Productivity

“We’re heading to Belize with some friends to go diving at the Great Blue Hole near Belize — you should come! Can you make it?”
“Umm…I’m not sure if I have the funds for that. Let me think about it and get back to you.”
Or…
“This is a really great investment opportunity. They are multi-family apartment complexes, and you’ll receive a check in the mail every month.”
“Hmm…I don’t have enough in my checking right now, and I don’t want to touch my savings for this.”
Face palm. Sound familiar? What if there was a way to know exactly how much money you had available in each category of your life? What if you could have your finances completely automated?
Ah, well there is a way, friendo. Use the strategies and tools in this post to do just that. Get rid of most (if not all) of your worries about money, and know exactly where you stand financially. It’ll also become a lot easier to say yes or no to Belize trips (and there’s nothing wrong with saying no — here’s how to do that the nice way).

Real freedom is the ability to do what you want, when you want, how you want. — Tweet this!

Understanding how the rich think about money is a great start, but it’s only part of the puzzle.  The other piece is having your finances on lock down and being able to make decisions confidently.
This is about shifting from a reactive mode to a proactive one. This will result in much less time spent on finances and feeling way more in control. I’ve been using the strategies in this guide successfully for almost ten years. The key is to take action and implement each step right now.
Personal finances are also an important part of becoming a full-time solopreneur. Knowing when to make the change and having your finances in order is key.
A common roadblock to becoming a solopreneur is the fear of not having enough money. Handling this is critical to your long-term success.
After all, you want freedom, but who wants to live like a college student again and eat Cup Noodles again?
 

Get Organized the Easy Way

This is pretty much Step 0. It is important that you get organized and immediately begin tracking a high-level view of your finances.
The fastest and easiest way to do this is with a Mint.com account. I don’t see any reason to use another service, as this one is already a proven, popular solution and has all the features you’ll need. Let’s not complicate this, it’s about getting started.
Mint gives you the detailed, transactional level information you need. You’ll also get a high level overview of your finances, i.e., you’ll see your cash flow and balances across all accounts. This service is customizable and comes with a ton of features to take your finance game to the next level.
Once you’re set up and comfortable with the interface, I’d recommend setting up a few budgets and goals to make the most of it.
 

Set up Your Banking

If you’re still hanging out at a brick-and-mortar bank, you must have been around when people took a horse and carriage to Wells Fargo. If that’s you, I’ll make this as painless as possible.
Instead of asking you to switch and let go of your beloved bank and favorite teller, I kindly suggest that you open a free account with the online bank I mention below. Once you start using them, I virtually (hehe) guarantee you’ll go all in and will forget all about J.P. Morgan and the others in the ol’ boys club.

Capital One 360

Formerly known as ING Direct, Capital One 360 is the foundation and secret to automating your personal finances. It’s free, there are no fees for anything (in fact, you even earn interest on your checking), no minimums, and it’s simple to use. You can also have up to 25 free savings accounts, but it’s the Automated Savings Plan feature that makes this all so appealing.
This is modern banking at its finest, which means there are no physical banks for you to visit — everything happens online. Don’t panic, just give it a shot and you’ll see.
This is the key to automation, and is a necessary piece of this system — click here to sign up for a free account now and you’ll also get $50 through my link. 
 

Automation of Your Savings and Spending

First of all, let’s correct one  important piece: I want you to never pay another ATM fee again. I know, “that’s easier said that done”. But that’s why you have me in your life.
Here’s everything you need to know on how to do that: Get Rid of ATM Fees Once and For All.
Now, the next step is to set up your Automated Savings Plan. As we both know, it’s difficult to budget your money and try to save some cash. By the end of the month,  little remains.
That’s why it’s important to do this automatically, before the money ever goes into your pocket. It also prevents you from feeling a sense of loss, since you never had the money anyway.
With Capital One 360, you’ll want to create a handful of free savings accounts that match up to your different lifestyle needs — get creative with this.
 

Examples of Automated Savings Accounts

You can change these whenever as needed, and can add up to 25 different accounts.

Some More Great Examples

1. Gifts – I love this for budgeting in birthday and holiday presents.
2. Wedding – You know…
3. Real Estate – Save for your first home or an investment property.
4. Short-term savings – You never know!
5. Going out (fancy dinners, drinks, etc.) – I love this, no guilt for spending frivolously on indulging.

