- 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom

- “To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.” - Aristotle

1. What do I really want? (Vision)

2. What is important about it? (Values)

3. How will I get it? (Methods)

4. What is preventing me from having it? (Obstacles)

5. How will I know I am successful? (Measurements)

- The quality of your life is the quality of your questions.

- “Money is a good servant but a bad master.” - Sir Francis Bacon

- The secret to wealth is simple: find a way to do more for others than anyone else does.

- “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” - Mark Twain

- “A moment’s insight is sometimes worth a life’s experience.” - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

- “Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.” - Lao-Tzu

- “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” - Lao Tzu

- Anticipation is the ultimate power. Losers react; leaders anticipate.

- “No person is free who is not master of himself.” - Epictetus

- The secret to living is giving: sharing with others not only gives you a greater quality of life but also brings you a greater experience of joy.

- “My wealth has come from a combination of living in America, some lucky genes, and compound interest.” - Warren Buffett

- The majority of investors fail to take full advantage of the incredible power of compounding-the multiplying power of growth times growth.

- “The man on top of the mountain didn’t fall there.” - Vince Lombardi

- Experts say you should plan to save at least a minimum of 10% of your income, although in today's economy many agree 15% is a far better number, especially if you're over the age of 40.

- “The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.” - Amelia Earhart

- Contrary to popular wisdom, knowledge is not power-it's potential power. Knowledge is not mastery. Execution is mastery. Execution will trump knowledge every day of the week.

- Human needs: certainty/comfort, uncertainty/variety, significance, love and connection, growth, contribution

1. Certainty

2. Contribution

3. Growth

4. Love

5. Significance

6. Uncertainty

- The secret to living is giving. Life’s not about me; it’s about we.

- What you get will never make you happy long term. But who you become and what you contribute will.

- What matters is what you think about yourself.

- Appreciate more and expect less.

- The wealthiest person on earth is one who appreciates.

- When you’re grateful, there is no fear; when you’re grateful, there is no anger.

- The core concept of successfulinvesting is sim-ple: Grow your savings to a point at which the interest from your investments will generate enough income to support your lifestyle without having to work.

- Invest in a low-cost s&p 500 index fund.

- Nonprofessionals cannot beat the market.

- Market timing is a losers game

- Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass; it's about learning to dance in the rain. It's about removing the fear in this area of your life so you can focus on what matters most.

- By becoming the market and not trying to beat it, you are on the side of progress, growth, and expansion.

- Mutual fund fees can cost you up to 70% of your future nest egg

- Over any sustained period of time, 96% of actively managed mutual funds are underperforming the market (or their benchmarks).

- Www.strongholdfinancial.com

- Http://americasbest401k.com/401k-fee-checker

- If you’re going to use a 401k, you should use a Roth 401 which taxes upfront and then never again.

- Taxes will most likely be higher in the future.

- Bond prices fall when interest rates go up.

- Variable annuities are invariably bad.

- You do have the ability to change everything in your life. No matter how long it's been this way, you can change it all in a moment, a moment of real deci-sion, a decision that is acted upon. That's a break-through, and one is waiting for you right now.

- To create a breakthrough, you have to change your strategy, you have to change your story, and you have yo change your state.

- The best way to get a result, the fastest way, is to find someone who has already accomplished what you’re after, and model his or her behavior.

- Stories control our emotions, and emotions drive all of our behavior and actions.

- Science has now proven that how you think about stress matters-the story you attach to stress. Telling yourself it's good for you instead of harmful could mean the difference between a stress-induced heart attack at 50 or living well into your 90s.

- Money is nothing more than a reflection of your creativity, your capacity to focus, and your ability to add value and receive back. If you can find a way to create value-that is, add value for a massive number of people-you will have an opportunity to have a massive amount of economic abundance in your life.

- You can change your mind by changing your body first.

- You can change the way you think by changing the way you move and breathe. Emotion is created by motion. Massive action is the cure to all fear.

- Remember: we all get what we tolerate. So stop tolerating excuses within yourself, limiting beliefs of the past, or half-assed or fearful states. Use your body as a tool to snap yourself into a place of sheer will, determination, and commitment. Face your challenges head on with the core belief that problems are just speed bumps on the road to your dreams. And from that place, when you take massive action-with an effective and proven strategy —you will rewrite your history.

- Certainty is the first human need that influences our behavior or actions

- With uncertainty, we default to doing nothing or at least procrastinating.

- Life is not about money, it’s about emotion.

- Www.tonyrobbins.com/masterthegame

- “It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.” - Eleanor Roosevelt

- “Date to love the dreams you have dreams you have dreamed for yourself.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

- “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” - Paulo Coelho

- There may be some things in your life today that once seemed difficult or impossible, and now you have them, but you take them for granted. The law of familiarity says that if we are around anything (or anyone) long enough, we tend to take things just a little bit for granted. So awaken to your appreciation, and jot down your list now.

- Second, you have to review what steps you took to turn that dream into your reality. Take a moment right now. Select one of the things you have achieved. What were some of the first actions you took? Jot them down now.

- Anything that's import-ant, anything that's focused on, energy flows into it.

