NFA Finance

The best advice I could give someone younger than me is simple:

Build your life by design.

Don’t just accept the life that gets handed to you. Don’t wake up one day at 40 or 50 years old and realize every major decision you made was based on what somebody else expected you to do.

Decide what freedom means to you—and then start building toward it.

Freedom doesn’t necessarily mean never working. I work more now than most people I know. But I’m working on things I chose. My businesses. My content. My ideas. My future.

That makes all the difference.

A lot of people think happiness comes from finally arriving somewhere. They believe they’ll be happy when they make a certain amount of money, buy the house, get the car, or reach some imaginary finish line.

But I’ve learned that happiness doesn’t come from standing still.

Growth equals happiness.

When I’m learning, building, creating, improving, and moving toward something bigger, I feel alive. Even when the results haven’t arrived yet, I’m happy because I know I’m making progress.

The most miserable periods of my life weren’t necessarily when I had the least money. They were the times when I felt stuck—when I wasn’t growing and didn’t feel like I was in control of my own direction.

That is why you need a purpose bigger than comfort.

Comfort feels good temporarily, but too much comfort will make you stagnant. Growth can be uncomfortable, frustrating, and even painful—but it gives your life momentum.

You also need to understand that nobody is coming to design your life for you.

If you don’t create your own plan, you’ll end up living inside somebody else’s plan. You’ll build their business, follow their schedule, chase their definition of success, and wonder why none of it feels fulfilling.

Start thinking for yourself as early as possible.

Take chances while you have time to recover. Learn how to make money without depending entirely on one person or one employer. Build skills. Create something you own. Protect your health. Pay attention to who you spend your time with.

And stop worrying so much about looking successful.

Most of the things people buy to impress other people cost them the very freedom they’re searching for. A big payment might make you look wealthy while quietly making you a prisoner.

Real success is having control over your time.

It’s waking up knowing that the decisions you make today are moving you toward the life you actually want. It’s being able to change directions when something no longer fits. It’s owning your mistakes, learning from them, and continuing forward.

You will screw things up. Everybody does.

You’ll trust the wrong people. Lose money. Waste time. Stay too long in situations you should have left. You’ll make decisions that look ridiculous in hindsight.

Don’t let those mistakes define you.

Learn the lesson, make the adjustment, and keep moving.

At 47 years old, I’m still building. I’m still changing. I’m still betting on myself. I don’t believe life is supposed to get smaller as you get older. If anything, your vision should become clearer because you finally understand how valuable your time really is.

So, what’s the best advice I’d give someone younger than me?

Choose growth. Protect your freedom. Build your life by design.

You don’t need to have everything figured out today. You just need to start moving in a direction that belongs to you.

Because growth equals happiness—and freedom is worth building for.

— Nicholas Francis
NFAFinance.com