H.J. Chammas's Blog

 

How To Allow The Inner Hero To Become Back In Charge and Run the Show in Your Life?

When was the last time you've experienced a form of self-doubt when you allowed that inner voice to whisper in your ears limiting beliefs that you can't do this or don't deserve that? 

If you've experienced this in the last 24 hours, this week, or recently, trust me, you're not alone. You're allowing this inner voice to hold you back from taking proper action to pursue your ambitions. 

This inner voice is working against you and the worst part of the story is that you don't often acknowledge its existence. This pessimistic voice is making you miss opportunities. 

The good part of the story, there is also the hidden hero who's waiting to be released. To awaken that sleeping hero inside of you, you first need to acknowledge the hidden villain inside of you and kill it off. This simple self-discovery will restore your confidence level.

How Did you Allow This Inner Villain to Take Over and Run the Show in Your Life?

Your past experiences have a huge impact on your self-perception and future vision of yourself.  The news is packed with negative information. In fact, the news thrives on the negative. When was the last time you heard in the news about a happily living married couple or a country that's living in peace and harmony? The media got it, people tend to react to negative news, and so the media gives more of the same. The advice to work on your weaknesses comes from your spouse, friends, colleagues, or your boss. This kind of advice only makes you feel weaker to an extent you don't want to hear about it again. The caveat is that you acknowledge your weaknesses and you feel inferior subconsciously!

Related: 8 Strategies To Stop Fear From Running Your Life

The Most Costly Advice

When the inner villain takes over the show of your life, things tend to get worse! You feel the pain and you want help and advice from the people who are close to you. Out of their love and concern about you, you get bad advice that encourages you to play it safe. This only feeds the inner villain and makes him stay in control. You will soon discover that this type of free advice ended up being the most costly advice.

Please take a moment a reflect on that moment when you had a great idea that you felt could change the world. As soon as you shared your idea with your close entourage, you were discouraged by bad advice that was given out by goodwill and their bad experiences. Your friends or family members were genuinely protecting you but were unwillingly killing your confidence in the process. It's all well-intention but destructive advice that stops you from taking action with calculated risk to change your life. After a few years or months, you will hear of a person who bought the same idea to life, changed the world, and created a multimillion-dollar company out of this idea.

I've been advised to ignore bad advice from unqualified people. I would recommend you do the same. Just move any bad advice (aka free advice) to your inner trash can and ignore all bad advice that's robbing you of success, confidence, and going to the next level. Those who are giving out free and bad advice only know how to do it wrong!

On the other hand, there's a lot of good advice out there from qualified people who have experience. You just need to filter any advice and check if the person is qualified to give that advice. 

How to Allow The Inner Hero to Become Back in Charge?

Convert past experiences into lessons. No person on this earth didn't experience failure and defeat in any endeavor or project they are undertaking. The one thing to learn from successful people is how they converted such negative experiences into lessons to better themselves in the future. They tend to celebrate failure as an opportunity to learn. They keep on focusing on the future vision of their life. Implement a news diet by limiting the time you watch, listen or read the news, even if they are so interesting. Refrain from discussing the news with other people, but if you do participate in discussions, and wish to say what you think, make it short, and be careful not to get into heated discussions. Over time, you will feel you're getting a little detached when watching, listening, reading, or discussing the news. This form of news diet will teach you to be mentally free and able to shape your own opinions. This time saved from following the news could be spent on you as a cognitive cleansing. Work on your strengths , instead of your weaknesses. Get amazing on what you do well. If ever you need to work on your weaknesses, be conscious to have one area of improvement (aka weakness) for every nine areas of strengths you're upping your game in. I've been coached into getting someone to do the things I'm not good at so that I can focus on the things I do well. I extend the same advice to you! This is a great way to move from being "good" to become "great" at the things you know best.

Related: Turn Your Hobby Into a Money-Making Machine

 

Planning For Life���s "What-Ifs"

Welcome to The Mindset For A Free Life, a biweekly newsletter designed to inspire your financial life and give you actionable insights. Like what you���re reading? Subscribe and share with your friends. Let���s dive in���

The past 2 years have been a crash course in the need to plan for life���s "What-Ifs". Fast and furious market fluctuations for stocks and cryptocurrencies, coupled with the impact of a global virus made us all more aware of the fragility of life.

Although that is beyond our personal control, what is very much within our control is whether we were able to cope with those changes, without panic, fear, and a financial cost.

The impact of an unexpected crisis can have devastating effects on your household financially. You work far too hard to increase your net worth over time for a secure retirement, but to see it getting diluted due to circumstances you have no control over. That being said, because there are things beyond our control, it is important to have a comprehensive financial plan.

You also might need to change your money habits, especially in good times when positivity about the future is prevailing and people tend to spend beyond their means and invest in risky investments. During the good times, their (Aggressive) plan might mean having all their money in the hottest stock or a new cryptocurrency thinking they can cash out when needed. Often, that spending and investing are played out over a shaky financial foundation that does not include a strong wealth-building plan with income projections for years to come. If this sounds like you, you need to ask yourself: "How can I protect and grow my money so that I have fewer financial stresses in life?"

Each time you face financial stress in life, it takes time, money, and a lot of anxiety to get back to where you were; however, there could come a time when you're less productive and it might be even challenging to get back you were. Your broker's advice of investing in aggressive investments while you are young because you have time to weather the storms needs to be adjusted. Each storm leads you down a path of self-discovery for the better or worse. Having money to weather the storms m-5ytakes the journey easier so you might come out of the storm stronger and better.

