If you yearn for the sweet life of but feel like it's beyond your reach, I have some good news. Your prospects are much better than you think. In fact, if you follow the 5 steps I'm about to lay down, your future will be so bright you'll have to wear shades. Let's get rockin'.
1. Gear
Everyone knows that you can't rock the house unless you've got the right equipment. This axiom is spot-on when it comes to your finances too. But in this case, we're not talking about guitar strings and drum heads.
The right tools for financial freedom start with a good program to track your spending. I'm not asking you to cut your spending (yet). But I am sharing the key to financial freedom with you. And that key is knowing where your money is and where it goes.
My experience tells me that once people become aware of how their cash flows, they magically manage it better. Think of your budgeting software as your tour manager. If you use your budget tracking program well it will guide you and make it far easier to achieve your financial goals. That's a sweet song in any key.
2. Birds of a Feather
Do you know how the really big rock stars like Bruce, Mick and Elton stay on top? It's because they make every move deliberately. They have a plan and they stick to it. You need to follow in their footsteps if you want to jam righteously.
You can easily do so if you map out a financial plan for yourself. This is not as difficult as you might think. In fact, you can get this done faster than it takes to play the entire "Dark Side of the Moon" album.
There are plenty of online financial planning calculators available that are free to use. They will give you a very good sense of what you have to do in order to reach your goals. "Take five" right now and do some sniffing around the net to find a good calculator. Don't worry. Be happy. But do it now.
3. Honey Boo Boo Your Life
I don't know if Honey Boo Boo is a rock star or not, but she's got something going on. For whatever reason - and for the life of me I don't know what it is - the universe is saying "yes" to her.
What is the universe saying "yes" to in your life? Are you advancing in your career? Are you saving money? If your small business expanding? Take a good hard look at what part of your life seems to be working. Try to understand what the success ingredients are and duplicate them. If things are going well at work, is it because you using your time well? What is your secret sauce?
Likewise, if things aren't going in your direction, try to learn the lesson. What is it that isn't on track? Don't just keep doing the same thing if the results are bad. That's the definition of insanity. Instead, deconstruct the failures and try to get at the root problem. If you can't see it, don't sweat it. That's what the next step is going to help you resolve.
4. Teachers and Coaches
Even Grammy winning artists have music coaches. You can follow suit. The good news is you don't necessarily need to hire a financial advisor. Go to someone who has a financial life you want to have and ask them to be your mentor.
This will be a person who you go to with ideas and plans. You'll report in once a month on your situation and he or she will provide useful feedback (not the kind that comes out of your Marshall amplifier).
5. Image
At the end of the day, being a rock star is more about image than reality. If you implement these ideas two things will happen. First, you're financial life will soar. You'll get out of debt faster; you make better investment decisions and have more control of your financial future. But the second benefit of taking these steps is that you will actually feel like a rock star. You'll be somebody who took their financial life and turned it around. That's the equivalent of selling out Carnegie Hall if you ask me.
The best part about being a celebrity isn't trashing hotel rooms and waking up at 3 p.m. to start your day in my opinion. The real gold is having financial freedom. And you can have that freedom starting today if you take advantage of these tools.
Are you a financial rock star? If not, what's standing in your way?