Want to Make 2024 the BEST Year Yet?

Life is full of challenges and opportunities, but also full of choices and decisions. How do you know what to do, where to go, and how to get there? How do you make the most of your time, talents, and resources? How do you achieve your dreams and aspirations?

One of the most powerful tools that can help you answer these questions and guide your actions is goal setting. Goal setting is the process of identifying and defining what you want to accomplish, and how you plan to do it. Goal setting can help you clarify your vision, focus your efforts, and measure your progress.

Here are a few examples to establish WHY goals are so important:

To illustrate the power and importance of goal setting, here are some anecdotes of people who used SMARTER goals to get ahead of life:

• Oprah Winfrey: The media mogul and philanthropist had a vision and purpose of inspiring and empowering people through her work. She set SMARTER goals for her career, such as becoming the first African-American woman to host a nationally syndicated talk show, launching her own television network, and producing and starring in movies and shows. She broke down her goals into stepping stones, such as getting a job as a news anchor, creating her own production company, and acquiring the rights to books and stories. She took action, such as working hard, learning new skills, and building relationships/networking. She evaluated her goals and made new ones, such as expanding her brand, diversifying her portfolio, and giving back to society.

• J.K. Rowling: The author and activist had a vision and purpose of sharing her imagination and passion with the world through her writing. She set SMARTER goals for her books, such as finishing her manuscript, finding a publisher, and reaching a wide audience. She broke down her goals into sub-goals and milestones, such as writing chapters, sending queries, and promoting her work. She took action on her goals, such as dedicating time, seeking feedback, and facing rejection. She evaluated and revised her goals, such as improving her craft, expanding her series, and supporting causes.

Those are but a few examples of successful people who have used the premise of SMARTER goals, even if they did not think they were. A lot of the time, this principle will come naturally, as it is innate in those who want to achieve more for themselves and their community.

But not all goals are created equal. Some goals are vague, unrealistic, or irrelevant, and they can lead to frustration, disappointment, or failure. That’s why you need to set goals that are SMARTER: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound, Evaluated, and Revised. These criteria can help you create goals that are clear, realistic, and meaningful, and that can motivate you to take action and achieve results.

Let’s look at each of these criteria in more detail, and see how they can help you get ahead of life.

Specific

A specific goal is one that answers the questions of who, what, where, when, why, and how. A specific goal is not vague or general, but rather precise and detailed. For example, instead of saying “I want to be successful”, a specific goal would be “I want to start my own online business by the end of this year”.

A specific goal helps you to:

• Define exactly what you want to achieve

• Identify the steps and resources you need to take and use

• Avoid confusion and ambiguity

• Communicate your goal clearly to others

Measurable

A measurable goal is one that has a quantifiable indicator of progress and success. A measurable goal is not subjective or abstract, but rather objective and concrete. For example, instead of saying “I want to be happy”, a measurable goal would be “I want to increase my satisfaction score by 10 points in the next six months”.

A measurable goal helps you to:

• Track and monitor your progress and performance

• Evaluate your results and outcomes

• Celebrate your achievements and milestones

• Adjust your actions and strategies if needed

Achievable

An achievable goal is one that is within your reach and ability. An achievable goal is not impossible or unrealistic, but rather challenging and feasible. For example, instead of saying “I want to be a millionaire by tomorrow”, an achievable goal would be “I want to save $10,000 by the end of this year”.

An achievable goal helps you to:

• Assess your current situation and capabilities

• Set realistic expectations and standards

• Boost your confidence and self-efficacy

• Overcome obstacles and difficulties

Relevant

A relevant goal is one that is aligned with your values, interests, and purpose. A relevant goal is not irrelevant or random, but rather meaningful and significant. For example, instead of saying “I want to learn how to play the piano”, a relevant goal would be “I want to learn how to play the piano because I love music and I want to express myself creatively”.

A relevant goal helps you to:

• Connect your goal with your vision and mission

• Prioritize your goal among other competing demands

• Stay motivated and passionate about your goal

• Enhance your happiness and fulfillment

Time-bound

A time-bound goal is one that has a specific deadline or timeframe. A time-bound goal is not open-ended or indefinite, but rather timely and urgent. For example, instead of saying “I want to travel the world”, a time-bound goal would be “I want to visit 10 countries in the next two years”.

A time-bound goal helps you to:

• Create a sense of urgency and commitment

• Plan and schedule your actions and tasks

• Manage your time and resources effectively

• Avoid procrastination and distraction

Evaluated

An evaluated goal is one that is regularly reviewed and assessed. An evaluated goal is not static or fixed, but rather dynamic and flexible. For example, instead of saying “I want to lose weight”, an evaluated goal would be “I want to lose 10 pounds in the next three months, and I will check my weight and body fat percentage every week”.

An evaluated goal helps you to:

• Measure your progress and performance

• Identify your strengths and weaknesses

• Recognize your achievements and challenges

• Learn from your feedback and experience

Revised

A revised goal is one that is modified and updated as needed. A revised goal is not rigid or final, but rather adaptable and responsive. For example, instead of saying “I want to get a promotion”, a revised goal would be “I want to get a promotion by the end of this year, but if I don’t, I will look for other career opportunities or pursue further education”.

A revised goal helps you to:

• Adjust your goal to changing circumstances and conditions

• Incorporate new information and insights

• Explore new possibilities and alternatives

• Maintain your relevance and competitiveness

How to Use SMARTER Goals to Get Ahead of Life

Now that you know what SMARTER goals are and how they can help you, how can you use them to get ahead of life? Here are some steps you can follow to create and achieve your SMARTER goals:

1. Identify your vision and purpose. What is your ultimate dream and aspiration in life? What is your reason for being and doing? Write down your vision and purpose statement, and use it as your guide and inspiration.

2. Brainstorm your goals. What are the specific outcomes and results you want to achieve in different areas of your life, such as personal, professional, financial, health, social, spiritual, etc.? Write down as many goals as you can think of, and don’t limit yourself by any doubts or fears.

3. Prioritize your goals. Which of your goals are the most important and urgent for you right now? Which of your goals are the most relevant and meaningful for your vision and purpose? Rank your goals by order of priority, and focus on the top three to five goals.

4. Make your goals SMARTER. For each of your top goals, apply the SMARTER criteria and write a SMARTER goal statement. Make sure your goal is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound, evaluated, and revised.

5. Break down your goals. For each of your SMARTER goals, break it down into smaller and more manageable sub-goals or milestones. For each sub-goal or milestone, write down the specific actions and tasks you need to do, and the resources and support you need to use.

6. Take action on your goals. For each of your actions and tasks, schedule them on your calendar and set reminders and alarms. Follow your plan and execute your actions and tasks on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Track and monitor your progress and performance using a journal, spreadsheet, or app.

7. Evaluate and revise your goals. For each of your SMARTER goals, review and assess your progress and performance on a regular basis, such as weekly, monthly, or quarterly. Celebrate your achievements and milestones, and reward yourself for your efforts. Identify your strengths and weaknesses, and learn from your feedback and experience. Modify and update your goals as needed, and incorporate new information and insights.

Goal setting is a powerful tool, and it does come with a warning, because once you set and start achieving your goals through hard work and discipline, you will not want to stop. If you want success and to be an achiever, setting goals and writing down your dreams is a must.

Until next time,

Take Back Control.

Why You Should Drink Water and Stay Hydrated

Water is essential for life. It makes up about 60% of your body weight and is involved in many important functions, such as regulating body temperature, lubricating joints, delivering nutrients to cells, removing waste products, and supporting organ function. Staying hydrated is crucial for your health and well-being, as it can affect your energy levels, brain function, mood, skin health, weight management, and more. In this blog post, we will explore the benefits of hydration and how drinking water affects your body on a cellular level and overall.

The Benefits of Hydration

Drinking enough water each day can provide many benefits for your health, such as:

• Improving physical performance. Water helps prevent dehydration, which can impair your strength, endurance, and coordination. Dehydration can also increase the risk of heat-related illnesses, such as heat stroke and heat exhaustion. Drinking water before, during, and after exercise can help you perform better and recover faster. [1]

• Enhancing cognitive function and mood. Water is vital for your brain, as it helps maintain the balance of fluids and electrolytes that affect your nerve and brain cells. Dehydration can impair your attention, memory, and mood, as well as increase the likelihood of headaches and fatigue. Drinking water can help you stay alert, focused, and happy. [2]

• Supporting kidney health. Water helps your kidneys filter out waste products and toxins from your blood and urine. Dehydration can reduce your urine output and increase the concentration of substances that can form kidney stones. Drinking water can help you flush out these substances and prevent kidney damage. [3]

• Promoting skin health. Water helps keep your skin hydrated, elastic, and smooth. Dehydration can cause your skin to become dry, dull, and wrinkled. Drinking water can help you moisturize your skin from within and prevent premature aging. [4]

• Aiding weight management. Water can help you control your appetite and calorie intake, as it can make you feel full and reduce your hunger. Water can also boost your metabolism and increase your energy expenditure, as it helps your body burn calories and fat. Drinking water can help you lose weight and maintain a healthy body weight. [5]

How Drinking Water Affects Your Body on a Cellular Level and Overall

Water is not only important for your body as a whole, but also for your cells, which are the basic units of life. Water helps your cells function properly and efficiently, as it:

• Transports nutrients and oxygen. Water is the main component of your blood, which carries essential nutrients and oxygen to your cells. Without water, your cells would not be able to receive the fuel and energy they need to perform their tasks. [7]

• Removes waste products and toxins. Water is also the main component of your lymph, which collects waste products and toxins from your cells and transports them to your kidneys and liver for elimination. Without water, your cells would not be able to get rid of the harmful substances that can damage them. [6]

• Maintains cell structure and volume. Water helps your cells maintain their shape and size, as it fills the space inside and outside of them. Water also helps your cells maintain the balance of fluids and electrolytes, which affects the movement of water and other substances across the cell membrane. Without water, your cells would shrink or swell, which can disrupt their function and integrity. [7]

• Supports cell communication and signaling. Water helps your cells communicate and coordinate with each other, as it facilitates the transmission of electrical impulses and chemical signals. Water also helps your cells respond to these signals, as it activates certain enzymes and proteins that regulate cell activity. Without water, your cells would not be able to interact and cooperate with each other. [8]

How Much Water Should You Drink?

The amount of water that you should drink depends on various factors, such as your age, weight, activity level, climate, and health status. There is no universal recommendation for water intake, as it varies from person to person. However, a general guideline is to drink enough water to keep your urine pale yellow or clear, and to avoid thirst, dry mouth, and other signs of dehydration. You may need more water if you exercise, sweat, have a fever, diarrhea, or vomiting, or if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. You may need less water if you have certain medical conditions, such as heart failure or kidney disease, or if you take certain medications, such as diuretics. You should always consult your doctor before changing your water intake.

Water is essential for your health and well-being, as it affects your body on a cellular level and overall. Drinking enough water each day can provide many benefits for your physical performance, cognitive function, mood, skin health, weight management, and more. To stay hydrated, you should drink water regularly throughout the day, and adjust your intake according to your needs and preferences. By doing so, you can enjoy the many advantages of hydration and improve your quality of life.

Until next time,

Take Back Control

How to Become a Master in Your Field!

Do you want to achieve excellence in your chosen field of work or study? Do you want to be recognized as an expert and a leader by your peers and customers? Do you want to enjoy the benefits of being a master, such as higher income, greater satisfaction, and more opportunities?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you are not alone. Many people aspire to become Masters in their fields, but few actually achieve it. Why is that? What does it take to become a Master? And how can you start your journey towards Mastery today?

