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So I think it’s safe to say that most of you know that there are a couple of famous financial gurus in the US who preach the importance of not getting into debt by never securing credit. I think there is a ton of value in only buying what you can afford, BUT, there are some serious financial consequences from living “off the grid”.

Now before you go all angry emoji on me… I am NOT saying that you HAVE to live off of credit, and if you have an addiction to shopping or spending and staying away from credit is the only way to control your habit, by all means STAY AWAY FROM THE CREDIT APPLICATIONS. Living in debt is absolutely not a healthy lifestyle, and if you pay extra on security deposits and insurance I promise you that will be a much better decision then spiraling out of control and paying hundreds more dollars in interest and penalties. However, if you do not fall into this category of compulsive spending and are like the majority of Americans who just don’t understand how the system works and why you need credit in the first place, this blog and video are for you!

You see, our entire financial system is based upon risk algorithms created by Trans Union, Experian, and Equifax to determine how likely we are to pay our credit obligations. If you decide that “credit” is not for you, then there is no way to gage what type of credit risk you will be, and most financial entities will penalize you and put you into their highest risk classification.

Having a credit payment history makes it possible for us to borrower money, have lower or no security deposits, better terms on mortgages, and help determine how much we pay for insurance premiums. Not only that, many employers review credit reports in their hiring process to mitigate the risk hiring the “wrong’ person. Not having a score or taking payment history seriously will cost you extra in fees, interest, and could also prevent you from getting your dream job.

It is my personal and professional opinion after working in mortgage finance for over 16 years that not having credit makes simple things more complicated and expensive. I believe that we are all capable of using credit responsibly, especially when you understand its importance in your life, and how much ignoring it or not taking it seriously will cost you. I made this video to highlight some of the ways you can use credit in moderation to give the benefit of maximum score potential but also not create a situation where you are living beyond your means. I hope you find the credit tips to be helpful and would love to answer any questions you have on the subject. Please feel free to comment below. I always love hearing from you!

Make it a great week!

Lizy

WOW! First of all let me say, I was so blown away at the responses I received from last week’s money mindset video (I am glad I am not the only one working out some deep rooted childhood issues) But I was also equally surprised with how many people felt shame about their money stories. I know firsthand what it’s like to be disappointed, and embarrassed of your situation. I hated that place and lived there far too long! So here is what I am going to tell you my friend and I know you did not come to me for permission, but I am going to give it to you anyway. There is no shame in wanting to change where you are so that you can live a bigger and brighter future. So you go for it! Even if that means that others around you won’t understand or will try to keep you in THEIR comfort zone. Push through! The awesome life you dream of is waiting for you, but you have to do the work!

So what does the work look like… well its different for everyone, but the same if that makes sense. We all need the fundamentals of savings, debt reduction, investment and the mindset to believe that what we want is attainable. This will grow and evolve over time as you have more money, but if you are starting at the beginning, I made this video for you. It’s all of the ways that you can get ahead without dramatically changing your life or selling a kidney! My wish for you is that this is the mindset push you need to take it to the next level. Get off of your debt-coster and start living your best life!

All my best to you!

-Lizy

It would probably to shock you to hear that I do not set goals any more. Yes, that is correct- I am an over-achieving, record breaking sales person who does not believe in the power of goal setting. In fact, it’s my strong opinion that goals only cap our potential, or prevent us from accomplishing the very dreams we so boldly desire. We have been told for years that this is the key to success, and I am hoping that in the time it takes you to read this blog, I will have sparked your curiosity to commit to a different way.

So let me give you some context about how I came to believe that goals are destructive. It all started 5 years ago when I got fired from my job. At that point in my career my most successful year in mortgages was 167 fundings, I was considered a “Top Producer” in my field. I followed goal setting religiously, had a vision board, listened over and over to “The Secret”. I was the quintessential poster child for the power of manifestation, and then I lost it all…

To date getting fired still is the most traumatic event of my adult life. No one tells you what happens when you get fired. It was literally the most emotionally crushing time of my life. I spent hours crying, shaking and hiding under my covers. The stress caused me to lose 7 pounds, and all of my eyelashes. I was so ashamed I could hardly show my face. There was no way I was in a goal setting mindset. I was being consumed by survival.

Lucky for me though, I have always surrounded myself great people. Because of my best friend Keane, Rick Rubie (the head coach and owner to The Core Training) heard my story and called me during that transitional weekend. Our conversation was life changing to say the least, and centered around the idea that in every circumstance we are presented with a choice: to be a victim or be the boss. That conversation was a turning point for me, it helped me get out of bed and start making calls.

