Mikael Rieck is the author of more than hundred articles on topics of how to make money both online and offline. He has been online since 1999 and has always had a passion for money making opportunities and teaching others how to make a profit.Why You Need a Financial Planning Course
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The latest post I wrote turned into quite a bit of a discussion or rather a conversation since we all agreed that you need to take personal responsibility for what happens in your life.
The post was about retirement investing but it might as well have been about financial planning. All in all it is the same thing because to achieve anything significant you will need to plan carefully as well as act and follow through.
Whether we want to become wealthy or just financially secure there is no way around the planning and preparation part. The process (and it IS a process) consists of a lot of different parts that works together but one of the vital aspects is the educational part.
Whatever we do in life we will need some kind of training or education in order to become better at it and to eventually master it. Mastering a skill should be the goal for any educational process and not just when we’re talking about money. Educating yourself should (eventually) become a habitual unconscious process that you can’t live without.
But since most of us are nowhere near having this habit of focusing on daily improvement of skills we’ll need to start at the conscious level. As mentioned in Copy The Rich, a fast and proven way to become better is by learning from people that already master the financial skills you’re trying to achieve.
But if personal mentoring is not an option then there are lots of financial planning courses, seminars, books and tapes that will get you to where you want to go. It might take you a little longer than the personal mentorship but on the positive side it will be a lot more flexible and easier to fit into your daily schedule.
Personal vs. Class Education
We are different as people in the way we learn and you must find out what works best for you. Some people need personal education with direct communication between you and the teacher (IRL or Online) while other people learn best in a group or class environment.
There is no right or wrong way to educate yourself as long as YOU DO!
You Might Agree But Do You DO?
I believe that I heard it first in a Jim Rohn seminar and I might not remember the correct phrase but he talked about the fact that a lot of people complain about their financial and monetary situation. Jim did the same when he met his mentor Earl Schoff.
Earl asked him:
- How much money he had saved or invested in the last 3 months?
- How many books he had read to become more knowledgeable and to improve his situation in the last 6 months?
- How many seminars or classes he had attended in the last 12 months?
Jim answered ZERO to all three questions. How about you??
If you have done nothing to improve your financial situation, haven’t done any planning and didn’t take any courses or read any books, then how can you believe that you even have the right to complain? 
Do you agree with me (?) and if not please let me know why. If you do agree then please let me know whether you have actually done something to improve your financial situation (if you’re unhappy with it obviously) or whether you have just let time pass you by.
To Your Success,
Mikael
9 Responses so far
jason
July 18th, 2009
4:40 pm
Good points up there. This reminds me of the whole Bernard Madeoff situation and his investors. Sometimes I think about “if they had done any planning, reading books, seminars” and whatnot they would have known better than to invest all of their money with just one guy….
Mikael
July 18th, 2009
5:03 pm
Absolutely and they would probably also have become a bit suspicious when it was per invitation only and questions were not allowed/answered.
Nicolas Prudhon from SEO Help
July 20th, 2009
9:06 am
Hi Mikael,
You already know I’m all for self-improvement, but beyond knowledge and theory, what truly matters is to take action, because in the end, nothing happen until we take action. (This comes from my old days in network marketing
)
The first thing I started to do to build my wealth was to make sure that at the end of each month, I had more money than at the end of the previous month.
How much more is not important, neither how you do it, but it’s a great way to start, most of the people end their month with less money than the previous one, if it’s your case then you know you should do something about it.
.-= Nicolas Prudhon@SEO Help´s last blog ..Article Marketing Redefined =-.
Mikael
July 20th, 2009
10:22 am
Nicolas, when you say that you had “more money” was it in terms of “net investments” or are you referring to “plain cash holdings”?
The reason I am asking is that I am not an advocate of holding your wealth in cash
Nicolas Prudhon from SEO Help
July 20th, 2009
10:24 am
I would say in asset in general, if you can have that money into something that can make it grow even better, but worst come to worst, having more cash is still a good start.
.-= Nicolas Prudhon@SEO Help´s last blog ..Article Marketing Redefined =-.
Mikael
July 20th, 2009
10:29 am
Definitely better than not having them
avi from RHow to make quick money
December 14th, 2009
6:37 pm
I guess it’s a case of that old cliche – if you fail to plan, you plan to fail – being true.
So few people know how to handle their personal finances, let alone the funds of a business, so it’s a really worthwhile investment of time and money to get some help in this department…
.-= Ravi@How to make quick money´s last blog ..How I Got 700 Unique Visitors Last Month? =-.
Jonas Bowen
April 11th, 2010
12:02 am
When it comes to investing, many first time investors want to jump right in with both feet. Unfortunately, very few of those investors are successful. Investing in anything requires some degree of skill. It is important to remember that few investments are a sure thing – there is the risk of losing your money!
Before you jump right in, it is better to not only find out more about investing and how it all works, but also to determine what your goals are. What do you hope to achieve with your investments? Will you be funding a college education? Buying a home? Retiring? Before you invest a single penny, really think about what you hope to achieve with that investment. Knowing what your goal is will help you make smarter investment decisions along the way!
connor from ibb
August 27th, 2010
6:46 pm
I think another key part of successful investing is having absolute confidence that can and will succeed in your financial goals in the end. All too often investors who lack confidence in their financial future also lack the confidence to critically re-evaluate their current ideas and strategies.
The business strategy advocated in Good to Great I think applies to investing as well. Never be afraid to face the harsh realities of the present, while always having faith in your future success.
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