In this blog post, I will share with you some insights and tips on how to become a Master in your field, based on the research and experience of successful Masters from various domains. I will also provide you with some practical exercises and resources that you can use to improve your skills and knowledge.

What qualifies me to speak on Mastery?

After reading Robert Greene’s book Mastery, I have actually realised that I have no real qualifications to speak on Mastery. In fact, I have realised that I have just begun the apprentice phase all over again, after being a personal trainer and business owner for ten years, I have changed career. Meaning I have had to swallow my pride and ego, coming from a field where I knew quite a lot, but probably not enough to be a true Master, to a field completely new. Even as I finished my three year Bachelor of Financial Planning degree last week, I have yet to even enter my apprenticeship phase as I only truly start to grasp the beginnings of what you need to know to be a Master Financial Planner.

Therefore, I may not have Mastered anything as of yet, but I feel prepared to talk to you about what I have learned so far throughout my life and through reading Robert Greene’s book on Mastery.

What is Mastery?

Mastery is the state of being highly skilled and knowledgeable in a specific field or domain. It is not just about having a lot of information or experience, but about being able to apply it effectively and creatively to solve problems, create value, and achieve goals.

Mastery is also not a fixed point or a destination, but a continuous process of learning and improvement. It is not something that you can achieve overnight or by following a simple formula, but something that requires dedication, passion, and perseverance.

Mastery is not limited to a few elite or gifted individuals, but something that anyone can pursue and attain, regardless of their background, education, or talent. Mastery is not a matter of luck or talent, but a matter of choice and effort.

Why is Mastery Important?

Mastery is important for several reasons. First, mastery can help you achieve your personal and professional goals, by giving you the confidence, competence, and credibility to perform at your best and deliver high-quality results.

Second, mastery can help you enjoy your work and life more, by giving you the satisfaction, fulfillment, and joy of doing something that you love and are good at. Mastery can also help you overcome challenges, cope with stress, and grow as a person.

Third, mastery can help you make a positive impact on the world, by giving you the ability, opportunity, and responsibility to contribute to your field, society, and humanity. Mastery can also help you inspire, influence, and mentor others who share your passion and vision.

How to Become a Master?

Becoming a master is not easy, but it is possible. There is no one-size-fits-all approach, but there are some common principles and practices that can guide you along the way. Here are some of them:

1. Find Your Passion

The first step to becoming a master is to find your passion. Passion is the fuel that drives you to pursue mastery, and the source of your motivation, curiosity, and creativity. Passion is also the foundation of your identity, purpose, and vision as a master.

To find your passion, you need to explore your interests, values, and strengths, and discover what you love to do, what you care about, and what you are good at. You also need to experiment with different activities, domains, and fields, and see what sparks your enthusiasm, excitement, and joy.

Finding your passion may take some time and effort, but it is worth it. Once you find your passion, you will have a clear direction and a strong reason to pursue mastery.

2. Define Your Goals

The second step to becoming a master is to define your goals. Goals are the targets that you aim for, and the outcomes that you measure your progress and success by. Goals are also the drivers that push you to take action, and the feedback that helps you improve and adjust your strategies.

To define your goals, you need to be specific, realistic, and challenging. You need to set both short-term and long-term goals, and break them down into smaller and manageable steps. You also need to write them down, review them regularly, and celebrate your achievements.

Defining your goals may require some research and planning, but it is essential. When you have defined your goals, you will have a clear roadmap and a strong incentive to pursue mastery.

3. Learn from the Best

The third step to becoming a master is to learn from the best. Learning from the best means studying and emulating the masters who have already achieved excellence and success in your field or domain. Learning from the best also means seeking and accepting the guidance and feedback of mentors, coaches, and peers who can help you grow and improve.

To learn from the best, you need to be humble, curious, and open-minded. You need to read books, articles, and blogs, watch videos and podcasts, and attend courses and workshops that can teach you the skills and knowledge that you need. You also need to network and connect with people who can support you, challenge you, and inspire you.

Learning from the best may require some investment and effort, but it is invaluable. Upon learning from the best, you will have a solid foundation and a powerful advantage to pursue mastery.

4. Practice Deliberately

The fourth step to becoming a master is to practice deliberately. Practicing deliberately means engaging in focused and intentional activities that are designed to improve your performance and overcome your weaknesses. Practicing deliberately also means applying and testing your skills and knowledge in real-world situations and scenarios that are relevant and meaningful to your goals.

To practice deliberately, you need to be disciplined, persistent, and adaptable. You need to allocate time and resources to practice regularly and consistently, and follow a schedule and a routine that works for you. You also need to monitor and evaluate your results and feedback, and make changes and improvements as needed.

Practicing deliberately may require some sacrifice and discomfort, but it is crucial. Similar to losing weight or putting on muscle in fitness, or even when it comes to learning a new movement, you need to hours and hours of training to achieve your goal. Practising deliberately and consistently gaining feedback from others is the key to honing the skill.

5. Innovate and Create

The fifth step to becoming a master is to innovate and create. Innovating and creating means using your skills and knowledge to generate new and original ideas, products, or services that can add value and solve problems. Innovating and creating also means expressing and sharing your unique voice, style, and perspective with your audience and customers.

To innovate and create, you need to be creative, courageous, and generous. You need to experiment and explore different possibilities and alternatives, and take risks and learn from your failures. You also need to communicate and collaborate with others who can complement your strengths and weaknesses, and appreciate and respect your work.

Innovating and creating may require some inspiration and passion, but it is rewarding. Once you innovate and create, you will have a distinctive edge and a lasting impact to pursue mastery.

Becoming a master in your field is not a simple or easy task, but it is a worthwhile and fulfilling one. By following the steps and tips that I have shared with you in this blog post, you can start your journey towards mastery today, and enjoy the benefits and rewards of being a master tomorrow.

I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post, and found it useful and interesting. If you have any questions, comments, or feedback, please feel free to leave them below. I would love to hear from you and learn from you.

Until next time,

Take Back Control

Unlocking Your Potential: The Power of Self-Education for Everyday Australians

In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, the pursuit of knowledge can often take a backseat to daily obligations. Yet, in the digital age, the opportunities for self-education have never been more accessible or empowering. Just as we invest in our homes, careers, and families, investing in our personal growth through self-education can be a game-changer for every Australian seeking to realise their full potential. We have found at Take Back Control that the start of it all came down to that small spark of curiousity and asking the question, “What would it be like to live a better life?”

That is how I came to be on the path of self-development and have continued seeking more and more knowledge and growth.

1. Empowerment in Your Hands

Self-education places the reins of learning directly in your hands. In a world where information flows freely, you have the liberty to choose what to learn, when to learn, and at what pace. This level of autonomy allows you to cater your learning journey to your interests and goals, making the process not just informative but deeply engaging.

2. Unleashing Your Curiosity

Remember the days of childhood curiosity, when every question led to another, and the thirst for knowledge was insatiable? Self-education rekindles that flame. It encourages you to explore diverse subjects, from history to science, art to philosophy. This exploration doesn't just expand your knowledge; it nurtures your creativity, adaptability, and open-mindedness.

3. Personal Growth and Confidence

Each new skill you master, each piece of information you absorb contributes to your personal growth. As an everyday Australian, self-education empowers you to step outside your comfort zone, acquire new skills, and develop a stronger sense of self-confidence. This newfound confidence has a ripple effect, positively influencing various facets of your life, from your career to your interactions with others.

4. Career Advancement

In today's rapidly evolving job market, adaptability is a prized trait. Self-education equips you with the tools to keep up with industry trends, acquire new skills, and remain relevant in your field. Whether you're seeking to climb the career ladder, switch industries, or start your own venture, the knowledge you gain through self-education is an invaluable asset.

5. Flexibility and Convenience

Traditional education often requires a fixed schedule and location. Self-education, on the other hand, thrives on flexibility. With online courses, tutorials, and e-books available, you can learn at your convenience, fitting your studies into your existing routine. This flexibility is a boon for everyday Australians juggling work, family, and other commitments.

6. Cost-Effective Learning

Formal education can be expensive, but self-education offers a cost-effective alternative. Many online resources are either free or available at a fraction of the cost of traditional courses. This affordability ensures that knowledge is within reach for everyone, democratizing education in a way that benefits everyday Australians.

7. Lifelong Learning

The beauty of self-education is that it fosters a mindset of lifelong learning. Learning becomes a continuous journey, not limited by age or stage of life. Embracing this mindset enriches your life experiences, keeps your mind sharp, and ensures that you remain intellectually curious throughout your journey.

In the tapestry of life, self-education weaves threads of empowerment, growth, and fulfillment. For every Australian seeking to enhance their personal and professional lives, self-education stands as an open door to a world of possibilities. It's an invitation to reignite your curiosity, cultivate your talents, and nurture your potential to its fullest. Embrace self-education as a lifelong companion, and watch as it transforms your ordinary days into extraordinary chapters of growth and discovery.

How To Improve In Any Aspect Of Your Life!

I once heard that if you are not growing, you are dying…

The many things that occur in the natural world seem to justify this law, a law embedded into every natural living organism on this Earth.

Plant’s continue to grow and change, whether that is in size, in bloom or even in shedding its leaves. Animals are constantly growing, getting rid of old cells and creating cells anew. Humans shed our skin and make new skin cells every seven days, and over the long term we are constantly evolving. Every single living organism is changing, adapting and becoming stronger, faster and more adept at facing the challenges we see in every day to day life. In fact, we became the apex predators of Earth for the very reason that we are masters of adapting, re-inventing ourselves and facing challenges head on.

Therefore, the first thing we need to do is accept that we are capable of change and truly the masters of adapting to all environments and situations.

To improve, we need to embrace the change and step outside our comfort zones, no matter whether you are introverted or extroverted, physically strong or mentally strong.

You are born to be more than just what you are now, the very fact that you were born at all is simply an amazing feat in itself, a one in one trillion chance!

Once you have accepted that you are capable, that you can change, that you are ready to be more…

You need to work out what you want to do and who you want to be. Most people stop at this part, because in all honesty, this is the most difficult part. A life long journey of trying to understand self, others around you, their nature, why they do what they do. Why you do what you do…

And the hardest part, there is no one size fits all approach, it is a path only you can really decide to walk down and only you alone can navigate. Of course, there will be people along the way to show you a way that might be easier, or others who will show you a way that will be more treacherous, however you are the only one that can truly decide on which path you can walk.

There are signposts along the way that can also make this path a little bit easier, these signposts are quite difficult to spot and you have to be aware of them for you to be able to see them. Meaning you need to be vigilant along your journey, you have to be looking out for these sign posts and be on a constant look out.

The best way to be able to recognise these sign posts that I have found, and therefore the best way to keep you growing and moving along the path of self-improvement and growth, is to understand your priorities/goals.

Your priorities and goals, much like life, will be constantly changing as well, therefore you need to be able to reflect on your life, your career, your health, your finances and more to be able to understand what you want.

A few priorities you may have:

+Children/Family

+Health/training/eating well

+Friends and socialising

+Work/business/career

+Paying bills

+Living extravagantly

+Living minimally

+Retirement

+Holidays

+You time

+Significance and fame

+Freedom/choice

The list of course can go on and on, depending on who you are, what stage of life you are in and whether you are walking the path alone currently, or with a partner/family.