The idea here is to use the Automated Savings Plan and begin building up the balance in each of these accounts. For example, on the 1st of each month $50 gets transferred from your checking to your Shopping account. $100 gets transferred to your Long-term Savings account, and so on.
Now, when your friend asks if you want to go to Belize, you look at your Travel fund and decide whether you can afford it (and see how big you can go). You’ll also know what your exact budget is for the trip, and you’ll never need to spend a dime for your checking account — boom! It’s a beautiful thing, right?
 

Pay Your Bills Without Thinking

If you’re still paying your bills by sending in checks with cute little envelopes and holiday-themed stamps, there’s no hope for you. But if you’re ready to automate the process and have some idea of how to do this online, I may be able to help.
 

How to Properly Pay Your Bills

1. Call every company you pay a bill to each month (or have your personal Fancy Hands assistant do it) and make sure all your payments are due around the same time each month. This is doable with most companies, but some old school ones may be a little less flexible. Arman’s tip: Adjust the due date to right after you are usually paid or paying yourself.
2. Sign up for paperless billing. You don’t need the papers. There’s nothing fun about getting bills in the mail, and it’s better for the environment. If you ever need a copy of an old bill it’s available online.
3. Sign up for automated payments. Make sure all your bills get paid automatically, without you ever thinking about it. Whatever excuse you have for wanting to pay your bills yourself, lose it. You will save hours per month and feel a massive sense of relief. Go focus on making more money, not managing it.
4. Check your transaction history once a month through Mint.com. You don’t need to check your finances more than this, and it should only take 30 minutes. Every once in a while there may be a fraudulent charge or something that looks funny, and this should take care of that.

I shouldn’t even have to say this, but: never carry a balance on your credit cards, pay off your debts in full each month, and try not to owe anything to anyone. If you’re in any kind of debt, make it your number one priority to pay it all off as soon as possible. Sacrifice and do whatever it takes, this is so important. 
 

Long-Term Savings

A long-term savings plan is crucial, although not nearly as important as creating wealth (see below). There will be times when you need to be ready for a financial drought, especially if you work for yourself or plan to at any point.
Make sure you are using the Automated Savings Plan feature and put as much as possible into that account at the beginning of each month. Have a goal to hit a certain number by a certain time, e.g. $50,000 within X months.
Once you hit that number, begin taking any excess and invest in assets. Choose things like real estate, stocks, gold/silver, or any asset class you have interest in. You should also be doing this with your Investment savings account.
 

Investing and Creating Wealth

As I explain in this post, money (cash) does not equal wealth. This is a misconception and lie that our environment has instilled in us over many generations. The rich are not on a hunt to accumulate as much cash as possible, they measure their wealth through their net worth.
The idea is not to get cash, but to accumulate assets that trickle off cash over time. You want to achieve a point of living off the interest of your assets. Allow the principle to stay put, or rollover into other investment vehicles.
Become interested in one specific asset class at first, (e.g. real estate) and achieve a level of mastery in your knowledge. From there, you should also remember to diversify how you allocate your investments.
Don’t try to do this alone, especially if it isn’t something you’re already passionate about.  The same way you need a consultant to help grow your business, you need a wealth advisor to help grow your investments.

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Photo credit: Lendingmemo — CC license
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Total Reading Time: 4 minutes.
Over the past few months I’ve discovered a big secret, and experienced a massive paradigm shift…AKA a holy sh*t moment.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been studying money, wealth, and business — yet it took me this long to figure out the secret. If you look at my bookshelf, the word “money” or “rich” appears on many of the books.
The main motivation (the big why) for wanting to be rich, is probably the same as yours: complete financial freedom.
The ability to do what you want, when you want, how you want…even with who you want — and never worry about paying for any of it.
Now I’ve always thought that to become financially free and wealthy you had to accumulate as much money as possible. This could be through your work, business, investments, or side-gigs. This is 100% wrong.
After years of studying this topic I’ve only recently discovered the secret: cash is not the path to wealth.
Cash, in and of itself, is an awful way to accumulate wealth. Having a massive piggy bank of cash doesn’t help (for many reasons that I won’t dig into on this post). Net worth has very little to do with cash.
Through the centuries and since the invention of money backed by nothing (fiat currency), we’ve been led to believe that it’s all about the cash.
Most will never know how wealth works. Most people don’t understand the fractional reserve system, fiat currency, or even debt.
Is this an intentional conspiracy by the 1% rich against the rest of us? Not if you ask me. I believe if you want to live in that reality you can. You’ll find the answers you’re looking for.
What I do believe is that understanding how money works is where you start. That understanding will instantly help you change the way you think and feel about money.
I also believe that most of the modern rich are good people who have worked hard for their success and wealth. Success leaves clues.

