By Cat Alford
GOBankingRates.com
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) If you feel like you’re in a rut right now personally or professionally, this article which features advice from Tony Robbins is a good “pick me up.” From practicing gratitude to setting up an automatic savings system, there are steps we can take to become empowered women on all levels.
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Over the past few decades, life and business strategist Tony Robbins has become a household name. His boundless energy, determination and philanthropic nature has made him one of the go-to experts on how to have a fulfilling life and career.
He started from humble beginnings, growing up in a low-income, broken household, but today his net worth is estimated at over $480 million.
Below are some of his top pieces of advice on how to change your mindset in ways that can have a positive impact on your life and finances.
HAVE A MISSION
For people who find themselves in a rut, or who are unsure of which steps to take to improve their lives, finding a focus is important. However, it’s equally important to find the right focus for your life.
“Energy comes from having a mission; it comes from something that you’re being pulled by, not something you’re pushing on,”
Robbins told well-known business expert Marie Forleo in a one-on-one interview. “If there’s something that you’re made for, then there’s a level of energy that most people would never dream of … We all have that, but most of us don’t connect to it and unleash it.”
Robbins said he lives in this mindset each and every day. In order to apply this to your own life, it’s important to spend time thinking about what you’re really passionate about, whether it’s big or small. The more excited and the more passionate you are about your goals in life, the more powerful you can be.
STOP TRADING TIME FOR MONEY
When it comes to walking the path to financial freedom, Robbins frequently talks about the issue of trading time for money. “If you work for a living, you’re trading your time for money,” he wrote in an article for Entrepreneur magazine.
“Frankly, it’s just about the worst trade you’ll ever make in life: You can always get more money, but you can’t get more time,” he wrote. “In the end, it doesn’t matter how much money you earn. If you don’t set aside some, you could lose it all … This is the first and most important step in putting yourself on the road to financial freedom. Take that step today.”
In essence, you can’t quit your job today, but you can start saving today. If there is a business you want to start or something you want to spend all your time doing, he advised to start saving now. The more money you save, the faster you can focus on the things you want to spend your time doing.
PRACTICE GRATITUDE
This is sometimes an easily overlooked step, especially in difficult times. However, it can have a great positive impact on your life when you follow it.
In his book, “MONEY Master the Game,” Robbins quoted Sir John Templeton, whom he called one of “the greatest investors in history.” In an interview with marketing expert Lewis Howes, Robbins said Templeton told him: “If you have nothing, but you’re euphorically grateful for whatever you have, you’re the richest person you’re ever going to know.”
Robbins said he makes gratitude a part of his morning routine. Every morning, he spends some time thinking of the things in his life that he is grateful for, which helps him start his day. Anyone can start this practice, and the great thing is that it’s simple. To keep things consistent and make this a habit, you can even start a gratitude journal.
BE A DISCIPLINED INVESTOR
Robbins revealed his best piece of financial advice in an interview for TIME Money. “Don’t think in terms of taking huge risks to get huge rewards,” he said. “Think about the least amount of risk for the greatest reward, and be disciplined about that.”
He cited Richard Branson as a great example of someone who takes great risks in life but not in his finances. Instead, he said it’s very important to know what the downside is to an investment, and to have a plan to protect yourself from the potential downside. This is a great lesson for anyone to be wise with their investments, including taking note of any excessive fees that might be eating away at their investment returns.
DON’T BE AFRAID TO FAIL
Although it’s not uncommon to fear failure, Robbins has a different take on it. “Unfortunately, we’re programmed to fear this thing called ‘failure,’ so we try everything we can to avoid it, which is pointless,” he told Success magazine. “Failure is often necessary for real learning to occur.”
This is a mindset that can absolutely be applied to both life and finances. No one is perfect when it comes to money, and sometimes making money mistakes allows us to learn and progress. The same is true when it comes to life and happiness.
You’re not going to have a perfect day every day, but life’s failures can sometimes lead to life’s greatest successes.
So, welcome failure. Otherwise, getting lost in it and feeling sorry for yourself could prevent you from succeeding in the future.
WORK HARDER ON YOURSELF THAN ANYTHING ELSE
Robbins told Bloomberg Business that the best piece of advice he ever got came from his mentor, Jim Rohn. “Find a way to add more value than anybody else does, and you’ll never have to worry about anything,” Rohn told him. “Every day, work harder on yourself than anything else, because if you become more intelligent, more valuable, more skilled, you can add more value to other people.”
The same lesson can be applied to your life and finances. The more knowledgeable and savvy you are with your money, the more people you can help.
SAVE AUTOMATICALLY
Growing your savings is a very important part of living rich. “The majority of us have this thought process … that today is more important than tomorrow,” he told the OWN Network. However, it’s that mindset that can lead you not to save enough, or at all.
Therefore, in order to “trick yourself” into saving for tomorrow, Robbins said it’s important to save automatically. Talk to your employer about putting a certain percentage of every raise into your retirement account. If it happens automatically without you thinking about it, the money will just start to accumulate and hopefully grow due to the power of compound interest.
GIVE WHAT YOU DON’T THINK YOU CAN GIVE
Being generous is another big key to living rich, no matter what your income. “If you don’t give a dime out of a dollar, you’re not going to give a million out of 10 million. … (Generosity) teaches your brain there’s more than enough when you’ll give what you don’t think you can give,” he said in an interview with Brendon Burchard, an author on motivation and online marketing.
One way this can have a positive impact on your finances is that it can show you how to live on a lesser amount of money, and make you more astute when it comes to managing your finances. In addition to that, giving back to your community and helping those in need can give you a greater sense of connection with people, and help you cultivate gratitude in your own life and on a bigger scale.
BE PSYCHOLOGICALLY STRONG
Many of the roadblocks people encounter could be due to their mindset. However, just like physical strength, you can build psychological strength.
“If you’re psychologically strong enough, you can not only survive, but you can thrive when tough situations occur, as opposed to letting the environment control you and take over,” he told Success magazine. “It’s really about mastering strength within yourself so that you can conquer the outer world around you.”
These teachings can be applied to so many things in life. However, surviving and thriving in tough financial times can teach you how to be resilient, stronger and better with money in the future.
PROGRESS EQUALS HAPPINESS
It’s natural to go through periods of feeling stuck in life. However, that could be a great sign that it’s time for you to break out of your comfort zone and try new things. “What makes us feel alive is growing, and when we grow, we have something to give,” he told The New York Times.
If you want to be happy, but you’re having a tough time in life due to personal or financial issues, it’s important to take whatever steps possible, even small ones, to progress and grow. Take a small step to make things better. Save a little bit of money. Put your first dollar into investments. Use any windfall or extra money to do something nice for somebody else. If you feel stuck and unhappy, remember what Robbins said: “Progress equals happiness.”
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Cat Alford writes for GOBankingRates, a leading portal for personal finance news and features, offering visitors the latest information on everything from interest rates to strategies on saving money, managing a budget and getting out of debt.
