Does Money Control You?

When most people start foraging through the internet for get-rich-quick schemes and strategies, it's usually for one reason: money causes them fear.

Throughout our lives, we were given the impression that money has the power of God. It giveth... and it taketh away. Those with lots of it are secure and happy, and those with little or none are suffering.

For most of my life, money controlled me.

My bosses controlled my behaviour because I relied on them for my paychecks (or so I believed).

My jobs controlled my freedom and time because I "needed" them as the source of my income.

Anyone I was indebted to became a powerful agent in my life because they could rain hell down upon me if I failed to pay my dues.

I got scared of money. I would worry about poverty even when I had a job and a decent income. Sometimes the fear would cause me to just stop thinking about money altogether, to bury my head in the sand, and to spend frivolously to satisfy any craving that came up.

I loved being able to buy stuff and go travelling and have fun, but I was scared of my dependency on money. I resented being unable to choose my own work activities and hours, and I hated having to wait for someone else to agree to increase my wages before I was able to improve my quality of life.

I avoided budgeting and facing my expenses. I shied away from that big scary thing called "investing".

I blew my disposable cash on instant gratifications. I was always overdrawn and got myself into bad debt for pointless reasons. And I sat around impatiently every Wednesday night, waiting for some company to top up my empty account with a pittance in exchange for the 50+ hours worth of value I'd given them a week before.

I was money's slave.

And, I'm guessing, if you're doing this course (i.e. you haven't yet achieved Financial Freedom), you are too.

But not for long...

As you can probably tell from the tone of my writing, I no longer see myself as a slave to money. That era is behind me now. Currency no longer controls me.

I now choose my work activities and hours, improve my quality of life whenever I wish, and generally do whatever the hell I want most of the time.

Am I rich or wealthy? Am I a millionaire? Did I win the lottery?

Actually, no... none of the above.

At the time of writing this, I pay myself a salary of just $46K NZD per year. And that covers both me and my wife. While I do earn more than that through my own business, I don't NEED more than that to be financially free.

• I travel around the world to explore multiple countries every year.

• I regularly attend high-ticket dance workshops.

• I indulge in online education programs, courses and coaching to develop myself.

• I pay my bills on time and I've destroyed all my bad debt.

• In 2019 I was able to pay for my wedding outright, book trips to Italy and New Zealand, attend pricey dance congresses, eat out at fancy restaurants, go to the ballet (ok, just once), and cover all our expenses while also saving and investing extra money.

I lack for nothing.

But there's nothing special about me.

I am not a finance expert or advisor. I won't be focusing on just teaching you how to get rich, though this course is full of strategies I've learned from and resources provided by those who do teach such things.

While you can use what's in this course to build up wealth, my expertise is less in finances, and more in confidence-building. This course will not only help you manage your finances practically, but it will also give you the ability to manage your insecurities about money psychologically.

I will be teaching you how to create a true sense of freedom.

Financial Freedom: the ability to live a high-quality life while feeling confident, content and free, and all without being insecure about money or dependent on others.

Even many of the wealthiest people in the world are still openly insecure about money. In this course, I hope to add what many financial advisors are unable to provide: freedom from your confidence issues about money.

And I will share the tactics I've learned on how to control your money - how to make it your 'slave' - so that you no longer suffer any life-quality problems in relation to your finances.

Financial Freedom is not just about having a tonne of cash on hand, or big-ticket assets, or millions in the stock market (although we will look at how this is accomplished). People who need these things might be rich but they are often still owned by their money.

Start thinking about Financial Freedom as being exactly what it sounds like - freedom from your finances!

• Freedom to do whatever you want with your time, without having someone else exert control over you through your paycheck.

• Freedom to enjoy life without worrying about how much it costs.

• Freedom to focus on what's important rather than obsessing over what will bring in more cash.

• Freedom of knowing that your future is secure and that getting old won't suck.

Don't worry; you can use what's in this course to build up your income if that's your main focus.

But the real freedom will come from finally being able to go on holiday, start your own business, or engage in fun hobbies, without feeling burdened and restricted by that fictional symbol of value that we call like to call 'money'.