10 Best Quotes to get you into Financial Discipline

In my previous posts, I have stressed that your financial freedom depends a lot on getting into a financial discipline. When we talk about discipline, it is something that we do over and over again. Taking few steps once in a while or reading a lot of financial literature alone will not help you. All you have to do is take repeated actions. So, to get into a financial discipline, you need to get into a habit of spending money wisely, saving regularly and recording each and every expense. It is easier in theory, but in practice it is little hard, but not impossible. If you keep saving regularly, you will definitely achieve your financial goals. So, here are some of the best quotes to motivate you.

 

1. “In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves. Self-discipline with all of them came first.”–Harry S Truman.
2. “Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable.”–George Washington
3. “We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort.”–Jesse Owens
4. “Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.”–Jim Rohn
5. “To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one’s family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one’s own mind.”–Buddha
6. “Discipline is remembering what you want.”–David Campbell
7. “I think self-discipline is something, it’s like a muscle. The more you exercise it, the stronger it gets.”–Daniel Goldstein
8. “Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates. There’s plenty of movement, but you never know if it’s going to be forward, backwards, or sideways.”–H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
9. “It was character that got us out of bed, commitment that moved us into action, and discipline that enabled us to follow through.”–Zig Ziglar.
10. “Discipline must be a habit so ingrained that it is stronger than the excitement of the goal or the fear of failure.”–Gary Ryan Blair

Remember, to pick the best advice and stick to it for a long time before you see results.

7 Inspiring Quotes that can get you Out of Debt

Maintaining a good lifestyle and buying fashion accessories and expensive gadgets does not hurt anyone. In fact, it should not. However, using your credit card to pay for those expenses may hurt you in the long run. Well, using credit card is not bad at all, if you maintain a good financial discipline and pay off all your debts without hurting your credit score. However, as Warren Buffett has said, “Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.” It is indeed difficult to get out of debt, if you are in the habit of borrowing to fulfill your personal desires. This is the reason why personal debt has risen dramatically over the past few years. However, all debt is not bad. Buying your first home with the loan is not bad because you are building asset/wealth, which gives you equity over the period of time. In fact, in business terms such kind of debt is termed as leverage where your returns are higher than the interest you have to pay on your loan. On the other hand, loan for personal consumption such as enjoying vacations is not leverage, it is a debt trap. Here is what some of the great minds have to say about debt.

“Bad Debt is sacrificing your future day needs for your present day desires” –Suze Orman

“You can’t be in debt and win. It doesn’t work” –Dave Ramsey

“Rather go to bed without dinner than to rise in debt”—Benjamin Franklin

“Bad debt is debt that makes you poorer” —Robert Kiyosaki

“Never Spend your Money before you have it” —Thomas Jefferson

“I do not like debt and do not like to invest in companies that have too much debt”—Warren Buffett

“Small debts are like small shot; they are rattling on every side, and can scarcely be escaped without a wound.”—Samuel Johnson

My Top 10 Favorite Quotes on Financial Wisdom

I have always believed that your life is the sum total of what you have read so far, because what you read is reflected in your thinking and action. It is my personal belief that a few words of wisdom or daily quotes by successful people go a long way in inspiring to change your habits and forge the new and better ones. Here are my top 10 favorite quotes (from great minds) on financial wisdom.

1.  “Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship.” —Benjamin Franklin.
2. “A big part of financial freedom is having your heart and mind free from worry about the what-ifs of life.” — Suze Orman.
3. “Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.”—Epictetus.
4. “The only way to permanently change the temperature in the room is to reset the thermostat. In the same way, the only way to change your level of financial success ‘permanently’ is to reset your financial thermostat. But it is your choice whether you choose to change.”—T. Harv Eker.
5. “Your net worth to the world is usually determined by what remains after your bad habits are subtracted from your good ones.”—Benjamin Franklin.
6.  “I believe that through knowledge and discipline, financial peace is possible for all of us.”—Dave Ramsey.
7.  “All money is a matter of belief.”—Adam Smith.
8.  “Sweat equity is the most valuable equity there is. Know your business and industry better than anyone else in the world. Love what you do or don’t do it.”—Mark Cuban.
9.  “The German root word for “debt” is the same as for “guilt.” —Dave Ramsey.
10.    “Money is usually attracted, not pursued.”— Jim Rohn.