To work out your most important priorities, I use to ask clients to list their top 5 priorities they have, priorities you need to make sure happens otherwise your life becomes a total mess/miserable.

Most constantly, I found that people would say #1 is children or family, #2 is work, #3 is the mortgage and paying the bills, #4 they might say holidays and #5 might be holidays/travel…

However, no one would actually say that they prioritise themselves, their growth or time for themselves either…

After that, I would ask them what their top five goals would be, and again it comes down to losing weight, going travelling, etc.

Most people would realise they are prioritising things all wrong when I asked them this, as their top five goals in life and their priorities did not match up in any way at all.

The moment when the light bulb hits, that is when I knew it would a life changing moment and they would begin to realise that they can improve in any aspect of their lives. Once they begin to prioritise their goals, living the life they need to achieve that goal every day, that is when true improvement begins.

That is what it takes to be able to improve and succeed, living your goals everyday, which means you need to prioritise them and continue instilling habits that will help you to be the best version of yourself.

Does it work though? Most people have tried "losing weight” before, or tried saving what they need to be able to go on that holiday…

However, they may not have been able to follow through, which is fine, because at least they or you have tried!
The key is to keep trying, to keep prioritising and staying disciplined enough to keep at it.

You keep thinking about what you want your life to be, what you want to improve in, what you want to achieve and prioritise that every day, that is when you will be able to achieve it. You just need to keep on keeping on!

Until next time,

Take Back Control

What To Do When Feeling Burnt Out?

Burn out, its a term that has been used consistently over the last five years especially. According to the Queensland government, burn out is a state of complete mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion.

You may feel as if you are tired all of the time, or simple tasks that use to be easy actually feel extremely overwhelming. You may be feeling irritable and find yourself feeling frustrated at small things more often than not. You could even feel symptoms of anxiety and even depression due to being burnt out.

There are of course varying degrees of burn out, but sadly Australians in 2021 and beyond have been experiencing burn out more than most other countries according to a global study completed by Global Consultants McKinsey. In fact, 61% of Aussies were experiencing stages of burn out, which is the highest rate in any other country.

Now, we could blame plenty of outliers and situations that are causing said burn out, but today we want to focus on what you can do when you are feeling burnt out and what coping mechanisms you could put in place to help you in your every day to day life.

Burn Out Remedies -

1.Take it easy on yourself and stop expecting so much of yourself (You may not feel it, but to this point in time, you are truly doing an amazing job).

Admittedly, this is not so much a remedy, but just a reminder to be kind to oneself. You are doing the best you can, with the resources and skillset you have right now at this point in time. Therefore, putting more and more pressure on yourself is only going to cause more mistakes and that is when the burn out will increase significantly.

2. Take the breaks you are entitled to!

You cannot sustain long periods of constant work for months and years on end, your body and mind are actually not suited to consistently working on the one task or sitting at a desk for ten hours straight. You need to make sure that you are taking the break’s where you can, such as your lunch breaks, annual leave/holidays, sick days when you are feeling too ill to work. In Australia, we are known for always battling through, but when it gets to the point where you are battling through for years on end, your going to burn out sooner or later.

3. Go on little sabbaticals, or short-term retirements.

A weird one and not overly used in Australia, but something that is catching on a little bit more these days…

People are quitting their work and deciding to not work for 3-12 months at a time, to re-energise themselves and build up that battery that has been so depleted from working for years on end. Something that is truly worth thinking about if you can do it financially and have been burning the candle at both ends for years at a time.

4. Take up a hobby and go to the gym.

Of course, an ex-personal trainer/gym owner is going to tell me to go to the gym… I know that is what you are thinking, but truly, we all know the benefits of keeping fit and staying healthy. However, taking up a hobby and exercising your creative juices are also just as important. Now everyone has different tastes and hobbies, so if you do not have anything that you do outside of work that makes you feel good, please go out and try a few new things. You will definitely find that having an outlet is going to be a massive win against burn out.

5. Find Your WHY!

The last and probably the most important remedy to burn out comes down to simply understanding why you do what you do.

The great philosopher, Aristotle said, “Knowing thyself is the beginning of all wisdom.”

To know ones self and why you wake up each day is the simplest and most under-rated of all things that you can do to reduce burn out and increase your own success. However, it is the hardest one of them all, because most of us do not dedicate the time needed to actually understand YOU!

Finding your why and understanding yourself takes years of reflection on your values and priorities, working out your strengths and weaknesses, and even when you have done all of the work it is on going, because we are forever shifting and changing. Therefore, you have to dedicate your life to personal development and carve out time each week, or month at the very least, to STOP and REFLECT.

Burn out can have mental, physical and psychological ramifications that can be detrimental to your health and the health of your family. According to the stats, you are most likely going to be burnt out in one point in your life.

Hence, by being able to create coping mechanisms and understanding yourself, you will be able to catch it when you are starting to burn out and hopefully save yourself from going over the edge.

Truly I hope that this can help, even if one strategy above can help you get through a tough period at work or in your family life, that means that you are slightly better off and you can go out and make the world a slightly better place because of it!

Until next time,

Take Back Control

Do You Feel Life is Like a Juggling act?

The passed four weeks, I have not written a blog, because I will admit, life has been like a juggling act for me this past month. You have your main five or six balls that you keep juggling constantly, which is finance, relationships/family, education, work/career/business and health.

However, every now and again, those balls seem to increase in number, sometimes the work/career ball gets a whole heap heavier and people keep throwing in smaller work/career balls for you to juggle. Which means you have to drop something, because you can only juggle so much at one time.

Other times, and especially as you get older, your health ball will be the one dragging you down, and you have to drop the work/career/business ball, maybe you have to drop it and decide to never pick it back up again.

There are so many elements to our lives, especially in western society, where achievement is deemed to be the most important aspect of our lives, however, what if I told you that it is okay to drop a few balls here and there?

You may drop the work ball, or the health ball, or even the family/relationships ball for a short period of time, and that is okay. There is nothing wrong with dropping the ball, because no one is capable of juggling all of the balls at once for the rest of their lives. The key is to knowing what you value more than anything else, do you value family the most? Or do you value career/business?

And I don’t want you to feel bad about what you value the most either, because there is no right or wrong answer, some people will value family higher than even their own health. And others will value career or business above family…

There is nothing wrong with valuing one above the other, that is your choice, but you have to know that it is the right choice, based on how you feel, whether your partner and friends are okay with your values to stick around for the long haul, whether the job/business you are currently in accepts these values as your own priority.

Once you know what you value the most, the aim is not to drop the ball for too long. If work gets too much and you have to spend more time at work, but your main values are health and family, then you have to make sure that you don’t get stuck in the rut of continuing to juggle the extra career/business balls in perpetuity. You have to make a forced decision to drop a few career balls and pick up your health or family balls again.

Multiple factors and multiple balls make for really difficult decisions, day in and day out.

Hence why I wanted to write this post, to help you (and myself, let’s be honest) to be okay with dropping the ball every now and again.

But, and this is the major problem we have in Western society especially, we have an expectation that is placed on us from work, from partner’s, friends and family…

And some of this expectation is actually made up in our own heads, where we think we are expected to act in a certain way, it is simple psychology, as we are socially oriented to act in a certain way to “fit-in” and be accepted amongst our peers.

However, what if I told you, that the expectation you think is put on you, is actually a lot less than you think? In some cases, it is completely a figment of your imagination.

Of course, there are some expectations, which have already been communicated, and these are the hard truth’s, but most of the time, we create pressure on ourselves to be everything and do everything, when really you just need to meet your own standards and expectations.

One of the key statements that I remember to this day about choosing which balls to pick up and which balls to drop comes from the great Gary Vaynerchuk and multiple others before him…

“When you die, who is going to remember you for more than one day? Your manager/boss whom barely knows you outside of work? The masses of people on social media? Or your family that you interact with on a daily basis?”

Even celebrities and monarchs need to really think about this question, because most people forget about you once you have passed away and after the funeral, they have their own lives to get on with, their own struggles. You only need to think of the great Kobe Bryant, who sadly passed away in early 2021 from a freak helicopter accident, or even more recent, the queen of Britain herself. Do you think of these two truly inspirational and amazing people on a daily basis?

Probably not, and they had such far reaching impact on so many lives, much more than your own impact most likely. Yet still, you or I never really think of these amazing people, not unless we are prompted by something such as this post.

When you realise that humanity as a species, as much as you love to think we are all doing the right thing by each other, which for the most part is true, are inherently selfish, the better it will be to help you choose which balls to pick up. We focus on our own lives, our own thoughts and we perceive things directly from our own frame of reference and thoughts.

Therefore, everything you do here on this Earth is only going to be thought about very briefly after your passing, hence why you need to really think about the ones who will truly remember you, which are the ones you have an impact on a daily basis for multiple years, where you are irreplaceable. Hence, I find it really easy to be able to choose which balls to pick up once they have been dropped and you can too once you get your head around this concept.

Another strategy you can use is the power of reflection, truly it is probably the most powerful thing anyone can do, especially when you get busy and you are feeling overwhelmed by life. Being able to reflect on what you are doing, and which balls you are dropping or juggling currently is the key to understanding where you are at and where you want to go with life.

Without understanding the past or present, you cannot truly look forward to the future. Now some of you may think, we don’t need to worry about the future, and that is fine, you don’t need to worry about the future… Until the future gets here of course, and then what?

The key to being able to pick up the right balls and juggling them constantly, whilst you have kids wanting your attention, a boss hounding you for work to be complete now, or assessments that are due next week, is to know what you value and to communicate this with the people who are constantly wanting your attention/energy.

The great Ron Malhotra once said to me, when I asked him about how he kept juggling all the ball’s of life, “The key is knowing when to drop what ball, and when you have been neglecting it for too long, to drop another and pick that one back up.”

You are the only one who can choose to drop and pick up the balls, therefore I hope you can use what I have written to help you choose what balls to pick up at and at what time.

The rest is up to you,

Until next time,

Take Back Control

Retirement - Latest Figures For a Comfortable Retirement Increases!!

The Association of Super Funds of Australia generally provide quarterly reports on the estimates of living expenses for Australians in retirement, giving us the opportunity to establish an understanding of how much we should be looking at spending in retirement.

Of course, these figures are just averages, and each couple/person will be completely different, based on their level of living expenses, the area they live in and many other factors that come into play.

Before we jump into the figures, you must understand that you should understand your own living expenses and do a deep dive into what sort of lifestyle you would like to live in retirement before looking at the average figures.

Do you want to be travelling for three to six months a year for the next ten years?

Do you just want to be at home for the majority of the time and are okay with looking after the grandchildren?

Have you got a mansion that needs a lot of upkeep? Or a smaller unit that has body corporate fees?

Have you got pets or want pets?

Have you paid off your mortgage or are you renting?

All of these things make a massive difference to living expenses as you move through retirement, so establish the life you want to live first by sitting down and having a discussion with your partner, family or Financial Adviser about the lifestyle you want in retirement. Once you have done this, look at the numbers you will need to live on for you to retire comfortably for you!

If you did the above, great work, you have now been able to establish a personally tailored expenses plan for retirement, however if you do not have the resources or expertise to do the above, that is okay, because the ASFA have done it for us.

ASFA, 2023 [1]

As you can see, there is a decent difference in the expenses for a comfortable and modest lifestyle, so let’s delve into what the main differences are and this may give you an idea about what living expenses you can expect.

