Achieving a point of financial 
freedom, where you no longer 
need to rely on others or 
trade your time in order to 
pay for your desired lifestyle, 
is easier to do today than in 
any other period of history. 
However, there is a catch and 
that proviso is that you must 
take full responsibility for 
your life and be willing to 
change and let go of those 
things that are holding you 
back. Those individuals who 
are motivated to invest both 
their time and energy into 
improving themselves and are
committed to growing to their full 
potential have the greatest chance of realizing their dreams.

So how does one become financially free? Many financial
planners, wealth creation gurus and even your next door neighbor
have their take on what one needs to do in order to build
wealth. Let me share ten specific time-tested strategies as to
how you might work towards attaining a point of financial
freedom within a five-year period of time.

Your first order of business is to take an in-depth look at your
financial affairs. This entails examining your current cash
flow, monthly expenses, returns from your investments, monthly
credit card debt, loan payments, etc. This will give you a good
picture as to where you are at with your financial obligations.
Your next task is to start to dream big as to where you want to
be with you life once you reach a point of financial freedom.
Being financially free means different things to different
people. For one individual it could be maintaining their current
lifestyle. For others it may mean having a passive income of
$10,000 per month. Whatever your dream might be, the key at this
point is to determine how big of a gap exists between your
current reality and your dream lifestyle. Once you have this
clear picture in your mind, the next order of business would be
to establish your plan of attack as to how you could arrive at
bridging this gap within five years.

Here are ten strategies that will enable you to close the gap
and realize some of your wildest dreams:

1. Choose to be financially free in five years. As simple as it
may seem, you must take full responsibility for your choices and
life right now. Stop making excuses or justifying your actions.
Successful people avoid making excuses. In order to become
financially free you must make a commitment to do whatever it
takes to become more and more successful.

2. Build your success team. Not only should you look for
individuals who are actively engaged in adding value to other
people's lives, you must also learn how to be a leader. Your
success team could be made up of business associates, a specific
mentor, an accountant, a community leader, a spiritual leader or
a health care professional, to name a few. Seek out other
leaders, individuals who know where they are going and are able
to persuade others to go with them.

3. Associate with positive successful people. Dissociate
yourself from negative individuals who drag you down. Especially
avoid those dream stealers who are constantly questioning your
ability. As well, make a point of removing yourself from toxic
situations, such as: arguing, gossiping, backstabbing and
mocking.

4. Find a wealth creation mentor. Whether you choose to go see
someone, read about that individual or purchase programs
developed by that individual, it is imperative that you learn
from those who have been successful at creating and holding onto
their wealth. Dedicate the time and energy to become financially
free by first focusing on your business and financial education. 

5. Focus on making money right away. Everyone has skills and
talents that they can put to work right away in order to create
an income stream within the next four weeks. After having made a
list of your strengths, skills and passions look for a business
opportunity in which you would enjoy using your skill set. You
are not looking for a second job; rather you are exploring how
you could create your own business from scratch or partner with
someone in creating a business. 

6. Learn to market and sell what you have to offer. All
excellent leaders and successful entrepreneurs have learned the
skills of presenting their value in a way that is very enticing.
You need to learn how to promote yourself and your value to
others with passion and enthusiasm. You may wish to attend a
marketing or sales seminar where you can put the theory into
practice. A realistic goal to shoot for is that you should be
able to draw customers to you within four weeks of starting your
new money-making venture.

7. Maximize your tax benefits by incorporating. At some point in
time you will want to incorporate your newly created cash
creation business. Being a business owner gives you the best
chance of attaining wealth. Owning a corporation enables you to
legally take advantage of more tax advantages. As well, being a
business owner enables you to use pre-tax dollars for investment
purposes. Unfortunately, employees are placed in a situation
where taxes are withheld from their total income, thereby
reducing the amount of money they are able to invest up front. 

8. Regularly place money into a financial freedom account. Set
up a savings account that is used strictly for funding
investment opportunities. At no point in time should you spend
these savings. You may reallocate capital to finance a project
that is going to create wealth, but avoid the temptation to pay
off any expenses. Your focus should be on making and investing
your money, rather than paying down your debt first. Eventually
over time you will reduce your debt load while building equity
for your financial freedom.

9. Learn to invest like the wealthy do. Set up an ongoing,
active investment plan. Learn how to keep your money moving in
and out of better and better investments, rather than just
parking your money and forgetting about it. To maximize your
return on your investments, use direct investments such as
owning real estate or providing capital for a business
partnership, rather than investing in a real estate trust fund
or in mutual funds. Include investments in oil, gas and
renewable energy sources, as well as precious metals, especially
gold, in your investment portfolio.

10. Give more in order to receive. We have all heard the
expression that whoever sows generously will reap generously.
Giving a portion of your financial blessings to help those less
fortunate than you is a true measure of your success as a human
being. Get into the habit of setting aside 10% of your income to
help others, whether it is at your local place of worship, a
philanthropic cause, or even creating jobs for others. 

A key ingredient in this whole process of wealth creation is
being organized. It is imperative that you put into place
systems that enable you to organize your paperwork and keep
track of your progress at the flick of a switch. 

As a final note, be open to challenging your present notions and
ideas about creating wealth, since what may have been right for
you yesterday may not be so tomorrow.