21st Century Academy

It probably goes without saying that in order to build wealth you have to invest in your own financial empowerment. That’s true in terms of what you do with your money, but it’s true of other related aspects of building wealth. Investment, however, can mean many, many different things. Let’s explore.

Financial Investment For Creating Wealth

At some point you have to make a financial investment in some form in order to build financial prosperity. That probably sounds very simplistic. The reason that I bring it up is to point out that there are many ways that can be done. Stock market or share market investing may seem like the most obvious, and is often what people think a financial education program will teach, and nothing more. Realistically, though, financial investment can refer to others forms of investment such as real estate and property, insurance investing, businesses and much more. You will need some type of vehicle, but it does not necessarily need to be stocks, or not only stocks.

Personal Investment For Creating Wealth

The other form of investment that is imperative to building wealth (and it is the one the 21st Century Academy is really all about) is personal investment. Investing the time and energy, and yes money, in yourself so that you can learn to be wealthy and take wealthy actions.

Personal investment is the much more important of these two. When you invest in yourself you invest in something with unlimited potential. You invest in an investment vehicle with innumerable opportunities for replication.

Investing means that you put something in to get something out. The more seeds you plant, financially, but more importantly personally, the more you get out of that investment. It’s a must if you will succeed and be wealthy, but investing, especially in you, is the best return you will ever enjoy.

Sean Rasmussen
21st Century Academy
Universal Wealth Creation © 2004 – 2008

Still in the interest of helping you help yourself more and make the most of all your days, here’s yet another thing to consider.

The Skills And Experience You Have Now

One of the ways that you can most efficiently use your time is to utilize the skills that you already have. In some ways this is similar to getting more out by going with what interests you. Hopefully you have built your skillset upon that which interests you the most. That will make it even easier to capitalize on all that you have readily available to you. If you have skills that aren’t really in your most desired area of interest, but that are readily usable still, it is definitely worth considering taking advantage of them now as you build into what you really want to be doing.

When you can utilize what is already familiar and second-nature you don’t have to spend time learning new skills before you can put them to work. Being that you are pursuing wealth you may be thinking you have no skills that apply, but that is probably not the case.

What have you learned?

Look at what you have done and what you have learned. Now look at the ways that Jamie McIntyre is showing you for making money. Look at how he shows you to create opportunity. What can you marry here?

I’ll give you just a couple of examples and let you take it from there. For instance, maybe you were a housepainter in college; maybe you have learned how to redecorate by revamping every place you’ve ever lived. Those sound like very good skills a real estate investor might want for do-it-yourself fix and flips.

Or maybe your skills have always been more book-oriented. Maybe bookkeeping and numbers are your strength. You’ll find those skills invaluable on the trades markets.

I doubt that there is anyone without a skill that can be captured and capitalized for building wealth and investing. If you look deep enough, if you are creative enough, you will find what you need within yourself. Make the most of what you know to make the most of your financial future!

To Your Continued Financial Success

Sean Rasmussen
21st Century Academy
Universal Wealth Creation © 2004 – 2008

It is hard to hear that you might have to just steel yourself and face the fact that you’ll have to put more into your day if you want to get more out of it before you ultimately enjoy the wealth you have built. That is understandable, but it’s a fact of life for many nonetheless. It had to be said.

Knowing what a burden adding more to your day might be for you, I thought about how we might alleviate some of that additional pressure. The good news is that for many, many people, there are real ways to get more out of your day, put more in, and maybe even spend less time overall doing it. How is that possible?

Get More Out Of Your Day By Doing Less

Quality not quantity. In the end when you have added in the additional duties of educating yourself about finance and building wealth, and then acting to make it happen, this might be a wash as far as time spent ‘doing’ is concerned. In actuality it is meant to be. If we can reduce your day to the point where you are doing everything essential and taking action to grow financially and seeing results, all the better; I truly hope that does happen for you. Of course, that might mean this is a good time to step up your efforts at building wealth, too.

If you are skeptical about being able to take something out of your day, something that will put time into your day that you can devote to investing and making money, I don’t blame you. But the fact is that a lot of us are not very good time managers. A lot of us could find a lot more time in the day just by incorporating some good time management skills. Let’s take a look at what could go.

• TV—an easy one, something we could easily do without if it meant more financial freedom

• Procrastinating—how much time do you spend wishing you didn’t have to do something? Finding other things to do to put off what really needs your attention? A lot of times it is more time than the task actually takes.

• Distractions—emails, phone calls, IM, aimless web-surfing, unannounced visitors (in and out of the office)

• Limitless schedules—there things that are unavoidable in life, but the problem comes when these things take more of your life than they should. Place limits on meetings, visits, phone calls, and limits on your time. Give each task only the time it deserves.

• Obsessive tasks—there are probably things you do that can live with a little less attention. For example, are you an obsessive cleaner or email checker? Cut back and prioritize.

This is by no means a complete list, but the hope is that it will get you thinking about what can go so you have more time for your real priority. What can you add to this list?

To Your Continued Financial Success

Sean Rasmussen
21st Century Academy
Universal Wealth Creation © 2004 – 2008