The best way to achieve a strong level of personal net worth is to build it over a long period of time by paying attention to yearly successes. If in a year you earn $100 (after tax), spend $75 of it, see your investments grow by $5, and don’t borrow any money, then you “make” $30 and your personal net worth will jump up by that same amount. Add-up 45 years of doing that and you’ll have accumulated something significant!
And the only way to do that is to recognize that long-term success comes from the aggregated results of paying attention to small-detail habits. The most successful athletes are habit-focused, as are the best teachers, as are the best parents, as are the most financially secure families. Jerry Rice was the best wide receiver in football not because he focused on being a good receiver, but because he focused on habits like how to plant his feet, how to move his hands, how to shift his hips. His famous workout regimen focused exclusively on small skill drills that he repeated over and over and over until he became the best at his position. There are lessons and good news in that!
If you are having a hard time figuring out how you are going to save enough for ________________(retirement, college, vacation, debt reduction), focus daily on the habits that will support that longer-term goal. If you want to buy a house in 5 years, practice using only cash to make purchases instead of your credit card, practice removing money from your paycheck and putting it in savings, practice cutting back on things you buy but don’t really value. Become the Jerry Rice of your finances by focusing and religiously practicing the financial habits that will then lead you to become financially successful.
