By: The 7 Keys to Financial Success

By: The 7 Keys to Financial Success

Background Info Over the past two years, I've been able to turn M$M into a resource that reaches tens of thousands of readers every month (aka the Debt De$troyers). I don't consider myself different or more talented than anyone else, but I've been able to accomplish things that most of the people around me never dreamed about doing. My story started back in 2011. I was a high school band director with $40,000 of student loan debt, and a career that I didn't like nearly as much as I thought I would. I could have done what most people do and make the minimum payment on my loans, but instead I chose to listen to some killer advice from a mentor and attack my debt as aggressively as possible. My $40,000 of student loans were gone 18 months later...on a teacher's salary. That success fueled me to create M$M. Just six months after I created the site, I left my teaching job to pursue building this site and spread a message of financial success for young people. At the time, I had only made $3 from the site. People thought I was crazy for leaving my career (and maybe I was...just a little). Now, I make $15,000+ a month from my laptop and have never been happier. I've spent a lot of time reflecting on what has helped me become successful, and I'd like to share it with you.

1. Let your peers pass you up For the more than 300,000 people that have visited Millennial Money Man - my most important tip has remained exactly the same. Stop caring what other people think. My debt freedom story isn't sexy. To save money while I was paying off my loans, my wife and I rented a room from her parents, drove crappy paid off cars (still do), and watched our friends pass us up. They bought the cool cars, the nice houses, and the fancy stuff. We didn't, and now we are so far ahead of them financially that many of them will never catch up. Please read: Let Your Friends Pass You Up

2. Find mentors Two of my best friends in the world are 30+ years older than me. I've gone out of my way to surround myself with people that have already found success in life and business, and their advice has helped guide almost every decision I've made for my money and website. The problem is - successful people don't grow on trees. That's why joining a community of people that actually care about your success is SO important. Please read: Millennials - Invest In This First

3. Be coachable as hell I've learned in life that if you can't listen, you're screwed. Pretty simple. :) Please read: The Number One Trait You Need

4. Create a second income stream Whether it's a blog, Amazon FBA business, or pet-sitting, you need to do something. The vast majority of young people don't want to put in the extra work on the side to build something, which is why there is so much opportunity out there for the people that will. M$M was started at the kitchen table after I got home from my band directing job. Now it's my full-time job and allows me to work from wherever I want, whenever I want. You never know what your extra work can turn into! Please read: 8 Side Hustles You Can Start This Weekend

5. Pound the rock There's a quote that I love to share with all of my readers, and I think you'll really enjoy it. It applies to business, life, paying off debt, investing...everything. Take a look and see how you can apply it to your life: When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before. Jacob Riis Please read: The Stonecutter's Credo

6. Understand where happiness comes from *Hint* It's not money. One of the biggest misconceptions I see from millennials (and anyone really) is that more money will make them happier. That can be true, but only up to a point. Research shows that anything over $75,000 per year won't make you any happier. Happiness comes from freedom and doing what you truly love in life. There's nothing wrong with being bad@$$ at money, but remember that it's just a tool. Please read: Does a Higher Salary Lead to Happiness?

7. Recognize how special life really is In June of 2016, my wife and I were on a vacation in Jamaica when we learned that my father-in-law had passed away. Needless to say - we were crushed. He was such an important person in our lives, and we had spent the last several years helping to care for him as his terminal disease progressed. Since then, I've realized what life is really about, and it's probably the #1 reason that I've been able to find success in life as early as I have. Even if you don't read anything else from Millennial Money Man, you'll want to read the post below. It's easily the best and most important one that I've ever written. Please read: The Real Reason I Live Debt Free

Did you enjoy this guide? Feel free to visit my website at www.millennialmoneyman.com for more great stuff!