The Three "What Ifs"There are three main ���what ifs��� considerations for which you need to plan so that you can remove panicking from the equation for you you and your loved ones:
Critical Illness: As we saw during the pandemic, severe illness can strike at any time, and leave us incapacitated. There is no excuse, no reason good enough to not have an advance directive that spells out the care you want when you can���t speak for yourself. This can be coupled with a power of attorney for finances, which will allow someone you appoint to handle your medical bills if you are ever too sick to keep up with it all. Death: If there is anyone in your family depending on your income���spouse, partner, kids, parents, siblings, etc.���make sure you have both a will and a term life insurance. There is simply no excuse to not take care of these. Losing Your Job: What if you get laid off during the next economic downturn, company restructuring, or pandemic? An emergency fund of at least 6 months' expenses is the best solution to keep panic out of your life. The best solution is planning in advance to own assets that will pay you passive income for life. In that way, you don't need to worry about losing your job for any reason.Resource: Complimentary Strategy Call on Financial Planning for Passive Income

Returns That Are Not Cashed Out Don't Equate to Money in Your PocketMost professionals overconcentrate their assets in one asset class: their job, their business or stock in the company they work for. This is understandable; however, it also means you are exposing yourself to extra risk if something happens that makes the company's stock go down and causes you to lose your job. So, it's prudent to diversify some of your savings to uncorrelated tangible investments, such as gold, silver, and real estate.
Far too often, people overconcentrate in one asset class because that asset is what they know and what has been working for them. Diversification of asset holdings can help reduce the risk of losing money and give you a better chance to weather financial storms. Focusing only on returns can distract you from taking action to accumulate real wealth. The challenge is returns and capital gains don���t equate to money in your pocket if you've never really had an exit strategy for your money. Therefore, you might just be sitting at home entertaining yourself by watching your stocks or crypto account go up with virtual capital gain (aka paper gain) and down (paper loss). You need to have a plan of how you intend to cash out both the returns and capital gains from your assets. The reason why real estate, in the form of rental properties, is the most sought-after asset class of the rich and wealthy is that it produces regular cash flow and builds wealth. Landlords pocket both rental income and capital gain (through refinancing, i.e. without selling the real estate). This means they can eat from the cake and still have it all!
Related: An Online Course To Help You Earn Monthly Rental Income
For many reasons, people often don���t think about creating a comprehensive plan for their money. But a crisis like the one we've been experiencing since 2020 can be an impetus for changing your money mindset and habits. Have an open mind to a comprehensive financial plan. It might save your hard-earned money. If you weren���t prepared for this recession, how will you protect your money for the next one?
Resource: Complimentary Strategy Call on Financial Planning for Passive Income

 

Planning For Life’s "What-Ifs"

Welcome to The Mindset For A Free Life, a biweekly newsletter designed to inspire your financial life and give you actionable insights. Like what you’re reading? Subscribe and share with your friends. Let’s dive in…

The past 2 years have been a crash course in the need to plan for life’s "What-Ifs". Fast and furious market fluctuations for stocks and cryptocurrencies, coupled with the impact of a global virus made us all more aware of the fragility of life.

Although that is beyond our personal control, what is very much within our control is whether we were able to cope with those changes, without panic, fear, and a financial cost.

The impact of an unexpected crisis can have devastating effects on your household financially. You work far too hard to increase your net worth over time for a secure retirement, but to see it getting diluted due to circumstances you have no control over. That being said, because there are things beyond our control, it is important to have a comprehensive financial plan.

You also might need to change your money habits, especially in good times when positivity about the future is prevailing and people tend to spend beyond their means and invest in risky investments. During the good times, their (Aggressive) plan might mean having all their money in the hottest stock or a new cryptocurrency thinking they can cash out when needed. Often, that spending and investing are played out over a shaky financial foundation that does not include a strong wealth-building plan with income projections for years to come. If this sounds like you, you need to ask yourself: "How can I protect and grow my money so that I have fewer financial stresses in life?"

Each time you face financial stress in life, it takes time, money, and a lot of anxiety to get back to where you were; however, there could come a time when you're less productive and it might be even challenging to get back you were. Your broker's advice of investing in aggressive investments while you are young because you have time to weather the storms needs to be adjusted. Each storm leads you down a path of self-discovery for the better or worse. Having money to weather the storms m-5ytakes the journey easier so you might come out of the storm stronger and better.

The Three "What Ifs"There are three main “what ifs” considerations for which you need to plan so that you can remove panicking from the equation for you you and your loved ones:
Critical Illness: As we saw during the pandemic, severe illness can strike at any time, and leave us incapacitated. There is no excuse, no reason good enough to not have an advance directive that spells out the care you want when you can’t speak for yourself. This can be coupled with a power of attorney for finances, which will allow someone you appoint to handle your medical bills if you are ever too sick to keep up with it all. Death: If there is anyone in your family depending on your income—spouse, partner, kids, parents, siblings, etc.—make sure you have both a will and a term life insurance. There is simply no excuse to not take care of these. Losing Your Job: What if you get laid off during the next economic downturn, company restructuring, or pandemic? An emergency fund of at least 6 months' expenses is the best solution to keep panic out of your life. The best solution is planning in advance to own assets that will pay you passive income for life. In that way, you don't need to worry about losing your job for any reason.Resource: Complimentary Strategy Call on Financial Planning for Passive Income

Returns That Are Not Cashed Out Don't Equate to Money in Your PocketMost professionals overconcentrate their assets in one asset class: their job, their business or stock in the company they work for. This is understandable; however, it also means you are exposing yourself to extra risk if something happens that makes the company's stock go down and causes you to lose your job. So, it's prudent to diversify some of your savings to uncorrelated tangible investments, such as gold, silver, and real estate.
Far too often, people overconcentrate in one asset class because that asset is what they know and what has been working for them. Diversification of asset holdings can help reduce the risk of losing money and give you a better chance to weather financial storms. Focusing only on returns can distract you from taking action to accumulate real wealth. The challenge is returns and capital gains don’t equate to money in your pocket if you've never really had an exit strategy for your money. Therefore, you might just be sitting at home entertaining yourself by watching your stocks or crypto account go up with virtual capital gain (aka paper gain) and down (paper loss). You need to have a plan of how you intend to cash out both the returns and capital gains from your assets. The reason why real estate, in the form of rental properties, is the most sought-after asset class of the rich and wealthy is that it produces regular cash flow and builds wealth. Landlords pocket both rental income and capital gain (through refinancing, i.e. without selling the real estate). This means they can eat from the cake and still have it all!
Related: An Online Course To Help You Earn Monthly Rental Income
For many reasons, people often don’t think about creating a comprehensive plan for their money. But a crisis like the one we've been experiencing since 2020 can be an impetus for changing your money mindset and habits. Have an open mind to a comprehensive financial plan. It might save your hard-earned money. If you weren’t prepared for this recession, how will you protect your money for the next one?
Resource: Complimentary Strategy Call on Financial Planning for Passive Income

It Doesn't Take Your Money To Make Money

"It takes money to make money" is a saying older than our grandparents. And as an entrepreneur or investor, you've likely heard it over and over again. But is it really true that it takes money to make money?

