Start Small; Dream Big: Achieving Financial Security From Small Beginnings

“Start small; Dream big”, wrote Robert Kiyosaki in “Rich Dad Poor Dad”. This book, as well as others he has written, changed the way a whole generation of people thought about money and wealth.

You’ve probably heard this already, but you’ve got to have a dream or a vision of what you want to achieve. Otherwise, it just doesn’t happen. This dream motivates you to put in the effort. If you don’t do anything towards getting what you want, you probably won’t get it.

If you set out on a road trip without deciding where you want to go, you’ll probably end up somewhere you wouldn’t want to be. The same applies to financial security, as with so many other things in life; you need to know what you want before you can set out to achieve it. Make sense?

Are you one of the many people who think that you need to have lots of money to be able to set yourself up as financially secure? Robert Kiyosaki certainly doesn’t think this. He had to start small because he came from an average middleclass family, but he had big dreams; he knew what he was aiming for. People who have no dream and aim at nothing, usually have no trouble getting it.

So, dream big. How would you design your perfect life? What would you love to have? How would you spend your time? What about holidays, cars, homes, designer clothes, retirement? How would you like your future to look – financially secure or struggling to make ends meet?

Some people like to start up a dream folder where they stick in pictures of the things they want and how their future is going to look. You can have lots of fun with this, so give it a go. Your dream file is a wonderful help for keeping you on track.

I can hear some of you saying “it’s alright for other people, but I’ve got………..” Sure, everyone has stuff going on in their lives but the ones who succeed are able to put that stuff behind them and concentrate on how they want their lives to be. Focus on how it can be, not on how it is; look at the solutions, not the problems. It might be hard, it might even hurt, but this short-term pain is nothing when compared to the fabulous future you can have. 

Just like nothing happens without a dream, nothing happens without a plan. As Robert Kiyasaki says, “Your plan is the bridge to your dreams.” So, build your bridge; plan to be financially secure, whatever that means to you.

Here are some other things to put in your plan to become what you want – plan to succeed. Plan to have a few hiccoughs along the way.

Plan to make some uncomfortable decisions. The reason you are not already financially secure means that you have some changes to make so you can be; some of these are going to be uncomfortable.

Plan to do what rich people do (whatever it takes to get their dreams); to think like rich people think (ie: think bigger); to talk like rich people talk (ie: positively); to use money the way rich people use their money (ie: they make their money work for them).

Now comes the part where you’ve got to do something, because a dream and a plan are useless unless you take action that takes you towards that dream and follows that plan.

Always ask yourself, “Is what I am about to do going to take me closer to my dream or further away?”  Any action in the direction of your dream is better than no action.

No action is ever too small, as long as it in the right direction.

You’re probably going to find other people are not necessarily going to support you and your dream. Some will put you down or try to discourage you. “You can’t do that!” or “That will never work!” they will say. These people have a ‘poor’ mentality; you need to be around people who have a ‘rich’ mentality.

Look for small ways you can change the way you use your money. Create new habits to help you break some old ones that aren’t helping you get to that dream. Ever heard financial gurus telling us to give up our daily Starbucks coffee and save the money? This is just one way to start small in becoming financially secure.

Here are some other small things that people have tried:

Pete says – “Learn the difference between wants and needs and control your spending on ‘wants’. I discovered that most of the stuff I bought, I didn’t really need so it was fairly simple to change my spending habits to save money.”

Mary-Ellen says – “I had to have everything straight away; I was a shocking impulse buyer. Then a friend told me how she learnt about delayed gratification – putting off buying stuff until she could afford to pay cash. She got rid of her credit card debt using this.”

Tarahas this idea – “I made a game of finding new ways to stop spending everything I earned so I could save. When I found a new way, I bought a small treat and then put the rest into my growing savings account. Gee, it mounts up quickly!”

Bobbi started cooking at home instead of always dining out. “I discovered I really love to cook. I have found new recipes, I eat more healthy food and I have even lost a few pounds. All this and I save more than $100 a week!”

Rowan says that the best thing he did to achieve his dream of retiring by age forty, was to educate himself on all things financial. “The more I learnt about financial stuff, the more interested I got and the easier it was to make the small changes that gave me extra savings to invest. I now have two investment properties and am planning my third!”

What would you do, who could you be, what would you dream, if you knew you couldn’t fail? So dream big, comforted by the knowledge that it’s OK to start your financial journey small. Remember, everything big was once small at the beginning!

So, are you dreaming big but starting small?

PS: Don’t forget to check out the new “Share Your Voice” section on the PET homepage.


Comments

Start Small; Dream Big: Achieving Financial Security From Small Beginnings — 16 Comments

  1. Completely agree that no dream is big enough and no action small enough. There is anothe rinteresting point you make, though, about knowing where we are going. It is true that if we don’t know where we are going it is not likely to get there, but does it necessarily mean we will arrive to a place we don’t like? I think we may like where we find ourselves – it is just hard to deal with the uncertainty and unpredictability of it.

    • You got my drift Marie. We need to have a focused direction to what we want and where we are headed but we are also allowed to make changes along the way. Whose to say you won’t change your mind?! The key though is to have a plan regardless of where you end up; that way you never just stay in one spot and get nowhere.

  2. “If you set out on a road trip without deciding where you want to go, you’ll probably end up somewhere you wouldn’t want to be” <– Actually, my mom and sister travel that way ALL THE TIME. They seem to love it because you can stumble onto things you never would have if you had everything planned out. I think that mentality can work for finance too. YOu shoudl do research and plan, but don't be afraid to wing it every so often, you never know what you might stumble upon!

    • The key is balance which you illustrated. We don’t need to be super rigid and we should allow some flex but we still need to have our basics covered.

      We also travel like this and it really is a blast. Traveling is different than finance management though if you ask me. It requires a bit more construct around it. I guess you could liken it to the travel smarts or safety precautions you use when on a trip. They are your guide so to speak.

  3. Right on, Miss T! We have to think big, have big dreams, and focus on making our dreams happen; regardless of where we start. Most successful people started small, and the only thing that they had in the beginning was a big dream. Then, they went out and worked their butts off. Thank you for such an inspiring post. God bless you!

  4. Great quote. I do think RK changed the way many think. He has so many haters, and perhaps not all of his suggestions work for everyone, but that doesn’t diminish the value in so much of what he has shared nor the substantial platform he built.

    I like the “dream folder” concept. I definitely keep dreams in a centralized location.

  5. Cool idea Miss T. Do you feel awkward using Kiyosaki quotes? I loved RDPD as well, but I’ve heard some really awkward things about that guy. His self promotion leaves a sort of queasy feeling in my stomach.

    • No, not really. I don’t put much emphasis on those other things. To me what matters is the words of wisdom. The other parts are irrelevant. There have been some pretty profound things we have learned from people throughout history who weren’t always viewed well in the public eye at that time. To me this is no different.

  6. I have read Robert Kiyosaki’s “Rich Dad Poor Dad”. I’m a fan of inspirational books; I think this book is the first motivational book I have read that touches finances. And it really changed my perspective on credit cards, financing, debt payments and financial freedom. Now I’m positive that a bright future awaits for me and my family.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I appreciate your readership and really enjoy hearing your thoughts on different topics. Thank you for contributing to the discussion.