To survive and live the life you want, you need to do two things: build significant wealth and manage the unique risks you face as a professional pilot.
The good news is that building significant wealth is a science, which means that everyone – including you – can do it!
5 proven principles that lead to significant wealth
There are proven principles that, when followed, lead you to build significant wealth. Each of these principles has stood the test of time and has been used by the most financially successful people.
The five principles are:
- Believe you can do it
- Think exponentially
- Increase your value and your income
- Get to where you can save 30%
- Save and invest wisely
- Let’s break each one down.
Principle 1 – believe you can do it
If you don’t believe you can do something, you won’t take the required actions to accomplish what you set out to do, sabotaging yourself in the process. This principle holds true whether you are getting ready to land at a new airfield or you are trying to build wealth.
When you believe it’s possible, you start seeing solutions and opportunities everywhere you look. Once you believe that you can build significant wealth, your mind will start to notice and create opportunities to turn it into a reality.
Principle 2 – think exponentially
Thinking exponentially refers to multiplying the results you think you need by 10. Most people fall short of their goals because they take either too little action or the wrong types of action. Thinking exponentially makes sure you’re taking the action required to build the wealth you need.
For example, if you think you need to build up $1,000,000, multiply it by 10 and set your goal at $10,000,000. Doing so opens a whole new world of thinking and solutions.
You begin to come up with opportunities and actions that you simply wouldn’t have come up with by thinking smaller. When you realize that you are targeting 10 times the result, you find different answers that propel you further.
Will you hit your exponential goal? Maybe or maybe not. Either way, you will be a lot further along than if you just aimed for your “normal goal.”
Principle 3 – increase your value and your income
Income is the foundation to building significant wealth, and the greater your income, the shorter your “leg” to financial freedom and millionaire status.
How do you increase your income in a heavily regulated and seniority-based career track? You develop your value and income streams outside of flying.
Focus on increasing your value, skills, knowledge, and ability to serve the markets you’re passionate about. The more value you provide to the market, the more income you can command.
When your income starts far exceeding your expenses, you’re not only better protected financially, you’re accelerating your journey to being a millionaire.
Principle 4 – get to where you can save 30% of your income
The average savings rate in America (among those that are actually saving) has hovered around 5% for many years. If you want to build significant wealth, you need to save far above average and target putting away 30% of your income.
For most, getting to where you can save 30% of your income will require you to think bigger. Waiting on seniority to increase or a transition to the left seat or the majors doesn’t put you in control. Take control and find ways to increase the income you can save.
Principle 5 – save and invest wisely
Once you’re saving 30% of your income, you’ll quickly realize you need that money to start earning money for you. You do this by saving and investing wisely.
First, build up a cash “reserve” to protect you for when things go wrong. After you have a comfortable reserve in place, begin investing your money to generate growth and income for you.
When you begin saving and investing, it is not the time to “hit it big.” You want to keep it simple, low cost, and broad-based. If you are not confident in your investing ability, either learn what you need to know or get help from an expert.
Over time, you’ll see that your money is earning income itself. When your money is earning more than you are, you’ve reached financial freedom!
Wrapping up
Building wealth is a science, and everyone, including you, can follow proven principles to build the wealth you need to survive and live the life you want.
These principles work for everyone that follows them. In addition, they build on each other. You can’t save and invest wisely if you’re not saving, and you can’t save 30% of your income if you’re not focused on bringing more income in. To bring more income in, you need to think exponentially and believe that you can.
Follow these principles and you’ll be on your way to millionaire status! Have questions? Write in to Aero Crew News or email me and I’ll make sure to answer each.