The short answer is "Yes", but the real answer is "it takes money to make money, but who said it has to be your money".

It does take some money to launch any business venture or to invest in any form of asset. And if it's a sound business idea or a smart investment, you will find it easy to have others chase you to lend you money or partner with you in return for profit or equity in your business. The idea here is that money follows sound investments.

Turn Your Hobby Into a Money-Making Machine

We live in a "monetize everything you can" culture, where a hobby can become a side hustle that makes some money and potentially turn into a million-dollar enterprise. This means you can start working for yourself to turn fun endeavors into a money-making machine. Over time, you will improve your skills and develop systems to scale up your services to serve more clients, which will allow you to turn your gig into a money-making empire. At this point in your career, you'll find yourself in a position where others would like to invest in your business for equity in your business. Their capital will help you scale up your business and grow it to new heights, while they benefit from their shares in the business growing in value.

Resource: Discover how to turn your gig into a money-making machine

Invest in Assets That Create Wealth Using OPMIf you chose to invest in assets that will, in turn, pay you income and build your wealth, you will find many lenders are willing to line up and lend you the capital you need to fund your investments. And if you know how to use debt wisely, more specifically good debt, you will understand this truth: “The road to wealth is good debt”. It is only through the wise use of good debt that returns can reach high double digits. In the best scenario—when you don’t use a single dollar from your own money to purchase income-producing assets—your returns can be infinite. To make it more concrete, if you want to invest in rental properties, a large amount of money is required. Most of us do limit our own selves with thoughts such as: "I can never save that amount of money!", so we end up spending our hard-earned money on discretionary expenses. The truth is, you can invest in rental properties using other peoples' money (in most cases the bank's money), and you can borrow anywhere from 80% up to 100% of the property purchase price to own it. I'm sure you've heard of many people around you who purchased properties with zero from their own capital.
Resource: Book your strategy call and discover the hacks to owning properties using none of your own money
I invite you to rewire your brain about this limiting belief in money and investing. Although a large amount of money is required for investment, who said it has to be my money?

8 Strategies To Stop Fear From Running Your Life

A common thread is often revealed when I coach business people and investors to overcome a certain challenge in their business. This thread goes along the lines of the fear of failure, fear of rejection. or fear of not being enough... simply put, fear is common in our lives. And if we surrender to it, fear can keep us stuck in our comfort zone and prevent us from reaching our true potential. Accepting to live in fear causes a double challenge where you're unfulfilled with the status quo yet afraid to pursue bigger plans in your life.

But fear could also become a blessing to a life free from fear. I know that sounds strange, so let me explain.

If we allow fear to help us break through the frustrations to achieve the life we truly desire, it can serve a valuable purpose. That’s right, fear can become a tool for finding fulfillment. Discover how to stop living in fear – or better yet, how to use fear as your ultimate inspiration.

The Psychology of Fear

Fear and anxiety are powerful sensations that go a long way in keeping us safe. If the dog down the street bites you, the fear that results when you next see this same dog will help you avoid another bite. But what about when the response goes too far? If you instead come to fear all dogs, not just the one that bit you, that fear might drastically change how you act, becoming a detriment, not a benefit.

To stop living in fear, you must understand the underlying psychology so that you can actively work against it. To a point, fear and anxiety have a place in healthy human psychology. Acute fear is a normal emotion that signals a potential threat to your physical or emotional safety. It is a natural response for our survival.

But when acute fear response becomes hypersensitive, it becomes chronic fear, and it occurs when we are continually exposed to low-level yet stressful events. Things like the news, the pandemic, economic downturns, or challenges in the workplace, cause us to irrationally anticipate negative events. Unlike acute fear, chronic fear can lower our natural life-saving response and cause us to believe we need to be “saved” by an outside force.

Everyone is Living in Fear

Everyone has experienced an anxiety disorder in their lives, due to acute fear, irrespective of whether acute or chronic fear. It’s typically chronic fear that causes our deep-seated anxiety issues, and everything from the media to our way of life has been blamed. But living in a state of blame has never helped anyone solve their problems. It’s time to take ownership of your emotions and transform your life.

"Life is found in the dance between your deepest desire and your greatest fear." - Tony Robbins.

Now, the interesting part of the story is that many people go through life without realizing they’re living in fear. Please take a moment and ponder on this!

That’s because fear is often confused with comfort. We become comfortable with our lives, and we think that we are happy and fulfilled with this feeling of certainty. The caveat is when we become too comfortable, it starts to hold us back.

Here are a few signs you are living in fear:

Perfectionism refers to a set of self-defeating thoughts and behaviors aimed at reaching excessively high unrealistic goals. This need to be or appear perfect, or even to believe that it's possible to achieve perfection, is a mask we wear to protect ourselves from taking action.On the other hand, settling for less than you deserve is a powerful indicator you’re letting your need for certainty run your life. If you don’t have passion for your relationship and your job, it's a sign you're living in fear.Always procrastinating and putting your goals off until you have more time is a classic delay tactic for those who are living in fear. It’s time to stop making excuses and start achieving your dreams.

