Business Dealing With Financial Adversity

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By: Mike Cooper •  4 years ago •  

THE FIRST THING THAT I DID WHEN I WAS SUFFERING FINANCIAL ADVERSITY WAS SET UP AN ACCOUNT TO BE CHARITABLE. I REALISED THAT IF I COULD GIVE MONEY AWAY (NO MATTER HOW BIG OR SMALL), I MUST BE OK. SOMEONE ELSE IS WORSE OFF THAN ME AND I CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN HIS OR HER LIFE. THIS SIMPLE ACT MADE ME FEEL GREAT.

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any people deal with adversity when it comes to money. It is not always easy to go on without having a good and stable income. There are plenty of people that have money troubles and have no idea how to deal with the failures that come along with it. It is important to keep a good, open mind that will help relieve their stress so that they can find happiness and success.

Firstly, make good connections. Use family and friends as a support network to talk to and help with coping mentally. Talking to trusted sources and getting their support is important and something that you can do to feel better about yourself and what you’re going through.

Set some goals. Taking the smaller steps and dealing with the tasks one at a time is something that will be a great help. Set goals that are going to make you feel good about yourself and your purpose. When it comes to money, you need to figure out ways to make more of it, without more headaches.

“Watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves” – Benjamin Franklin

Most of all, your clients need time. It often takes them 40 years to make the mess and very rarely will it unravel overnight. Many people do not know how to manage money, but it is something that can be learned. Keep in mind that when it comes to dealing with financial adversity, you just need to stop spending for one day. Try to get a grasp on the situation by:

1. Knowing exactly how much you have in the bank right now.

2. Going online and check all your credit card balances.

ONE CARD TO RULE THEM ALL

The first thing is to get rid of all, but one credit card. Once you have that credit card, only use it for emergency purposes (not for shopping sprees). There are a lot of credit cards that can be cancelled and still be paid on. If you end the credit card line today, you’ll still continue to lower your balance, but not have the option to charge anything. Talk to your credit card companies in this manner so that you can keep yourself from further debt. There are some people who have the discipline to use credit wisely and some people who struggle.

FIND YOUR COACH

The second thing that you’ll want to do is get someone that you trust to help you with your personal income and spending. Try to get someone who is experienced and good with their money, such as a professional who specialises in finance and money management. While it is good to have family members support you, there is a good chance they have the same beliefs, modalities and education that you do!

Consider what is right and what is wrong with your finances. You may simply have over extended your income, which now requires a 2 nd job to maintain. Remember that the credit score is hard to fix, but within 5 years it will be out of the red and into the black. Consolidate all credit cards and perhaps refinance the mortgage so that you can have fewer payments a month. Consider combining all of the credit cards into one payment so that there is less to worry about each month. This is the perfect way to get rid of debt as well.

If you are unable to reconsolidate or refinance, then you are going to have to fix two things: income and outgoings. Cut back on spending. This might mean going without restaurants and bars. Reduce big gifts and spontaneous spending and don’t act like you have more money than you do. If you are able to limit yourself to $50 a week for things like drinking, entertainment and take away, you’ll be able to save money.

SAVE NOW

Finally, learn how to save money. Saving money is hard, because you feel like you have a lot more money than you know what to do with, however, you need to save and make money through investments. To start with, these investments could simply be interest-bearing accounts. Use simple things like savings accounts so that you can keep yourself from debt. The higher the amount you save, the more complex and rewarding these investments become. You have to earn the right to invest, by saving first.

HOW TO BE MORE UPBEAT

You’ll find that a lot of people have a hard time staying up beat, but for those who do, their life is very different. You’ll find that with a positive attitude, anything is possible. There is a lot more to life than just going to work and home. Find some passion in your life in order to find the positive, instead of allowing yourself to wallow in self-pity. Try to do something that is constructive and positive.

Keep in mind that when it comes to financial adversity, it is simply a negative attitude. Your clients have experienced adversity and things seem to go from bad to catastrophic and their thoughts follow the same path.

Remember: THOUGHTS lead to FEELINGS lead to ACTIONS, which lead to RESULTS

Society has a tendency to reverse the process: Results, Actions, Feelings and more often than not Failure.

When you think about the end RESULT of becoming financially free or reducing debt, you focus all your energy on the result. Often when results do not happen radically, it is easy to be discouraged and negative in mindset and actions.

“See this wasn’t for me; I’m not meant to be rich. You have to be corrupt or misaligned to be wealthy.”

“Money isn’t that important to me anyway, it’s not my highest value”.

We have all heard these before.

People either move away from pain or towards pleasure (with the pleasure being the more enduring and robust style of motivator). When they harness positive thoughts, it leads them to feel great about their decision to make change. It would only take the smallest of movements or progress in the right direction to encourage them to stay the path and push for greater achievements.

So remember:

• Positive Thoughts about making change
• Success comes from a repeatable performance executed daily.
• Make sure your actions are in alignment with your Values and Goals. Your actions need to inspire you to keep moving forward even in the face of adversity.
• Set realistic goals to ensure you keep moving forward. Once you are out of the red – then you can set some stretch goals.

All of these combined and repeated will produce lasting change and positive outcomes, breaking the pattern of poor money management.

A lot of people are looking to find success and money as quickly as possible. They make not-so- bright choices and later on pay for their mistakes. Think about the choices you have now. If something seems too easy, then it’ll only lead you to disappointment. Keep in mind that the best things in life take time and plenty of hard work to achieve. If you learn how to take one day at a time, you’ll be able to come out on top.

Michael Cooper is a Financial Planner, Performance Coach and a Motivational Speaker. He achieved great success in the sporting arena personally then moved on to coach athletes to success including working with the Sydney Kings Basketball, as assistant strength and conditioning coach, and finally a supporting role with the Australian Boomers.

Michael provides the solutions and systems, which eradicate fears and frustrations around money, as well as facilitating change and the realisation of one’s true potential.

Financial Advice is provided by Planning Perspective Gold Coast Pty Ltd (AFS No 422133) a Corporate Authorised Representative of Madison Financial Group Pty Ltd (AFSL No 246679). This information is of a general nature only and neither represents nor is intended to be specific advice on any particular matter. We strongly suggest that you seek professional financial advice before acting.