At the young age of 18, I shipped off to Basic Military Training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. The trip to San Antonio was full of fear for me. I had never left home for an extended period of time and I knew that the road ahead was going to be incredibly challenging. On a hot September night I was standing at attention, drenched in sweat in my civilian clothes as the scariest human beings I had ever encountered got square in my face yelling. Welcome to basic training.
Every day new enlistees to our Armed Forces are inducted the same way they have been for decades. It’s a “break you down, build you up” philosophy and it has worked since the beginning of modern military history. It has been so successful that the fitness industry has latched on with a variety of “boot camps” for motivated folks looking for better physical fitness. While physical fitness is a big part of military service, I would argue that mental toughness and agility is the more important lesson that is learned during induction.
Every service has its own core values and tenets. Being an Air Force guy, I’ll hone in on the three core values taught to us. They are: Integrity first, Service before self, and Excellence in all we do. Whether you’re American or Chinese, civilian or military; these values apply to your fiscal fitness.
Integrity First
Are you being honest with yourself on financial matters? Are you being honest with those around you? Unfortunately many people are not. It’s not done out of malice per se, but rather fear. In Basic Military Training you are taught to overcome your fears by facing them on a daily basis. You are continuously challenged to face things that scare you. Maybe it’s a yelling Drill Instructor or perhaps it’s crossing an obstacle course. Either way, the mission must be accomplished despite whatever is scaring you.
If you are scared to look at your finances then you need to face that. As they say in addiction recovery programs, “the first step is admitting you have a problem.” Being aware and honest about your financial situation is the first step to getting to where you want to go. The first thing you need to do is take a good pulse on where you are at. Specifically, this is your assets, your debts, and your cash flow (both positive and negative). If you want to automate this a bit then I recommend a free service offered by Mint.com. They track this seamlessly when you plug your various financial accounts into their system.
Financial honesty leads into creating a budget about what you can afford for negative monthly cash flow on a regular basis. While utility bills and mortgage payments are necessary, perhaps cable television and the gym you don’t visit are not. Again, the key is to be honest with your current financial situation. If there are things you can cut to improve your situation then do it. If there are things you can do to improve your cash flow by restructuring debt then consider it. Sometimes a simple phone call can save you money, so be brave and get engaged.
Service Before Self
Do you find that you don’t make enough money to cover your expenses? This is the part that most personal finance gurus don’t address. When I realized that financial independence was a serious goal for me I turned to all the typical sources. Their advice was to save more, spend less, and invest in a 401k for retirement. While some of that advice is sound, it’s not a battle plan for financial independence from a day job. In fact, it’s probably not a strategy for a decent retirement either. Robert Kiyosaki introduced me to the idea of “expanding your means” instead of trying to shrink your existence.
In the military we were taught “service before self” as a key tenet of our branch. In military terms that meant we need to put the mission before ourselves. With that attitude, we assure that the mission is accomplished successfully. What is your mission? A key requirement for you, the reader, is to define what your mission is. If you want to generate cash flow as a replacement to your day job income, then that’s your mission. If you’re in love with what you do, then doing it the very best you can is your mission. If ensuring that you can retire without worrying about what your pension fund, 401k, or the Social Security Administration does is your mission then focus on that. The point is: Focus on the mission. Define your mission and go after it!
Service before self means serving others. If you are working at a job right now and that’s your major source of income, then you need to make sure you’re serving those who rely on you in the best way you can. If you work in the private sector, that’s probably a route that can take you to expanded means through raises or bonuses. If you’re creating a side business to expand your means, then you need to really think about how you’ll serve others to create value worthy of payment. It doesn’t need to be complicated. A side business walking dogs could potentially expand your means exponentially if you deliver extraordinary value. It also doesn’t mean you’re necessarily walking the dog. That’s where hiring employees comes into play. Think like a business owner and not like an employee. The key is value added, not hours added.
Excellence in All We Do
The best way to create value in this world is to do something better than anyone else does it. You probably frequent businesses like this in your hometown. I have a favorite barber, a favorite shoe shine guy, and a favorite tailor. The thing they all have in common is that they all deliver more value than anyone else in their field. Those are all common professions, but they convinced me on an individual basis that they do it better than the next guy. Be that guy.
Maybe you’ll be that guy at your job. Maybe you’ll be that guy in some sort of side business you have in mind. Perhaps you’ll be the best real estate investor in your area, because you value relationships and you treat people with integrity. It really doesn’t matter what business or investment vehicle you’re using to get to a cash flow positive scenario. The point is that you do it with excellence every waking day. People notice it and society rewards it. Get out there and exemplify excellence in all you do.
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