Stop Judging Others

“If someone isn’t what others want them to be, the others become angry. Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.”

― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

How many times have you felt that you have been judged on several occasions? Judging others becomes a second nature to many of us that we fail to see that we are destroying the beautiful moments in judging others. I am not talking about judging the work of your student, judging an artist before giving the rating or any other form of legal judgment. I am talking about being judgmental and forming an opinion about others without even knowing the complete facts. Sometimes people judge others based on their appearance and other physical features. This tendency to judge others keep some of us ignorant about new ideas and thoughts, because we are missing an opportunity to interact with a new person who may have solutions to our problems. So, never judge a book by its cover, discover more. Another dimension to this whole judging process is you are judging the other person based on your limited knowledge of what is right and what is wrong. As humans, it takes ages to discover the truth beneath the layers of right and wrong. Moreover, our perceptions change with time. What was wrong yesterday suddenly seems to be right today and what was right seems to be wrong. So, in all honesty, I have stopped judging people, as I have realized that may be I will do exactly what they are doing now when I will be in their shoes. When nature does not judge us, why should we do? Sun does not check our IQ levels to shine in our windows and neither do plants demand a character certificate to grow in our backyards.

“It’s not given to people to judge what’s right or wrong. People have eternally been mistaken and will be mistaken, and in nothing more than in what they consider right and wrong.”
― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace

 

Look for Finishing Line not the Stop sign

“These woods are lovely, dark and deep but I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep”—Robert Frost.

Often life takes a turn and we want to stop dreaming and just sit and relax. I agree and I have written several posts on savoring the moment or understanding the power of now. But, that should not derail you from your bigger goals. Savoring the moment does not necessarily mean quitting. On the contrary, it means refueling your internal energy and drive so that you continue in the journey and reach the finishing line.

Readers must be wondering why I have suddenly started talking about finishing line. The reason is that most of us crush our own dreams by not acting at the right time. Sometimes, an opportunity is right around the corner and we pass up because we enjoyed too much at the pit stop. Refuel and reenergize yourself but don’t be in a comfort zone for a long time, because it will double your troubles when you wish to move out of comfort zone. Therefore, it is important that you are not wasting your time and talent in the name of relaxing and rejuvenating.

“I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended”—Nelson Mandela.

Lessons to Learn from FIFA World Cup

“ We could all be winners if we learn the lessons that sport teaches us, strengthening the bonds that unite us’’— Pope Francis

The FIFA cup fever and frenzy may be over now after Germany won the title for the 4th time. But, this world cup taught several lessons to us and there are some solid takeaways not only for the football players in the making, but all of us.

• Nothing and no one can beat the dedication and superior performance. Conversely, no amount of advantage can compensate for lack of better performance. Clearly, Brazil, the winner of 5 titles failed to take the advantage of playing in the home ground and did not make it to the finals and lost the third place as well.

• Every member of a team is important and hence, everyone needs to contribute and not just one superstar. Football is much like a family, where it is important that all the family members contribute and give their best to realize the family dream and preserve the values. There is no single superstar in most of the successful families. Everyone member is the superstar.

• Winning and losing is a part of the game, but the most important thing is not quitting. Lionel Messi, the best football player by all standards displayed a wonderful performance throughout the tournament and really tried very hard in the finals, when the pressure was mounting high.

• Accepting the defeat gracefully is another great lesson taught by football world cup. Sometimes, despite your best efforts, you lose or you fail. But, one must understand that failure is not the end of the world. If you will keep your head cool you will get enough chances to reverse the past failures. Wait for the right moment like Germany did to even the score with Argentina.

