Three Outside-the-Box Opportunities That Can Lead to Better Finances

Life sure has changed recently, hasn’t it? We’re all stretching wide to meet the new demands placed on how we work, parent and spend our free time. Every day is an exercise in flexibility and adaptability, much as it always was but to an even greater extent. You’ve probably also noticed family and friends managing their stress with varying degrees of success. Learning to adapt and thrive in this pandemic era depends partially on one’s attitude, don’t you agree?

Ask yourself: Do you see change as an inconvenience, or an opportunity?

Humans are naturally resistant to change. Training our brains to see a challenge as an opportunity takes incredible effort and lots of practice! We also need regular pep talks to keep us on the right path. But, it can be done. And a new attitude can have a profound effect on the outcome of a situation, even in the context of something seemingly cut and dry like your finances.

People see money as black and white—you either have it or you don’t, you either save it or you spend it. But you’d be surprised to know just how much a positive or negative attitude can impact your finances. We’ve seen the difference time and again working with our clients.

Check out these three unconventional opportunities that can lead to better financial health with a positive frame of mind.

1. Changing jobs

Are you one of the millions of people who lost their job due to COVID-19? Or, are you simply looking for a new opportunity? Landing a new role takes time, hard work and persistence, but the payoff can be significant. Did you know changing jobs can get you a 10-20% increase in your salary each time?

Millennials have embraced the job-change so far in their careers. While job-hopping never looks great on a resume, putting in at least two years with the same company is a reasonable jumping-off point. From there, it pays to keep your eyes open for new opportunities. In fact, staying at the same company can actually cost you up to half of your lifetime earning potential.

Of course, not every situation, company and person is exactly the same. If you love your company and the work, and you have room to grow, good for you! Those are high-value advantages that benefit your earning potential. The important thing to remember is changing jobs, even if involuntarily, can actually be an opportunity to earn more.

2. Making better use of your time

Picture this scenario: You’ve just laid down for the night, and you start making a mental list of all the things you need to do the next day. You don’t write anything down, but you have a general idea of five or six tasks you’d like to accomplish. The next day you wake up, check your email, and start putting out the fires in front of you. By lunchtime, you’re dealing with priorities different from those you thought about the night before. Not because they’re more important in the long-term, but because they’re making more ‘noise’ in your day. 

By evening, did you accomplish any of those big-picture tasks on your list? Probably not. The tidal wave of lesser distractions took away another day from meeting your long-term goals.

Instead, let’s say you woke up and wrote down the top 2-3 ‘must-do’ tasks for the day on a pad of paper. The ones where if nothing else got done, you’d feel accomplished and closer to achieving one of your long-term goals. Then, you set aside one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon to complete those tasks. You spend the rest of the day battling through emails and emergent requests.

Even though distractions crept in, at least you spent two hours of your day moving the needle forward. Progress may have been incremental, but incremental progress is way more than none at all, especially when it adds up over time.

The same principle applies to wise financial planning. Switching over to ‘autopilot’ and not actively thinking about your financial goals will rob you of earning potential. Small, intentional actions like creating and following a budget followed by re-evaluating how it’s working on a regular basis will earn you more money over time. We’ve put together a list of tips on how to create a budget that doesn’t make you feel trapped.

3. Being open to outside perspectives

In a previous post, we talked in detail about better ways to plan your finances. Many people still believe myths like being financially ‘healthy’ means being a millionaire, or that only wealthy people seek outside help from financial professionals. Think about it this way—do you make a doctor’s appointment only when you’re perfectly healthy? No! We need doctors for when we don’t feel good. Regardless of the depth of your portfolio, data shows that expanding your team of experts and financial allies can increase your return.

If you’re ready to embrace new opportunities through better financial planning, we’re here to help.