5 Smart Ideas on How to Make More Money

If you struggle with your finances, please listen to this post carefully. And if you think you have already tried everything to improve your financial situation without success, this article is definitely for you! Also, if you are obsessed with money, you must read it! Momentarily, I go ahead and describe each step, but before this, I have to confess to something from my past.

Before I jump into the subject, I must tell you I had a deep interest in money-making before I even started my first job. When I was a kid, I was terrified when I listened to my parents explain their large debts to me. I naturally felt danger and shifted my focus to wondering how to get money early on in life.

This became my little trauma, especially when electricity providers regularly came to our house to cut the electricity off for unpaid bills. It felt so terrible, but I was really hopeless and couldn't do anything to change it. Later, they even installed a pre-paid electricity device. You must charge it using the pre-paid code bought at the provider's office. When we ran out of credits, which we often did, our electricity went out, and we were back in the medieval times! Since I was teenager at the time I was really freaking out, and felt burden of stress related to this. I was praying so nobody from my colleagues would discover this; they probably knew anyway. I am grateful they didn't mention this in my presence back then.

So, I made a promise to myself that my life would be different. I would never let something like this happen to me again. So, I put in extra effort to learn my subject, finances, and business and chose my career profession early in life.

I attended weekend workshops about money management, subscribed to every available free self-help online materials and read many self-help books I could download for free. I thought it must be easy, I was never more wrong in my entire life. There are so many books on the topic, one of them must work - I thought. That's the partial list of books I read to date:

• Happy Money
• Rich Dad, Poor Dad
• The Secret
• Why We Want You To Be Rich
• F.U. Money
• The Millionaire Fastlane
• The Warren Buffett Way
• Stock Market Investing for Beginners
• Think Big and Kick Ass in Business and Life
• The 4-Hour Workweek
• Me, Inc.
• Unscripted: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Entrepreneurship
• The Richest Man in Babylon
• The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers
• The Art of Exceptional Living
• Million Dollar Weekend

Some books offer advice, but that's not the issue; the issue is the mindset, impression and augmented world view. It’s simple: they mostly focus on boasting about their success stories. Whether intentionally or not, they exploit your low financial self-esteem to draw you in. Upon closer examination, you'll see that their primary goal is to portray and amplify their own image. Their influence can actually worsen the situation for people facing real financial challenges. Some might genuinely want to help, but their methods can't work.

Thankfully, I also read some good books and discovered something more fundamental about money that the authors of these books don't understand, despite their mastery. They are very persuasive, but that doesn't mean anything, as it's just their opinion. I will explain in detail in a minute, but first, we can go through five steps.

Below, I've included a list of five steps to improve your financial status that are the ultimate bulletproof solution:

These are solid and realistic things, without improbable tales or extraordinary coincidences of success, but actually honest, possible plan.

Understand that "you" are the value on the market, not the money. Stop overthinking money and start thinking about becoming a highly valuable professional. If you shift this paradigm, you will see more clearly ways to become more self-sufficient in finances.

It's a little bit like a snow ☃ ball effect. The more you learn and the more meaningful skills you gather, the more valuable you will become in the market. For comparison, money doesn't compound over time unless you are lucky. In most cases, they leak, especially if you compete with multi-billion-dollar funds that influence global markets for their own profit.

The advantage is that if you know this simple thing, you will be ahead of people who chase money the standard way. Think about it: Spending one extra hour fixing all the typos on your 📄 CV will slightly increase your market value. Doing extra online or weekend courses also adds value to you.

Money is like water leaking through your fingers. Skills are indestructible and always at your disposal; make your life easier; nobody can take them from you.

The nice thing about it is that over time, you will notice your self-esteem increasing, and you may find such improvements more satisfying than money. Many skills you will learn will also become advantages in private life, like the ability to learn quickly or speak more clearly.

So, if you think about yourself as a company on the stock market, every week you put in work and achieve meaningful improvement, your actions will increase by 1%. Keep going for a year, and you will see a 52% increase. How remarkable! It means statistically, it will increase your chances in the long term.

For instance, you can do all three things when writing online articles about some subject you want to explore. If it's related to the job, you will learn by researching and experimenting on the topic and improving your writing. This makes it a valuable asset added to your CV when you link to the article, and also, there is a chance you will help understand this subject, as people may be looking for this information.