“Play the game for more than you can afford to lose… only then will you learn the game”—Winston Churchill

Teach to learn before you learn to teach

“Everybody who is incapable of learning has taken to teaching”—Oscar Wilde
Our best learning moments are those when we try to teach others. Whenever, my children come to me with their problems, I tell them an old story related to their problems with a moral and teach them how to tackle these problems. At the end, I discover that I had learnt more from those stories than my children did. I truly believe that I have found a new meaning of those words which I heard from my parents and teachers during my childhood. It is as though God wanted me to see those morals in a new light and apply each one of them in my personal life. At that moment, I thank God for leading me towards the path of knowledge. I look for those cute little problems to solve, not because I am a problem-solver, but I can discvoer something new from those moments. Make the most of your teaching moments because you will gain a new perspective or learn a lesson or two while teaching others. Never emphasize the right way of teaching, but always find the right way of learning and guess what you will never have to put in more effort.

“The teacher is the one who gets the most out of the lessons, and the true teacher is the learner”—Elbert Hubbard.

Discover Yourself before You Discover the World

“The more you know yourself, the more patience you have for what you see in others”—Erik Erikson

I often wonder why people find faults with others when their every action is flawed. I realized over a period of time that these people have long forgotten to live their life consciously or they had never lived consciously. These are those people who never have found themselves and discovered their true potential, because if they did they wouldn’t have time to condemn others. The moment I came across this bitter truth, I started to discover more of myself rather than thinking about those people whose words or actions have hurt me. I realized the hard way that true journey or true discovery is self-discovery. Now, I have stopped thinking about my detractors or fault finders rather I take their feedback seriously or learn a lesson or two from them and move on. They have not changed, but my view of them have changed drastically. Sometimes, life teaches small lessons in an unpredictable manner and the wisdom comes to you when you are trying to teach others. I discovered myself and the true purpose of my life when I was thinking about changing the behavior of others. After discovering myself, I became more patient with my detractors.

“Know yourself to improve yourself”—Auguste Comte

Power of Positive Thoughts

“Positive anything is better than negative nothing”— Elbert Hubbard

We all are surrounded by some negative thoughts or people with negative attitude at some point in life. The more you hang out with these negative people, the more negative thoughts you are going to nurture. In fact, negative thoughts are so powerful that they drain out the entire energy from your mind and body. The result is no good either. You are not at peace with yourself and neither with others around you. The only thing that you can do to change this situation is constantly force yourself to think positive thoughts or say some kind words so that your mind is totally free from any kind of pollution caused by negative thoughts. Then and only then, you can expect to see a change or a shift in the attitude. Negative thoughts grow faster, while it takes time to nurture positive thoughts. To kill negative thoughts, I just take a walk while enjoying the beauty of nature or sometimes I spend time alone to get to know real me beneath this worldly mask. All negative thoughts vanish, when you find your true self and you become one with nature.

“Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will”—Zig Ziglar

Spreading Happiness is the Best Prayer

“Appreciation is the highest form of prayer, for it acknowledges the presence of good wherever you shine the light of your thankful thoughts”—Alan Cohen

Once my daughter asked me “why do we pray?” I started thinking that we pray to god to thank him for everything that we have got and express our gratitude. Though, I was able to convince my daughter, but I was disturbed by that question. So, I sat in a quiet place and after an hour of deep thinking, I could only think that we really don’t need words or rituals to offer our prayers. Our true feelings can convey our message to the Almighty. There are many ways to do that. By smelling the roses and savoring the beautiful trees around us and appreciating God for such a wonderful creation, we can pray. By celebrating life and living in each moment, we can express our gratitude. By being happy and spreading happiness and making someone happy with our words and deeds we can pray.

“It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart”—Mahatma Gandhi