Monday, March 11, 2013

Becoming a Millionaire: Finish what you started

A major struggle for me is that I become obsessed with new hobbies or plans, take it as far as it is easy, and drop it once it becomes to difficult, or when I get tired of it.

A while ago, I set a goal to become a millionaire by the time I'm thirty. Technically, this is not a personal value I'm giving to myself. The goal is really more that Conrad and I both become millionaires, as a family, by the time we're thirty (but since his 30 is in 3 years, and mine is in 6, we're going with mine, so we have some extra time). I got really excited with the goal, got motivated enough to become an eyelash extension technician, then, as is true to myself, kind of... dropped it.

It got hard. It was really difficult to build a client base. I had to spend a lot more of our money than I had anticipated (certification costs, supplies, marketing, etc.), and that was discouraging. So I quit for a while.

And then I realized that successful people don't quit when it gets difficult. In fact, they often choose a difficult path on purpose because they tend to have higher rewards once accomplished. In my head, I think I'm one of those successful people, but when I stopped and looked at my actions, I realized I wasn't. That grossed me out, so I decided to knock it right off.

We set up a monthly budget plan that is really helping us save money. My funds are way more limited than they've ever been, and I'm responsible for budgeting for gas, groceries, and other needs and wants from my own account. This means that any marketing costs I want to splurge on need to be planned, otherwise we'll be eating canned beans for the last ten days of the month because I can't afford groceries. So I'm saving my money each month to get some flyers and business cards made. I made my own website, which you can do on blogger, tumblr, weebly, wordpress, etc. It's pretty easy, and it will always save you money to do it yourself. Plus, you'll have learned how to create a simple website, which I think is a skill everyone should have.

So now, after a brief hiatus due to laziness and lack of motivation, I'm back on board with my goal. This brings me to the thesis of this post:

Finish what you started. If you set a goal, follow through. 

I'll be working on this step for a while, since I so often drop a project as soon as I get too far outside my comfort zone of easiness.

I thought I'd describe exactly what "becoming a millionaire" means to me, and break down some of the specific ways we plan to make money and increase our net worth over the next 6 years.

Click here to read why I chose this goal.

For us, becoming millionaires doesn't mean we have a million dollars sitting in the bank. I don't have time to raise that kind of money, nor do I think it's wise to have that much cash sitting in one place. Being a millionaire means that when you count the value of all of your assets, your total worth is greater than $999,999.99.
  • Buy multiple houses, condos, apartment complexes, etc., and rent them out. Rent is generally higher than a monthly mortgage, which means you can buy a house, rent it out, and basically have someone else pay your mortgage for you and give you some extra cash each month. This is how we hope to be making most of our money by the end of the six years.
  • Make money in my spare time out of the house doing eyelashes out of the home. This is something I can build on over time and do even when I have kids. 
  • Conrad's day job. He's a civil engineer and he'll be certified and finished with all his testing in July 2013, which means he'll be free to start his own firm if he wants. This is currently our main income, and it is how we have been saving for future home purchases.
  • Conrad's "side projects" (apps, his own websites and businesses, web development for others). We call them side projects, but only because he already has a day job; he could easily turn this into a full-time thing. In the last year, he's discovered a real talent and joy in web development, and has had at least ten long-term projects/clients that have been pretty fruitful. He may choose to go solely into this field in the future. 
  • Various other smaller projects. 
I want to talk mainly about my own personal goals though, since Conrad's kind of already got it all figured out (remember, he's a little older, so he's had more time to get his stuff together).

Doing eyelashes
Write a biography about someone (in progress)
Write an ebook
Write a novel
Help Conrad with his projects

Here's some advice pertaining to today's post:

Don't do things you hate. If a certain job or task makes you want to become a serial killer, don't do it. I hate babysitting. Other people's kids are kind of the worst. If you hate writing, maybe you should set aside that goal you have to write a successful series. If you hate cooking, maybe being a line cook isn't something you should be doing.

Over the course of this blog series, I'd like to talk more about setting and accomplishing goals, and share advice I've found helpful. I'd also LOVE if you shared advice you have when it comes to running a business, accomplishing difficult goals, and staying motivated! Tell me in the comments, and leave a link if you've written a post about this!

3 comments:

  1. i love the fact that, while this is a huge goal, you both have no problem working (together) to achieve it. not to get all preachy, but so many people today are so lazy, no work ethic, expect others to take care of themselves, so the fact you're going to try to do this is so great and i wish moer people were like this!! :)

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    1. Aw thanks! I've noticed that so many people expect happiness, success, and wealth to come to them, and it almost never does, unless they inherit a successful company by chance.

      We decided to work hard and make things happen, so that when we're older and have several kids, we'll be comfortable and be able to do things that we want to do.

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  2. You speak the truth about doing something you enjoy. Something I've also found to be true is that, especially when it comes to having your own business, you need to show confidence in yourself. If you don't believe you can build a client base nobody else has any reason to believe it either.

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Thanks for your comment!