Don’t Let Fear Control You

With chronic fear, you’re living a constant state of anxiety. Your fear response influences everything you think, feel, and do, which keeps you stuck in a self-perpetuating cycle of defeat and frustration. The upside to fear is that the emotions surrounding it are usually so unpleasant that they drive you to find another way.

Strategies on how to stop living in fear range from self-care to exercise to seeking professional help. It all starts with committing to facing your fears. Then you're able to discover the strategies that work for you in overcoming dear and finding peace.

1. Determine The Source of Your Anxiety

If you’re living in fear, you've reached a point in your life where you're thinking about your worries around the clock without much mindfulness as to what's causing them. To stop living in fear, you must pinpoint what’s causing your distress.

Here's an exercise to help you determine the source of your anxiety:

Get out a piece or open the notes on your device and brainstorm a list. Just write or type down whatever comes to your mind.When you’re finished, circle the items that are tangible concerns – fears that you'll divorce, lose your house due to foreclosure, or lose your job tomorrow.Start giving yourself a sense of control by writing a few actions you can take to prevent these things from happening.Examine the non-circled items, which are the intangible concerns – things like fears of the apocalypse, alien invasion, death of humans due to a pandemic. You’ll see that these have very little chance of happening and are beyond your control. If your fears fall into this category, you’ll need to do some self-reflection to discover how to stop living in fear.

2. Stop The Blame Game

As Tony Robbins puts it: “Life doesn’t happen to you, it happens for you.”

Truly understanding and accepting this concept is the first step to fulfillment. When you start becoming the master of your own destiny, endless possibilities open up to you. In parallel, when you see the world as a place of opportunity, not obstacles, you don’t let fear control you.

The reason for determining the source of your anxiety is to help you assert power over those fears so that they no longer control you. You become in the driver's seat.

Once you identify the source, you can change the story that goes in your mind – and change your mindset. The first step is recognizing that you have a choice. You have the choice to either continue to blame outside forces for your emotions and continue to feel out of control or to take charge of your life and learn how to stop living in fear.

3. Stop The Excuses

Like blame, excuses are a defense mechanism we use to avoid facing our problems. It’s easy to push our hopes, desires, and dreams aside when we have excuses related to not having time, money, power, connections, or just being too busy. We start to hide behind those excuses instead of taking action to move forward.

Excuses are comforting when we’re living in fear. It feels safe to use those excuses against our need to take action. But excuses will also bring you back to exactly where you started. Remember that the next time you fall back on fear and choose to be comfortable instead of facing a challenge, ask yourself whether you're truly where you want to be in life. You have to learn how to dismiss your easy way out of resorting to excuses.

4. Turn Your "Shoulds" Into "Musts"

If you make a conscious decision that you have no choice but to succeed, then nothing else matters. You’ll do whatever it takes to make it happen, without leaving room for excuses. 

Even the most successful and accomplished people feel like they’re living in fear sometimes. The difference is that rather than allowing fear to suck the life right out of their dreams, they know that the price they will pay if they achieve their goals is far scarier. They know the real fear is living a life where they have settled or compromised what they really wanted.

How do you adopt that mindset and perspective?

Imagine your 80 years old self, sitting in your chair, and reflecting on how you lived your life. Look back on your life as if you had not achieved the goal you are after at this moment. How has this affected the course of your life? What are your regrets? What do you wish you had made more time for? What do you wish you had attempted? Is there sadness and regret? Are you wondering, “What if. . .?” In this way, you can use fear to propel you toward your ultimate goal.

Related: What Life-Changing Advice I Would Give My 21-Year-Old Self

5. Adopt a Growth Mindset

People often give up on what they want because they don't believe in their abilities to reach their goals. They continue living in fear and settle into their current realities, thinking that their goal is unattainable so they don’t even try anything. But the most successful people have adopted a growth mindset, which means they believe in developing their skills and improving their abilities in the face of setbacks. They keep on working harder and developing themselves to challenge those setbacks until they find new strategies to get them to a solution for their problem. They don’t give up when things become challenging. Instead, they find new ways to adapt and work harder to achieve their goals.

6. Celebrate the Opportunity of Failure 

If you listen to the stories of the successful and high achievers, there isn’t one successful person in the world who hasn’t had to overcome major obstacles. The most painful experiences can bring valuable insights on what you want and what you don’t want in life... on what works and what doesn't work. Failure, disappointment, hiccups. setbacks, challenges, dead-ends – these can all be used as a means of reflecting and saying, “This didn’t work. It wasn’t the right fit. So what do I really want?”

In its simplest explanation, we are built to adapt. If you keep this in mind, you can embrace your inner strength and use each experience as a tool to help you learn more about yourself and what you really must have in life. When you’re facing a painful experience or feel ready to give in to fear, picture someone you admire who faced adversity – they wouldn’t have achieved the success they now have without learning how to stop living in fear.

You need to accept one truth: Failure is inevitable – You will fail. It’s just part of becoming successful. Failure provides insights and inherently corrects the faulty ways of approaching a problem. There is no better teacher than the sting of failure. If you use this experience as unique information, and adjust your strategy and approach the next time around, you will have an advantage that no one else does.

Related: How Failure Can Be An Integral Part Of Your Success, Even If You Have Made Tons Of Mistakes!

7. Practice Physical and Mental Self-Care

Mental health and physical health are fundamentally linked. There are multiple associations between mental health and chronic physical conditions that significantly impact people’s quality of life. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.  In short, there is no health without mental health, and people with chronic physical conditions are at risk of developing poor mental health.

Now that we understand the links between mind and body, next time you feel like you’re living in fear, start with a simple tactic of changing your posture and adopting a “power pose.” It can make you feel more confident and less fearful. Physical activity is proven to reduce depression and anxiety, so next time you feel fear coming on, get out and go for a walk, practice a hobby that keeps your body active. Even better, make exercising a habit and your mind is set to stay in positive shape. When you combine physical and psychological self-care, you have the recipe for how to stop living in fear.

