Adapted from Million Dollar Action by Rachel Rodgers, the workbook for the bestselling book We Should All Be Millionaires.
Key Points to Know
Even if you feel ashamed, disorganized, and sloppy when it comes to your money, here’s the good news: It is never too late to create systems and get things on track.
Yes, even if you have massive debt, a negative net worth, a painfully low credit score, shoeboxes full of disorganized receipts, and filing your tax paperwork feels a little bit like throwing spaghetti against the wall and praying that it’s gonna stick—even if that’s your situation, things are not hopeless. You can get your financial house in order. And you can start now.
Now is the time to set up Million Dollar Systems for managing your money. It’s time to grow up and glow up!
At a minimum, you need to track your net worth, credit score, and daily spending, and go to Money Church every week. If you’re self-employed, you need to go legit, form a business entity (such as LLC, S-Corp, and so on), and open a business checking account.
By getting your systems in place, you will be proud of yourself, organized, capable, like a real boss instead of a hot mess. This boosts your confidence and changes the way you carry yourself in the world. You’ll attract more clients, more opportunities, and more money once you’ve got systems in place.
Commit to paying attention to your money, even if there’s not much of it yet. Create systems to track your money and treat it with the respect it deserves.
Last: Shift the way you think about debt. While some personal finance gurus insist that debt is the devil and should be avoided at all costs, I disagree. Debt can be a tool that you can use strategically to increase your earning potential. Debt is not something to be ashamed of. It often represents an investment you’ve made in yourself.
Million Dollar Questions
What are some financial systems that you currently have in place? For instance, do you check your credit score regularly? Do you automatically contribute to a retirement fund monthly? What are some things you do consistently?
What’s an area of your financial world that feels messy, neglected, and you’re not proud of it? This could be tax paperwork, avoiding looking at your bank account balances because it feels uncomfortable, or perhaps philanthropy/giving back (you keep meaning to do it, but don’t really have a system in place yet).
Imagine that you have clear, excellent financial systems in place. Systems to track what’s coming in and going out. Systems to pay bills on time. Systems to invest and make your money grow. Systems to organize receipts and other paperwork. Everything is legit, orderly, pristine, correct. If the IRS decided to audit you, they would gasp and say: “We have never seen such beautiful organization and systems! This is wonderful! Well done!”
If this was your situation, how would you feel? How would your life change if you had these kinds of systems in place?
Million Dollar Action
Create systems for the financial life you want, not the one you have.
You’ve heard the expression, “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.” Same thing applies to your money.
Plan ahead and create systems for the financial life you want, not the one you’ve currently got. This means to start behaving as if you have a million dollars net worth. Behave with the assumption that, one day, you will.
At a bare minimum, these are the financial systems you need to have in place. You don’t have to do all of these things today. But, commit to doing at least one of these things in the next seven days. And commit to setting up everything on this list in the next hundred days.
Yes, you can.
- Hire a professional tax preparer and meet with them regularly. Once or twice a year, minimum.
- Hire a professional bookkeeper and/or get bookkeeping software (like YNAB or Empower for your personal finances and Xero or QuickBooks for your small business finances).
- Hire a professional financial planner who can help you prepare for retirement, make investments, and set big-picture money goals. Meet with this person regularly, once or twice a year, minimum.
- Hire a money coach who can help you clear emotional blocks, set specific goals, and check in with you regularly to make sure you are doing the things you promised to do. Meet with your money coach weekly (ideally) for ten to twelve weeks and you will make massive progress. (At Hello Seven, we have a team of Certified Hello Seven Coaches that can help you with this. Go to helloseven.co/coach to learn more.)
- Check your credit score. Do this monthly. (Your credit card company or bank will probably give you an updated score every thirty days for free.)
- Create a spreadsheet with a list of every debt you currently have including the total amount, interest rate, and monthly payment. Update this spreadsheet each month as you make payments. Look at this debt tracker each week, even if it’s uncomfortable. Doing so will help you take action and make progress.
- Look at your bank account(s) to see what’s coming in, and what’s going out. Do this daily.
- Track your net worth. This is all the assets you’ve got, minus whatever debt you owe. Do this weekly.
- Brainstorm ideas for generating extra income. I call these Million Dollar Ideas. Every week write down twenty-five ideas to create extra income that can pay off one of your debts, allow you to purchase something you want, or allow you to invest the extra money. Creating a habit of brainstorming Million Dollar Ideas will train your brain to see moneymaking opportunities everywhere you look.
- If you are self-employed, find out what you need to do to go legit and run your business like a pro. This may include getting a particular license for your region or state, getting insurance, filing to form an LLC or S-Corp or another business structure, opening a business checking account, and more.
- If you are self-employed and based in the United States, find out when your quarterly estimated tax payments are due. Put the due dates into your calendar. Remember to send payments on time. You can usually do this online.
- Automate as many payments as you can to simplify your life. Phone bill, health insurance, any regular payments that happen weekly or monthly. Set those up on auto-pay so you don’t have to worry about it. Less clutter in your brain.
- If you share household finances with your spouse/partner, schedule a recurring appointment when you sit down together to set money goals and discuss: “What’s something that would upgrade our life? What do we want to buy? Who are some people we want to hire? What’s the plan to pay for it? When can we start?” Do this monthly.
- Do an annual money review. Once a year, obviously.
You may be wondering, “But when am I going to do all those things?”
My advice: Schedule a weekly appointment on your calendar and call it Money Church.
Or call it Hot Money Date or Me ’n My Benjamins or whatever name you want.
At least sixty to ninety minutes. Every week. This is your time to light a candle, play your favorite music, and do all the weekly steps we just discussed (check your credit score, look at your accounts, look at your debt, and so on). Like a weekly money review.
Money Church is also a great opportunity to take stock of what’s been happening in your life lately. Reflect on the last week. What are some Million Dollar Decisions you made that you want to celebrate? What are some Broke Ass Decisions you (accidentally) made? What are some money-generating ideas that you could implement soon?
Money Church needs to be a nonnegotiable part of your financial routine.
Million Dollar Action will help you develop a new attitude about money, get more cash flowing into your bank account, and realize more emotional riches, too: hope, peace, power, and joy. You can order your copy today.