So What Is Wealth?

Wealth is the accumulation of assets, not cash. Most of us have heard this before, but what is a real asset?
Your assets should trickle off cash/interest, which you can then spend and live off. e.g., real estate investments that earn you a monthly check, or stocks that pay dividends.
Most people think assets are cars or new TV’s, so they end up in the same place they started. To become financially free and wealthy we need to redefine money and our habits around it.
In a capitalist, consumer society that relies on world-class marketing to influence your purchasing habits, you’re screwed if you don’t wake up.
Companies make money by making you feel like you’re not good enough (in many ways). They want you to make a purchase to solve your problems. Yes this is a bit gloomy, but it’s not a conspiracy — just a truth of marketing (which can be used for good and bad).

Testing the Theory

Wealthy people are not the ones you think. In The Millionaire Next Door, Thomas Stanley shows us that the millionaires in this world aren’t driving Ferrari’s and living in yachts. They’re driving dependable, used cars (or maybe a classic car that appreciates in value over time), and only investing in what they need.
We’re getting our ideas of what it means to be rich from Instagram and reality TV, which are just marketable one-off BS examples of wealth. The real rich don’t even want you to know they’re wealthy. They don’t care about appearances, or what we think about their spending habits.
They’ve figured out the secret to accumulating and keeping wealth (the latter being the harder part). They don’t play by the same rules the rest of society does. If you study these people you’ll learn this for yourself.
Here’s the biggest thing you’ll find: they all have a bulletproof growth mindset. Thought you could get away from the internal game/mindset stuff for a bit? You can’t. Wealth is only limited by your own mental limits.

The Wealth Formula

As always, it all comes down to freedom. The point of money is to provide the experiences we desire most in life. The only way to do that is to master it.

Create Value through Your Confluence —> Turn Value into Income —> Invest Money in Assets = Wealth 

The Next Step

To make the shift now, move your income into assets. Decide on one reliable method to accumulate the income: your job, your own solopreneur business, a side business, etc.
Then decide on one asset class that you want to learn and master. Your focus going forward will be to invest all your cash into assets within that category e.g. a business, real estate, stocks, or any investments that trickle off cash flow.
Have fun. Use it for good.

Links to Resources

1. The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley
2. Self Made Wealth – This online course by Eben Pagan is the most fantastic resource on wealth and money I’ve ever discovered. Unfortunately the class is now closed, but may re-open again in the future, so I’d recommend signing up for the waiting list.
3. I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi – I first read this book years ago, but it was instrumental in building the foundation of my personal finance habits. This book is all about automating your finances and making it as easy as possible.

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What are your thoughts on money and wealth? What resources have been helpful for you personally? Please leave a comment below, I’d love to hear from you.
Photo credit: Wealth — CC license

Total Reading Time: 7 minutes.
If you don’t implement this weekly exercise soon, your precious texting thumbs could fall off.
Okay, now that I’ve got your attention, let me give you a brief introduction to the single greatest (and most effective) productivity ritual I’ve ever discovered: The Hour of Primetime.
Simply put, the Hour of Primetime is a weekly review. This ritual and exercise is something all high-performers and achievers complete in one form or another.
You may have heard of people performing an annual review (I have some free templates you can download here). This is quite similar, and is a necessary component for achieving the objectives you set for yourself each year. This exercise can change your life, and will if you apply it weekly. It is the single greatest discovery I have made, and I’ve taught this exact weekly exercise to countless friends and mentoring clients.
This is about being effective, not just productive (for more on that see the ultimate guide to productivity). It’s also about having a fulfilled life, across the many different categories that matter to you.
Years ago I went through an audio program by Tony Robbins called The Time of Your Life. It’s a fantastic program and I highly recommend it. One particular specific section really stood out to me and has formed the basis of this weekly review exercise.
I’ve made a lot of custom tweaks and added more systemized structure to make this easy to follow and implement for you. I’ve also put together all the materials you’ll need to get started today.
 

Hour of Primetime: The Weekly Review Ritual

Every week set aside one hour for yourself. It’s you time. What a concept, right?
I do this every Sunday morning, and I recommend you pick a set time as well.
You’ll be writing, so either have a special notebook for this or print out the downloadable template below. During this exercise you’re going to really observe what’s going on in your life and start planning ahead.
It’s an opportunity for you to get everything out of your head and live proactively.
It’s also an opportunity for you to review your progress and “rate” yourself in the different areas of your life, like the annual review.
 

