For those of you new to Free Money Finance, I post on The Bible and Money every Sunday. Here's why. This week we have a guest post from Jay Peroni.
When Charlie met Frank at a bowling league in November 1998, they hit it off instantly and became the best of friends. Charlie had always been a hard worker, sometimes working two or three jobs as a plumber and an electrician. He made a good living, but never seemed to save enough to get him closer to financial freedom. Now in his fifties, Charlie had the expectation that he would always have to work to make ends meet.
Frank, on the other hand, was a lifetime firefighter. Though he never had an income over $80,000 a year, he saved every month and socked away enough money to have financial freedom at the age of sixty. His idea of retirement was the ability to work by choice not requirement. Now that he has "retired," Frank is actually busier than ever-volunteering at a soup kitchen, helping with the children's ministry at his church, and helping lower-income fami¬lies complete home repairs they could never afford on their own.
Though ten years separate Frank and Charlie, they have a ton in common and spend many hours a month together fishing, hiking, going to ball games, and bowling. Charlie could not grasp how Frank was able to live so well in retirement. He often joked that he would never be able to retire and could never imagine the financial freedom that Frank has.
As long as you cannot imagine it, your dream will never come true. Self-defeating thoughts and self-imposed ceilings limit your financial progress. Your thoughts and attitudes will determine your success. If you have no strength to overcome this mind-set, you will fail to reach the potential God intended for your life. It is not a lack of resources or a shortage of talent that prevents you from achieving wealth; it is the barrier that resides inside your mind. Your thoughts can keep you from living the financial life God has prepared for you. You will never change your financial future until you change your thinking. Do you think God will want to provide you with new, exciting, and fresh ideas if you continue having negative thoughts and a bad attitude?
Envisioning your dreams coming true is a huge key to your success. Have you ever seen the movie Rudy?1 It is based on the true story of Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger. He grew up in a mill town and dreamed of playing football at the University of Notre Dame, for his dad's favorite team. The obstacles facing Rudy were tremendous, to say the least. A few barriers included Rudy's poor grades and lack of money to attend Notre Dame, insufficient talent to play football, and not having the physical size (Rudy was 5' 7" and weighed 165 pounds) to play football for the Fighting Irish. Instead of chasing his dreams, Rudy takes a job at the local steel mill and settles for mediocrity until his best friend, Pete, is killed in an explosion at the mill.
It is then Rudy decides to make his dreams of attending Notre Dame and playing college football for the Fighting Irish a reality. He is ridiculed by friends and family for his idea and is even rejected by Notre Dame. He could have let bygones be bygones, but instead goes to a small junior college, hoping to qualify for a transfer to the university.
During his final semester of eligibility for transfer, he is granted admission to Notre Dame. After walking onto football practice tryouts, Rudy convinces the coach to give him a spot on the football practice team, where Rudy exhibits more drive and desire than some of his big-name varsity teammates.
Ultimately, it is this drive and determination that get Rudy to fully realize his dream-playing in a game. In the final game of the season, the coach is persuaded to insert Rudy (after all the players and later the fans chant, "Rudy . . . Rudy . . . Rudy . . ."). Rudy gets in the game and sacks the opposing quarterback to end the game. Rudy is then carried off the field by his teammates and becomes the last Notre Dame player to have such a distinction.
So THAT's who Rudy is. I saw some Rudy print cartoon on a blog and all I knew was it sure wasn't the mayor.
Posted by: Aha | October 12, 2008 at 11:31 AM
Can't remember the stock symbol, but Rudy had a start up company a year or two ago. Not sure how it turned out. Soda distribution or something like that.
Posted by: largebill | October 12, 2008 at 10:41 PM
I read somewhere that Rudy charges $10,000 to speak. Hehehe. Kind of makes me want to go try out for Notre Dame. ;-)
Posted by: Shaun Connell | October 13, 2008 at 01:44 AM
The basic premise of the article is good but I really dislike the Rudy story as the reasoning. Stories like Rudy's do happen. But what he doesn't tell you is for every successful Rudy story there are literally 100's of people who tried to do exactly what Rudy did and for one reason or another they came up empty. Reaching financial freedom is not simply about mind over matter. It's not simply about having a audacious nearly impossible to fathom dream and then just saying well what the heck, life is too short and I am going to go for it. If your dream/goal is unreasonable and far outside your reach, going for it is mostly futile. I know that kind of talk makes the eternal optimist unhappy but it's true and most of us know it.
At the same time you can't just say something is too hard so I won't try. Frank from the story above didn't reach for some unbelievable goal like playing football for Notre Dame. He simply did the things that are always preached here on this website. He spent less than he earned and saved well. It's not complicated and it's not an unbelievable goal. What it takes is not unbelievable effort and determination or a never give up attitude. All it takes is knowing the plan that works and then the persistence to stick with it over the long long term. Persistence does not guarantee a Rudy outcome. We all know people who think they are going to achieve something like Rudy did. And we all know that without a miracle, they are not going to achieve it, no matter how hard they try (and truthfully it took a Miracle for Rudy too, most coaches would never have let him on the team, for some reason this one did, and he never played all those seasons until the last game and they let him in simply because of how hard he had worked. And its a great story, but he never was Notre Dame football material and it is truly a miracle that it worked out for him regardless of how hard he tried.)
But the great thing about reaching financial freedom is that it doesn't take a miracle. Most everyone can do it if they just follow the plan. No Miracle is required. Know the plan, believe in the plan, follow the plan. Still no guarantees as the whole world economy could go into a great depression, we all know the risks. But for the most part the plan simply works if you follow it.
But please don't depend on some kind of inspiration like the Rudy story. That stuff doesn't have much staying power because the high it gives you falls flat when you put it into practice and realize that its just an emotional high that doesn't really help you reach your goals.
Posted by: Apex | October 13, 2008 at 11:05 AM
It may be discipline, it may be drama, but the bottom line is - If you keep on doing what you've always done, you'll keep on getting what you've always gotten.
Posted by: Aliyah | October 13, 2008 at 07:36 PM
What if there is not a better alternative?
Posted by: | October 14, 2008 at 11:54 PM
I get the point being made by Apex, but sometimes it is still important to hold on to your dreams, no matter how impossible they may seem. Someone in my dim and distant past said, "Aim for the stars. Even if you miss, you could still hit the moon."
I found you from the Christian Carnival. Great blog!
Posted by: Lynn Fowler | October 23, 2008 at 02:17 AM