Earn more and desire less. These are the words that have utmost importance when you want to achieve financial freedom. No matter how small your income is, if you desire less, definitely you will spend less and you can consider yourself to be “wealthy”.

I believe our lifestyle determines whether we will be wealthy and financially free. There are a lot of persons out there who earns a lot but still because of their high lifestyle, however how huge their income is, all are spent and nothing is put into savings.

I always say to some people whom I know that despite their huge earnings, they cannot save to remember the saying in Filipino: “Ubos ubos biyaya, bukas ay nakatunganga”. You might be lucky earning that huge income now but how sure you are that you will continuously receive it for the rest of your life? Life is full of uncertainties. Therefore, you must take advantage of that huge earnings. There are very few people who might be rich forever. There are few Paris Hilton, Tiger Woods, Ayala Zobel, Henry Sy, etc.

I remembered during the financial planning seminar I conducted in our office, there was one person who asked me: “How can I save if there are a lot of bills to pay and other expenses and my income is not enough to support these? I just answered the four words – EARN MORE and DESIRE LESS.

Earn more from its very essence means to have another source of income. You may take a second job, take a part-time job, or transfer to a job with a higher pay. But the great secret of the rich according to Robert Kiyosaki is not to earn more from active income but to earn more from passive income. For those of you who are new to these words, active income is you work for money and passive income is your money working for you. I wrote an article about active vs. passive income.

But shifting from active income to passive income requires hard work. There is no other way to go to passive income directly except if you are born rich or inherited wealth. So for most of us, we need to educate ourselves about financial intelligence especially the cash flow patterns of the poor, middle class and rich persons. Remember that for the poor and middle class, they always buy liabilities that they think are assets so all their income eventually goes to expenses while the rich only buy assets that will provide them enough passive income in the future.

It’s always us who are making our own destiny. So you choose. It’s your decision. Remember to always watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become character. And watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.

On the other hand, desire less means “downsizing” your needs and wants and prioritizing your needs more than your wants. As you analyze your needs and wants, consider downsizing them. Do your own housework instead of employing a maid or a house helper. Keep food to the simplest and least costly but still nutritious. Lessen those eating out habits. By choosing a good but more reasonably priced school, you can cut on education costs.

Check all your assets. Chances are you can sell some of them and perhaps even reduce your maintenance expenses. Do with one TV set instead of two. Sell your car and take public transportation. Move to a smaller place to reduce you rent and the need for some of your stuff. Sell your jewelry. Downgrade your mobile phone. Unless you are a complete beggar in the street, you can do something about downsizing.

Lastly, why do we need financial freedom? If you are not yet convinced why you need financial freedom, then ponder and ask yourself the following questions:

“Will you be willing to work for the rest of your life?

“Who gets rich in the end if you keep on working: Is it you? Is it your boss? Or is it the shareholders of the company?”

“Did you ever notice that as your pay increases as you work your way to climb that corporate ladder, your income taxes increases too?”

“Did you hear stories of some top executives who committed suicide or risked their health because of too much stress they faced from their jobs?”

“Did you hear stories of children whose lives were misled because of the lack of guidance from their parents who didn’t have enough time for them because of work?”

So do you want to achieve financial freedom? Then just remember the four powerful words – EARN MORE and DESIRE LESS.

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Earn More Desire Less