Many people want to invest money for money, but they make a mistake (It works only for people specialising in investing, and they don't invest their own money). Nobody yet thinks of investing money to become valuable. You can multiply your progress by spending money on paid educational content, workshops, professional conferences, and other tools to help you excel. Investing money in money is always a gamble. Even in a bank, you can't be sure interest will be higher than inflation.

Make sure, everything you do is documented and accessible online. Post your summaries on the blog or write what you learned in your portfolio. There are plenty of ideas on what to do to easily plan 52 weeks. Cash is the dead end of the progress.

The best thing about it is that you notice you are worthy without money after some time. And that's one of the best feelings in life. You will see that being worthy or valuable is more important for humans than any amount of cash. You know, cash is cash. You can have it one day and lose it another day; it doesn't really matter. You will be fine anyway with proper attributes. I really wish you to succeed and grow as a human who becomes skilled.

Please let me know if you need more ideas for your 52-week plan. Here are some things I find particularly useful and work for many job professions:

• Writing articles online could be an interesting start. You can publish on a content publisher platform or start your own blog
  • Wordpress
  • Wix
  • Medium
• Self-training:
  • Acting as if you are selling a product to a customer, recording this, and doing a reflective analysis later
  • You can work on your diction or writing style.
• Online course. Some platforms enable you to get a public certification, and on your profile summary page, you can also link to your CV.
  • Pluralsight
  • Coursera
  • creativelive.com
• Database of conferences
  • Look for local professional conferences
• Look for budget management courses in your local area
• Get fluent in the particular language of choice
  • Duolingo
  • Books by Paul Noble
• Read books, share progress e.g. Goodreads.com
• Join GoalWatch.net to get support on your journey and build a portfolio of your education and professional goals, which you could link from your CV.

Focus on one profession because when you work on layers of skillsets regarding expertise, there will be synergy between them. The ability to use a computer effectively will affect all tasks done on the computer. Making better presentations will improve your persuasion and increase your influence on your team/clients. You see, all skills are connected. The problem is choosing the skills that support each other in one area.

Core skills usually improve multiple more targeted skills above. It's like a pyramid. The higher levels of your pyramid make you the most money. Your income could grow exponentially if you become proficient or are "one of the best" in top skills. However, the foundation layer must be solid enough to use them efficiently.

But before you start picking skills, you need to choose an expertise. It should be something you know won't disappear anytime soon.

You need to do a genuine assessment of which layer of the skillset pyramid is weaker and work towards improving it. It's always a good idea to work on something from the tip of the pyramid constantly. I created the basic table for you with sample skills. Your job will be to copy it to your spreadsheet, fill in the gaps, and add the sets you have and which you will need.

• Don't worry if it feels overwhelming right now. The key is to start as small as possible and work toward skill expansion
• Quality is more valuable than quantity of skills, so measure not only skills but proficiency
• Wisdom of picking the right skills is the most important
• Save a copy of your table each month to compare the progress
• Think about this table in terms of your entire lifespan

If you don't yet have a profession, you need to take time to choose one. It's best to be related to something you already have a deep interest in. Skim through your local recent job offerings for inspiration and imagine what it would be like to be a person who matches perfectly for the top offers. This will help you realise what skills would be needed beyond the job requirements.

• Come up with your own Skills Table aligned with your career. You can check the requirements from online job offers if you can't determine your points
• If your table contains too many skills, prioritise them so you know which are the best
• Invest time in thinking about edges in your profile. The speciality is the one thing which will distinguish you from the average. Ideally, invest only in one edge if the trend will stay for a long time

It's essential to know people in your industry. You should always aim to meet new people. Having people whom you can turn to for help validating your ideas is a priceless advantage. Knowing them will significantly increase your chances of getting a better job or your ventures' chances of success.

I remember when I was looking for my second job in the industry back in 2012. I started attending the MeetUp groups, and I really quickly bumped into amazing people who were looking for somebody exactly like me. Attending the groups not only gives connections, but multiple people will share their experiences and offer free advice.

• meetup.com - I used it in the past myself
• various social network groups
• Join goalwatch.net to connect with individuals

Don't worry if you don't know anybody, I feel you. I neglected this part for a long time and fell behind. From all the points, this is something that takes the longest to build. Literally, years to build it. So be patient here.

