Wealth

What are you going to quit to improve your Discipline?

By Andrew Barnett

If something is going to change for you—or continue to change for those already taking action—you need to be moved and inspired, writes Andrew Barnett

Five years ago I decided to invest $5,000 in myself and quit the things that were really getting me nowhere. Many of these things would make people shudder, however since I made the decision I have been amazed by the things that have come my way. So, if good things can come from quitting the bad, is it time for you to quit some things you are doing?

I am not telling you to do exactly what I did, nor am I telling you some of the things below because I have an ego, but here is a quick outline of what I quit, why and I quit it and what resulted. The moral of the story is if a high school dropout who just passed Grade 10 and quit school can be successful, you can too.

What I quit and why

I quit my job—I hated my job and was making $55,000 per annum.
I sold our house—We were living six weeks in front of the bank if I lost my job. We were incredibly stressed about paying our bills. We did have some equity, but we had no cash and it was making my marriage incredibly stressful.
I quit hanging out with some friends—I stopped hanging with people that were negative, always complaining about their life.

What I actioned

I made a commitment to continue to love my friends and family but be more careful about what I listened to and who I hung out with. Most people who told me not to do something had never done it themselves. I wanted to be around successful, positive people. I started trying to hang out with people that were living the life I wanted to live.
I decided for once in my life I'd believe in myself and stop believing I wasn't good enough. In my early 20s I was among the top 10 waterskiers in the world, but I never reached number one. I had more natural talent than most, but I lacked belief. I realise that now and wish I could have that time again.
I attended seminar after seminar and finally found one that resonated with me. I didn't procrastinate; I knew if something was to change I needed to give 'something' a go. Was I scared? Yes, petrified!

It all comes down to discipline: never deviate from what you want and stay true to your plan.

I was a complete failure at trading for well over eight months, until one month it started to click. I was about to quit and decided as a last ditch effort to trade as small as I could (hey my money was drying up fast) and just chip away for the next six months to see what happened. Within that time I realised I had made it. Crawl, walk, jog, run, and then sprint were what I did and I continue to have this philosophy today.

Please keep in mind all I wanted was to be a trader, but look what has happened as a result of me just doing one thing well and investing $5,000 in my education. Doors have opened and I have passive income coming from myriad places as well as my trading.

After 12 months I made more money in one month that I used to make in one year. And I have a self managed fund that is growing at four times the rate of the industry average and multiple six figures. I now have the pleasure of having someone else trade my account when I am travelling or don't feel like trading.

I hired them! I have met some incredible traders who also taught me how to invest in the stockmarket. I doubled an account from 50,000 to 100,000 inside 12 months with no leverage. I used the deposit for one of the houses I have built. I have built two recently and am starting my dream home that has a back door onto the beach. I also own and operate a multi-million dollar debt free trading company with offices in five countries.

These may not be your goals and won't be your outcomes, but how can you get what you want? It all comes down to discipline: never deviate from what you want and stay true to your plan.

What is the real meaning of discipline? Discipline is actually about self preservation. Think about it. If you want to lose weight you need to be disciplined and stay with your diet and exercise. If you don't, you will selfdestruct and become overweight or worse, obese! What makes you disciplined when you want to lose weight? Self preservation. And it works exactly this way for everything including investing and trading.

Seriously! How are you going to reach your goals and make lots of money in the markets? What it will be is your discipline towards your self-preservation, your willingness to take action and your self-belief.

Andrew Barnett is CEO of LTG GoldRock, a worldwide foreign currency trading and financial services business.