A Simple 5-Step Guide To Help You Finally Reach Financial Freedom

At the age of 24, I graduated with my bachelor’s degree in finance. During this point in my life, I was off centered with who I was. I wanted to constantly prove myself to others and as a result, I fell heavily in debt. I bought clothes to prove myself to others. I went on trips to show off how independent and successful I was (yet I was still living with my parents). I shopped to be something I wasn’t, never quite finding the fulfillment I sought in garments and shoes.

I had an amazing job at the time and made good money, but I was living over my own means. During the weekdays, I helped clients organize their finances and, on the weekends, I stacked up credit card balances. I felt like a fraud. I wanted control. I needed change.

The change I sought didn’t come until two years later in a form of a major spiritual awakening. On this spiritual journey, I realized I didn’t approve of myself and lacked self-compassion and self-love. I realized I looked for these things outside of myself and created imbalance in many areas of my life. I was finally forced to face my ugly truth and look inward. Surprisingly, I found exactly what I was looking for, within me. Approval and abundance were inside me all along. This awakening positively shifted my finances.

There comes a time in our lives when we realize everything we seek is already inside of us waiting to be tapped into and used for a greater good.

1. Create your life’s mission statement.

Re-evaluate your core. Write out what you want to represent in this lifetime. What are the values that solidify your character? What are your goals for the next five years? Shop according to your mission statement. If your goal in the next five years is to run your own business, for example, only spend money on the things that will help you accomplish this. Seminars, education, licenses, etc. Everything else is canceled out.

2. Close all your credit card accounts.

After you pay off your credit card balances close your accounts. If you leave them open you will always rely on them, keeping you in financial slavery. Use cash to spend only on what you can afford.

3. Buy a car and pay it off.

One of the biggest steps to financial freedom is purchasing a car. Our culture is addicted to leasing cars, but they are actually putting their money to work against them. Leased cars are never yours and you never stop paying for them. Money is a tool. Use it to your advantage. Make it work for you, don’t work for it unnecessarily.

4. Live for you.

If you seek flashy things outside your pay-grade, chances are you are doing it to prove something to others. Live for you. Under your own means. Revisit your mission statement and stay focused. What other people want from you doesn’t concern you. Use your money to accomplish the life you deserve.

5. Declutter.

Declutter your fridge, your desk, your closet. See what necessities are missing and only buy those. Nothing else. Find simplicity in your life. The less you have the less time you have to spend cleaning and organizing. Decluttering your life opens up your schedule to focus on your goals.