The Make Money Challenge - 10 Tips to Start Increasing Your Income Now

Money, Money, Money . . . it’s the name of the game! I doubt there is a single person reading this right now that doesn’t want to know how to make more money. And that’s great because increasing the amount of money you can make is one of the best ways to reach financial independence.

As you probably know, Amon and I were able to achieve financial independence in 8 years, and a huge part of that was due to bringing in more money! We created money out of thin air! And that has always been our philosophy - that money is out there, on the streets . . . just waiting for you to go out and grab it.

And no, I’m not advocating you go rob a bank! So what do I mean? Well, keep reading to learn about ten tactics that you can use personally to start making more money now!

Start Making Money Now!

If you’re on the F.I.R.E. journey, chances are - you’ve already heard a lot about saving money. Rarely is there good, solid information out there about how to make more money.

Remember, your financial independence journey is not just about saving money but it’s also about making money. By all means - focus on saving money. Join a Saving Money Challenge. But, at the same time, don’t underestimate the power of also making more money. And you don’t have to go big or go home - You can start off small.

My challenge to you: Find ways to increase your income by 10%. Here are some steps to make that easier.

Step 1: Assess your Skill Set

Everyone has a talent! It may not be easy for you to identify this talent. Maybe it comes so naturally to you that you don’t even realize that it is, in fact, a talent. But it is! This skill set could be physical, mental, or even emotional. It could, for example, be photography, writing, event planning, making car repairs, computer skills, etc. Whatever it is, I guarantee that there is at least one thing that you are good at! So, assess your skill set, identify your talent, and try to find ways to monetize that.

Step 2: Eliminate Distractions

Get rid of the things that can distract you from your money-making plan. You really want to prioritize your financial independence journey and making more money. Studies have shown that our brains love order. So when you have a lot of clutter in your life, whether that be physically or mentally, you’re taking away from your cognitive ability to concentrate on your goal of making money.

Step 3: Create a Mini-Steps

Create a checklist of steps that you’ll need to follow for your money-making plan. The idea of making more money can seem pretty nebulous at first and overwhelming. This is why it’s best to tackle a big goal by breaking it down into smaller, more achievable parts. Once you identify something you can do to make more money, start to lay out the plan. Identify everything that you need to do to get to the point where you can start executing your plan to make more money.

In our case, once we decided to flip one of our properties, we started to become overwhelmed with all of the things we needed to do. So we sat down and made a list. This helped us get focused and really achieve the goal of flipping our homes for huge profits.

Step 4: Track Your Progress

Now, the way to actually achieve these mini-steps that I talked about is to make sure you actually track your progress. According to the American Psychological Association, studies have shown that people who track their progress towards goals are twice as likely to achieve their goals than people who don’t track their progress at all. Amon and I are a prime example of this. As we started making more money, we were using this money to invest towards our overall goal of financial independence. As we went through each of our 10 stages of financial independence (you can read about them HERE), we gained more and more confidence and felt more secure about the progress we were making.

Step 5: Take Action Now!

Stop waiting for a million-dollar idea because that home-run idea that will make all your problems simply vanish may never come. I’m saying this not to be pessimistic, but to be realistic. Practically speaking, simply hoping for a million-dollar idea isn’t going to lead to financial independence if you pass up on the smaller ideas that can start you towards your goal now. Some of the side hustles that Amon and I did were small side-hustles that maybe brought in $50 a month. But that doesn’t matter because whatever you’re bringing in is STILL PROGRESS. Don’t underestimate the power of many small side-hustles.

Step 6: Don’t Be Afraid to Fail

This is where your mindset becomes really important. If you embrace the idea that you can succeed at something, you can achieve that success. It’s almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy - you either tell yourself that you’re going to succeed and you work towards that success or you tell yourself you’re going to fail and run the risk of subconsciously self-sabotaging. If you think you’re going to fail, then that is what will ultimately happen. So stay positive and don’t be afraid of the possibility of failure - believe in yourself and success will follow!

Step 7: Take a Calculated Risk

The idea of taking calculated risks is nothing new. People take calculated risks every time they start a business. But if they have a solid business plan, they’ve calculated that they will succeed, despite the risks involved. Now, to be clear, I’m not talking about going out and gambling all your money or hoping for the best with the lottery. No, what I’m talking about is doing your research and coming up with a money-making plan that is actually feasible.

Something that I should acknowledge is that oftentimes it takes money to make money. What this means is that if you want to make a profit of $200, you may have to start by using $100 of your own money upfront with the risk of losing that money. But as long as you do your research, putting up that initial $100 is less stressful because you have calculated your risk.

Step 8: Surround Yourself with Positive People

Surrounding yourself with people who are positive, encouraging, motivating and inspiring, can be very beneficial in terms of helping you believe in yourself, stay on track, and get in the right mindset for success. A popular saying is that you are the average of the five people that you spend the most time with. Think about who those five people are for you. Are they nay-sayers or do they actually make you feel good about yourself and your goals?

Step 9: Limit TV Time

Americans watch A LOT of TV. For context, take in the fact that in 2018, Netflix viewers streamed more than 52 billion minutes of The Office and 32 Billion minutes of Friends! Now think about how much money could have been made if those minutes were spent working a side-hustle instead of in front of a screen.

Step 10: Get an Accountability Partner

Studies show that people with accountability partners are more likely to succeed in their goals, so if you want to really make sure you achieve your goals, get yourself a friend to push you to make more money. Hold that friend accountable and have them hold you accountable in return. But make sure that the person that you pick will actually push you to succeed rather than drag you down. Make sure they will give you honest feedback and keep you on track.

Figuring out how to bring in more money can be a struggle, but it’s definitely more doable than most people think. It’s all about the mindset, and that is where the above ten tips will come in handy! Hopefully, these ten tips will help you as you increase your income and continue on your financial independence journey! Now, go out and rake in that cash!

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