new article (currently about once per month), opt-in at my website: garywestfal.com
Once there, scroll to the bottom of any page and provide your contact information. You'll then be subscribed and will receive a notification whenever I publish a new article or provide updates to my books or appearances.
If you like this post, please recommend it to others!
-----------------------
COMING SOON!
Your Ultimate Guide to
Setting and Achieving
Every Goal You Can Imagine
“Gary Westfal rolls-up everything I have learned in a 40-year military career about Strategic Action Planning in one book.”
Lieutenant General Bradley Heithold, USAF (retired)
-----------------------
"A powerful book that provides an interesting
cross-section of three different points of view for
the balance of body, mind, and spirit."
~ Amazon Reader Feedback
Get your copy of this insightful book
on Amazon.com TODAY!
-------------------------------------------------------------
Get your copy of Gary's best-selling novel
FEAR Is a Thief is on Amazon.com
and is NOW AVAILABLE on Audible.com too! This inspiring book is the first in a self-empowerment series that was written to help people get past fear using five fundamental truths as a basis for understanding and taking action for a better life.
Get your copy today at FEAR Is a Thief/Amazon.
and is NOW AVAILABLE on Audible.com too! This inspiring book is the first in a self-empowerment series that was written to help people get past fear using five fundamental truths as a basis for understanding and taking action for a better life.
Get your copy today at FEAR Is a Thief/Amazon.
Also be sure to check out: KEY HORIZON, the second novel in the G. Weston spy series. This thriller is receiving rave reviews across the spectrum and has captivated a new following of "spy-fi" readers.
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