Step 1. Visualize

Take 5-10 minutes, close your eyes (do this!), and think about the outcomes you want for your life. Trust me on this. Visualize it vividly.
Try to think long-term. Why do you do what you do? What are you actually working toward? What’s your ultimate vision of success, happiness, wealth?
What does it look like? What does it feel like? Feel the thoughts and see the images as if you’re already there. Get clarity on what you’re working toward.
Always ask yourself “what’s my outcome?”.
Make sure you don’t skip step #1. The rest will not work without it.
 

Step 2. The Seven Areas of Your Life

After you’re nice and juiced on these fun thoughts — head to the notepad (you can do this in a special notepad, in a journal, Evernote, or even a Google Doc).
Rate yourself on a scale of 1-10 on the 7 key areas of your life. Feel free to switch this up if you want, but these categories should cover everything.
Seven key areas of your life: Relationships (significant other, family, and friends), Health, Spiritual, Career, Finances/Cash Flow, Emotions/Meaning, and Celebration.
Review the past week and think about how well you did compared to the desired level, with 10 being the absolute best.
 

Step 3. Accomplishments

Review your week…and don’t do this quickly. Think about it in your mind. Reflect and list out all the little accomplishments and magic moments you had.
Think moments of laughter. Think about accomplishments at work. Think about the awesome little moments that made you smile. Think about memories with family and friends, or the special woman/man in your life. You get the idea.
Note: I like to open my calendar when I’m doing this to help jar my memory and reminisce about the week.
List them all out, and feel good about them again. Feel proud and let yourself remember all these incredible accomplishments. We don’t revisit these memories and experiences very often normally, do we?
This step should make you feel fantastic and give you a sense of immediate fulfillment.
 

Step 4. Areas to Improve

Start thinking about things you didn’t do or areas you could improve upon (refer to the 7 areas of your life to get ideas). Now list them out.
Did you make any mistakes? Were you short-tempered with anyone? Did you not exercise when you intended to? As weeks go on you may start to see patterns here. That’s your hint!
It’s an area you need to address and an old habit you’ve (unconsciously) built into your life. Now don’t feel bad about yourself here after getting pumped up in step 3.
This isn’t about punishing yourself. Just think specifically about areas you can improve or things you didn’t do and would have liked to.
 

Step 5. Capture

Shake out those thoughts now. This step feels really good. Start thinking about all the little thoughts, worries, and to-dos that are occupying your mind.
Think of the thoughts that keep popping into your mind, especially the ones that nag at you or you keep procrastinating on.
Capture everything. Write them all down. Feels good right?
 

Step 6. Batch Into Outcomes

Look at everything you just captured. Now try to find common outcomes between the different things you captured. Look at the Seven Key Areas of Your Life to see how these pieces might be connected.
Example: running a mile in the morning AND buying a supplement/vitamin AND juicing green vegetables AND researching standing desks are all actually related!
They’re both part of the same outcome: Get fit. Which falls under Health. So why get fit? Maybe because you want a stronger and healthier physical body. But why? To have a high level of energy so you can handle anything as it comes at you and increase your vitality.
See what we did there? You need to look at your ultimate outcomes. Group them together.
Another example: Calling your business partner to discuss a potential new client opportunity AND needing to correct the images on your website because they’re outdated.
Both part of the same outcome: Grow your business. Which falls under Career. Again, group them together.
Do this for all of the items you captured.
 

Step 7. Schedule it

Take everything you just grouped together into larger “outcomes” and schedule them into your calendar for the week (and beyond if needed).
Do your absolute best to group the related tasks that have the same outcomes together. This way working on each task doesn’t feel like a task, it feels like part of the same outcome. You’ll constantly be reminded of why you’re doing what you do.

What gets scheduled gets done.

Note: As you’re performing tasks try to remember the outcome you’re working on. Remember that it’s always part of a bigger picture and grander outcome.
Let the stress go away when one simple little task bothers you. The worry and stress is bad for your health and isn’t serving you.
When scheduling these blocks of tasks/outcomes into your calendar, give yourself room to breathe. Don’t schedule 10 blocks back-to-back.
Try to narrow down and distinguish among your weekly outcomes which ones are absolute musts. Meaning, know which ones must get done vs. the ones you’d like to get done.
If something doesn’t need to be done that week—schedule it in your calendar at the appropriate time and save that space now (it’s okay if you end up changing this).
Also, remember to schedule some personal you time also. Instead of getting distracted by little things you can now stick to this schedule and look forward to the pre-scheduled relaxation/do-whatever/chill-out time.
I have a block of time every Friday where I just watch videos, catch up on reading, goof around—whatever.
 

