We're now over half way through 2015 and its time to take stock.
If you started out this year looking to make your money online or just making money, it's time to ask yourself where you are. Are you achieving what you set out to do? Have you started that business? Have you done the things you said you would this year? Have you built your business? Is it growing?
Chances are the answer to most of those questions is no. Maybe you've started the business and by that I mean, there's been some activity which will vary from person to person and in your head this is the business you were thinking about when you said "I need to make some money to get out of this debt", but that might be the end of it.
If any of that is you (and I can understand it because it's so common), I'm here to light a bit of a fire under your arse.
If you wanted to get going and are thinking about it, respectfully - you need to get a move on.
And here's why.
I need you to take a look around and take stock of what you've been looking at for the last few months? Do you see it?
It maybe that you can see it but you don't see it for what it is. If you look around and you cast your mind back, you'll notice that not all has been well in the global economy. Please don't switch off here. Boring? Maybe, but it's important you read this.
After the 2008 crash, things weren't really going so well for the world economy. Some countries were doing okay such as China, Brazil and India, but on the whole there was a bit of a problem. That took some recovering from, but in reality plenty of places are still struggling and it's becoming more obvious (and this is the really important bit).
Look around on the Internet and you'll start to see more and more evidence of economies, banks and organisations beginning to struggle financially. There are lots of reasons for this, but one of the reasons is their interdependence. Many of these countries, banks and organisations are tied very closely to each other in various forms business etc. Take banks for instance. Many are invested in each other. The result is that something that happens to one has the potential to affect the other.
What has this got to do with me you might be asking. Well it's this.
Many of us have much of our future tied up in the success or failure of these countries, banks and institutions. Got a healthcare plan? The money you're paying in may well be being invested in one of these organisations. Got free healthcare? It's not really free, someone is paying for it somehow. Maybe it's your government collecting tax or it's borrowing the money from an international bank. Got an old age pension scheme? Got a mortgage for your house? Got a life insurance policy? Got savings in a bank?
All of these things involve money and they involve the performance of something we don't necessarily have control over. We are at their mercy. For many of us, these things we have assumed would be there for us. That's understandable because they have been for so long - until now. Given the changing nature of the world and the general instability in the global economy, many of these things are not doing what we expected them to do.
Many people entering retirement are finding their pensions worth only a small amount compared to what they've been paying in over the years. Why? Well one of the things I've noticed is that lots of organisations have noticed problems with their finances and simply changed the rules and the terms of their agreement. Lots of agreements and promises are simply being reneged on. Contracts you entered into in good faith are not being honoured.
People all over the world are finding that the promises that were made to them about their futures are simply not being honoured. Is it bad business. No, it's not bad business. It's terrible business. Whole futures are being smashed.
That becomes our problem. Many of the things we expected for our future are having the rules changed. The key thing here is that we relied on other people. What we're finding though, is that when rely on others we end getting what they decide they're going to give us. They keep changing the rules. It's like a game of musical chairs. The music keeps stopping and we're finding ourselves out of the game. Do we like it? No, but that doesn't mean the rules are going to change any time soon so we had better get used to it.
The problem for many of us is that when the music stops, not only do we find ourselves without a chair, but we have no idea what to do next.
That needs to change
What we have to do is start focusing on ourselves to save ourselves. The problems I've described above may well continue. For how long I do not know. The only answer is to be ready for whatever problem comes along.
One way to do that is to take charge of our own affairs, to switch on to what is happening to our future and be ready for it. That involves getting serious. For many of us, looking to make money online we're only looking at little niche product maybe. Whatever it is, many of us are just playing at it. We're tinkering around and not really getting anywhere. That needs to change.
If you're ready and you're building a business, you have a source of income. You have something else too. You have added knowledge and a focus on yourself. You're more in charge of your own affairs than you ever was. If you're building a business properly, you're thinking about your money in ways you never were. You're thinking of what to do next with it, to help you make more money. You're thinking about how to grow your business and to identify when its at risk. You're looking for new business ideas. The list is endless. Your money however is not in the hands of someone else any more - it's in your hands. Yes the rules may change, but if you're aware of that you can adapt. We can not change the circumstances but we can change our reaction to them.
You need to focus on your business - your future depends on it. No more tinkering around. No more buying endless new shiny products. Get yourself a business built. Get out there. Be successful. Your future depends on it.
