Motivation Archives - Page 2 of 20

The Secret To Your Success: 10 Years Of Unwavering Commitment

I strongly believe if you do one hard thing for 10 years in a row, you will achieve results far beyond your expectations. Don’t quit before giving your effort a chance to produce amazing results.

My belief of working on something for 10 years to achieve mastery first came from going to high school for four years, college for four years, and then finally business school for three years part-time. It wasn’t until after I went to business school that I felt like I had a solid grasp of finance.

10 years also comes from my experience working at one firm from 2001 – 2012. After 10 years, I realized a lot of good things can happen to one’s career and net worth.

10 years also comes from investing in the stock market and real estate market. Unless you’re extremely unlucky, chances are high that you will earn a nice return on your investments in any 10-year period.

10 years also comes from my adventures in achieving a 5.0 tennis rating at age 39 after starting with a 4.0 at age 29. Tennis ratings generally plateau or go down after 30. But after hundreds of hours of practice, it’s possible to get better.

Finally, 10 years comes from publishing 3X a week on average between July 2009 to July 2019 on Financial Samurai. I expected there to be a correlation between effort and growth. But I did not expect this site to grow to its existing size.

In this post, I’d like to share some personal thoughts to help you stick to your craft for 10 years or longer.

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Once You Have F You Money, It’s Hard To Tell Others To F Off!

Posted by Financial Samurai 67 Comments

FU Money, President Obama Based on over 2,000 votes, $5M is the #1 vote-getter to feel financially free. I personally chose $10M because $10M is what’s necessary to generate $200,000 in risk-free income based on today’s interest rates. Somewhere between $5M – $10M seems reasonable, depending on where you live.

The interesting thing I’ve discovered once you obtain F You money is that it’s still extremely difficult to tell others to F Off!

Everybody fantasizes about telling someone who wronged them in the past to go screw themselves, but once you get to this level of wealth it’s more common to turn apathetic than belligerent. Society has an incredible way of keeping people in check.

I’ve been tempted to tell internet trolls who judge me online while providing no value to the conversation to F Off, but instead, I almost always defer to a more inquisitive response. Using their perspective, I can often write a new comment commentary post with a new theme to keep the party going!

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Financial Samurai 2019 Mid-Year Review: Riding The Tsunami

Posted by Financial Samurai 49 Comments

After writing The Bear Market Checklist, I thought I’d follow my own advice and do a mid-year review. The last thing I want is to get broadsided because things feel so good.

So far, this year has been solid on the financial front. I haven’t felt this good since 2007, the year before everything fell to pieces.

I truly hope all of you are benefitting from this extraordinary bull market as well. 4Q2018 was such a dicey time period. It was hard for me to imagine things turning out as well they have since.

I’ve been trying to live it up, especially now that my boy is over two years old and is able to communicate better. We’re going on more trips and doing more things in public settings.

I’m also trying to be much more appreciative of the good times by constantly reflecting on the past. The more we can show gratitude, the better our lives will get.

Here is my 2019 mid-year update.

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Solving The Happiness Conundrum In Five Moves Or Less

Posted by Financial Samurai 65 Comments

Solving Happiness: Things That Will Make You Happier And Wealthier

After a tense 14-12 softball victory, the six of us went to a nearby brewery for some beers and burgers. I ended up sitting next to our centerfielder who told me he used to hate his life. Let’s call him Biff.

In high school, Biff was a popular guy. At 6′ 5″ tall, he played varsity baseball and varsity basketball. But he admitted he was sometimes cruel to the smaller kids and exchange students. He wasn’t proud of his actions and wished he could apologize to them today.

After the financial crisis hit in 2008, Biff fell into a deep depression. The house he had bought when he was 27 years old ended up losing half its value. He was told he couldn’t lose and that real estate was the surefire way to riches. Not only had he lost all his equity, but he also owed more than the house was worth.

He was so deep under water, all he wanted to do was turn in his keys and walk away as so many Americans did. There was just one problem. Florida was not a non-recourse state. As such, the lender could easily obtain a deficiency judgment and garish his future wages and non-exempt assets.

Biff proceeded to gain over 100 pounds as he literally locked himself within his rapidly depreciating prison. At 30, he was morbidly obese, broke, and girlfriend-less. Life had no more meaning to him.

Then one day out of the blue, the state of Florida threw him a lifeline by offering him a free $75,000 to pay off some of his mortgage if he promised to keep up with regular payments. He took advantage of this tax payer’s money and fulfilled his side of the deal.

Despite feeling a little guilty for getting a bailout, Biff started gaining positive momentum in his life again. Over the ensuing two years, he lost 70 pounds, got a promotion, and finally at 32 found a girlfriend. He also stopped hating on anybody who seemed to be doing better than him because he was finally in a better place.

The first step to him feeling happy was to make sure his finances were no longer going in reverse. Once his finances had stabilized, Biff’s happiness grew because he found someone who loved him despite all his flaws. Today they are married and have a daughter.

Being rich didn’t matter anymore to Biff. Making progress did. Oh, and being able to crush a softball 350 feet as our cleanup hitter makes Biff and the rest of the team ecstatic.

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What Drug & Alcohol Addiction Taught Me About Risk & Reward

Posted by Financial Samurai 15 Comments

The following is a guest post by Deanna from RecoveringWomenWealth.com. Deanna is the first to kick off the Financial Samurai Underdog Tour where I highlight people who’ve overcome some sort of difficulty to lead a better life. If you’ve got an underdog story to tell, please sign up in the FS Forum and follow the instructions. I’d like to share more stories from the community going forward.

Recovery from my addiction has been one of my greatest teachers in life. I never dreamt that by falling so hard, I’d find me. Furthermore, by overcoming my addiction, I’ve discovered all of the things which formerly eluded me:

Self-discovery
Reconciliation
Deeper relationships
Faith
Growth mindset
Peace of mind
Financial peace
Security
Purpose
Deanna 2.0

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How To Take Advantage Of Rich People So You Can Get Rich Too

Posted by Financial Samurai 42 Comments

I’ll never forget what my contractor told me in the midst of my home remodel.

“After I’m done building your bathroom, I’m heading over to Pacific Heights and charging 2X more for a similar-sized bathroom,” he said.

“How is that possible when sheetrock, pipes, tiles, and fixtures all cost about the same?” I asked.

“Easy. Rich people don’t care. They have so much money that as long as I provide them good service, I can charge them whatever I want.” he said somewhat smugly.

“Good to know! Well, thanks for building my bathroom for the price we agreed upon. It’s looking great,” I replied.

I was going to tell him that if he did a good job building my master bathroom that he could then work on remodeling my condo in Pacific Heights. But after his comment, I decided not to!

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