The following ideas, properly studied and applied will get you financially free within five years.

Financial freedom is having enough resources to enable you to live the lifestyle that you want without having to work. Robert Kiyosaki defines it as having sufficient passive income to get you out of the “rat-race”.

Whatever the definition, it takes focus and commitment.  Focus and commitment are built upon a core belief that you alone are responsible for creating your future.  Your future is created by your thinking.  In order to change your future, you must change your thinking.  Period.  Think big, think abundant, think joy, peace and happiness and they will come.  Be persistent.  Have faith. They will come.

You must chose the right people to hang round with.  Chose those who have already achieved what you want to achieve.  Eliminate negative people from your life (and/or manage the time you spend with them better).

Get a mentor and get a coach.  They will get you to your destination a thousand times quicker than you thought possibe.

Leverage your money, time and efforts.  If something works - duplicate it.  Use other people’s money, time and efforts and compensate them well.

Make sure every deal is a win for all parties.  Don’t be frightened to leave profit on the table for another.

Have a vision board.  Put stuff on there you want.  Whether physical or symbolic - put it somewhere you will see it every day.

Keep your “significant other” number one in your life.  No matter what.  You will need support along the way, to balance the challenges you set yourself.

That’s it!   I look forward to hearing your success stories in five years!  If not sooner.  Feel free to comment.

Nobody has achieved success without persistence.  When things don’t go as planned, keep going.  When opportunities arise which distract you, keep going.  When the inevitable family crisis emerges from time to time, keep going.  When it seems that no one is listening to you, keep going.  Somehow, although the path may be different than you expected, you will achieve your goals.

The story of the tortoise and the hare illustrates this perfectly.  The hare gets distracted, rushing off in all sorts of directions with little or no obstacles to overcome on the way.  Whereas the tortoise moves purposefully and persistently towards the finishing line, overcoming its apparent inferiority with outstanding persistence.

The secret to persistance is believing that you will get where you want to be if you are persistant.  Remember that success comes to those who are willing to go the extra mile, persistently.

If you’ve ever felt lost or incomplete, remember that within you and nowhere else lies all your answers.  It is your character which determines your destiny in this world.

Have you ever met anyone who seems to have it all?  The sauve, the sophistication, the knowledge, the charisma, the jokes?  You want to know how they do it?

The answer is simple, but you must read  James Allen’s book :  As a Man Thinketh

Consider the following question: What is the point of improving your productivity?

Yes - most people immediately say this should result in more money. But what having more money would mean in your life? We all dream of a better life, and most of us financial freedom. However, I heard from some of the happiest people I know that your sense of fulfilment and happiness in your life is directly related to the quality of your relationships. This sounded an interesting concept to me and I have tried it out over the last six months. Well I have gained more from this philosophy than all the other personal development tips put together! I can safely say that every minute you put into building outstanding relationships with your significant other, family and friends is time very well spent. I like to think of it as follows. For those who aspire to great things, we must build our lives upon a rock and not the sand. For me, the foundation is cultivating the very personal feeling of faith - faith in your abilities as a leader, a father and faith in your greatness and ability to create your destiny. The second is building a great relationship with your spouse and family. And you know what building great relationships takes? Yes it takes making them number one in your life. So try out this philosophy for the next ten days and your life will never be the same. Be more productive because you want to spend more time with your family.