Living One Paycheck Away From Bankruptcy

Almost six of every ten American families, with children under the age of 18, live from paycheck to paycheck.

And one in every three Americans, who are earning $75,000 or more, annually are relying on their latest paychecks to get by, according to the just released "2003 Employee Benefits Study" by MetLife.

This literally puts millions of American families one paycheck away from bankruptcy.

Why is this?

I think it has to do with a failure to plan for the future.

The MetLife study said:

Almost seven of every ten American workers are very concerned about making ends meet. For women, the percentage rises to 74 percent.
Such short-term financial planning leaves little room for college savings or planning for retirement.
Only 25 percent seek expert financial planning and investing advice, and only 30 percent are interested in receiving planning advice as a workplace benefit.
Sixty-three percent of employees spend less than an hour considering their household's financial needs during their company's open enrollment for employee benefits.

C. Robert Henrikson, president of MetLife's U.S. insurance and financial services businesses, said,

"Employees spend hundreds of hours every year shopping for clothes, electronics and personal grooming products, but on average spend only 30 minutes each year making important benefits decisions that impact their financial security."

Remember the old sayings:

- If you fail to plan, you plan to failure, and

- If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there.

As you go through life, you've two choices:

1. You can take charge and take control, or,

2. You can abdicate your responsibilities and hope for the best.

Live Your Dreams

It's my wish that you become hugely successful and live your dreams. But to do that you need a Master Vision and a Master Plan.

Look at where you are today. Dream of where you want to be tomorrow and then create your Master Plan of Action to take you there.

Think of Tiger Woods. His focus is two inches wide and five miles long. Then there's you, me, and everybody else. Our focus is five miles wide and two inches long.

And we wonder why we aren't going any place?

Here are two visualization examples:

If you want to buy/build your dream house, cut out pictures of what you want the house, and the rooms inside to look like. Put them up on your wall so you can look at them every day. Think about the furniture. The paint colors. The texture of the flooring and carpeting.

Dream about owning your house and your mind will create a plan for you to buy it.

If you want a new job, write down - in minute detail - what that ideal job looks like. Who is the employer. What do they sell? Where are they located? What is your position within the company? Where is your office located? What view do you have when you look out the window?

What are your daily responsibilities? Who do you work with? What do these people look like? How much money will you be making? Write down that number and pin it on the wall.

Once you know what your 'ideal' job looks like, than you'll know exactly what you're looking for.

Increasing Sales

To be successful in sales you must have an active - day-in, day-out - Master Plan for your success.

What is your annual goal? Quarterly goal? Monthly goal? Weekly goal? Daily Goal? Morning and afternoon goal? Hourly goal?

Break down your big goals into smaller ones.

The smaller they are the easier they are to achieve.

How many people do you need to call - speak to - each day to hit your targets? The most effective tool for growing your business is the telephone. How much time do you spend on the phone looking for new customers?

How much more successful would you be if you looked for more customers each and every day?

Spend more time looking for business, and you'll find it.

Leverage Your Time

How much time do you waste each day putting out fires? Attending unnecessary meetings? Working on meaningless paperwork?

The secret to success doesn't come from managing your time. It comes from LEVERAGING your time. It comes from doing work, tasks, projects and activities that have huge payoffs and big rewards.

Think of the 80/20 Rule. Eighty percent of your results come from 20 percent of your activities. Eighty percent of your time is wasted!

From my experience, I think that 95 percent of your results come from 5 percent of your activities.

Take a look at your to-do list. I'll bet there are maybe three things that if you did them, and did them well, you would achieve a BIG payoff. Don't thing about them DO THEM!!!

There is no reason why so many people are living from one paycheck to the next. We're all blessed with marvelous skills and talents.

Spend your time, energy and resources on work, tasks, projects and activities that create huge results and you'll be more successful than you ever dreamed.

Author Information
Jeffrey J Mayer
Jeffrey Mayer helps business owners, corporate executives and sales professionals, set their priorities, get focused, and achieve their goals, so they can grow their business, get ahead in life, and live their dreams. This article is reprinted with permission from "Jeffrey Mayer's Succeeding In Business Newsletter. To subscribe to Jeff's free newsletter, visit http://www.SucceedingInBusiness.com. contact the FrogPond at 800.704.FROG(3764) or email susie@FrogPond.com

Copyright (Reprint Terms)
Copyright 2004, Jeffrey Mayer. All right reserved. For information contact FrogPond at 800.704.FROG(3764) or email susie@FrogPond.com.