**Please note, all expenses are based on the fact that you have paid off your mortgage in retirement, therefore if you have a mortgage, you will need to add this on top of the above expenses!

Expenses Per Week in Retirement- 65-85 years old

The main differences in lifestyle comes down to the ability to go on overseas holidays, as a more modest lifestyle will spend all of their holiday expenses on travelling domestically. The other major difference is expenses on health, including medications and the like, this is due to the concessions on offer for those who earn less from their superannuation, it doesn’t mean that they may be getting less services for health, it just means they are not spending as much money on health.

We can see, overall, a comfortable lifestyle may see you travelling abroad a little bit more and using your car more, but overall, the differences in expenses per week are not astronomical.

Therefore, before you decide that you are ready to retire, or maybe you see these numbers and figure that you are not ready to retire, have a long and hard discussion to figure out what sort of lifestyle you will be living in retirement.

Do you want to spend it up a bit more and travel? Do you want to enjoy the peace and quiet in a regional town and get away from the big smoke?

All questions that only you can answer!

Therefore, I recommend sitting down and spending some time talking with a professional, such as a trusted Financial Adviser, who can give you some clarity and be a sounding board for all of your dreams and vision for retirement.

Until next time,

Take Back Control

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1. ASFA - https://www.superannuation.asn.au/resources/retirement-standard

The Key to Being Rich…

Being “Rich” is different from person to person, it actually could mean jet-skiing in Boracay for one person and could mean simply owning your own home for the next.

No matter what it is that you think of as “Rich,” no matter what dream you have, as long as it is your dream and yours alone, you will be able to achieve it. The key to getting there is not just living in the moment, but living in both the moment and in the future.

To be able to attain the level of “Riches” that you want, you need to do what I have come to phrase as FORWARD-THINKING SPENDING.

Simply put, all it means is your ability to plan for the life you want to lead, which comes down to understanding where you are now (Current Situation) and where you want to go (The Life You Want To Live).

In fact, when I was a Personal Trainer and gym owner, it would be exactly the same process, because achieving goals boils down to the same thing, no matter what it is that you want in life.

Whether “Rich” simply means being healthier to you, or maybe you want more money, maybe it is that you want a relationship with someone. Whatever “Rich” is, you have to go through the same process, you have to understand your Current Situation and then make small incremental changes to move towards The Life You Want To Live!

Let’s bring it back to finance for a second, you need to get honest about your current situation, truly look at the numbers and understand the ins and outs of your life.

To do this, you need to make your cashflow as simple as possible, that way you can keep track of your spending. Therefore, if you have more than four to six bank accounts, you need to whittle that down this week!

An example of this is how my wife and I currently use four bank accounts, we have our main bank account and savings account, this is where all our income go into, we pay our bills and rent from.

We then have an individual account each, which are our “business” accounts, as we have both been sole traders in the past. However, I am a firm believer that having an individual transaction account in a relationship is actually really important, so you can maintain some form of individuality and so you can buy that gift for your partner without them figuring out what it is.

We also have a savings account linked to each transaction account, however these savings account are used for tax purposes for our business accounts. Therefore, if you do not run a business, you would not need these accounts. Hence why having four accounts is more than enough if you are in a relationship, if not, no more than three is truly necessary.

An example of your account structure if you have a mortgage would be similar, however you would obviously have the mortgage account on top of that, so five accounts as a maximum.

**When running a business, you need to try to keep personal and business separate, which can be tricky if you are a sole trader. The best question to ask when purchasing from your business account would be is, “Is this purchase for the business, or myself?”

Generally, this just makes life easier at tax time, but if you are like me, sometimes you can’t help yourself to make personal purchases with the “business account.”

Now, let’s get back to The Key To Being Rich…

Now you have made your cashflow simple and efficient, you need to KNOW your Current Situation!

Doing this requires some homework and looking through your bank accounts over the last three to six months. Which sounds difficult, but it really is not, because plainly put, they are just numbers on a screen.

No matter how embarrassed you may be, or ashamed at yourself, you have to remember that it is in the past and we cannot change the past. We can only learn from it and grow stronger for it.

Once you have gone through your accounts and turned over every stone to see what is underneath, we can now start to look to the future.

The future can be super unclear and murky, even scary if you have no clarity over your current situation, it might seem impossible…

However, I believe that you are closer than you think to the future you strive for, it just takes a little bit of stepping back, evaluating your situation with a clear mind and coming up with some small changes to move towards being (Forward-Thinking Spending) “Rich.”

Much like health, if you want to increase size, you need to understand that it means eating more and using resistance training to improve your muscle mass.

If you want to have more savings, you need to have a look at your spending and income, work out the difference and see whether you have anything left over. If you do not, you know you need to cut back on spending, or earn more income.

You see, the Key To Being Rich is simpler than you think…

I never said it was easy, however, it is simple. All it entails is spending less than you earn, so you can put money away into savings and investments, and delay gratification enough so that you slowly but surely get closer to your version of “Rich” each year.

Of course, if you are unable to reduce spending, you can earn more money, you just need to be open-minded to the ways you could do this…

• Ask for a pay rise

• Start a “Side-Hustle”

• Sell stuff that you do not use

• Move jobs that pays better

• Get another job

• Invest in income paying assets

As you can see, there are multiple ways you can earn more money, you just need to know what is going to work best for you if you are unable to spend less money.

Forward-Thinking Spending is the key to being “Rich,” and it is based on your priorities, values and whether you believe that you can get to where you want to go.

All you need to do is put in a little bit of work at the start to simplify your cashflow, know where you are currently and understand what the numbers are to get where you want to go.

Which is the last aspect I will talk to today, understanding the numbers of your version of “Rich.”

No matter what it is, you need to know how much you need to save to get to where you want to go.

Do you want to live off passive income and dividends (the profits paid to shareholders of a company) without having to work?

You will need to know your expenses first and know how much you need each year to live, this will give you your dividend figure needed. Which in turn, will give you the amount you need invested in an asset to get the dividends.

Do you want to own your first home?

You will need to know how much you can afford based on your salary/income, your current deposit that you have etc.

Do you want to go on a holiday? you will need to know how much your holiday will be, so that you can create a savings plan.

Do you want to start a business and make it a $1 million per annum business?

You will need to create a business plan and know the ins and outs of the industry… Plus understand the capital (money) and personnel needed to start up the business.

You see, no matter what version of “Rich” you want to achieve, it is possible, because it has been done by someone before you. Unless you are Elon Musk, who wants to create a civilisation on Mars, you can reach out to others who have done it before you to understand what you need to do and save to get there.

All it takes is a little bit of thinking, a little bit of time and you will be well and truly on your way to being “Rich.”

Until next time,

Take Back Control

What is Inflation? And Why you Should Be Concerned…

Last week, I had a great conversation with a mate whilst we were away for the Easter long weekend. Simply put the conversation was about why the Reserve Bank of Australia was hiking interest rates so high and so fast, causing massive heartache and problems for those with mortgages.

Now, I am not an economist, but based on my studies, I have been able to learn a thing or two about the macroeconomy. Therefore our conversation, simply put, tailored around interest rate hikes not just being about inflation, even though it is the core reason for increasing rates. But today, we don’t want to go into the intricacies or the complex system that makes up our macroeconomy and interest rate decisions, today we simply want to understand…

What is inflation? And why should you be concerned with increased levels of inflation?

Firstly, let’s take a look at the defintion of inflation and then lets unpack it from there.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (The institution involved in trying to stabilise the economy and the Australian currency) states, “Inflation is an increase in the level of prices of the goods and services that households buy. It is measured as the rate of change of those prices. Typically, prices rise over time, but prices can also fall (a situation called deflation).” [1]

Therefore, we can safely say that inflation is based on the increase of goods and services across the economy, as resources, wages and spend on research and development increase, the cost of creating a product or service also increases.

The increased cost of products and services will get passed on by companies and businesses to the consumer (us), so that way the extra cost does not eat into their profits significantly, because without profit, the company would eventually lose shareholder sentiment and after a while lose the ability to remain solvent.

Hence, a low level of inflation is seen as progress, it keeps the economy of a country moving forward and growing. We have had this in Australia for the last 10-15 years, whereby inflation levels have been constantly sitting between 2-3%.

However, over the last twelve months, we have seen inflation grow to the highest levels since 1990, whereby the annual inflation rate for the December 2022 quarter was sitting at 7.8%. (See graph below)

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS, 2022) [2]

Now we know what inflation is, or roughly know that it is the increase of prices of goods and services on average across an economy, why should we care?

Other than the obvious reason that no one wants to see prices going up and up all the time.
Inflation, at the extreme level, can be detrimental to the stability of an economy, if you see abnormal levels of high inflation for a long period of time (Such as hyper-inflation) consumers will grow to expect everything will just keep getting more and more expensive. The expectation alone creates a self-fulfilling prophecy, whereby consumers will want to buy things now, before it goes up in price, increasing demand and therefore increasing prices again. Causing even higher inflation.

We have seen this happen in Argentina over the last twenty to thirty years, whereby they just hit over 100% inflation [3], considering our measly 7.8%, we don’t seem to be doing all that badly.

However, for those living in Argentina, they are seeing daily price swings of 10-50% on essential items, such as groceries and electrical goods. The Argentinian Peso, the currency used in Argentina, is seen as absolutely worthless, to the point where people don’t have any cash in the bank anymore.

There has been countless countries who have gone through hyper-inflation, starting in the Wiemar Republic in the 1930’s and more recently in Turkey and Zimbabwe.

Which brings me to why you should be concerned about inflation and why the RBA has been jacking up interest rates to bring it under control…

The higher inflation gets, the less your cash in the bank is worth.

Let’s use an easy example, one a lot of younger Australians are struggling with right now, the housing market.

A young couple who are trying to save for their first home are saving in cash, but the annual savings rate of cash for most banks currently is sitting between 4% to 4.6%. Whereas the inflation rate is sitting at 7.8%, meaning that your cash is losing value at 3 to 3.6% per annum.

Just by saving your money in cash, you are currently losing purchasing power, as inflation and price growth is outstripping savings growth. Therefore, the couple get desperate, they need to buy now, before housing goes up even more. That is where they go to a bank to get a mortgage, that way they can buy now and will be able to save on any potential increases in prices in the housing market over the next twelve months.

Due to buying now, rather than waiting, this has increased the demand of housing, as more people want to buy more houses. With higher demand, we have what we call a market pull, whereby demand is pulling prices higher.

In turn, creating that self-fulfilling prophecy of increased inflation I was talking about earlier.

We can see this in the price of goods and services as well, whereby 100 people want to buy one thing, but there is only enough supply of the goods or service for 90 people, this is what jacks up prices and causes inflation.

Now, there are multiple other reasons too much inflation is a bad thing, but that is one of the main reasons we have seen interest rates increase significantly over the last twelve months.

Now, inflation has been decreasing in Australia, but we wont see the real effect’s of the increased interest rates truly until the end of this year.

So what could you do to make sure you do not lose purchasing power over the next decade?

One thing you can do if you want to make real nominal returns over the next ten years is invest in the Share market, whereby there has been an average return of 9.8% per annum over the last ten years in the ASX 200 (A group of the top 200 companies in Australia).

By investing in shares, you will not see your cash get eroded away by inflation over the long term, rather you will see your purchasing power increase.

Of course, the Share market is a lot more volatile and you need to be in the market for a long period of time to see the returns to stay above inflation, but if you have a long term horizon and want to do what the wealthy do, invest your money in shares and stay a step ahead of inflation.