Remember that fear cannot coexist with positive emotions – it's either one or the other. You cannot feel both scared and joyful, or afraid and grateful, but you can replace one with the other. When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears. You shift your focus from the negative to the positive. Where focus goes, energy flows, so when you change your mindset in this way, you find that you naturally bring more positivity – and less fear – into your life.

8. Start Living Instead of Worrying

When we’re living in fear, we’re often also living in either the past or the future. We let our past experiences haunt us and affect our future decisions. We worry so much about what could happen to an extent we forget to enjoy what is happening.

Stop missing your life. Be fully present and go out there practice a new sport or game and make new acquaintances. Live in the "Now".

Related: Living Your "Dash" Will Determine The Legacy You Leave

If you’re ready to learn how to stop living in fear, you have to decide that your dreams are more important than your fear of failure. Make the decision today to master your fears and start existing as the most joyful, successful version of yourself possible.

Is Fear Ruining Your Life? This Is How To Stop Living In Fear

A common thread is often revealed when I coach business people and investors to overcome a certain challenge in their business. This thread goes along the lines of the fear of failure, fear of rejection. or fear of not being enough... simply put, fear is common in our lives. And if we surrender to it, fear can keep us stuck in our comfort zone and prevent us from reaching our true potential. Accepting to live in fear causes a double challenge where you're unfulfilled with the status quo yet afraid to pursue bigger plans in your life.

But fear could also become a blessing to a life free from fear. I know that sounds strange, so let me explain.

If we allow fear to help us break through the frustrations to achieve the life we truly desire, it can serve a valuable purpose. That’s right, fear can become a tool for finding fulfillment. Discover how to stop living in fear – or better yet, how to use fear as your ultimate inspiration.

The Psychology of Fear

Fear and anxiety are powerful sensations that go a long way in keeping us safe. If the dog down the street bites you, the fear that results when you next see this same dog will help you avoid another bite. But what about when the response goes too far? If you instead come to fear all dogs, not just the one that bit you, that fear might drastically change how you act, becoming a detriment, not a benefit.

To stop living in fear, you must understand the underlying psychology so that you can actively work against it. To a point, fear and anxiety have a place in healthy human psychology. Acute fear is a normal emotion that signals a potential threat to your physical or emotional safety. It is a natural response for our survival.

But when acute fear response becomes hypersensitive, it becomes chronic fear, and it occurs when we are continually exposed to low-level yet stressful events. Things like the news, the pandemic, economic downturns, or challenges in the workplace, cause us to irrationally anticipate negative events. Unlike acute fear, chronic fear can lower our natural life-saving response and cause us to believe we need to be “saved” by an outside force.

Everyone is Living in Fear

Everyone has experienced an anxiety disorder in their lives, due to acute fear, irrespective of whether acute or chronic fear. It’s typically chronic fear that causes our deep-seated anxiety issues, and everything from the media to our way of life has been blamed. But living in a state of blame has never helped anyone solve their problems. It’s time to take ownership of your emotions and transform your life.

"Life is found in the dance between your deepest desire and your greatest fear." - Tony Robbins.

Now, the interesting part of the story is that many people go through life without realizing they’re living in fear. Please take a moment and ponder on this!

That’s because fear is often confused with comfort. We become comfortable with our lives, and we think that we are happy and fulfilled with this feeling of certainty. The caveat is when we become too comfortable, it starts to hold us back.

Here are a few signs you are living in fear:

Perfectionism refers to a set of self-defeating thoughts and behaviors aimed at reaching excessively high unrealistic goals. This need to be or appear perfect, or even to believe that it's possible to achieve perfection, is a mask we wear to protect ourselves from taking action.On the other hand, settling for less than you deserve is a powerful indicator you’re letting your need for certainty run your life. If you don’t have passion for your relationship and your job, it's a sign you're living in fear.Always procrastinating and putting your goals off until you have more time is a classic delay tactic for those who are living in fear. It’s time to stop making excuses and start achieving your dreams.

Don’t Let Fear Control You

With chronic fear, you’re living a constant state of anxiety. Your fear response influences everything you think, feel, and do, which keeps you stuck in a self-perpetuating cycle of defeat and frustration. The upside to fear is that the emotions surrounding it are usually so unpleasant that they drive you to find another way.

Strategies on how to stop living in fear range from self-care to exercise to seeking professional help. It all starts with committing to facing your fears. Then you're able to discover the strategies that work for you in overcoming dear and finding peace.

1. Determine The Source of Your Anxiety

If you’re living in fear, you've reached a point in your life where you're thinking about your worries around the clock without much mindfulness as to what's causing them. To stop living in fear, you must pinpoint what’s causing your distress.

Here's an exercise to help you determine the source of your anxiety:

Get out a piece or open the notes on your device and brainstorm a list. Just write or type down whatever comes to your mind.When you’re finished, circle the items that are tangible concerns – fears that you'll divorce, lose your house due to foreclosure, or lose your job tomorrow.Start giving yourself a sense of control by writing a few actions you can take to prevent these things from happening.Examine the non-circled items, which are the intangible concerns – things like fears of the apocalypse, alien invasion, death of humans due to a pandemic. You’ll see that these have very little chance of happening and are beyond your control. If your fears fall into this category, you’ll need to do some self-reflection to discover how to stop living in fear.

2. Stop The Blame Game

As Tony Robbins puts it: “Life doesn’t happen to you, it happens for you.”

Truly understanding and accepting this concept is the first step to fulfillment. When you start becoming the master of your own destiny, endless possibilities open up to you. In parallel, when you see the world as a place of opportunity, not obstacles, you don’t let fear control you.

The reason for determining the source of your anxiety is to help you assert power over those fears so that they no longer control you. You become in the driver's seat.

Once you identify the source, you can change the story that goes in your mind – and change your mindset. The first step is recognizing that you have a choice. You have the choice to either continue to blame outside forces for your emotions and continue to feel out of control or to take charge of your life and learn how to stop living in fear.