Step 8. Bonus: Pat yourself on the back

You’re now light-years beyond how the average human being deals with the many areas of life, let alone how they schedule their days.
Remember that what gets scheduled, gets done. With time you will be able to handle whatever comes at you. Don’t panic, stick to the outcomes. Enjoy the journey.
 

Bonus

Did you enjoy this weekly review exercise? I’ve created a PDF version of this for you to download and keep forever. I’ve also included a template you can use each week to actually perform the weekly review.
Just enter your best email below and you’ll be able to download everything. 
*Photo credit: Super Human — CC License

Total Reading Time: 2.5 Minutes
When I was in high school, I became an expert in the art of procrastination. And believe me, I was damn good. I would somehow complete homework assignments the morning they were due, and take tests with minimal studying (i.e. glancing at the chapters the night before). For years I said, “I just work better under pressure. I wait until the last minute because that’s when I get laser focused and do good work.”
Cool story. Well, I got away with that in school, but it doesn’t work in the real world. We humans are basically a combination of three things:

1. How we’re wired
2. Our environment
3. Our choices

However — nothing is more powerful than choice.
Procrastination is one of the most negative forces in the world. You already know why you procrastinate, but I’m going to break it down for you. The act of procrastination is caused by two character traits (more on this below). These two traits actually form habits that cause us to fall into unconscious patterns of procrastination.
Get good at these two things, and you’ll quickly become a habitual, lifelong procrastinator. Procrastination causes failed businesses, lost jobs, lost opportunities, poor performance, a general lack of creativity, and an overall poor quality of life.
Every procrastinator has a reason for procrastinating. This is similar to a smoker who tells themselves that one or two cigarettes a day is okay, or the person who can’t unwind at night without a glass of firewater.
 

The Procrastinator’s Formula

Want to know exactly what causes procrastination? There’s a very specific formula…

Laziness + Indifference = Procrastination

(Tweet the formula)

If I were you, I wouldn’t take your procrastinating ways too lightly. But I’ll be honest, I didn’t purposely or consciously just stop procrastinating one day. That wasn’t my goal. Ending procrastination was a byproduct of another event, which I achieved over time.
The day I realized the change and could sense its permanency, I was ecstatic. After some analysis, it became crystal clear:
I was finally living with a purpose. I wasn’t aimlessly going about my days anymore. I wasn’t floating along and living someone else’s life, occasionally getting a pat on the back over things that were meaningless to me.
I had a clear, definite, unbreakable plan. If you want to stop procrastinating and live a fulfilled life, you have to get hungry. You have to make the choice that you only get one shot at this, and that it’s not worth playing small.

This is something Napoleon Hill, author of one of the bestselling books of all time, calls “definiteness of purpose”.
Here’s the scariest part: too much procrastinating will eventually lead to complete wandering or drifting.

Laziness + Indifference = Procrastination = Drifting

 
A drifter is someone who lacks purpose and passion. Sometimes this person goes through negative spirals and doesn’t even understand why (see this case study for more on this). A drifter has fallen completely into an unconscious pattern, and this can become a permanent rhythm.
 

Conclusion

To stop procrastinating, start caring. Deep down, we already know this is the answer. It’s not a matter of having a workflow or productivity guide. It’s not about learning how to focus better or get into a flow.
The root cause of this is our laziness and indifference. You can remedy this by using your mind consciously and having a definite purpose.

Definite Purpose + Burning Desire + Actionable Plans = Fulfilled Rockstar

 
Don’t know what your purpose is? I’d bet that you already know exactly what it is. I’ve found that people who say this usually have the answer but won’t allow themselves to believe it’s possible. Either way, just continue growing and making small changes — it will become more clear to you every day.
Once you have it, don’t let it go. Focus on this and only this. This is the fastest, easiest, and most direct way to eliminate procrastination forever.
 

Links to Resources

1. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
2. Outwitting the Devil by Napoleon Hill
3. Procrastination and Task Avoidance: Theory, Research, and Treatment by JR Ferrari, JL Johnson, WG McCown

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Photo credit: To Do List — CC License