Until next time,

Take Back Control

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[1] - https://www.rba.gov.au/education/resources/explainers/inflation-and-its-measurement.html

[2] - https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/price-indexes-and-inflation/consumer-price-index-australia/latest-release

[3] - https://tradingeconomics.com/argentina/inflation-cpi

Disclaimer:

The information on the Take Back Control Website is intended to be general in nature and is not personal financial product advice. It does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on any information, you should consider the appropriateness of the information provided and the nature of the relevant financial product having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs. In particular, you should seek independent financial advice and read the relevant product disclosure statement (PDS) or other offer document prior to making an investment decision in relation to a financial product (including a decision about whether to acquire or continue to hold).

How We Bought Our First Home!

Have you dreamed of owning your first home?

A place to to make your own, without parents or in-laws on top of you all the time. Or without having to worry about rental inspections, having to move every two to three years and landlords who just won’t fix that damn fence.

Having your own home does come with a whole heap of perks, especially if you are a young family or starting to think about beginning your own family.

However, Australia’s housing market is extremely difficult to get into, buying your first home for many is a milestone that is almost impossible.

But, for those who are persistent, for those who are working hard towards a Dream of Buying that First Home, no matter what, it is still possible.

First thing my wife and I did when we bought our first home was talk to family and friends, unfortunately during that time, there were not too many people who could give us advice.

Most of our friends had not bought their first home, and family members who had bought their first home, bought nearly twenty years ago or more!

Unfortunately, twenty years ago does not even begin to relate to the most recent times. Therefore, with not a lot of help, we turned to reading (I am an avid reader) and enlisted the help of a professional mortgage broker.

After reading a few personal finance books, one of which was Scott Pape’s “Barefoot Investor’s- The only Money Guide You Will Ever Need,” (Great initial reading to get the ball rolling) we realised that we needed to build up a deposit.

We then talked to a mortgage broker who was able to go through our financial situation and give us a ball park figure to aim for a good deposit, which was roughly around $80,000 at the time for a $500,000 house and land package. (We had around an $18,000 deposit saved up at this time)

We didn’t have anywhere near this figure at the time, and this was below the 20% deposit that the “Barefoot Investor” suggested, but we knew that we just wanted to get into our first home and didn’t care too much for the Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI)[1].

[Lenders mortgage insurance is the insurance a bank will take out, and make you pay for, if you have less than a 20% deposit. In case your property decreases in value and you need to sell due to defaulting, the bank will not lose money.]

So these are the steps we took to buying our first home:

1. Read about personal finance and build a budget (Work more to earn more and reduce expenses where possible, SACRIFICE is necessary)

2. Research the areas/locations that you want to buy in, you need to decide this before you know how much you will need to spend for your first home.

3. Engage a Mortgage Broker, one who is experienced in helping first home owners! Build a plan to get that deposit (Need to have a final figure for your home before engaging in this step).

4. Be Patient and review your financial situation once a month. Keep looking on Realestate.com and Domain, but don’t get caught up in wanting anything until you are close to your deposit goal.

5. Be DISCIPLINED- Pay yourself first (ie; Transfer your savings into a separate savings account, one that you cannot touch.

Being young, a little naïve and not having any experience at all did end up working in our favour though, as we decided that we were going to build a deposit and buy our first home within twelve months. If you know my wife and I, we are extremely stubborn and once we make our minds up about something, we work hard to make it happen. If we were older, had more experience and knew how much we would have to sacrifice, it may have been a bit different. But above all else, we wanted to buy our first home and take the first step in making our lives our own.

In late 2017, we built our budget and started saving like crazy, putting away 60-70% of our wages into savings, it helped that we were living with our parents at the time, especially considering we were earning less than $90,000 before tax between the two of us.

We started working more, and took on extra jobs, any way in which we could earn a little bit more to build our deposit faster.

During this time, there are a lot of emotions, especially if you feel stuck in your parent’s house, like my wife did. Emotions start running a little bit higher, the closer you get to your goal, the feeling that you will achieve your goal soon will actually make your decision making process less realistic. Not to mention more arguments/frustrated tension between family members or roommates.

Hence why it is important to have your plan and budget that you need to be disciplined enough to stick to.

How did our first home buying story end? Well, by mid-2018, we took the plunge and signed on a house and land package contract. (Against the advice of our mortgage broker at the time.)

Our very first home - Moved in Oct - 2019 (Sold early 2022)

Which was a story in itself, as we went through a whole heap of problems throughout the build and learnt a lot about the building process. The main learning was you buy land, you do not need to go with a builder that has their name on that land. No matter what the sales person says to you, you are buying the land and not the builder!

We haven’t been deterred by our horrible first building experience though, as we are now building our second home, having bought land late in 2021. (Either that, or we didn’t learn from the first time LOL)

But we can leave that story for another time, as there are just a few more things you need to know before I leave you to start DREAMING about your first home…

As mentioned above, we were pretty young and very naïve when we decided to buy our first home, so here are the things we wish we knew before we started planning our very first home!

• First Home Owner Grant - $10,000 contribution from the government for a first home owner (New home or build up to $750,000) [2]

• First Home Super Saver Scheme - Can put up to $15,000 of contributions per FY and Save up to $50,000 in your Super Fund (Saving on tax and potentially getting better returns than a savings account.) **Talk to a professional Financial Adviser before deciding on this strategy.

• First Home Buyer Guarantee - The government will insure up to 15% of the home value, so you only need a 5% deposit [4]

• Stamp Duty Exemption or Concessions - Pay $0 on stamp duty for first homes valued up to $600,000 or get a concession for between $600,001-$750,000

There are plenty of incentives to buying your first home and a heap of different strategies to help you to build/buy your dream first home…

**Please see all links to government sources below for more information!

Therefore, you should speak with a professional, such as a mortgage broker or financial adviser who may be able to help you get a great understanding of your personal situation and circumstances. As everyone is very different and there are multiple ways in which you can build your deposit to buying your first home.

Hence, why should enlist the help of a professional whenever you can, and you can meet with a mortgage broker or even an adviser free of charge in the first meeting most of the time. Whom will be happy to give you a few hints and tips to help you along the way to owning your first home!

Buying your first home can be daunting and can be something that seems impossible, but it does not have to be. You just have to know what you want, and go out and work for it. Truly, that is what it takes if you want to finally get into your first home, and it doesn’t sound all that difficult, but it does require discipline and an ability to sometimes say ‘NO’ to friends or family.

To Sacrifice a little bit now, for something good in the future!

For now, go and do some research on where you want to live, read some personal finance articles or books and start building out your plan to BUYING YOUR FIRST HOME!

Until next time,

Take Back Control

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[1] - Lenders Mortgage Insurance - https://insurancecouncil.com.au/articles/lenders-mortgage-insurance/

[2] - FHOG - https://www.sro.vic.gov.au/first-home-owner

[3] - FHSSS - https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/super/withdrawing-and-using-your-super/first-home-super-saver-scheme/

[4] - FHBG - https://www.nhfic.gov.au/support-buy-home/first-home-guarantee

[5] - Stamp Duty Exemption or Concession - https://www.sro.vic.gov.au/fhbduty

How to Feel Less Overwhelmed and Less Stressed…

The general feel right now is one of anxiety and concern, everyone is feeling it a little bit more than usual right now. We have a workload that seems all-consuming, we have lives that are just too busy and on top of that we have interest rates going up, with an increase in cost of living happening at the same time…

No wonder we are all feeling like something is amiss, we are all a little less optimistic about the future and feel like there is a weight dragging us down.

The aim of this article today is to tell you, it is okay to feel all of those things! You are human, you are going to have good days and bad, that is natural to feel a little bit down or anxious. The other reason for this article is to hopefully give you some strategies I use throughout my everyday to help me live a life where I am not overwhelmed all the time or feeling like the stress of living is getting too much.

Of course, these strategies are not a fail safe, however they have helped me to get through some of the most stressful periods of my life and helped other family members as well.

Stress Less Strategy Number 1:

Take a break!

Stop what you are doing, if you feel a heaviness in the chest, starting to get a headache or feeling frantic, you need to catch yourself and just STOP.

Easier said than done, but if you are able to do this, you will find your stress decreasing significantly and your productivity increasing tenfold. Once you have caught yourself, take in 5 DEEP breaths, count 5 seconds in and 5 seconds out, this will take you under 60 seconds, but the significance of doing this one thing is astonishing.

Schedule your lunch breaks for the same time or thereabouts everyday, get into a routine of setting up great habits whilst at work. When you are on a lunch break, that means no looking at emails, no looking at a work phone or taking calls. Unless it is a serious emergency, which is not very likely, you will be able to get to that email or return that call after lunch.

Not everyday is going to be perfect, and there will be days where you may have to skip lunch. But you damn well make sure you take a lunch break the next day!

(This is the same for each of the next steps you can take as well to stress less and feel less overwhelmed!)

Stress Less Strategy Number 2:

Make sure you get a good nights sleep!

By getting a good nights sleep, this will set you up for the next day and not just that, but your body will have been able to reset.

Meaning when you wake up, your heart rate will be normal, stress hormones (Cortisol and Adrenaline) will have been regulated properly and your body will be able to regulate your appetite as well.

Meaning that you will eat normally, which will also decrease stress, as your digestive system is not working overtime/stressed.

Stress Less Strategy Number 3:

Get Moving!

Getting your body moving, whether that is for a walk, run, boogey or going to the gym, will deliver results beyond what you could even imagine.

By getting the body moving, you are not only going to improve your physical health, but your mental health as well.

Your body will secrete dopamine (The Happy Chemical/Hormone) after you exercise, making you feel good and like you have achieved something for the day for yourself.

Just get moving, no but’s about it!

Stress Less Strategy Number 4:

Say NO!

I cannot stress this one enough, saying no and setting boundaries is imperative to not getting overwhelmed.

If you were to say YES to everything, you would not just get overwhelmed, but swept off your feet and left a shell of your former self. By saying YES to everything, you will not be helping anyone, especially not yourself.

Therefore, you need to be able to learn to say NO.

Stress Less Strategy Number 5:

Finally, the last strategy is to set time out for YOU!

Understanding what gives you energy and makes you feel good is imperative to this strategy, as you need to set time out for doing things that will leave you feeling fired up and full of energy.

You may love to go for walks, or go to the movies, or going to nice restaurants. You may love an adventure in new lands, or to do nothing at all, read a book, journal or go for a run.

You need at least 45 to 60 minutes of YOU time everyday!

Definitely one of the hardest strategies to complete, but you need to do it. You need to keep up the interests and hobbies that you find are important, you need to reflect and spend time with yourself or friends/family. Spending at least 45 to 60 minutes a day doing something you love will leave you feeling less stressed and more productive.

Of course, there are multiple other strategies you can use to decrease stress and overwhelm, such as being more organised, planning for the future, eating better foods, setting yourself strong boundaries/standards, etc.

However, I have found the five strategies above to be perfect for reducing stress and overwhelm throughout the day and has helped me to live a better life, where I feel in control.

My productivity levels have increased significantly, motivation is never really a problem (on the odd occasion it can be) and you just feel better/more confident overall.

Let me know how you go with trying out the five strategies above, I would suggest starting with number one, which is really important for those who are working full-time. If you are not working full-time/part-time, I would suggest beginning with strategy number five.

Until next time,

Take Back Control

What Financial Life Stage Are You In?

