The masses struggle financially. If you want to be financially secure, then don't follow the herd...

Everyone wants to be financially secure. However, most don't want to put in the hard work in order to achieve this security.

Unfortunately, in the photo above, 95% of the people will live their lives either

1. In mediocrity - always living on a budget and trying to make ends meet. Retiring with a small "nest egg" that they must carefully manage so they do not outlive their money.

2. Working until they can no longer do so - having never managed to build enough wealth to retire comfortably. Often, such people have financial commitments (such as debts) that will not allow them to stop working.

3. Living on government welfare - such as government aged pension, government housing, various allowances and handouts.

Maybe 4% of the above will live comfortably without worrying about running out of money

With 1% of the population being able to retire early, knowing that not only will they never run out of money in their lifetime, but will also increase their wealth over time without having to work for money.

People have a herd mentality. They all generally do the same things:

• Go to school

• Get a job

• Buy a car

• Go out and spend all their money, rarely having any substantial savings.

• When old enough, they think about their future and settling down.

• They will rent and try to save enough of a deposit to purchase their own home.

• They settle down with a partner, buy a house, have kids and try to make ends meet by working in a job they don't enjoy, for barely enough money to pay the mortgage/rent and houshold bills.

• Their spare time is spent watching television, or performing mindless tasks/hobbies that add no value to their lives. It's ok to have a minless hobby - I personally play music for my own entertainment, however, I also study continuously in order to improve my financial education. I attend seminars, and mix with people better than me where I can learn more about what others do and how they do it.

• They typically will gamble or buy lottery tickets and hope to win a fortune.

• They load their credit cards and pay them off at high interest rates

• When they become empty nesters, they will spend money and treat themselves to the things they "missed out" because they had kids - things such as boats, caravans, new cars, travel etc, and often they borrow money for such things, often extending their home mortgage to pay for them!

• They fail to see that their purchases of boats, cars, caravans, etc, are NOT assets but rather quite expensive liabilities that will be worth less than half the value in a short space of time.

• They start some modest savings in their retirement fund, that is most often inadequate to see them through retirement.

• They may have tried some investment strategy - maybe an investment property, shares, crypto currencies etc. All the time failing to see that their lack of financial education has doomed them to fail, because they do not understand the investments. Their strategy is Buy, Hold and Pray! - A recipe for failure.

• They retire the same way they lived their entire lives - often worried about how they will make ends meet financially. They become welfare recipients.

The vast majority of the population will live like this. What's worse, is that their children will fail to learn from the mistakes of their parents, and instead will just copy what their parents did. This leads to further mediocrity and poverty. It is a case of the blind leading the blind.

A tiny percentage of people will manage to jump off the above treadmill, but the vast majority are doomed to repeat what previous generations before them have done, oblivious to their plight, and forever remaining financially ignorant.

If you truly do NOT want to be one of these people that I have described above, then you must NOT do what they do. Do the opposite. Things like:

• Dedicate time to financial education - every day if possible.

• Start investing - a little at a time to start while you are learning, then get more creative as experience grows. Invest continuously throughout your life.

• Listen to, or read material that will help you stay motivated, improve your physical and mental self. Dead time in the car driving to work is ideal for listening to audiobooks and podcasts.

• Spend more time with people that are better than you, these are the people that you can learn from.

• Never be afraid to ask questions.

• Never be afraid to make mistakes. We learn from mistakes. Mistakes mean that we are willing to step out of our comfort zone. Be sure that any mistake you make is treated as a lesson that will make you better prepared for your next attempt.

• Never be afraid to fail. Failure only happens to those that go beyond their limits and into new territories. It is NOT by coincedence, that success and wealth only happen to those that go beyond their limits and into new territories also! Hence, success and failure go together. To be successful, you must risk failure. HOWEVER, remember that failure is NOT failure unless you give up!

• You are limiltess! Realise that your current limits (real or percieved), will be deleted and new limits set every time you break through them. When you break through your limits, you grow, and your limits get pushed out further. Your new limits will be broken through at sometime, and your "limits" pushed out even further! This being the case, you should keep breaking through your limits - when you do, you become limitless!

• Never be afraid to be criticised. Criticism means you are NOT part of the herd, that you are different from them. Criticism is good indicator that you are NOT behaving like the 95%.

• Monitor your finances, your business etc. Be sure to keep a spreadsheet that shows how well you are doing. It will keep you honest and focussed. You cannot improve what you do not measure. Be sure to measure your progress.

• Create a plan for your success and stick to it. Sure, you may adjust it as time passes and as you become better at what you do, but always stick to your plan.

• Do not invest in things you do not understand or cannot control. That is a suckers game.

• Always remember what Warren Buffett said - "you do NOT need to do extraordinary things in order to achieve extraordinary results".

• Work hard, look for, and listen for opportunities.

• Avoid those that will drag you down, those that try to keep you in mediocrity.

• Be prepared to lose friends. The better you do, the more you may be resented by those you thought were close to you. It's part of the journey, and jealousy is one of the traits of the mediocre. It's ok to lose such friends, it allows you room for better friends to enter your life.

• Create a "team" around you. Like-minded people, those that will support you and have the knowledge and experience to advise you.

• Work hard. Learn hard. Never quit.

• Do NOT give up on what you want MOST, for what you want NOW. Sacrifice is part of the journey. For my wife and I, missing out on the holidays, fancy cars, expensive restaurants, partying etc during our first 10 years of marriage allowed us to save and invest to create a good financial base. As a result, today we can take business class vacations, buy whatever "toy" we like, go to the fanciest of restaurants etc knowing we can afford it all from our passive income stream!

• Educate your children. Teach them financial literacy. Involve them in your journey so they can learn investing by watching you. Let them see both your wins and your mistakes. Pass on the lessons you learned from your mistakes on to your kids.

• Do today what the 95% will not, so tomorrow, you will be able to do what the 95% will never be able to do.

In reality, creating wealth and success is easy to do! Simply don't do what the masses do!

The hard part of wealth creation is the execution.

Sticking to your plan and not falling back into the old habits of the masses! If you can do that, then success will be yours!

I will leave you with this one thought.....

Q. Why haven't you ever seen a Lamborghini commercial on TV?

A. Because the people that can afford them are not sitting around watching TV.