- Some call it luck, coincidence, fate, or God's hand. I call it grace: the acknowledgment that there's more in this world than just ourselves, and that perhaps a higher power gives us both the privilege of this life as well as the gifts of insight and guidance when we're open to them. It's amazing how, when you take care of the first two steps, God or the universe or grace— whatever you like to call it-tends to step in and support what you're doing. Things flow to you when you do your part first.

- “If you don’t know where you are going, every road will get you nowhere.” - Henry Kissinger

- How do you win? You win by living on your own terms-as well and as fully as you can, for as long as you can.

- You create a plan that meets your needs, that works for you, and you stick to it. That's success, plain and simple. If you're scrambling, constantly competing with others' views of success or financial independence and trying to achieve an elusive goal, you're going to fall behind and become frus-trated. If you're chasing someone else's goal, you also lose. It doesn't matter how much your neighbor has, what kind of car he or she drives, or the vacation he or she takes. This plan is about you, only you, and no one else.

- “The day you stop racing is the day you win the race.” - Bob Marley

- The only person you should try to be better than is the person you were yesterday.

- “What you get will never make you happy; who you become will make you very happy or very sad.” - Jim Rohn

- Most people overestimate what they can do in a year, and they massively underestimate what they can accomplish in a decade or two.

- Just because something isn't in the foreground or isn't within striking distance, don't underestimate the power of the right actions taken relentlessly.

- “If everything seems under control, you’re not going fast enough.” - Mario Andretti

- “You can be rich by having more than you need, or by needing less than you have.” - Jim Mott

- If you have a traditional fixed-rate mortgage, make early principal payments over the life of the loan.

- “Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.” - Albert Einstein

- To have more, you simply have to become more.

- Don't wish it was easier; wish you were better.

- For things to change, you have to change.

- For things to get better, you have to get better!

- We get paid for bringing value to the marketplace. It takes time... but we don't get paid for time, we get paid for value.

- How do you truly become more valuable? Learn to work harder on yourself than you do on your job.

- The Bible says there’s nothing wrong with wanting to be great.

- “Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.” - Franklin D. Roosevelt

- Love is the ultimate wealth. It can show up unexpected anytime, anywhere-and it is never too late.

- “My favorite things in life don't cost any money. It's really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time.” - Steve Jobs

- “Life is like a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” - Albert Einstein

- “Never test the depth of the river with both feet.” - Warren Buffett

- 'It's almost certain that whatever you're going to put your money in, there will come a day when you will lose fifty percent to seventy percent.' - Ray Dalio

- “I don't gamble, because winning a hundred dollars doesn't give me great pleasure. But losing a hundred dollars pisses me off.” - Alex Trebek

- Research on human emotion shows that the majority of people around the world underestimate how badly they feel when they lose. The pleasure of our victories is dwarfed by the pain of our failures and our losses.

- Bonds are fixed income investments.

- When interest rates go down, the value of a bond goes up. When interest rates go up, the value of a bond goes down.

- One of the best bonds you can buy is a TIPS, Treasury inflation-protected securities

- “The winner ain’t the one with the fastest car. It’s the one who refuses to lose.” - Dale Earnhardt Sr.

- The ultimate diversification tool for individual investors is the low-fee index fund, which gives you the broadest exposure to the largest numbers of securities for the lowest cost.

- David Swensen portfolio: domestic stock 20%, international stock 20%, emerging stock markets 10%, REITs 20%, long-term US treasuries 15%, TIPs 15%

- “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” - Theodore Roosevelt

- People don't know their true tolerance for risk until they've had a real-life experience taking a significant loss.

- The biggest myth of investing: “this time will be different.”

- What's more important even than building wealth is doing it in a way that will give you peace of mind.

- “When you cease to dream, you cease to live.” - Malcolm Forbes

- Grace comes when you commit to doing something that will serve more than just yourself—some would call it luck or coincidence.

- When you give your all, the rewards limitless

- Life supports the hat supports more life.

- “Give yourself peace of mind. You deserve to be happy. You deserve delight.” - Hannah Arendt

- To be a successful investor, you need to rebalance your portfolio at regular intervals.

- Most investors rebalance once or twice a year.

- “I’m here for the few who do versus the many who talk.”

- “Invincibility lies in the defense.” - Sun Tzu

- Your life and solutions are made up of the questions you ask.

- If you ask better questions, you’ll get better answers.

- Stocks are 3x more risky than bonds.

- There are 4 seasons: rising growth, falling growth, rising inflation, falling inflation

- Stocks, corporate bonds, and commodities do well in rising growth

- Commodities, inflation linked bongs (TIPS) do well in rising inflation

- Treasury bonds, inflation linked bonds (TIPS) do well in falling growth

- Treasury bonds and stocks do well in falling inflation

- Complexity is the enemy of execution

- Ray dalios all weather investment portfolio: 30% in stocks, 15% in intermediate term (7-10 year treasuries), 40% in long term bonds (20-25 year treasuries), 7.5% in gold, 7.5% in commodities

- Income is freedom

- “Americans should convert at least half of their retirement savings into an annuity.” - US Treasury Department

- Immediate annuities are best for those at retirement age or beyond.