I started with all of the contacts in my cell phone and instead of playing the ‘he said she said’ game on why I had been let go, I decided to own the narrative laid out for me. (Yes, there were lots of reasons I had been fired that day, but bottom line, no one fires someone they like and if you ever find yourself in this position know that quality people avoid drama like the plague). Every phone call I made included a sincere apology and a question about what it would take for me to earn their trust again. These phone calls along with my paper lead trackers and Facebook ads addressed to my clients helped me rebuild the database I had lost. I was a woman driven by purpose and I made sure that each phone call I made was impactful.

The first 30 days were the scariest and most exhilarating of my life. My only focus was to make as many calls and see as many people as possible. In our coaching program we call this completing the greatness tracker. I submitted to this process over and over and over again. I stopped concentrating on the end result because I felt that I could no longer control the outcome. I just focused on completing activities.

This first 30 days I was pushed way beyond my comfort zone, and the results were astronomical, we closed 19 loans! NINETEEN freaking loans… the most on average we had ever closed up until this time was 16, and that’s when I knew that all of the goals I had ever set were just a cap on my potential. I realized that surrendering to process is the magic behind results. I am not sure how this truth evaded me, just like with dieting I know that consistent exercise and healthy eating will make you fit, it’s just not what they teach sales people.

I am not saying that submitting to a process is easy, and I relied heavily on my “why” to keep me going. I even came up with a mantra to fire me up: “You are not a weak link”. It was inspired by one of the most hurtful things said to me upon my firing. I usually draw on painful things to move me forward. They are the easiest for me to tap into, and let me tell you this one had power. It was enough to wake up every day at 4:30am in the morning to be at work at 5:30am to review files call for conditions at 7-10am start prospecting from 10am- 5pm and call back leads till 8pm. I did this over and over again until I had built a team and technology to help support our production.

Here is a good strategy for how to discover your why. Ask yourself what is the most important thing you want to accomplish? Then ask yourself why it’s important? Once you have answered that, ask yourself when did you first realize that it was important and how did you see this manifest in your childhood? Most of deep desires to accomplish “goals” are rooted in dysfunctions created when we are younger. For example, I have always struggled with co-dependence, because I came from turbulent upbringing. I constantly felt that I needed to be perfect in order to keep the status quo. I developed a huge fear of letting people down, which is why I worked so hard to make people happy. Tapping into this dysfunction this fear of letting people down has always made me work so much harder for them. It’s kind of my super power ☺

Throughout the years my mantras have become less dramatic, but never less powerful. Last year my mantra was “We break records” … and it was my best year despite being the most competitive rate market I have ever seen, being pregnant, and having my husband almost die due to an esophageal perforation.

I know that there a people reading this saying “yeah right a mantra and a greatness tracker” … but that’s the truth. My focus is on mastering the process of prospecting and wowing our clients. I can confidently tell you that there is a good chance my activities are more intentional than most. For example, I only count calls and face to faces conversations where I asked for a lead or set an appt. I usually am seeing more than 30 people in a given week, have two leveraged events, and 20% of the people I talk to are new to my database, meaning I have never met them before. I am committed to making sure that we uphold our core values of Client first and work diligently every day to make sure that we are always doing the task and then some. For me mastering the process is about being the best, for the sake of being the best not the biggest. It just so happens that when you are constantly trying to perfect, you have BIG results.

There is one last element I think you need to have in order to accomplish big things and that is an issues list. I keep a working issues list at all times because processes will change, so will guidelines, technology and expectations. You have to be flexible and always willing to work on the things preventing you from mastering the process. For example, this year we set out to increase the value that we provide to our clients with Money Tip Monday videos… The process we had set in place is filming on Friday, with one week editing timeline and three days of promotion. The first obstacles we had to plan for was scheduling time to record, and then coming up with content. I think we have done great on this far, but we failed to anticipate, what happens when one of gets sick or has to travel. How many emails we could send out in a given day, and what happens when we are promoting an event at the same time we need to send out our MTM videos. These are all things that we are currently working on, and will continue to develop solutions for. It is just as important to pay attention to how to remove obstacles and come up with contingency plans. Something is always broken or can be improved I promise ☺

So to wrap this up, goals kept me focused on the outcome instead of the process. It made be believe that I was only capable of “so much”. I am extremely lucky to have lost it all so that I could really gain the most important lessons of my life. My deepest wish for you, is that by reading this today, you will decide to live and act by purpose. Focus on the process, and solve for your issues! I believe strongly that success is found in the little actions compounded over time and not by the things we say out loud!

All my best to you my friends! May this be your best year ever!

Lizy

This weeks Money Tip Monday is about timing the market vs time in the market and how long term investments will always make you more money! Please take a couple of minutes to watch this and let me know what you think!