Take care of creating a database of each professional contact you made. Phones change, technology trends migrate, and our contacts usually get lost along the way. You need just one source for your contacts, and make sure this is not only the contacts on your phone. Phone contacts aren't flexible enough, and notes will get lost over time.

Sample Database for contacts would look like:

I don't recommend sticking to one medium like LinkedIn or your mobile phone contacts. As you see, everybody could have their preferred contact method, but it needs to be something more flexible and more resilient.

It's best to include contacts you met in person, which is the most preferred way, but any contact is better than none. You should meet at least a few new people each year. Always make notes, be sure to ask them about what they do, what they do in free time and preferred contact method.

Some job professions require a stronger network than others. In these cases, you would prioritise networking efforts. This might involve attending more conferences related to your field, actively seeking out these events, and engaging with people on social media.

Building a connection also requires using it. Ask people for help from time to time. They might offer advice or recommend you to more experts, which will eventually grow your network.

It's also fine if some contacts won't be used. All we do here is increase our probabilities. Remember, 1% here and 1% there. That's the difference between being lucky and unlucky.

Above all, you will need to find a good reason to follow any goal you set. Making wise, thoughtful choices will help you maintain integrity and composure. Without it, you can struggle with motivation and find it hard to achieve your goals consistently. Self-reflection will help with that, too. We can admit that everybody has at least one damaging false belief that they aren't aware of yet. Yet we do some harmful things to ourselves and to others because of false assumptions.

Often, exposing our own false beliefs is enough to address them. With that, you will become more truly aligned with your inner voice.

There are more reasons that this point is important. We don't want to be ridiculous in our earnings and spending. Most people earning high salaries will increase their spending more than their income. I don't care if it's taboo or not, but nobody can deny that the richness creates inequality, which feels really bad for both sides of the equation. We want to make sure that wealth comes from the thing which really improves the world, not only tricks innocent people. We can do it when we start to listen to our moral compass.

Key points:

• Practice self-reflection
• Contemplate true life values
• Diary about your progress

Every evening ask yourself:

• What your life means to you?
• Was this day aligned with my true values? (If not, what to change next day?)
• Why do I feel bad/good? (when you find answer ask why again and agin..)
• What can you do so that the next day will be aligned with characteristics you value?

I also have:

• Notebook to write down my thoughts
• One of the best methods for self-reflection is to write and talk about yourself in 3rd person. We are much better at judging others than ourselves.
• Define goal on the GoalWatch.net where I write updates about it and support other goal achievers

All the points from our five-point plan, including this one, are equally important. Wisdom brings understanding of humans and our souls and can also help resolve internal conflicts that cause unconscious sabotage of our own actions.

It's also an essential aspect of morality, as we shouldn't make money at someone's harm or at the expense of environmental destruction. Our internal state is defined by the genetics of our unchangeable moral rules, and we won't be happy if we live against them. We need to learn them again because false beliefs bombard us from day one of life, and they can bury our true nature deep inside.

I know what the honest side of you is saying right now: That's all so beautiful, but I will never follow it for long enough! That can be frustrating when you're trying to set a goal and sometimes feel like everything is trying to stop you. Friends, family, your favourite activities, lack of sleep, and other nagging things seem to be more important right now, stopping you from progressing. Moreover, sometimes nobody stops you, but you still can't move forward. I will dive into this in the summary in a moment.

By this point, I am sure you understand the importance of consistency, but it's not a matter of knowing but of doing.

You can achieve your goals with the help of only one platform, the GoalWatch.net.

• You can set up goal to build a habit while your efforts will be supported by community this will help you withstand in your resolution successfully
• Everybody works in the village making your goal statistics better which then translates your village to advance in global ranking
• If someone succeeds it's also your win because you supported that person on their achievement

Please subscribe now and define your goal join the group and write everyday about your progress: GoalWatch.net (I am also a member so let meet there)

This journey involves unlearning what you previously learnt. Don't listen to anybody, especially money-making gurus.

For instance, "money makes money" works only for <1% of people, but sounds smart for everybody. I guarantee you can only make money from money if YOU have a valuable skill that enables you to do so, 99% of people can't and fall into a trap trying.

The worship of success makes you feel that gurus always succeed, while we normal people don't. That's another hit to self-esteem. They(some) claim that it's easy. They set you up with unrealistic expectations.

In effect, when you hit your first big failure, it feels 10 times more painful.