3. Stop The Excuses

Like blame, excuses are a defense mechanism we use to avoid facing our problems. It’s easy to push our hopes, desires, and dreams aside when we have excuses related to not having time, money, power, connections, or just being too busy. We start to hide behind those excuses instead of taking action to move forward.

Excuses are comforting when we’re living in fear. It feels safe to use those excuses against our need to take action. But excuses will also bring you back to exactly where you started. Remember that the next time you fall back on fear and choose to be comfortable instead of facing a challenge, ask yourself whether you're truly where you want to be in life. You have to learn how to dismiss your easy way out of resorting to excuses.

4. Turn Your "Shoulds" Into "Musts"

If you make a conscious decision that you have no choice but to succeed, then nothing else matters. You’ll do whatever it takes to make it happen, without leaving room for excuses. 

Even the most successful and accomplished people feel like they’re living in fear sometimes. The difference is that rather than allowing fear to suck the life right out of their dreams, they know that the price they will pay if they achieve their goals is far scarier. They know the real fear is living a life where they have settled or compromised what they really wanted.

How do you adopt that mindset and perspective?

Imagine your 80 years old self, sitting in your chair, and reflecting on how you lived your life. Look back on your life as if you had not achieved the goal you are after at this moment. How has this affected the course of your life? What are your regrets? What do you wish you had made more time for? What do you wish you had attempted? Is there sadness and regret? Are you wondering, “What if. . .?” In this way, you can use fear to propel you toward your ultimate goal.

Related: What Life-Changing Advice I Would Give My 21-Year-Old Self

5. Adopt a Growth Mindset

People often give up on what they want because they don't believe in their abilities to reach their goals. They continue living in fear and settle into their current realities, thinking that their goal is unattainable so they don’t even try anything. But the most successful people have adopted a growth mindset, which means they believe in developing their skills and improving their abilities in the face of setbacks. They keep on working harder and developing themselves to challenge those setbacks until they find new strategies to get them to a solution for their problem. They don’t give up when things become challenging. Instead, they find new ways to adapt and work harder to achieve their goals.

6. Celebrate the Opportunity of Failure 

If you listen to the stories of the successful and high achievers, there isn’t one successful person in the world who hasn’t had to overcome major obstacles. The most painful experiences can bring valuable insights on what you want and what you don’t want in life... on what works and what doesn't work. Failure, disappointment, hiccups. setbacks, challenges, dead-ends – these can all be used as a means of reflecting and saying, “This didn’t work. It wasn’t the right fit. So what do I really want?”

In its simplest explanation, we are built to adapt. If you keep this in mind, you can embrace your inner strength and use each experience as a tool to help you learn more about yourself and what you really must have in life. When you’re facing a painful experience or feel ready to give in to fear, picture someone you admire who faced adversity – they wouldn’t have achieved the success they now have without learning how to stop living in fear.

You need to accept one truth: Failure is inevitable – You will fail. It’s just part of becoming successful. Failure provides insights and inherently corrects the faulty ways of approaching a problem. There is no better teacher than the sting of failure. If you use this experience as unique information, and adjust your strategy and approach the next time around, you will have an advantage that no one else does.

Related: How Failure Can Be An Integral Part Of Your Success, Even If You Have Made Tons Of Mistakes!

7. Practice Physical and Mental Self-Care

Mental health and physical health are fundamentally linked. There are multiple associations between mental health and chronic physical conditions that significantly impact people’s quality of life. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.  In short, there is no health without mental health, and people with chronic physical conditions are at risk of developing poor mental health.

Now that we understand the links between mind and body, next time you feel like you’re living in fear, start with a simple tactic of changing your posture and adopting a “power pose.” It can make you feel more confident and less fearful. Physical activity is proven to reduce depression and anxiety, so next time you feel fear coming on, get out and go for a walk, practice a hobby that keeps your body active. Even better, make exercising a habit and your mind is set to stay in positive shape. When you combine physical and psychological self-care, you have the recipe for how to stop living in fear.

Remember that fear cannot coexist with positive emotions – it's either one or the other. You cannot feel both scared and joyful, or afraid and grateful, but you can replace one with the other. When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears. You shift your focus from the negative to the positive. Where focus goes, energy flows, so when you change your mindset in this way, you find that you naturally bring more positivity – and less fear – into your life.

8. Start Living Instead of Worrying

When we’re living in fear, we’re often also living in either the past or the future. We let our past experiences haunt us and affect our future decisions. We worry so much about what could happen to an extent we forget to enjoy what is happening.

Stop missing your life. Be fully present and go out there practice a new sport or game and make new acquaintances. Live in the "Now".

Related: Living Your "Dash" Will Determine The Legacy You Leave

If you’re ready to learn how to stop living in fear, you have to decide that your dreams are more important than your fear of failure. Make the decision today to master your fears and start existing as the most joyful, successful version of yourself possible.

 

You Must Be Savvy At This In Your 30's For A Financial Wellbeing In Your 60'sTwo recent 2021 and 2022 surveys show that many aren't saving what they should. Let's start with some shocking numbers:Only 56% of workers were enrolled in a workplace retirement plan.The current retirement age is 62, whereas the estimated retirement age for current workers is 64.American Women have smaller retirement savings with an average of $57,000 saved, compared to men’s $118,000.55% of workers plan to work in retirement.Savings expectations for a comfortable retirement is $1.04 million.Those who are not enrolled in any form of a retirement plan or those who had very little savings are hiding the excuse behind not being financially savvy.
Guys, we really need to talk. Even if it is currently true that those who have a retirement plan could be savvier about money, that is not an excuse for not taking responsibility for your financial wellbeing at retirement. You must take responsibility for your financial security.
For those of you who have let unhealthy money habits persist for years, I am not letting you off the hook. You literally can’t afford to continue like that and end up with a very challenged retirement in your golden years.