Understanding your own Financial Life stage and where you are at now is a great starting point to thinking about what goals you should be working towards. Now of course, some get to these life stages earlier or later and there is nothing wrong with that, just knowing where you may be is a good starting point!

Let’s get right into it and find out what life stage you may be in…

There are about four main life stages to think of and every stage is different, based on your age, your family, your career stage and multiple other factors. Of course, generally speaking, each life stage is normally the same for the majority of the population and based on your age.

The reason for this of course is simply down to as you get older, you will generally earn more and your family will grow as you have kids etc.

So let’s have a look at what these life stages are!

Foundation Builder- Learn, Grow and Plan - be the DREAMER

Age 10-20 - Finding Your Feet - Let’s begin to Walk and Learn the way!

• Learn to use money

• Become a bit more independent from parents - Pay your own way

• Begin to learn about saving and investing.

• Find your individuality and potentially buy your first car, get a first job, start your first business.

• Finally, there are no limits to what you can become, DREAM BIG!

Age 20-30 - Foundation Builder - Set up your life for success!

• Begin to realise how the world works - become more mature/aware.

• Set-up a plan for saving and investing.

• Buy your first house or apartment/move out of your parents house.

• Potentially start a family of your own/get married.

• Understand passion/strengths to build a great career or get the dream job!

Empire Builder- Become the KING/QUEEN

Age 30-40 - Castle Builder - Time to build out your ideal Life!

• You have your first home, potentially look to purchase a second or use money to invest for future expenses

• Your family is growing, you may have one, two or three young children and/or pets.

• Your career is at its true starting point, this is where your job/career really gathers momentum.

• You need to set out plans/structures for your estate (wills), investing/saving plans, insurances, superannuation and automate. You will not have time to think about this, therefore automation is key or hire someone to look after it for you (ie; a financial planner)

• You are going to go through your most expensive 10 years yet, cashflow planning is essential (schooling for kids, holidays, buying first home etc.)

Age 40-50 - Empire Builder - Becoming the King/Queen you are meant to be!

• Life truly starts at age 40, you are wiser, are at your best mentally and your kids are older now too!

• You can build your Empire, now you have a castle/base of operations (home) and some subjects to help you (ie; family/kids/work colleagues/employees)

• You are earning the most you will ever earn in your life, tax planning, superannuation and insurances are vital.

• You need to plan it out properly to build a successful Empire! Best time to speak to a Financial Planner.

Retirement/Succession Planner- Consolidate your Power as a KING/QUEEN

Age 50-60 - Succession Plan - Time to think about Retirement!

• You are beginning to age a bit now, but don’t let that stop you. Your kids will be more independent and you can start planning for you again.

• If you have not spoken to a Financial Planner about retirement, you need to now!

• You need to have super sorted and ready for retirement.

• Salary sacrifice, contributing to super and update wills again (estate planning).

• Your health is just as important as your finances now - LOOK AFTER YOU!

Age 60-70 - Your Empire is Complete - Retire and Celebrate Your Success!

• Your best years are ahead of you now, your kids are grown up and you potentially have grandkids now!

• If you have done all of the above, you are ready to retire and travel the world or Australia etc.

• You need to consolidate though, to make sure you do not run out of money before you pass away. Or even worse, hold on to all of your money and don’t celebrate the best years of your life.

• Having a financial planner by your side to sort out; Super to pension/retirement planning, taxation planning, Estate planning (wills), Centrelink planning (Aged pension), Investing plan for retirement is imperative.

Your Life is now Your OWN - Become the Innocent ADVENTURER

Age 70-80 - Find Your Purpose - Now the Empire is Complete, You need a new Purpose

• Money is not a concern at all now (or shouldn’t be)

• You are FREE to do what you want and become a whole new person, this is where you need to craft yourself a new identity.

• You are still young enough to enjoy life and adventure/travel. But you can learn new things and be whatever you want to be to a degree.

• Financial planning in focus during this stage is - cashflow management, retirement/superannuation planning, estate planning, aged care planning potentially and looking at ways to give back to family/society.

Age 80-90 - Gifting Stage - Your Empire can be gifted, before you shuffle off the mortal coil!

• Your life expectancy ends here, time to sort out and finalise everything you need to before you leave this plane of existence.

• Estate planning, gifting to kids/grandkids/charities etc. Whilst you live is potentially a better way of doing it.

• Aged care due to health deteriorating can be on the cards.

• Centrelink planning (Loads of benefits out there for older Australians)

Age 90+ - Gratitude Stage - Be Grateful for every moment you have, as you are the exception.

• You have made it past the average life expectancy! Well done and celebrate every brief moment and be grateful for your health.

• Finances really don’t matter so much at all if you have done everything you should have on this list.

As you can see, each life stage is different and in fact every person will hit these life stages potentially at different times as well. However, knowing what life stage you are in will help you to think about how you should be planning out your finances to help you achieve the next life stage and set you and your family up for less stress in life.

There are also a few things that we have not covered, but most of the essential stuff has been covered in the above, so check out your life stage and see where you may sit and need to start thinking about.

Let me know in the comments where you are and what you need to work on the most to help you move into the next stage.

Until next time,

Take Back Control

What is Stopping You from being Financially Free?

Since starting in the Financial Planning profession and working as a client relationship manager, there has been a lot of learnings. You can learn a lot about the technical side of Superannuation, Estate planning, Retirement, Investing, Trust structures, Business/Companies, Budgeting and Cashflow projections…

All are really valid and great to know, however, there is no point learning all of that if you don’t understand how money and your everyday to day behaviour is interconnected. Locked together in a constant battle of wills, discipline and decision making that over a lifetime can lead to Financial Freedom and a great retirement or can lead to living off the age pension and counting your pennies everyday.

Everyone of course wants the Financial Freedom and the ability to do whatever you want, but not everyone is going to get there…

Therefore, today I want to share with you the top tips to attaining financial freedom and being able to significantly change your life at the same time!

And also explain why you have not attained Financial Freedom yet….

Understand the Past to Create the Future You DESIRE!

The key to unlocking your potential, as corny as it sounds, is to understanding your past and what behaviours you picked up from your upbringing. Most psychologists today are learning more and more about how our upbringing and the way our parents treated us truly affects how we behave when it comes to money decisions, and life in general.

The understanding of a psychologist who studies the evolutionary theory, is that we are born with 50% of our behaviours already embedded in our DNA. Therefore, we have no control over some aspects of our life, which makes it even more important for you to understand your strengths and weaknesses.

25-30% of our behaviours come from our upbringing, between the ages of 0-6 years old, where our brains were the most malleable or think of our brains as sponges that were prone to taking in everything from our environment.

The other 20-25% comes from our peers and social groups, where we try to fit in and mould into a group that we can connect with and find purpose.

If we were to take the idea of evolutionary psychology and put it into effect, it makes it even more important for you to understand how your parents view money and whether you are a spender or saver.

Hence, you need to really look back at your upbringing, ask your parents or look back into the past and ask yourself, what is money to me?

Do I save up every penny? Or do I spend most of my money? (If you are like the 80-85% of us, you are a spender, so don’t feel bad if you are)

Did my parents complain about money or see it as “Bad”? Do I?

Were my parents comfortable with debt or were they always stressed about the mortgage? Do you find yourself also becoming stressed?

What was your first money memory? Was it of piggy banks and saving to buy your first toy? Or were you given everything?

There is no right or wrong answers here, you should not feel guilty about your upbringing or blame your parents for the way you are now, although there is partial responsibility on their part.

What you need to do is start to understand your past, and start to understand that you can make life easier by setting up a plan based on your behaviours and how you view money now. The key is to become aware of your own behaviours, to stop and reflect, which is difficult at first, but like anything, the more you do it, the easier it becomes.

Having a VISION of what your FUTURE is like and bring your PARTNER along for the journey!

It may sound a bit corny again, but truly having a vision of what your future looks like, even tastes, smells, sounds and feels like, is going to make it way more likely for you to succeed.

Once you have an understanding of your past, you need to set your eyes to the future, and you need to truly envision what it will be like in 1, 3, 5, 10 or even 20 years.

For most people, you don’t think all that often in the future tense, biologically, we are more adept at surviving in the here and now, therefore most of us will always be thinking in past or present tense. But, for true financial freedom, there is a necessity to think about the future.

Therefore, to buck the trend, to “escape the rat race,” you need to do what most people are not.

One of my favourite exercises to do which will help you to envision your future is to ask yourself, “what is a day in the life [insert your own name here] in 12 months time?”

**Remember, there are no right or wrong answers, it needs to be reasonable, but let your imagination take effect here. What does your morning look like? What are you doing throughout the day? Who are you with? Where are you going and where do you live?

Take at least 15 minutes to type or write this down, my preference is to write as you are more likely again to achieve this if you physically write it down. You are taking it from your minds eye to a physical manifestation in written form.

The key to this is to do it multiple times, to live it in your minds eye and to describe it as accurately as possible. You will find it difficult at the beginning, however with practise, it will become easier and easier. Or, if you are not a visionary and it is not a strength of yours, ask your partner to help you and to build a vision together.

If you do not have a partner, discuss it with friends or family, someone you can truly open up to and let it all out.

Create a SYSTEM and have the DISCIPLINE to stick to it!

Once you have an understanding of your behaviours and what you actually you want to achieve, you can look to breaking it down into manageable steps to getting you to that overall vision.

The best way to do this is to find someone who has done what you want to achieve previously, which I can guarantee there is someone out there who has achieved your vision of life.

Otherwise, talk to a professional, someone who lives and breathes helping people to live their goals and vision of the future everyday.

Either of these people will be able to help you formulate a system, however if you want to do it yourself, you can always look to creating your own systems.

You can do this by simply doing what I call reverse engineering, where you make your vision and create a goal around that vision. An example is you may want to be financially free and for you to do that you need to earn at least $90,000 per annum.

How do you get to $90,000 per annum from a mix of passive and active income streams? Where will it come from essentially?

Investments? Property? A business? A YouTube/podcast channel?

There are multiple ways you can do it, it all depends on your vision and understanding yourself, how you behave and what your strengths are!

Once you have the vehicle (investments/business, property etc.), you can step out goals to work on everyday to help you bring your vision to life.

That system may mean that you set up your bank accounts correctly, automating your savings so when your pay goes in, your savings goes out to another account, maybe even at a different bank.

The system could be simply you sit down every two weeks to revise your budget and spending, understanding where you money is going. Or getting your partner to do it, because they may be better at it then you.

Once you have set up a system, you just need to keep doing it, week in, week out. Having the discipline to make sure that it is on track by reviewing it and setting little milestones in which you can celebrate once you hit them.

A great way to make sure that you are keeping on track is to talk to someone, a partner or professional, who will keep you accountable. The power of telling someone you are going to do something is significant in helping you to living the vision you wrote down, just having someone to be there when it gets tough or discipline wanes. It is very underrated in our current society anyhow.

If Financial Freedom comes down to only three things, why don’t you have it in the first place?

Because most people get stuck in the day to day, they forget about their dreams and visions they had as a child growing up, they forget about being curious and don’t have time to reflect.

They grow content and settle for what they have, which is fine, if you are happy and living the life you want to live, but most people are not!

The other reason is simply because financial freedom takes TIME!

You need to have PATIENCE, and do what my wife calls “building your empire.” We live in such a fast pace society that we forget we have 90-100 years of life in us, not everything is going to come to you straight away and sometimes takes years if not decades of work and perseverance.

Hopefully this has effected you in a way that you will stop and think a little bit about your own life and where that is going.

