Start – The Four Things You Need to Start to Become the Next Great Version of Yourself

The other day I wrote a blog post about what I believe people need to STOP!

Now, it is time to talk about what people should START! These are things everyone can see benefits from. It doesn’t matter where you are in your life or path to Financial Independence, these are for you!

Start Being Grateful

Gratitude is one of the most powerful things you can feel. There are so many things that surround you everyday to be grateful for. If you look at the world we live in, there is so much to be grateful for. The technology we have these days allows us to connect and do things never imagined before. The world of social media allows us to connect with others in the world we would have never known of. The ability to seek out wealth through your own personal means has never been more available.

When I look back at this year, here are some of the things I am grateful for:

• My brother and his wife having their first kid and me becoming an uncle!
• My mom officially retiring after working in a job that had a lot of ups and downs the last two years
• The promotion I got at work that allowed me to increase my income and the impact I could make
• Starting to focus on my Instagram and blog to begin sharing my story
• Successfully house hacking in my home where I am able to live for free
• Purchasing my first short term rental property!
• Building deeper connections with a lot of the people I work with and friends outside of work

Start Investing

Yes! That’s right. Start investing. Let me make sure you fully understand what I mean by investing. In my eyes, there are two types of investing.

First, you need to begin investing in yourself! Invest time in educating yourself in whatever fields intrigue you. Invest time and energy reaching out and connecting with people who are where you want to be. Most of this type of investing can be at $0 cost to you. There are so many incredible resources out there to learn from. I hope you are using my blog as one of those.

Second, you need to actually begin investing! There are so many different ways to begin investing. I have chosen to take the route of investing in two things. Index funds and real estate. Before you go off and begin investing, make sure to do the proper research. At least begin investing in your retirement accounts and increase the percent contribution by 1% every two months. Trust me, you won’t even notice the difference in your take home pay.

Start Taking Action

The single biggest piece of advice I gave on my first podcast interview, you can watch here. Don’t get into the analysis paralysis. The only way you can begin down the path you want to be on is by taking action. There are a ton of people talking about how hot the markets and housing market are. Yes, these statements are true as numbers don’t lie, but what if next year is the same. What if the market continues going up and up and up? Will you be glad you were sitting on the sidelines the entire time?

The goal is to invest early and often! Continue taking daily action and learn from the decisions you make. Be reflective on your thought process and the inputs that drive the outputs. If another year goes by and you haven’t taken action, how will you feel?

Once I get home in Orlando, I plan to get a property under contract to do my second house hack by the end of January! Can’t wait to document my journey to hold myself accountable!

Start Killing Automatic Negative Thoughts

The first time I heard about this came from Jim Kwik. If you haven’t heard of the guy, you need to go research him. Jim speaks about killing A.N.T.s. These are Automatic Negative Thoughts.

What are Automatic Negative Thoughts? These are the thoughts that go on in your mind whether you consciously know it. Have you ever stopped to hear what thoughts go on in your mind? It is very interesting to evaluate whether those thoughts are positive or negative. For any negative thoughts that surface, kill them! You are better than that. Imagine if you killed all the negative thoughts you had throughout the day. You would be so much happier and more grateful. So start killing A.N.T.s!

Key Takeaways:

• Start being grateful! Look around you. There are so many things for you to be grateful for every day.
• Start investing! Invest in your education and personal development. Invest in actual assets that will make you one step closer to financial independence!
• Start taking action! Nobody ever won a game cheering from the sidelines!
• Start killing A.N.T.s! Understand what negative thoughts go through your mind. Kill them and turn them into positive thoughts!