MONEY Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom (33 page)

The challenge is, when we get to really big numbers, people’s minds don’t fathom what they really mean. There’s a radical difference between a million, a billion, and a trillion. Even President Obama uses the terms
millionaires
and
billionaires
in the same breath, as if they’re in any way related—they’re not. Let me prove it to you. I’m going to give you a little test. I want you to
think and make a first guess as to the answer. This exercise will help you gain perspective on a million versus a billion versus the figure the government now uses so often: a trillion. In fact, in Washington, a trillion is the new billion, as they say.

My first question is: How long ago was one million seconds ago? Take a moment, even if you don’t know—what do you guess?

The answer is: 12 days ago! How close were you? Don’t feel bad, most people have no clue. If you got it, congratulations. Now we’re going to up the ante. Since you now have a perspective of what a million is (a million seconds being 12 days ago), how long ago was a billion seconds ago? Stay with me, come on; make a guess, commit to a number. The answer is: 32 years ago! How close were you? For most people, they’re pretty far off.
That’s the difference between a millionaire and a billionaire: 12 days or 32 years! Do you see what I mean by saying they live in “different universes”?
You can never say “millionaires” and “billionaires” in the same breath and be talking about the same thing.

Just to complete the thought: When you hear the US government has $17 trillion in debt, how much is a trillion? Well, if a billion seconds was 32 years ago, how long ago was a trillion seconds? The answer: nearly 32,000 years ago (31,689, to be exact)! When humans were not even called humans!
The point of this exercise is to get you to realize that we blur large numbers, and if you get down to the facts, an extraordinary lifestyle probably costs less than you think it does.

But back to our would-be billionaire. Now, don’t get me wrong: $10 million is still a hefty sum but probably within reach for this young entrepreneur over the course of his career. Who knows? He might actually end up with a billion—if he invents the next Instagram. But what if he doesn’t?
He could still live the extraordinary life he was dreaming of for 99% less money than he thought he needed.
He wouldn’t need to be a billionaire to live like one.

I’ll be willing to bet that once you find out the real price of
your
dreams, the number it would take for you to really get where you want to be is a lot less than you think!
And always remember the ultimate truth: life is not about money, it’s about emotion.
The real goal is to have the lifestyle you want, not the things. When you die, someone else gets those things anyway. They’re not yours. I have no illusions: as much as I cherish and enjoy “my”
resort in Fiji, I know I’m just the caretaker. Someday someone else will own this property. But I love that I have nurtured it into a destination where people from all over the world come to experience joy, romance, and adventure. It’s part of my legacy—and that’s what gives
me
joy. Attaining possessions is not the goal.
Money itself is not the goal.
Our worth is not measured by the weight of our bank accounts but, rather, by the weight of our souls. The path to money, the places money can take us, the time and freedom and opportunity money can bring—these are what we’re
really
after.

You can have it all. Just not all at once.

—OPRAH WINFREY

Take a moment now and think about what you really want your money to buy. Not everybody wants to live like Donald Trump or Floyd “Money” Mayweather! Is your dream to travel the globe, exploring ancient cities or photographing lions in the Serengeti? Is it owning your own beach house in the Bahamas or a penthouse in New York? Is it starting your own business—the next Snapchat, or creating an extraordinary contribution to humanity like the next Charity Water? Is it something as simple as sending your kids to college and having enough left over for a house in the country with a big vegetable garden? Or is your dream just peace of mind—knowing you can be free forever from debt and worry? Wherever your dreams may take you, I’m going to show you a path to get there. Even if you don’t get all the way to the summit, you can reach the dreams that matter most to you and celebrate your victories along the way. Because money is a game of emotions, and we’re going to come up with some numbers that will ring your bells and make you say, “I’m certain! I promise myself I can get there!”

Like all journeys, before you get started, you’ll need to take stock of where you are. We’ll work together on a few simple calculations. If you’ve never taken the time to figure out exactly what it’s going to take to achieve your financial goals, you’re not alone. Often, many of those who have earned millions of dollars haven’t developed a plan to sustain their lifestyle without having to work at least some of the time. And as we’ve already said, more than
half
of Americans haven’t even tried to calculate how much money they’ll need to retire, including 46% of all financial planners! Why don’t we
know our basic financial picture? The number one reason I’ve found, after hearing from hundreds of thousands of people from a hundred different countries, is that people are
afraid to know.