But until next time,

Take Back Control

7 Simple Steps to Achieving More Energy and Reducing Stress!!

For me, being healthy means having more energy and having the ability to make good decisions and improve other people’s lives, no matter how insignificant it is. Which means I need to be in a positive mindset and have a great attitude, which means my ability to have control over my stress and ability to regulate is pretty important.

So let’s go through the top 7 steps to achieving more energy and reducing your stress…

1.       Prioritise yourself first!!

I know this sounds easier said than done, but it really is most important…

You are the cornerstone, the foundation and the most important figure stone in your life. You need to realise that you are also all of those things to the family and people closest to you. You are the supporter, you are the mother/father, you are the nurturer and the first person that deals with all the troubles. So what would happen if you were to get sick, or injured?

“You must first build your own house and then you can look to help others…”

Meaning you must look after yourself first, so that the ones closest to you do not have to suffer. That is right, if you are not a little selfish and look after yourself, you are in fact making the others around you suffer. No one wants to put the loved ones around them through suffering.

So, prioritise yourself first, you are number one, you are the creator of your own universe and need to realise that without you, those who depend on you would be extremely stuck without you.

2.       Communication

Communication is always the key, it is not just verbal communication though, but your body language, your delivery of said communication. You need to start making sure you communicate more efficiently to your family, to your husband and to your children. This will increase productivity in the family dynamic, take a lot of stress off of you and you will find those closest to you will love you more for it. Be translucent, be completely open to everyone you are close to and tell them what you are doing and what you are doing it for. They will support you, no matter what.

A great place to learn more about being more open and communicating more is to check out “The Imago Process,” which my mentor has just recently got me researching to improve my own communication skills. So far, it has been amazing the results you can get by improving your communication.

3.       Make a morning routine

This is so important, you want to expend the least amount of energy in the morning and make it as easy as possible for you to get the day started!

So figure out a morning routine that works for you. You could go for a walk when you wake up, you could shower, eat breakfast and meditate before anyone else is up. Wake up at the same time, every day, no matter when it is.

It does not matter what your morning routine is, as long as you build a habit around it and make it the same as every single morning. For a quick example, I will wake up at 4:30am on a weekday, shower, eat breakfast, brush my teeth and journal for 10-15 minutes every morning. It could be as simple as that (Doesn’t have to be at 4:30am either). Find your routine and stick to it!

 4.       Get Moving!!

Physical activity is truly underrated by a lot of people, by simply just moving a little bit and doing some vigorous activity three to four times a week (such as weightlifting, running/sprinting, boxing/Muay Thai, HIIT) this will vastly improve your bodies ability to regulate hormones and energy levels.

Not to mention, it will help improve your sleep along the way, helping you to improve recovery and everyone automatically feels better on a good nights sleep!

5.       Organisation is key

You need to be organised, yes I know it sounds cliché, but having a plan for the day does increase productivity and also decreases the energy demand on your decision making throughout the day.

So make a to-do list, or use 10 minutes to plan out your day. I do it in the shower, I think of exactly what I will be doing in the shower. I spend about 5 minutes thinking about what I am going to do the next day at night and in the morning when I wake up and shower, I consolidate it.

Make sure you have a plan and then DO IT!

6.       Stop saying YES to everything

This is the worst for most people, especially to the people you care about and also if it affects them in any way. However, you must prioritise YOU first, meaning you cannot say yes to everything. If you take on more and more, you will start to burn out and become quite irritable. Which will make you hard to deal with and people will not even know why.

You need to say NO every now and again, your energy needs to be directed to the most important things that you need to dedicate yourself to. Saying no makes you stronger and also gives you your own power back, the more you say yes to someone, the more indebted you become to that person.

7.       Allocate YOU time

This is the most significant thing you can do to reduce stress and increase energy!!

Allocating you time, whether it is 30 minutes at lunch or maybe it’s your morning walk or even a session with your personal trainer/coach. Without this time, you will become flooded, overwhelmed and everything that seems like such a simple task will get extremely difficult.

You need time for yourself. Don’t make excuses, just do it!

Not to mention, it helps improve your sleep, by giving yourself time to think about what might have happened during the day or what is to come. Your mind can organise itself a little bit and start to put things in order, which will reduce stress significantly.

These seven steps are definitely not the only thing you can do to improve energy and reduce stress, in fact there are a multitude of things that you can do.

However, they are a great starting point to helping to reduce the angst and pressure that we have in our everyday to day lives. Most of which work extremely well, but you need to find what suits you, which means putting a bit of time into yourself and giving yourself every opportunity to live your best life.

Let me know if you use anything else in particular that helps to reduce stress for you, I would love to know about it…

Until next time,

Take Back Control

How to Create Great Habits- Health-Wealth-Life

Habits, everyone has heard of them, but not everyone truly understands the power of habits and how you can use them to Take Back Control.

Over the next few minutes, we will dive into creating better habits, habits that will get you moving more, focusing a bit more on your finances and helping you to improve your life 10 fold!

Firstly, what is a habit?

“Something that you do often and regularly, sometimes without knowing that you are doing it”- English Cambridge Dictionary

The definition of a habit sums it up pretty well, in fact we all have habits that we complete every single day, brushing your teeth in the morning and at night, eating dinner at roughly the same time, every day.

Driving a car is a great example, we have built up a series of habits to be able to drive from one place to the other, accelerating, breaking, changing gears, seeing brake lights ahead and braking ourselves.

All of which have been built into us as habits, from repetition, making mistakes and learning from them. Have you ever been driving your car to work, and time just flies by, you are hopping into the car, the next thing you know, you are at work. Or when you get into a “Flow” state at work, and the next thing you know, it is lunch time, but you felt like you just sat down. Another great example of completing repetitive tasks that you have built up as a habit.

That is because when you are completing a habit, your brain goes into automation mode, whereby it can complete most tasks from a subconscious level.

The reason we pack our habits into our subconscious comes down to flight and fight, as well as creating capacity for our brain to be used for much bigger problems and decisions.

What this means is that we really only truly use roughly 5% of our brain on a day to day basis to make important decisions and to create even more important habits.

Now, knowing that you have habits and that we use them every day so that you can leave the more important stuff to the conscious mind, we want to be able to use this as a way to Take Back Control of our lives and the habits we form.

To do this, we need to understand how a habit is formed in the first place, which is generally formed through what we call a “Habit Loop.”

The Habit Loop is how you Take Back Control of Life

The habit loop is very simple, in fact, our brains like things to be very simple and very repetitive, otherwise it takes a lot more energy to make new decisions or new habit loops. In the habit loop, we always start with a trigger, I have used this explanation quite a lot with nutrition clients, whereby you might start feeling bored or have nothing to do, so you open the fridge/pantry.

The trigger is feeling bored or having nothing to do at home, the routine is opening the fridge/pantry door and we can all understand what happens next…

We either crack open a “beer” or “have a snack,” even when we don’t need it, and that is the reward.

Now we know what the habit loop is, we can actually break that down and form a new habit, something that will not entail you eating every time that you are feeling bored.

You need to start at the “trigger,” which is the feeling of being bored or having nothing to do. When you feel this, you will probably find yourself in front of the pantry/fridge, about to open the door. What you need to do is stop yourself from opening the door, by asking yourself a question, “Am I really hungry?”

You need to move yourself from the subconscious to the conscious level, where you can make decisions, rather than just following habit loops you have built up over time.

If you can break the trigger, you can break down the habit and begin anew. Now the first, second, third… Even the 100th time, you may fail at breaking down the habit, especially if it is ingrained in you from a young age.

However, the key is persistence, to be able to fail and fail again, but keep trying and moving forward!

Another great example is spending money, in fact, I have seen a similar trigger bring on online shopping, whereby you may feel bored, or have nothing to do, so you open up your mobile or laptop and before you know it, you are on Amazon, Facebook or Instagram.

You are scrolling through your feed and ads keep popping up, these ads are targeted and they know your behaviours, they know that you are in a subconscious mind right now and they easily create triggers for you to begin a habit loop.

I have done marketing courses previously and I know how marketers think, they are always looking at ways to grab your attention to break the loop of scrolling and to get you to click on the product/service.

Once they have you, the likelihood of you buying and scrolling through the online store is very high, based on yur habit that you have built up and before you know it, you have spent $100-$500.

Again, to break the habit, you need to stop it at the trigger, to be able to do this, you need to leave your subconscious mind and move back into the conscious mind, which the brain does not like to do to conserve energy on the bigger decisions.

Hopefully, by delving into how habits are formed, you will be able to use this as a way to start breaking down some of your own habits that you want to stop doing. Which could be anything from smoking, to playing games all night, to alcohol, to eating too many snacks, to spending too much money.

You will most likely fail at the start, breaking down a very old habit is even harder to do, so I suggest that you start with a recently built habit, something that you have only just started doing. You will have to think on this, ask loved ones even, because you may not even realise you are doing it…

Once you have your first habit that you want to break, you will need to work hard to break it, because you are literally fighting against yourself!

The key is to be persistent and be okay with failure, see each and every failing as a lesson to be learnt and to strive to get better!

If you are in need of a bit of help trying to break down this habit, you can reach out to me anytime, just send me through a message on any of the social platforms,

Until Next Time,

Take Back Control

10 Key Reasons Why You Should Train, Move and Keep Active!

The month of February is going to be a bit about how you can Take Back Control of your health, physically and mentally.

We will be adding in a few wealth concept blog’s in as well, but the key focus for today is to talk about why you should prioritise movement above most things.

The human body is a very complex organism, full of cells, bacteria, muscle, proteins, hormones and much much more. I cannot be one to say that even I understand the complexity of the human body or the psychology of it, however having trained for nearly sixteen years straight and put a massive emphasis on moving/training in my life, I have learnt a thing or two.

Here are the key reasons you should increase your activity levels everyday, even if that means just walking an extra 1000 steps:

1. Reduce your risk of health implications/illnesses in the future (ie; reduced risk of heart attack, stroke, cold/flu etc.)

2. Improve your energy and vitality levels, increasing productivity and focus.

3. More likely to eat better and focus on eating better

4. Sleep better (Compounding on your increased energy stores)

5. Improved cardiovascular/respiratory system (Means you can breathe easier and live longer)

6. Improved Muscle density, decreasing likelihood of degenerative diseases.

7. Improved brain function and faculties. (Yes, you can get smarter, just by moving)

8. Learning more about yourself (When you train, you learn limits and understand who you are a bit more)

9. Prove to yourself that you are more capable and increase confidence (Probably the most important one of them all)

10. Increase your level of income and improve career (Yep, the added confidence, lessons learned from training has been proven through multiple studies that it can help with progressing your career and financial wealth.)

These are but just the main reasons you should start moving more that I can think of right now, but there are multiple others. Over the coming month, we will talk to how you can get started moving more and talk to improving your nutrition to help you with your added activity levels.

Until next time,

Take Back Control

Your Money Story (Intro)

Over the course of the next 12 months, my aim is to talk and connect with more people, understand why they do what they do, but most importantly, how they behave with their money.

To break the stigma surrounding money, I will tell you a bit about my own money story in the next few weeks, but for now, lets delve into what a money story is.

Life is full of stories, myths and legends!

We grow up listening to childhood fairy tales and stories that left us full of imagination and wonder, even now I still love a good story, whether it is a movie, book or listening to someone about their own story.

