2918: The Revolution Has Begun by Paula Pant of Afford Anything on How to Have An Abundance Mindset

[00:00:00] This is Optimal Health Daily. The Revolution Has Begun by Paula Pant of AffordAnything.com and I'm Dr. Neal Malik. Hey there and welcome to our Sunday bonus episode where I share an article from one of the other podcasts in our network. Today's post comes from Optimal Finance Daily where articles covering money and personal finance are read to you every day. And you can find Optimal Finance Daily wherever you're listening to this. Please subscribe or follow to get episodes every day.

[00:00:30] And with that, here's Diana with the post and commentary as we optimize your life. The Revolution Has Begun by Paula Pant of AffordAnything.com Let me tell you what this site is not about. It is not about clipping coupons. It's not about putting your dreams on hold.

[00:00:54] It's not about wasting your life in a cubicle under a flickering fluorescent light battling rush hour traffic so that you can barely eke out an existence. This site is about using money as a tool to make your awesomest dreams a reality. I've bicycled across Spain, ridding camels at the pyramids, scuba dived to the Great Barrier Reef.

[00:01:19] More importantly, I've only worked at jobs I love and later I decided to launch my own business. And I wasn't born rich. More on that topic to come. I'm different because I embraced three crucial notions at an early age. Number one, the best thing money can buy is time. Number two, the ultimate freedom is financial freedom.

[00:01:45] And three, you must be a rebel to enjoy an extraordinary life. You know what irritates me? What really irritates me is hearing people say, oh, I can't afford that. Or only rich people can afford that. The second you say or think the words, I can't afford it, you create a self-fulfilling prophecy. The words become true because you believe they're true. You hold yourself down.

[00:02:16] Launch yourself. You can afford anything. You can't afford everything, but you can afford anything. It doesn't matter what family you were born into. It doesn't matter that your job doesn't pay well. It doesn't matter how many bills are piling up on your kitchen table. The ultimate lifestyle luxury is financial freedom. This site's mission is to help you conquer this.

[00:02:44] Financial freedom. The freedom to never be forced to work for money. You might choose to work for pleasure or fulfillment, but you're never forced to work because you need the money. Let's dig into this for a second. Live the life you want. Start listening closely as your friends talk. You'll hear these words, oh, I would love that, but I can't afford it. Those words are said all the time. All the time.

[00:03:13] I hear this all the time. I can't afford to travel. I can't afford a new car. I can't afford to go back to school. I can't afford a wedding. I can't afford to send my kid to college. I can't afford to retire. These are excuses. When people say they can't afford something, they mean they don't prioritize it. They don't ask themselves, how can I make this dream a reality? I started this blog after I traveled the world for two and a half years.

[00:03:43] During that time, I bicycled through Spain, slept on Portuguese beaches, strolled vineyards in Italy, rode camels by the Great Pyramid, photographed the Taj Mahal, climbed the ruins of Angkor Wat, floated down the Mekong River, ate kangaroo steak in Australia, prayed in Jerusalem, rode a motorcycle in Burma, scuba dived in Thailand and Indonesia,

[00:04:11] saw cliffs, waterfalls, and mountains in New Zealand, boated rivers in Kerala, and played with orangutans in Singapore. That wasn't the only trip I've taken. At two and a half years, that was just the longest one. I've also backpacked Japan, gone to a wedding in Colombia, surfed in Costa Rica, seen Van Gogh originals in Amsterdam, drank beer in the Czech Republic. The list goes on and on. How did I pull this off?

[00:04:41] How do I afford the lifestyle I love? I hear all my friends and even my own family speculating about how I pulled it off. She must have rich parents. She must have a rich boyfriend. She must be in massive credit card debt. She must be secretly working. She must have made a ton of money in the stock market. No, no, no, no, and no. I did it the old-fashioned way. I spend less than I earn.

[00:05:08] It's simple but revolutionary. But how can I save when I earn so little? I hear people ask. How can I save when my bills are so high? That's what I'm here to show you. Be a rebel. What makes a person rich? Is it money? No, it's something much deeper. Take all the money away from a rich person, bankrupt them, and they'll still feel rich. Rich is an attitude. It's a core belief.

[00:05:37] It's a confidence, a faith that's not correlated to any bank balance. What's infinitely sad is that so few people seem to understand the power of these simple principles. And by not understanding this, they resign themselves to a life of long hours for meager pay. Adventure travel, dream weddings, designer handbags, Ivy League educations, quitting your job to spend more time with your kids, self-funding your own business.

[00:06:06] This is not the province of the rich. This is the province of you, but only if you believe it, and only if you embrace the Afford Anything revolution. You just listened to the post titled, The Revolution Has Begun, by Paula Pant of AffordAnything.com. I love how Paula points out that you create a self-fulfilling prophecy

[00:06:35] when you constantly tell yourself you can't afford something. I did an interview this week where I spoke with a radio show host about how I improved my financial situation. She admitted that while the things I was saying made sense, she felt overwhelmed by all the information and ashamed that she hasn't made good decisions with her money. She felt she could never improve her situation like I did. She then asked for advice of what someone like her could do as a first step.

[00:07:05] And I responded that the first thing she should do is change the way she talks to herself about money. And every time she slipped back into that negative language during our conversation, I pointed it out because she didn't even realize she was doing it. From my vantage point, her situation is so figureoutable. The bigger problem was this narrative she was telling herself. I've said it before and I'll say it again.

[00:07:34] Financial independence starts in your mind. If you believe you will always be broke, you are less likely to take the actions necessary to improve your situation. But if you see it as fixable, you're empowered to take action. And action over time leads to healthy money habits. And healthy money habits over time create financial independence realities. The phrase thoughts become things sounds so woo-woo, I know.

[00:08:03] But to me, it's not about magical thinking. There seems to be a clear process as to how thoughts become things. Your thoughts manifest as the words you say to yourself and to other people. And when you say these words enough times, they solidify as beliefs. I think you need to truly believe something on a very deep level in order to take confident, consistent action.

[00:08:29] Listening to this podcast is a great way to shift your perspective around money. So thanks for joining me today and every day. That's a wrap for another Friday show. Have a great start to your weekend. And I'll be back tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.