The automatic conclusion is that when these so successful people can't change you, it means you must be a hopeless case, right?

Your mind can't be changed. Each person has a very unique belief system, and it will NEVER change at will, even for your deepest desires.

There is something remarkable about our minds. For instance, we can read an entire book and agree with every word the author has written. However, we often fail to take away any advice that could actually improve our lives.

The reason for this is that our own integrity is more important than even the best advice. Our minds are precious, and our belief systems tend to be unchangeable constants. The brain actively avoids internal conflicts, and simply reading a book is often not enough to make a real difference. That’s why you will find my following recommendations on money-making to be truly unique.

You can build your belief system over time, but you can't change the foundation. Imagine the "Tetris bricks" that lie on the bottom. It's a precise exercise to perfectly match the new beliefs with the existing ones to avoid internal conflicts, which can cause new ideas to fail.

That's why I talked about the importance of self-discovery as a required ingredient to build something different from the status quo of your life. And if the status quo is financial struggling, it's deplorable. Only YOU can do this process. Please don't ask me why.

Someone who truly understands their own foundation can expand a belief system by carefully choosing new ideas that align with everything already in place. The only way to do this is to thoroughly understand one's internal motives, which is essential for building anything new.

We need to look for explanations of our internal motives constantly. And also harshly challenge all our existing knowledge about ourselves. Something that we used to explain about ourselves might not be accurate. Always ask yourself. By this, find a new story that is a natural continuation of you, even in a dark spot.

This means all the things you dislike about yourself may stay with you forever, but you can build something new on top of these aspects. This new structure must be logical and honest, even if founded on harmful beliefs.

I appreciate the analogy from *Batman Begins* (2005) 🦇 about the fear of bats: instead of fighting them, he learns how to use them.

What books should you read, then? Which books can make you wealthy? Here is my advice: Don't focus on money; focus on looking inside.

• Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind - I recommend this book as a start for people wanting to understand who we really are, and why we humans even want money, or what happiness is.
  • You can't just blindly follow desires you picked up while growing up. Discover the true reasons behind them. This book can be the first step.
• Sell or Be Sold: How to Get Your Way in Business and in Life - Read with an active inner critic. This book might also present you with a slightly augmented view of reality and success. But there are so many good, tiny, practical advice that I had to include them here. They will help you start up.
• The War of Art: This is a quite inspiring story about a struggling novelist and perseverance, which I find very motivating.

The last two books are special and needs more introduction:

Have you ever watched a Hollywood production in which a hero undergoes a mental metamorphosis? I really like Batman Begins (2005), which I already mentioned before.

Bruce loses his parents and struggles with his own fear of bats. In our case, we could build a link that his fear of bats relates to our fear of not being enough - e.g. poor. Burce later discovers that his greatest fear becomes, in fact, his greatest strength. The same goes for us: If we fixate on money, it becomes our weakness, and we must discover how to embrace that fear.

I am not saying we shouldn't have them. It will be much easier when we understand exactly what motivates us and how to build on top of it. If we discover our motivation comes from a flawed source, it might be why we struggle with it. This will cast a shadow on every project we start.

To realise there are more important aspects that can greatly aid your financial goals, I recommend following a mature, fair, and genuine interest in serving others.

• How to Think Like a Roman Emperor
• How To Think Like Socrates

I would never have created GoalWatch.net if I hadn't read the two titles mentioned above. Genuine goals arise from a deep understanding of oneself. When goals are merely suggested to us, they often fail to resonate. These suggestions clash with our reality, leaving us confused and searching for clues about why they don't work.

This is why coaching, especially ego-centric gurus, will never work; it will only cause more damage. Strength comes from our honest desire to improve the world.

Become finally free to follow your true desires. For instance, I made peace with my fear of being poor, and I am relieved now. Of course, I am not poor; the point is that I am not feaking out about it anymore as I used to. It took me a long time to get rid of this weakness. It would take far less if I didn't fall into money influencers' hands.

I wish you would implement the five methods described above and become useful and desired, then the money will just follow you. Finally, you will uncover what really matters and that fear of staying poor or desire to have nice things will mean little to you in the end.

That's why I ask you join GoalWatch.net today. We make things better, build community share our experience. It's perfect place for you to start work on your value increase program and proper self-discovery journaling along the way. I hang around there so we can meet.

Remember, don't pay attention to my words; listen to your inner self.