Not Too Late Nor Hard To Start Learning  When You're at the peak of your career, you should be asking yourself some questions that will help you reflect on (and even challenge) the choices you're making about money. Here are some to get this conversation going in your head:Do we have at least a year of living expenses set aside for emergencies?Are you living below your means? Are you living paycheck to paycheck? Why?Did you tend to borrow money to purchase a car, a vacation, or maintain a certain lifestyle?What are your sources of income? Is it only your job?When will your mortgage be paid off?What’s your plan for paying for long-term care help down the line?Those should not be hard conversations with yourself or your spouse. All you are doing is opening the conversation about what the plan is, and how you can reach those important goals. If you can’t imagine having clear answers to those conversations, I want you to consider what that is saying about your savviness in your personal finances. Moreover, it also leaves you so vulnerable to having to learn things later in life, which you should have learned earlier... some things about your financial security that you didn’t know. In case you're not able to answer those questions, we can work together to fix what’s not on track.
Resources: Complimentary discovery call to help you answer those questions

 

How To Bridge The Gap To An Independent Retirement?

When we envision what our retirement will be like, we tend to imagine that pivot point when we will no longer be working, and have the freedom to plan our days, weeks, and months to our own desires. Most of us fall short of realizing that our retirement could last 30 years or more. This means we need to plan ahead for being financially comfortable for our entire retirement.

Before we retire, while we're still making money and building our assets, we need to think through the long-term issues that will give us the most security possible for decades, not just the first few years. The highest risk issue is inflation.

Inflation Eroding our SavingsThe cost of living (the price of food, clothing, oil, insurance, and rent) will keep on rising over ti,e. If inflation averages 3% a year, what costs you $3,000 a month today will cost you more than double 5 years down the line.
The question we need to ask ourselves: Do we have the income (or enough savings) to cover the increasing cost of living over our retirement years?
High inflation isn't going away. According to a report published by Forbes in February 2022, prices are going up at their fastest rate since the early 1980s. According to the most recent Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, we are experiencing the highest inflation since February 1982.

The Golden Nest is Not Enough!Most people think about saving money to support their retirement age, but very few think of owning income-producing assets that will keep on paying them income as long as they hold onto them.
When it comes to saving for retirement, almost everyone has a kind of a saving plan, but also many fall short of this plan. According to a 2021 report from JP Morgan, only 35% of savers follow through on their saving plan and keep up with it. The main reason people can't save as much as they should is that they're spending much more than they're earning. This is mostly due to a combination of not earning enough and high spending patterns on debt and discretionary expenses.
If you are serious about wanting to save more for retirement, you need to be more conscious about your spending. You may find you can cut out certain discretionary spending. Trimming spending across multiple items will add up. 
Related: Are You In Financial Stress? Here Are 3 Money Habits To Win The Game
While playing the game defensively and saving for retirement is a good thing to do, taking a bit of an offensive approach by increasing our streams of residual income is always a wiser and more secure approach.
When it comes to your earned income from a job, you're not in full control of pay raises. At best you can seek another better paying job. On the other hand, you're in full control of creating multiple streams of residual income, which are generated from income-producing assets.

Building Up Your Assets Column is Not a Luxury Anymore!One of the main distinctions between the wealthy and the middle class is that the former own income-producing assets that will feed them for life. On the other hand, the poor and the middle class tend to have liabilities that will continue to eat their savings and income for years to come.
This should be a wake-up call to start owning income-producing assets that will keep on paying us residual income and increase our net worth. For a detailed analysis of which assets build wealth, please check this article below.
Related: Which Assets Build Wealth?
What's Next?If you are ready to seriously consider those retirement realities today, I think it will help you make smart decisions that will make your retirement more secure. Making a move today that reduces your living costs and increases your streams of income will reduce not just your stress, but will also reduce the worry of your adult kids.
Free Resource: Book a Complimentary Strategy Session to Discuss Your Plan

 

How to bridge the gap to an Independent Retirement?

When we envision what our retirement will be like, we tend to imagine that pivot point when we will no longer be working, and have the freedom to plan our days, weeks, and months to our own desires. Most of us fall short of realizing that our retirement could last 30 years or more. This means we need to plan ahead for being financially comfortable for our entire retirement.

Before we retire, while we're still making money and building our assets, we need to think through the long-term issues that will give us the most security possible for decades, not just the first few years. The highest risk issue is inflation.

Inflation Eroding our SavingsThe cost of living (the price of food, clothing, oil, insurance, and rent) will keep on rising over ti,e. If inflation averages 3% a year, what costs you $3,000 a month today will cost you more than double 5 years down the line.
The question we need to ask ourselves: Do we have the income (or enough savings) to cover the increasing cost of living over our retirement years?
High inflation isn't going away. According to a report published by Forbes in February 2022, prices are going up at their fastest rate since the early 1980s. According to the most recent Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, we are experiencing the highest inflation since February 1982.

The Golden Nest is Not Enough!Most people think about saving money to support their retirement age, but very few think of owning income-producing assets that will keep on paying them income as long as they hold onto them.
When it comes to saving for retirement, almost everyone has a kind of a saving plan, but also many fall short of this plan. According to a 2021 report from JP Morgan, only 35% of savers follow through on their saving plan and keep up with it. The main reason people can't save as much as they should is that they're spending much more than they're earning. This is mostly due to a combination of not earning enough and high spending patterns on debt and discretionary expenses.
If you are serious about wanting to save more for retirement, you need to be more conscious about your spending. You may find you can cut out certain discretionary spending. Trimming spending across multiple items will add up. 
Related: Are You In Financial Stress? Here Are 3 Money Habits To Win The Game
While playing the game defensively and saving for retirement is a good thing to do, taking a bit of an offensive approach by increasing our streams of residual income is always a wiser and more secure approach.
When it comes to your earned income from a job, you're not in full control of pay raises. At best you can seek another better paying job. On the other hand, you're in full control of creating multiple streams of residual income, which are generated from income-producing assets.

