Change and All ‘C’s Defined

The only constant in the universe is change. But, what does it take to change your financial situation around? Believe it or not, because all it takes are 17 ‘C’s to change!

The 17 ‘C’s of change are:

1)     Choice

Change starts with a choice. Do you want to change for the better? When you hear yourself saying thing such as “I hate living from hand to mouth” or “I dread having so little money at month’s end”, it is time for you to make a choice: whether to continue living that way or seek a better way out of this mess you have climbed into in the first place.

2)     Courage

Changing takes courage, too. Some times, it is hard to change because we care too much about what other people might say about us. But then, is other people’s opinion more important than being in command of your financial life?

3)     Concentration

Change demands a lot of focus on your part. I know that it easier said than done for most of us because your firm standing is often put to the test throughout seeing financial changes on your income/expense statement.

4)     Confidence

You cannot possibly do something you do not believe in, right? The best way to instill confidence and keeping yourself motivated throughout personal and financial changes is to subscribe to self-help newsletters, books and articles on a regular basis and if possible, befriend and learn from a mentor you can trust who is capable of guiding you. He can be your financial planner or in fact, millionaire!

5)     Consistency

Like anything else, you cannot possibly get by your first financial hurdle by doing it only once. You have to regularly learn and reinvest in your financial education in one means or another.

6)     Character

You either plan to change or have experience shape you. I know that experience is usually equated to time, which is true, but you can take control of your learning speed by first instilling a strong character in you.

7)     Caring

By this, I do not necessarily refer to being affectionate. But it starts with caring about your own financial welfare. This sounds very basic, but when you look at the majority of the population’s financial shape, you cannot say that they actually love themselves, too!

8)     Comfort

In order to change, it often means living the “comfort zone”. Yes, again, this is dreadful for most people who are probably in Slumber Land but as with standing near a burning fire, if you do not make your jump anytime soon, the heat would get at you.

Using the same analogy, if you do not make any radical changes towards improving your finances, the financial disaster usually would follow on later and worse than a burning fire, it comes without warning.

9)     Communication

I am not exactly pointing out to communicating with other people but yourself (inner-talk). In order to change, you must first confess and admit to yourself. You do not have to tell anyone, but just tell the truth to yourself.

Have you been cheating a better life out of yourself? Are you giving your best to everyone else but you?

This should be one of the first steps you must take after making a choice where changing your financial situation for the better is concerned.

10) Creativity

I cannot stress enough how important a role creativity is in making your financial transitions. However way one puts it, without creativity, there would only reasons why one should not change for the better.

11) Chance

Making a personal and financial change also starts with first giving yourself a chance. Ironically, most people are the very ones who are taking the chance away from themselves.

Just so I demonstrate my point, do you recall any moment in your life where you have passed up a golden chance and if you have took it, you might have been better today? For example, if you have once passed up a scholarship offer, you are stealing a good academic education offer from yourself.

While what happened in the past cannot be changed, the next best time to do so is NOW – and it starts with saying to yourself, “You have got yourself a chance. Do it right!”

12) Culture

If you have been born into an affluent family with less family problems, less money problems, but you want to pursue wealth beyond what your parents can bring into the family – I would have to say it bluntly to you, “It is harder for you to be richer than a poor person!”

Huh? Why is that? In my personal opinion, this is the hardest ‘C’ of all ‘C’s. A wise man once said,”The enemy of great life is good life.” And I tend to agree with him, whoever he was.

I am sure you notice that most self-made rich people today were once upon a time poor or had very little possessions. But what about those who were already born into the affluent family? You have guessed it. They were born into a good family. They lived a good life – and probably died good, too. But they were never great!

Of course, I cannot say the same for all of them, but it is often up to a person’s culture to change. If you hardly ever had any problems to overcome before this and now you want to pursue your wealth, man, you still have a lot to learn! Talk about being born with a silver spoon!

13) Control

Next ‘C’ in the line – changing means taking control first! When your financial situation is out of control, only YOU can take control of it. Not your parents, not your spouse, not your boss, not your neighbor next door, and no, not your dog, either. After all, this is the most sensible thing to do so there should be debate on this, right?

14) Conviction

This is not going to be easy, either. However, it takes some guts to admit that you were previously wrong or foolish about not taking control of your finances.

After all, it opens doors to new possibilities so why not accept new ideas and ways on managing your funds rather than stick to what is not working and still claim it works? The definition of insanity is one who does the same thing over and over again yet expects different results!

15) Circumstances

Life for you was merry, perhaps… until things go upside down and take its turn for the worst. Very often, it takes a change in the financial circumstances for someone to make a mental shift in changing in his financial situation for the better.

For example, if you are on the brink of losing your one and only house, you are surely all prepared to stop that from happening – the kind of determination you did not have before.

16) Convenience

I have discussed about the “comfort zone” earlier, and here is another. I am not referring to the same “comfort zone”, but it is better convenience that makes people want to change for the better financially.

For example, earning a bigger income entitles you to spend more and maybe invest more as well. Thus, you are willing to sacrifice staying at the same “comfort zone” to work on something else more worthwhile.

17) Company

The last ‘C’ component that you need in order to change for a better financial life is to have a healthy company of friends. That can mean discarding old friends who push you down and making new friends with people who are willing to help pull you up.

Having highlighted to you the 17 ‘C’ ingredients of changing your financial situation, there is no more for guessing on how to change for the better – but just have them put into practice in real life!