From broke to multi-millionaire: 5 things I learned
GUEST BLOGGER!
By FIRE Hubby of www.thefirecouple.com
I wasn’t always a financial success. In fact, I came from a working-class family of seven - in a small town with little or no opportunities. My Dad worked construction jobs and my mom stayed at home to raise the five kids. We grew up on food stamps, coupons, and there were times when we really struggled. I didn’t go to an Ivy League college or private school. Instead, I went to community college and worked odd jobs.
I moved from the Midwest to West Coast to try to follow my dreams of becoming a music producer but failed at that. I guess Los Angeles didn’t need another Jimmy lovine and I was too white and nerdy to be P Diddy. I worked more odd and low paying jobs, from fetching coffee for Weird Al to sometimes driving two hours just to work on an assembly line. With student loan debts, credit card debt and barely scraping by, I was living in a mold invested house with five roommates. So, how did I end up going from making so little that I qualified for government assistance to multi-millionaire in less than ten years? It all had to do with my mindset.
Here are the five things that helped me go from being broke to being a multi-millionaire:
Know that your mindset is everything. If you are struggling to pay the bills or come from a working-class background, hearing someone say that it’s all in your head can be a little annoying. Before you jump through your computer and strangle me, know that I’m telling the truth! Belief is the most powerful factor in determining your outcome. Before success, there can only be belief. There are people who believed that we could fly into outer space before it was a reality. Despite everyone and a little thing called the laws of physics telling them it was impossible. If you want to reach a goal, the first thing you have to do is believe it can happen. You have to believe it so much that it actually comes true – kind of like Emma Stone in Lalaland. There are people who believe very negative things about life, and they are right, too. So, be careful what you choose to believe.
Take action. Belief without action is just a fantasy, and while fantasies can be fun, they don’t pay the bills. I always wanted to be financially successful, and I could have been even more successful sooner, but instead of taking action, I got hit with analysis paralysis. Analysis Paralysis is when you are paralyzed by data – it’s like getting shot with the freeze tag gun - You can’t move even if you try. You feel if you only had more information, you could make the right choice, and it’s a trap that most intelligent people fall for. I read all the books about how to invest, what to invest in, how to read a book about how to invest – you name it, I read it, but I was too afraid to take action. When I finally did, things started moving slow for me, but eventually all the little steps I was taking towards my financial goals started to grow by leaps and bounds. You will never regret taking action only not taking action sooner. The most important step you can take to reach your goals is the first one.
Think outside of the box. There’s always an excuse or reason why you don’t have enough time or money to go towards your goals, but in reality, there are thousands, if not millions of ways if you think outside the box. My wife and I made up a raffle to save money for our wedding and raised over $6,000 from friends, family, and strangers. We didn’t use crowd funding. We literally went out on the street and asked strangers for money! Some told us to beat it, get lost, no thanks, and some people were so impressed by our outrageous passion to express our love, that they actually bought a $10 ticket to our wedding raffle ! So, we didn’t have to go into debt. We came up with side hustles to create extra income to start investing when we didn’t have any money and pay off debts – selling everything from clothes to workout videos on Craigslist! Nothing says “desperate to get out of debt” like meeting a stranger in a parking lot at 3am to sell them used workout DVDs! If there’s a will, there’s a way. The best part is that if you are not a creative person, there’s an entire World online of creative people with ideas to share. You are just one search away from inspiration. You don’t have to be smart to google someone smart.
Get over your fear. On the other side of fear, there is freedom. I remember the first time we finally had saved up for our first big investment. When it came time to take action, I actually started shaking and sweating. I was an adult, a grown man - and the thought of risking everything we had saved up on an investment had me sweating my Old Spice Fresh all over the place! The reality is, if you’re scared, it just means you are at the edge of your comfort zone. You are stretching that edge. So, you have a new edge. It’s call growth and I highly recommend it. Looking back at that moment, feels silly. We have done so many deals now, that first deal seems so small and insignificant, but I had to grow --- and stretch it out, like Richard Simmons to get to the place I am now. If you are playing a big game, you are going to feel a little uncomfortable. Highly successful people learn to deal with and manage fear.
Never give up. The beginning is the hardest part. In the beginning of our journey, it was hard to even imagine we would be where we are now. There were so many times in the early years where I didn’t feel like we were on the right path, but we were. We had to stay committed to our vision for the future because no one else was. I had even told some of my family and friends the plan of us becoming millionaires and several people sarcastically told me “Good Luck!” or made other negative comments and laughed at us. You cannot let those that are not playing at the same level as you dictate your path. We never gave up and just a few years into our plan, we passed the $1 million mark. If I can do it, anyone can!
Bio:
FIRE Hubby is one half of the personal finance blog, The FIRE Couple. In less than ten short years, in debt and with no money, large inheritance or lottery winnings, they have built a safe, multi-million dollar, well diversified portfolio of assets from scratch, built a successful investment real estate business, and became millionaires by the time they were 33. Check out their adventures at thefirecouple.com.
