Here’s the tricky part about achieving success; it’s different for everyone. 78% of Americans consider themselves to be at least somewhat successful people, and who could say they’re wrong?
True success for one person might be having a vacation home and a big boat, while it might mean a secure retirement or physical health for someone else. Everybody has their definition, and that’s perfectly fine.
Regardless of how you define success in your own life or what you want, we all need a certain amount of money to achieve our goals. So whether you want to give your children a happy life, build a self-sustaining homestead, travel the world, or live a life of luxury, you will need money to succeed. During a recession, you will need to have a clear vision of new ideas and create the success you want. Here’s how.
Defining Success for You
Planning is the key to a successful life; you can’t have a plan without an end goal. So it’s time to start asking yourself questions and determining what you want out of life. From there, it will be a lot easier to plan.
Assess Your Financial Goals
It’s essential to understand how much capital or income you will need to succeed, regardless of what that means. So first, think of all the essentials for your home, recreation, transportation, childcare, and everything else important to you. From there, add it up and determine your needs.
Let’s say that you discover that you need $70,000 a year to live comfortably. In that case, you’ll want to earn more than that to save for a comfortable retirement. On the other hand, if you currently make less than that, you’ll need to add this to your plan.
Many believe they can never achieve a higher salary because of their line of work. Well, there’s always the option to change your line of work or become independent. On average, self-employed people are four times wealthier than traditionally employed people!
These goals could also include how you want to earn your money. For example, do you want to generate passive income, become self-employed, or start your own business? If so, you may need capital to start these endeavors, along with the right tools.
Define Your Personal Ambitions
If you want to build passive income streams, you’ll need either money or skills. For example, you can invest in stocks or REITs that yield dividends, lend to peers or family members, or other alternatives with enough money. To build a semi-passive income stream, you could invest in rental properties or start your own business and hire management.
Some people want passion in their work or a great career, which could be vital for you to feel fulfilled. If so, what skills or passions can be translated into a business endeavor? Hard work, effort, and a great work ethic can take you in the right direction.
Whatever you want, you need to know how to pursue these personal goals. For the best advice, you could find support from a professional small business coach to help you start your journey in pursuing your dreams.
Achieving Success in Life
While no dollar figure or financial threshold defines success, we will still discuss success from a financial point of view. To succeed and have security, you must keep your finances safe throughout every economic period. Here are some ideas.
Write Down Your Goals
We’ve established that success can’t happen without clear goals. Of course, determining those goals should be your priority, but writing them down is also essential.
Did you know that we are 42% more likely to achieve the goals we write down? It’s a simple step that can go a long way, as it helps us feel accountable to ourselves—This is a necessary mindset shift to help us stay focused for long-term success.
Practice Self-Discipline
Discipline is essential to achieve success, regardless of your industry or goals. If you want to be successful, you need to free yourself of distractions, work hard and actively choose to pursue your goals. This is true during any economic period, but especially during an uphill battle like a recession. You need to stay motivated!
You also need to adopt the mindset that everything that happens is a reflection of you and your work. Therefore, to succeed, you must be accountable for your actions.
Get Better At What You Do
Most successful people get that way by never being satisfied. If you fall into the trap of being in your comfort zone, you’ve already lost. Even if you’re 20 years into your career and believe you know it like the back of your hand, there are always areas where we can improve and do things differently.
Self-improvement is especially important if you want to run your own business or work independently. If you don’t have leadership experience, sales experience, or business operation experience, these are areas to work on immediately. Your education in this area could include reading books, attending workshops, watching YouTube videos, or whatever you want!
Remember that you’re only accountable to yourself, and everything that happens under your watch will reflect on you. Word will travel if you’re honest, serious, and highly skilled.
Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. Your clients or customers will catch on if you have a bad habit of being sloppy, undisciplined, or uncommunicative. There is no substitute for excellent service in the business world.
Save Money
Taking out loans and finding investors should be considered a last resort. Every definition of success will rely on capital, especially in the business world. The more you have on hand, the better.
Dipping into your savings is fine if it’s going to stimulate growth. There are plenty of justifiable expenses for future success that is worth saving up for, including:
- Business startup expenses
- Educational courses or coaching services
- Industry licensing
- Financial planning services
- Retirement savings
- Tax preparation
The list goes on, but taking out loans or investments will cut your future profits and take some of your success. Regularly saving money will prepare you for the worst, which is what we’re here to discuss.
Also, saving money will open up doors for you in the future. For example, if you decide to go back to school, start a business, or have children in the future, that extra savings can help with plans for success once you find your calling.
How to Achieve Success During a Recession
Saving money, writing down your goals, and developing the right mindsets are essential. However, there are outside forces that can still limit our mobility. Here’s how to be successful during any economic time!
Prepare for the Worst
Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. If you spend time and focus on planning when times are good, you’ll be prepared for when times are bad.
If you’re worried about the impending recession, that may not be what you want to hear. However, if you’re convinced that now is as good as it will get for a substantial period, then now is the perfect time to focus on planning.
Remember that this upcoming recession isn’t likely a one-time thing. Recessions come and go, and you must remain prepared for them and any new challenges that might come along!
Limit Debt
Debt can destroy your financial well-being. Any hit to your credit score can come back to haunt you, especially if you have limited income during a recession and need to take out loans.
Of course, debt is okay if you’re spending it wisely. Stimulating growth is essential for any business or self-employed person, and sometimes debt is a necessary evil. However, it needs to remain manageable and not ruin your financial success.
Paying off high-interest debts should be a top priority. $10,000 on a credit card could quickly turn into $12,500 in a year if you’re only making minimum payments. Prioritize and set goals to pay off these loans as quickly as possible.
Make Smart Investments
Investing is very important for recession-proof success. Without suitable investments, your savings will merely be eaten by inflation.
You can choose to make personal investments in your own business, education, or home. Otherwise, you can invest in stocks, bonds, ETFs, real estate, or whatever you want. Just try taking only calculated risks and play it on the safe side.
For example, value stocks tend to be safer than growth stocks. Value stocks like Coca-Cola are stocks that have been around for decades and have withstood plenty of recessions. Taking risks with growth stocks like small startups is too risky during recessions.
Capitalize on the Recession
Often, there are ways to invest in a recession and come out wealthier on the other side. There are plenty of recession strategies to choose from, even if it involves starting your own endeavor to pursue success.
Even if you don’t have the money for your endeavor now, devote time to use this period to plan. If being successful in life depends on a long-term plan, use your time wisely by planning and trying to save for it now.
Start Growing Today
Now that you know how to overcome obstacles, succeed and survive a recession, there’s no time like the present to put these tips to use.
Recessions don’t have to harm your finances (or mental health) if you don’t let them, so follow these tips and stay positive and secure!
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We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
