Put your financial independence plan on auto pilot

You will not get sustainable results until you take consistent action. It is very easy to give up when we don’t seem to get results. It takes a while for the results we desire to show up, including building a robust stream of passive income apart from the wages from our day job. You need to put your financial independence plan on auto-pilot so that you make progress consistently no matter how minor

One thing that I have found helpful is changing my thinking and planning horizon – going beyond here and now to medium and long term. When you focus on the now, you will miss so many things. This is one of the key reasons you miss out on possible consequences of your actions. Most consequences are not immediate. They show up somewhere down the line. That is why we miss it. If we become obese seconds after we binge on food, most of us will be scared of overeating, or even food itself. If a girl became 9 months pregnant seconds after unprotected sex, no one needs to sound a note of warning. If you become bankrupt and homeless the moment you made a dumb financial decision, we would all be wiser by now and handle our money with care. Wouldn’t it be fun if you become rich the moment you started saving and investing, or slim the hour you start dieting?

However, consequences do not show up immediately. There is a lag time. This makes us complacent and loses sight of the consequences of our current actions. We think we have gotten away with it. The reality is, we don’t. Payday is coming. To be able to focus properly, we need to learn to think long-term, so that we can see the consequences of our current actions.

That is why it is crucial to keep doing the right things with our money until it becomes second nature. We do it automatically. We put our plan on autopilot. Anytime money gets into my hands, I don’t thinks twice – I take out my tithe (giving) and savings before I think of what to do with it, that is if the money is unexpected. If it is expected, I already know what to do with it before it arrives. I build my portfolio automatically. I don’t even think about it. It is on auto.

I have come to discover that economic or financial freedom impacts your other freedoms. The less free you are financially, the fewer options you have, including medical care. Money becomes an issue when you lack it. When you have enough to spare, you are better able to focus on issues that are more important. Money recedes to the background, making things happen behind the scene like the faithful servant it is supposed to be.

When you put your finances on autopilot, you don’t have to spend so much time on them. You become free to move on with your life, on your own terms.