It’s like stepping on the scale. You know you’ve gained weight, but you don’t
want
to know how much. It’s a form of denial; a way to put off making a change. High school wrestlers and professional boxers step on that thing every day, so that if they’re off target on their weight, they’ll know right away and can do something about it.
You can’t manage your health if you can’t measure it. And the same goes for your finances.
You can’t reach your financial dreams unless you know precisely how much it will take to get there. I’m here to help you set yourself apart from the masses who hide their heads in the sand when it comes to their money. In a minute, we’ll do some quick, easy number crunching to find out where you are and where you need to be. (If adding a few figures is a challenge for you, remember that there’s a calculator on your phone! And you can also go to our app, which will ask you the questions and calculate the numbers for you automatically. See
www.tonyrobbins.com/masterthegame
.)

But first let’s look at those five financial dreams. When I say the words “financial security,” “financial vitality,” “financial independence,” “financial freedom,” and “absolute financial freedom,” do those sound like the exact same thing to you? Do they bring up emotions that feel different in your body when you say them out loud? Give it a try. Which one feels higher: security or vitality? How about vitality or independence? Independence or freedom? What about absolute freedom? Each of these five financial dreams is incrementally bigger, isn’t it? And the numbers needed to reach them would be different.

Of these five dreams, you may discover that you are committed to only two or three of them. For some people, financial security alone is life changing and gives them enormous freedom. And so, in designing this exercise, I’ve included these dreams as steps along the road to absolute financial freedom. Or, if you remember that mountain earlier in this book, as base camps along the climb to the summit. And remember, not all of us need or want to go all the way to the peak of Everest. For some of us, financial vitality would be a blessing, and independence would put us over the moon! Not all of these dreams are “musts” for everybody.

I’m going to invite you to read the five and pick the three that matter to you most—what I call the
Three to Thrive.
You’ll have three targets: short-,
medium-, and long-term goals. It’s set up this way because we don’t build on failure; we build only on success. If you’re just shooting for the big number in the distance, it might feel too far off, or even overwhelming, and as a result, you may never truly begin the journey. We need a target close enough that we can feel certain it’s achievable, and in the relatively near future. That’s what gets you to take action and turn a short-term goal into reality. And remember to claim your victories along the way. Why wait until you’re financially independent to celebrate? Why not win at different stages? That’s what encourages you, excites you, and gives you momentum.

It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.

—ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

DREAM 1:
FINANCIAL SECURITY

What does security mean? Instead of telling you what it is, let me ask you: How amazing would you feel if these five things were paid for as long as you live, without ever having to work to pay for them again?

1. Your
home mortgage,
for as long as you live—paid forever.
You never have to work again to pay for your house!

2. Your
utilities
for the home—paid forever. You never have to work to pay your phone bill or to keep the lights on.

3. All the
food
for your family—paid forever.

4. Your basic
transportation
needs,

5. Your basic
insurance
costs—all of them paid for without your ever working another day in your life.

I’d bet that your quality of life would be pretty fulfilling, wouldn’t it? You’d feel pretty secure if you knew these things were covered.

Now for some good news: Remember that number you wrote down earlier—the amount you thought it would take to be financially secure and free? It was probably not as extreme as my billion-dollar friend’s number but probably felt pretty large, didn’t it? Well, I’ll bet when you figure these numbers out, you’re going to be surprised that the dream of Financial Security is probably a lot closer than you think. Or if you’re one of the rare few who underestimate, you’ll have a reality check, and you’ll know the precise number it will take to realize your financial dreams.

If you haven’t downloaded our free app already, do it now. Or use the worksheet below and jot down what you pay for these five items on a monthly basis. It’s really simple: What’s your current mortgage payment? (If you’re in an early stage of your life where you don’t own a home yet, put your monthly rent here. Or you can estimate or check online what your mortgage payment would be on something that may not be your ideal home, but more like a starter home.) If you have your records, great. Next, what’s your utility bill each month? Third, what do you spend on food? Keep going, and if you don’t have the numbers, take a guess—you can always go back and change them later, but you don’t want to lose momentum. Let’s really get a number down that’s reasonable. Or pick up your bank book or go online and get your numbers. Just to keep the momentum for you right now in case those aren’t easily accessible, let me give you an example.

Do you remember my friend Angela, who I introduced to you in the first chapter? She’s 48 years old and single. She’s trying to figure out what it would take to be financially secure. Her first guess was $3 million. Could that be right? Or even in the ballpark? So I asked her to go through this exercise, and write down her five basic monthly expenses. As it turned out, her numbers were almost identical to the national averages, which you’ll see in the list here.