Building Up Your Assets Column is Not a Luxury Anymore!One of the main distinctions between the wealthy and the middle class is that the former own income-producing assets that will feed them for life. On the other hand, the poor and the middle class tend to have liabilities that will continue to eat their savings and income for years to come.
This should be a wake-up call to start owning income-producing assets that will keep on paying us residual income and increase our net worth. For a detailed analysis of which assets build wealth, please check this article below.
Related: Which Assets Build Wealth?
What's Next?If you are ready to seriously consider those retirement realities today, I think it will help you make smart decisions that will make your retirement more secure. Making a move today that reduces your living costs and increases your streams of income will reduce not just your stress, but will also reduce the worry of your adult kids.
Free Resource: Book a Complimentary Strategy Session to Discuss Your Plan

 

Why You Should Not Rely On A Single Income

Job security is a thing from the past... something our grandfathers (and to some extent our parents) used to depend on for their lives. In today's economic climate, it's kind of crazy being dependent on just one source of income. Creating multiple streams of income is becoming a must-have and not a nice-to-have. To become financially fit (and eventually financially independent), you need to build your revenue strength.

If the high rates of unemployment and mounting job losses during the 2008 financial crisis and COVID have taught us anything, it is that nobody’s job is safe. We've witnessed millions of people losing the very same jobs they were dependent on for the rest of their lives. Lesson learned: depending on a job as the only source of income is a risky way of living!

"Never depend on a single income. Make investments to create a second source" - Warren Buffet

The moment you don't depend only on your paycheck, you'll become financially secure. At this stage, you don't worry anymore about bills, your residual income covers your bills. It appears as if we're all programmed to follow a certain script that goes like this: graduate from school, pick a job in a strong corporation, advance in that job, increase your income over time, and eventually retire with a pension plan. Billions of people have been following that same script, relying on a single source of income, without acknowledging the fact that this life programming is flawed. If you continue following this script, it could set you up for hard financial times, longer stretches of work before retirement, and in some cases, financial stress.

There are enough statistics to show that families that live totally on a single source of income are at the greatest risk of poverty. Complementing your salary with other sources of income is one of the most sustainable ways of becoming financially fit. As Robert Kiyosaki said: "JOB is the acronym for Just Over Broke", which means having only one stream of income would continually keep us broke. The bible teaches us in Ecclesiastes 11:2 (NIV version) to "Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight; you do not know what disaster may come upon the land”, which translates to divide your investments among many places, for you do not know what risks might lie ahead. It's not a chance that the average millionaire has seven sources of income!

In the information age, the tools to create multiple streams of income are countless. We can leverage information, connections, and opportunities like never before. It's up to us if we consume all that content and use all those forms of leverage for our distraction or our benefit. If you learn how to leverage other peoples' money, connections, knowledge, and time, you can create multiple streams of income and build wealth that will look after you and your family for generations to come. The advice is to go in baby steps by creating one stream of income and mastering it. Then, you cal create the next source of income... and the next one... then the next one.

The two major obstacles that prevent many people from adding extra streams of income to their life are the misconception that:

You need money to make money; andYou need to devote an extra full-time job's worth of time.

Those two myth-understandings are simply not true. You can earn streams of income while working (and leveraging) on your present job. You just need to educate yourself on how to use the different forms of leverage and consume the right information for your benefit.

Below are the various options available to increase your streams of income.

Making Money OnlineEvery one of us is an expert at something. Why not create a blog, a YouTube Channel, and have a strong social media presence around your passion? Many people are leveraging YouTube, blogs, social media, websites, and sales funnels to create income.
Blogging seems to be very popular, and for good reason, as many bloggers are making passive income from their content. You can open a blog or a vlog on a subject that you know too well, such as fashion, lifestyle, pets, real estate, publishing, marketing, investing, and many other topics.

Writing a BookWriting a book that contains content related to your passion and set of skills can be a successful way of producing another stream that generates monthly passive income. It became easy for anyone to write a manuscript, edit it, have a cover created, and upload a book on Amazon that will earn royalties every month for years to come.
If you think it's a challenge to sit down and write a book, why don't you start with a blog and then convert its content into chapters that make up a book? Another idea would be to have someone interviewing you and then transcribing what you've talked about into a manuscript that could be edited and designed by others. You can be all hands-on when writing a book or outsourcing most of the jobs related to designing and publishing a book.

Creating an AppMobile, tablet, and PC applications can be an incredibly lucrative income source. Almost everyone has a smart device. Why not take advantage of this and build an app that helps people solve a problem and make their lives easier?
Think about how many people today have smartphones. Apps make people’s lives easier. Whether it is an app that helps people organize their expenses, store their photos, design videos, connect, or keep track of tasks. These kinds of apps are quite helpful for everyone.

InvestingMany people are reluctant to invest because they are afraid of losing the money and time they have invested. With adequate experience, exposure, research, and consultation, you can make wise and informed decisions about investing. There are many investment vehicles, which could be categorized as either passive investments (such as stocks, bonds, and cryptocurrencies) or active investments (such as real estate).
I understand the risks involved when investing passively in products that you don't have any control over, but on the other hand, being an active real estate investor has been demonstrated over the ages for being the best investment vehicle to build and protect wealth.
Related: Which Assets Build Wealth – Stocks, Bonds, or Real Estate? 
The two chief ways to invest in real estate are either being an active landlord of rental properties or a passive real estate investor in real estate investment trusts or real estate crowdfunding.
This book "The 4 Stages of Building Wealth” explains how you can build wealth by accumulating income-producing assets that will pay you regular passive income for as long as you own them. This book and its accompanying course have helped over 100,000 ordinary individuals become wealthy and self-made millionaires by creating multiple streams of income.
Related: Get a free copy of "The 4 Stages of Building Wealth"

Having multiple streams of income would help you transition your finances from a state of financial stress, through financial security, then financial comfort, to ending up with financial independence. Because of the financial risks involved with relying on a job for all of your incoming cash, it is critical to consider having at least one additional source of income.
Having multiple sources of income also gives you more flexibility for the future and helps you break the cycle of living from paycheck to paycheck. If you desire to protect your family from the unknown, having multiple streams of income is non-negotiable!