how to earn enough money to afford all the things you want in life

Short answer: Believing you’re worthy and taking action!

Long answer:

How do you grow up in a household where the main income earner works in a factory earning $3.50 per hour to end up with your own 6-figure business? Plus, be able to “part-time retire” at the age of 33 and begin traveling the world at the age of 34? All the while being able to live in different amazing locations and having many great experiences while raising a large family?

For me it was sheer determination, pure stubbornness, and a burning desire to break molds.

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I want to ask YOU some questions now that you should start asking yourself:

The answers to these questions are the key factors affecting how much money you’re earning and will earn in your lifetime. They also determine what you will accomplish with the money you get to have.

In my experience it all came down to 5 simple things:

1. Self-Worth

How much do you value yourself? Is it enough to put yourself first? Even if you’re a parent, are your dreams on top? Are they a priority every day? Are YOU a priority?

Putting yourself first is lesson #1 to your children. Teach them that their dreams matter by showing them your dreams matter.

One of the things that drives me crazy in our society is how some women act like having children is a the end all be all. Some women believe that having children means their life is over. Worse are the men or other women in our lives who make us feel that way whether they’re our partners, spouses, bosses, colleagues, or friends. Your role as a mother (a.k.a. an usher of the next generation) does not mean your dreams are to be abandoned. They may change, but you should never give them up. I’m in my mid-forties with 4 kids ages 15 to 26 and I come up with new goals and new dreams to work on on a regular basis.

My kids talk about when I’m on a rocking chair with them taking care of me. I tell them it’ll be at least 40 more years until that happens.

I still have so much to accomplish and ageism is not stopping me. I held on to the adage “life begins at 40” as stated by American author Walter B. Pitkin.

I mean why not?

I was able to build a bootstrapped business at the age of 28 while married and raising 4 kids. We lived in nice places, we ate healthy, my kids went to good schools. No, we weren’t rich. I just knew what kind of life I wanted to design for myself and every day I worked as hard as I could to make it happen. I gave up watching TV, wearing designer clothes, driving expensive cars, and other luxuries some in the western world consider necessities. I basically gave up materialism and opted for minimalism very early on. I didn’t stop treating myself but I did it more with experiences rather than material things. I never gave in to the pressure of trying to impress others, and instead, I focused on living in nice places and eating healthy. Things that actually affected our longevity and quality of life, not how we “looked” to the world.

Before I started my own business I only took on jobs with bosses that valued my skills and experience. The ones that took me seriously and didn’t exploit me. They paid me what I was worth because I knew what I brought to the table. In the beginning, that simply consisted of my problem solving skills, reliability, the hunger to learn, and fairness. I wouldn’t do anything to my bosses or to their business that I wouldn’t want done to myself or my future business. This resulted in me working with the highest of standards and impeccable integrity. I went the extra mile and worked on having foresight to my bosses’ and the companies’ needs. Needless to say my bosses appreciated me and were comfortable with relying on me. That in turn made them want to compensate me for my hard work.

I’ve always believed in karma (reciprocal energy) so I never sent out what I didn’t want coming back to me. I sent out these things and the energy came back in the form of money to support my family and my dreams.

What is important to you? What do you prioritize in your life? i.e. your dreams or someone else’s? Do you believe you can do anything? Are you determined enough to make a good life for yourself? Do you want it bad enough to work as hard as you need to?

2. Your Relationship with Money

The way you think, feel, and act towards and around money determines how much you’ll earn.

There’s a reason why Dale Carnegie’s research recounted in “Think and Grow Rich” came to the conclusion that one of the hardest circumstances to overcome (“almost impossible”) is being born in poverty. This is due to being raised with a certain mentality, beliefs and affirmations related to lack and hopelessness. To add insult to injury, in these environments it is often where you’ll also encounter a lot of negativity, put-downs and scoffing when you try to do anything for yourself to leave this environment. Even in these times when there’s a lot of pressure to be “positive,” you will always have the naysayers trying to hold you down. And no, you don’t have to be poor to encounter that.

Why does that happen? Because you remind those naysayers that they too can change their situation if they really wanted to. You remind them it’s up to them and not some external circumstance.

Long ago, before all the mindset craze we see these days, I learned that money is just another relationship in your life. (Isn’t everything?)

I also learned that money is energy just like everything else in this universe. If you’re constantly repelling money with bad energy, how do you suppose it will come to you and stay? Money does not want to be around those who don’t want it. If you think having money is evil, why would it stay?

Just like any other relationship, you must work on your relationship with money.

I view it as a very powerful tool needed in every day life to accomplish almost everything.

My mindset about money is what I’ve been working on pretty much my whole life. This is the answer to how I’ve been able to accomplish all I have even though I came from such a poor upbringing.

How do you attract money?

3. A Growth Mindset

Have you learned something new lately? Do you keep up with the times? Do you look for ways to increase your income by upgrading your skills and/or adding experience?

At the age of 12 I experienced a huge culture shock that fueled my curiosity and thirst for knowledge of things I’d not been exposed to. I saw how people behave and thrive in one place and not in others. Change has always been a guiding force in my life. It is after all the only thing that is constant in this life.

