002. The single mindset shift that transformed the way I looked at money

After reading dozens of personal finance books written by self-made millionaires, listening to podcasts about money and watching tons of YouTube videos about wealth building, I started to see some ideas repeating one after the other.

All of them together shaped a life style, a state of being and behaving. 

They were not an "easy fix" or a specific action that magically could move a person from broke to millionaire.

However, it all starts somewhere. And for me, it was all about starting thinking long term.

 By long term, it means to ask yourself: in which direction do I want my life to go in the next 10 or 20 years?

This question is very powerful. Even though, sounds simple, it made me laser focus on the life I want to build and how my actions of today are building blocks to get there, one action at a time.

After several months (yes months!) of reflecting and brainstorming, I could finally see with clarity the life I want to build for myself on a long term.

This long term visualization became my north star to take decisions today and ask myself: "Is this action taking me closer of further away from my goals?".

Just by shifting my mindset from short term to long term my decisions started to change. Suddenly, some decisions as I previously use to take them did not make sense anymore.

It is human nature to focus on the short term. Focusing on:

• What am I going to have for dinner tonight?
• What am I going to do this weekend?
• Where am I going on holidays next month?

Specially, after working 8 hours or more and the responsibilities at home, it is easy to set you in "survival mode", trying to solve the immediate situations happening on an every day basis.

I have to tell you, being locked in that short term loop is a trap for your wealth building. You can only build wealth if you shift your mindset to long term.

Building wealth is a long term game. There are no shortcuts or quick ways to do it. And if you get offered one quick way, it probably is a scam.

Then, how can I shift my mindset from short to long term view?

First you have to take some time off from the every day worries and tasks and give yourself a moment to reflect on what you want. 

This can take weeks or even months. We normally are pretty sure of what we do not want, but when it comes to what we really want, things tend to get blurry. Therefore, time and reflection are necessary to gain clarity. 

You need to know what you want. There is no shortcut here. Do the thinking. If it helps, journal and write everything that comes to your mind. This will help you gain clarity on your thoughts. Trust me, it has worked for me. PRO TIP: journal handwritting, not in a phone or screen. Somehow your hand movements connect with your brain and clarity comes. There should be research about this connection, but it is beyond the scope of this post.

I could tell you SO MUCH! but I will keep myself in the scope for now. Let´s leave some materials for the coming posts.

Once you have clarity on your objectives, LONG TERM OBJECTIVES, then it is easier to have them in mind for your every day decisions.

For example, let´s say you want to retire in 15 years. This is your long term objective.

Then you can work your way backwards until now and review, what do you need to do today to enable this objective to come true?

Very powerful!

Be aware of every day distractions

I have to tell you by experience that keeping the focus can be challenging during the every day given all distractions that come their way.

No one else, and read it again, no one else cares about your objectives. ONLY YOU.

It is YOUR JOB to keep them alive and work to bring them to reality.

You can do it, I know you do. 

A proof of it is that you are here reading this post about building wealth.

See you in the next post. 

And remember, I am a DM away in case you have any question or want to share how you liked this post.

I will be happy to read you.

Dolores Gavino

Female Wealth Builders Founder