- The main deferred annuities are fixed, indexed, and hybrid indexed

- You should avoid variable annuities.

- Everyone needs to set up a living trust

- To whom much I’d given, much is expected

- True meaning in life comes from giving

- “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” - Winston Churchill

- 96% of all mutual funds fail to beat the market.

- The six asset classes are us stocks, us treasury bonds, us treasury inflation protected securities (TIPS), foreign developed equities, foreign emerging market equities, and real estate investment trusts (REITs)

- 30% in us stocks, 10% in emerging markets, 15% in foreign development, 15% in real estate investment trusts, 15% in bonds, 15% in TIPS

- “One must wait until the evening to enjoy the splendor of the day.” - Sophocles

- Have as much in bond funds as your age.

- Defense is ten times more important than offense.

- You always want to be with whatever the predominant trend is. You don’t ever want to be a contrarian investor.

- Get out of anything that falls below the 200-day moving average.

- Invest for the long term and only take money out when you truly need it.

- It’s how you deal with failure that defines you as a person.

- Luck is where preparation meets opportunity.

- Put money away in your 401k or IRA. It takes giving up things. Not buying that car. Giving up that vacation. Having something set aside.

- You have to be a really curious pwrson

- You can’t do it all yourself. You need to have people around you who are better than you are at most other things. But you have to be able to inspire the people around you to work together for whatever your common purpose is.

- Have the patience to work on your business day in and day out. It’s not easy.

- The great majority of people do not build up any wealth because they do not practice the self discipline of saving some of their income every month.

- To overcome fear, the best thing is to be overwhelmingly grateful.

- If you wake up each morning and think of five new things for which you're overwhelmingly grateful, you're not likely to be fearful, you're likely to radiate your opti-mism, your attitude of gratitude, you're likely to do things in a better way, draw more people to you.

- I am a student, always trying to learn. I am a sinner. All of us are. I've tried to be better day by day, and particularly I try to keep asking myself, 'What are the purposes of God? Why did God create the universe? What does God expect of his children here?' And the closest you can come in just a few words is: He expects us to grow spiritually. He gives us trials and tribulations just like you have examinations in school, because it may help you to grow into a greater soul than you would have otherwise. So life is a challenge. Life is an adven-ture. It's a marvelous, exciting adventure. All of us should do the very best we can as long as the Lord allows us to be on this planet.

- “The point of living is to believe the best is yet to come.” - Peter Ustinov

- Anybody can deal with a tough today if he or she feels certain that tomorrow has greater promise.

- Without physical health, there is no wealth.

- “The key to abundance is meeting limited circumstances with unlimited thoughts.” - Marianne Williamson

- “Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” - Mark Twain

- “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” - Napoleon Hill

- “Man is only great when he acts from passion.” - Benjamin Disraeli

- Knowledge is not power, action is. Execution trumps knowledge every day of the week

- “Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.” - Dalai Lama

- Rewards come in action, not in discussion.

- “Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.” - Henry David Thoreau

- There’s nothing worse than a rich person who’s chronologically angry or unhappy.

- Sir John Temple-ton said, 'If you've got a billion dollars and you're ungrateful, you're a poor man. If you have very little but you're grateful for what you have, you're truly rich.'

- Decision 1: What are you going to focus on?

- Decision 2: What does this mean?

- Decision 3: What am I going to do?

- “At the age of 18, I made up my mind to never have another bad day in my life. I dove into an endless sea of gratitude from which I’ve never emerged.” - Dr. Patch Adam

- Every day, stand guard at the door of your mind, and you alone decide what thoughts and beliefs you let into your life. For they will shape whether you feel rich or poor, cursed or blessed.

- If it's really true that giving is what makes us feel fully alive, then perhaps the ultimate test of this theory is what life is like for those willing to give their lives for something they believe in.

- “A man who has not found something he will die for is not fit to live.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.

- “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” - Winston Churchill

- Human beings can overcome our pain pain when we choose to see life’s beauty and find a way to give of ourselves.

- Giving means more than just giving money. It’s also giving your time, it’s giving your emotion, it’s giving your presence to your kids, to your family, to your husband or your wife, or your friends, to your associates.

- Giving in any form builds wealth faster than getting ever will.

- “Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me. Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful, that’s what matters to me.” - Steve Jobs

- The Gospel of Wealth by Andrew Carnegie

- “I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.” - Maya Angelou

- The secret of living is giving.

- Give freely, openly, easily, and enjoyably. Give even when you think you have nothing to give, and you’ll discover there is an ocean of abundance inside of you and around you. Life is always happening for you, not to you. Appreciate that gift, and you are wealthy, now and forever.

- We’re all made to be a force for good.

- Pray for each day to be a blessing in the lives of all those people you meet and have the privilege to connect with.

- “Live life fully while you're here. Experience every-thing. Take care of yourself and your friends. Have fun, be crazy, be weird. Go out and screw up! You're going to anyway, so you might as well enjoy the process. Take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes: find the cause of your problem and eliminate it. Don’t try to be perfect; just be an excellent example of being human.” - Tony Robbins

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