Are you willing to make small and drastic changes in your life any time is needed? How far are you from what you want to accomplish?

Have you taken inventory of your skills and experience; your strengths?; your weaknesses in need of improvement?

Make a list of those right now. Then make a list of where you want to be and the job or gig you want. What are the steps you need to take to get there?

If you want to dig deep into this consider taking one of these courses I created to fit any person, even though the company was created to give tools to single moms.

Another tool that has changed my life and helped me cultivate a great mindset is affirmations. Check out these affirmations in YouTube for moms. If you’re not a mom there are plenty of them in YouTube that will fit your situation.

4. Time is a currency

How do you spend it?

Another important factor that I believe determines how successful you are in any venture is how you use your time. If you’re constantly binging on Netflix or Hulu you can’t complain about your situation. Watching TV is one of the things I gave up when I started my business while raising my kids. That in itself made it possible to have time to do all I did to get here. If you’re coming home to plop yourself on the couch or bed and watch others live, nothing in this list will help you.

Reclaim your time and use it wisely.

If you lack energy hone in on what motivates you and energizes you, do that and then get to work. For me it’s music and having a certain amount of time to daydream, contemplate, think about what I’m trying to accomplish.

These days, I kid you not after 17 years of self-employment my main goals now are to enjoy life and write all about it here. It does get simpler as you get older and cross things off your bucket list. It wasn’t easy at all, but definitely worth it.

It’s never to late to reroute. You can improve your situation anytime no matter your age. No matter what’s been holding you back.

Fight all the “isms!” Age-ism, sex-ism, rac-ism, etc. I made it my goal to fight those in my life and get things done!

Another great book to read is How To Live On 24 Hours A Day. I recommend you read this review before reading it though.

4. Your support network or lack of

All the people that have come into your life have contributed to what your life is like right now. You must be grateful for those people. Not just the ones that helped you, supported you, and loved you, but also don’t forget about the ones who did the total opposite. The ones that hurt you or that you feel ruined your life because those were your greatest teachers.

I had a single mother that worked really hard to provide and took some big risks to find a better life with 3 little ones to care for. I learned what sheer determination and will power sprinkled with change will do to a person or a family.

I had a grandfather who was self-employed and my father had a natural talent and skillset that could earn him large amounts of money. My father was also self-employed for a time when I was little with the help of his father. All those things you absorb growing up have an impact on you.

Were they well off? No.

However, I learned that some people make their own schedule and decided who they answered to. Later I would be exposed to my aunt, my father’s sister, using her skills in a new place to earn some income. As I got older, even though we lived across the US from each other (she was in one coast and I in the other) she always shared with me all the possibilities of using my intelligence, skills, and experience to do my own thing. She did end up very well off in recent years after working very hard and making some very strategic moves.

I had a 7-year relationship that led to engagement with my high school sweetheart and a 12-year marriage that taught me a lot about life and relationships. The biggest lesson from both is that it matters who you surround yourself with. It can make or break you.

I am currently coming to terms with the fact that I didn’t have a lot of support in my adult years. This made me become my own cheerleader. That was my fuel to move forward. I have my birth family of course but I’m eager to find my soul tribe, my soul family. Those that can relate to my experiences and can teach me even more with theirs.

Surrounding yourself with others who have done what you’re trying to do or are at least on the path will boost your progress. Knowing the possibilities is all you need to get your curiosity going. If you let that curiosity grow to ambition and combine that with a strong will power, nothing can stop you.

We’re on a journey until we leave this earth. We might as well make it interesting!

5. Invest time and/or money

What do you have more of right now? Time or money?

We need both of course but there are many, many times you’ll have to decide which one you have more of and which one to spend more of at any given time. For example, when my kids were little my husband at the time earned just enough to pay bills. My new business started bringing in the extra money for anything else. Besides enjoying some of it on experiences with the kids I decided to spend what was left on a nanny.

I needed time. I had some money. I decided to use the money I had to buy time.

I needed the nanny to take care of our kids so I could spend my time in the office building my business. The foundation of my business.

I also sacrificed entertainment for a while and rented an office which helped legitimize my business and get me better quality clients. This later paid off tenfold about 5 years later when I flipped my business from a brick and mortar to virtual and I returned to working from home. I no longer needed a nanny because I was able to be home to send my kids off to school and pick them up every day. I had spent all my extra money on the nanny and all my extra time in the office to later have more time with my kids and more established clients. This in turn brought in more money.

I didn’t spend mindlessly once I brought in extra money. I invested in myself and my family by scraping a lot of what I earned to hire outside help for a defined purpose.

You must invest in yourself.

Invest time and money on the activities that will get you closer to your goals.

Consider investing in my How to Survive Thrive Financially course if you’re looking for guidance with your finances. Even if you’re not a mom, this information can help you!

If you don’t have a hold of your time or your money right now, get to it.

Time’s a wastin’!

Subscribe below and stay tuned for the upcoming post “why you’ll never be wealthy as an employee!“

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS, MEANING I GET A COMMISSION IF YOU DECIDE TO MAKE A PURCHASE THROUGH MY LINKS, AT NO COST TO YOU.