A few psychologists and avid academics have even created a process that we keep coming back to, Joseph Campbell wrote about it in one of his many stories, called the “Hero’s Journey.” Simply put, any great story comes down to following the process and if you think about it, truly think about almost every super hero movie, every Disney movie, hell even every fiction novel, generally follows this same process.

Essentially the hero’s journey follows a certain arc, and truly your money story also follows a certain arc in life.

Much like the hero’s journey, you get called on an adventure, now our adventure these days are no where near as fun or dangerous compared to going out to fight a dragon. However, I would say setting a goal to buy your first home can be just as exciting and fulfilling.

Unfortunately, when you want to buy your first home, you have no idea where to start, so you ask family and try to ask them how they did it. Most of the time, they bought their house 10-20, even 30 years ago, as your parents are the first people you would talk to, but they can’t give you the details you really need to know.

Hence you search for a guardian/mentor, such as a mortgage broker or financial planner, someone who can send you on the first steps of your journey and teach you how to overcome certain obstacles. In the end though, this is your story and the mentor/guardian can only take you part of the way.

Therefore, once the guardian/mentor has completed their task of showing you a way, you have to take it on board and enter the abyss.

The abyss is a dark place, a place where you have to reflect and dig deep with regards to your strategy. Involving a little/lot of sacrifice, discipline and effort to make sure that you follow the strategy. The abyss is where you learn what you are made of and you start to learn more about yourself, who you are, whether you have what it takes and once you get through all the trials, you can leave transformed.

The abyss is where all the saving needs to be done to get you to where you want to go, it is the staying in to eat dinner, instead of eat out. The abyss is saying no to friends when they want to do things, it is the point where you need to decide what is worth sacrificing for the end goal/product.

Once you have learnt more about who you are and have been able to find a rhythm in your discipline towards your savings/finances, you can now leave the abyss and embark upon the transformation phase, where you can use your new learnings/discipline to excel even further than you thought you ever could.

From the transformation stage, you go and fight the big bad banks for that home loan and in the end, you get them to hand you over money to buy your first new home, which becomes the gift/reward of the story.

Once you move in, you are now in your brand new residence and living in your own space, which apart from getting married, has to be one of my biggest life moments I have ever had.

Of course, every story is different, everyone has different trials and problems that arise, some have more go wrong than go right. Some people, without the calling to adventure will be stuck at their parent’s until they meet a partner, or until they decide enough is enough.

Others will get a bad mentor/guardian that is unfortunately only in it to make ends meet on their own terms, whilst others will have great mentors/guardians, but get stuck in their shadow, where the mentor does not die or move on.

The greatest part about the hero’s journey, even though there is a process to it, it is still YOUR story!

It is your own and I wish to hear it, I wish to tell it if you would allow me and I would love to learn from your story and wish to teach others about your trials, your learnings, your ability to meet the darkest of evils and triumph over it.

If you are willing to spend about 30-40 minutes having a chat about your story over zoom, please complete the form below:

Next week, we begin a new month and we will be focusing on health a little bit more, working towards taking back control of your health which is probably even more important than money.

But, my story will also be released next month, as they first of hopefully many Your Money stories.

Until next time,

Take Back Control

The road to Taking Control of your Finances starts with this…

The amazing thing about life, and truly the most important thing about being human, comes down to one thing I believe. It comes down to the hopes and dreams we all share for the future…

What does that do with taking control of your finances you ask?

What if I told you that every dream, every hope, every desire and want, comes down to how much money you have and how you control your finances!

Money is simply a tool, much like the sword/plough was a tool in the middle-ages, used to take/till so that dreams could come true.

One of the biggest dreams in Australia and the US is to own your own home, to be able to have something and call it yours, so that you can sleep soundly at night and protect your family.

Another, especially within Australia, is to travel and to see the world, to see more and experience more…

All of this costs money, and it always has, but now we live in a time where we can accrue more money in a year than any of our predecessors or ancestors could even dream of.

We live in a pretty golden era, that is for sure, but with all that money, we can also lose sight of what we truly want, giving in to entertainment and gluttony.

We are only human after all, and not everyone looks to the future all the time. We either live in three phases, the past, the now or the future and the majority of us, based on multiple studies, live mostly thinking about the now and the past. We do not look forward all too often, due to everyday stresses and the fast pace of Western society.

Which is why we need to create a system that can keep you on track and create security around your future.

That system we call a budget!

But, budgeting can have bad connotations, it leaves a sour taste in our mouth, because generally we think budgets are restrictive. But like a bad diet, if you have a too restrictive budget, you will never be able to keep to it.

We are only human after all…

Hence, to set yourself up for success, the best way to start a budget is to look back into the past. Let me share with you a simple system I have created to budget, which takes a bit of effort and time to set up, but once it is done, you can set and forget or you can spend 10 minutes a week/fortnight if you want a bit more control completing it.

Step 1: Write down your Goals/Dreams

You need a reason to create a budget in the first place, if you want to achieve something, you need to write it down, speak to your partner about it and truly understand what you want.

Of course, this is easier said than done and I will be writing a later blog this year on how to ask the right questions to understand what you want and where you want to go.

Step 2: Look to the past and learn from it!

The scariest part about a budget is probably learning something about yourself. I realised pretty early on, after doing my first proper tax return, that I was a bit of a spender. I spent $10,000 in one year on eating out and take-away…

Now there is nothing wrong with that, except I had only earned $60,000 for the year, meaning I had spent almost 17% of my income on eating out!

I was amazed and felt a bit guilty, but I knew that I would never let my spending habits take control of me again.

It may be scary and you may not like what you find hidden in your bank statements, because it truly does reflect a little bit about yourself, but if you can get through that, you will also learn why a budget is really important too, as I did.

Therefore, we need to print out 3-6 months worth of bank statements and, using an excel spreadsheet, fill out what you have spent over the last 3-6 months.

To attain the excel spreadsheet I use, simply fill out the form below and put in the Subject: I want to Take Control of my Finances!

Once you have done this, you have done all the leg work needed, but it is not the hardest part, not by far.

Step 3: Work out how much your goal/dream is going to cost

Understanding where you want to be, now that you know where you are currently and where you have been in the past is paramount.

Therefore, a bit of research is generally needed, depending on what your goal or dream is.

Want to save a deposit and own a home, you need to understand how much you want to spend, you need to know what your partner is willing to contribute and how you will work together to do so. That is one example, but this is the fun part, talking about your goals and dreams with a partner or friend, researching and truly working towards what you want!

Step 4: Once you have a figure, you can work backwards.
Let’s say that you want to own a home and you want to spend the median house price in a suburb you want to live in, which comes to $700,000.

You want to have at least a 15-20% deposit, 20% means you will not need to pay lenders mortgage insurance, which is dead money anyhow.

Therefore, lets use the 20% deposit. Simple math says that $700,000 x 0.2 = $140,000

If you already have $20,000 in savings, you know that you will need to save $120,000.

Step 5: The final step, how much can you save and how quickly can you save it?

If you earn $80,000 per annum and your partner earns $60,000 per annum, after tax for simplicity sake.

You will need to look at your budget and work out, how much you are saving currently, let’s say currently it is not weekly or fortnightly and you just put money in the savings account when you can. Based on the 6 months, you have saved $10,000.

That means that you will need to save for 5 more years, before you can even think about going for a house. But you want to do it quicker, this is where things get hard and difficult conversations need to be had.

Rather than say you can be in your own home in five years, lets make it 2 years. That is $50,000 per annum, or $962 per week.

Your main living expenses come to $1,200 per week based on the budget you completed earlier, but you generally spend at least $1,108 per week on incidental things.

Hence why you have only been saving about $385 per week. ($10,000/26 weeks = $385)

Between you and your partner, you need to make up $577 per week in savings, which means you need to stop going out as much or going on less dates and sacrificing a little bit in the short term.

But that means you can still spend $531 per week on discretionary things, like eating out, dates, shopping etc.

Once you have worked out the figure you need, you need to simply create a savings account purely for that goal, whether that is a house as used in the example above, or for any other goal/dream and each week you take out that $962 out of your pay and put it into savings.

I would also highly suggest that you put the $531 per week in a different transaction account, with a new card, so that way you can split up your discretionary spending like eating out with your non-discretionary spending like bills and fuel.

And that is it, that is how you budget, of course it is a bit of time and effort. But if you truly want to take control of your finances and you truly want to achieve the dreams/goals in your life, it requires a little bit of time and effort.

Once you have done it though, it is so easy to either set and forget through creating a recurring transfer in your bank account or to sit down and do the transfers yourself once a week or fortnight depending on when you get paid.

Budgeting does not have to be about restricting yourself either, because truly you have control of when you want to achieve your goals/dreams by. Therefore, if you want to live it up a bit more, you just don’t save as quickly as the above example.

It all comes down to what you want and when you want it by!

Until next time,

Take Back Control

Why Budget??

Why do we budget? Why plan or project out your income and expenses?

You would think it is a simple answer, to be better prepared and have some certainty around your finances, to not get yourself into debt when a big expense comes up.

However, you can also budget for multiple other reasons as well, such as trying to get ahead with savings or investing, opening up a business and even planning for your first child.

The reason budgeting is a “buzz” word right now, especially on TV shows like “The Morning Sunrise” or the “Today Show” is because we have all seen that the Reserve Bank of Australia has been increasing rates and people are starting to feel a slight pinch in their hip pocket.

Not to mention, inflation has been increasing prices of our foods and other general expenses, and our wages have remained relatively low.

Therefore, to project the next month of finances, or even twelve months for those who are a bit more advanced, would be pretty handy given everything that is happening.

Meaning that you will not fall short when at the grocery store, a day before pay day, wouldn’t that be nice? To not have to delve into your savings and to keep building your wealth, rather than chipping away at it and becoming even more depressed as your savings account dwindles.

You would rather see those savings increase wouldn’t you? You have travel plans or plans to invest in the future? You want to start a family and give your kids the best start in life? You need money to do all of that and more, therefore you have a reason to create a budget.

I remember learning pretty quickly that if I want to achieve my dreams and goals, the success of achieving them come down to how much cash I have sitting in the bank and how much I earned.

Therefore, I learnt pretty early on that I needed to create a budget, and to focus on the carrot, not the stick. Focus on the reward at the end of the day, rather than any dollar figures or massive expenses coming up.

You are more likely to stick to and achieve your budget if you work towards something, rather than just create a budget for the sake of it.

Therefore, the reason you should create a budget is because of a deeper reason, a massive goal that is going to take some effort and work to make happen.

No matter what it is, you will generally find that there is a dollar figure that will help you attain that goal as well, no matter how big or small it is.

You could start budgeting for a simple weekend get away with your partner, or to pay off a debt, like a car loan.

You need to imagine how it will feel to get away or to have no more debt or responsibility to pay back that loan, use that feeling as fuel to project out your finances and make it work.

The reason why I am going through this is because I want to focus on really pounding it into you that budgeting is not for doom and gloom, in fact, budgeting is for thinking bigger and for hoping for the future.

We budget so that way, we can live a life that we have a little certainty over and can give us a little bit more purpose around our work and of course around making extra money.

Budgeting is not hard either, it can be made simple, which is why I am going to be giving you a very simple way to budget in my next blog, where I will show you how I have budgeted to save for our first house, a few cars, a wedding, a second home and a Europe trip/multiple other holidays over the course of the last seven years.

All of which would not have happened unless I learned how to budget and stuck to it (which is always the hardest part), so make sure to look out for my next blog article and until next time,

Take Back Control