My 10 year old might be pint-sized but he’s definitely full of spunk. He’s small for his age, so people normally think he’s only 7, but he’s feisty, with an attitude of a much older kid.
He grew up watching his brothers compete in taekwondo so it wasn’t a surprise when he wanted to go into the sport and compete as well. His first tournament after earning his yellow belt was the California state championship, which he won 1st place at 5 years old! You can tell I’m one proud mom.
These days he’s into swimming. He used to compete a lot but because of the pandemic, competitions became scarce. He would join from time to time though and there were times when he was competing against his older brother. Does it scare him that he’s competing with his brother? Heck no. He just goes in and does his very best.
This driven 10 year old has taught me so much about life which I also equate with money. Let me share these lessons to you. I hope they’ll inspire you as much as they have inspired and encouraged me.
Be tenacious and persistent
My son is small for his age but he never thinks small. He goes into any competition thinking he’s a lion and he can roar! He never gives up. Sure, he gets frustrated but he gets back up and tries again.
Life is so much bigger than us. But we have the power to be bigger than life itself. If life hands us problems that overwhelm us, there is a bigger power who will help us get through it. All we need to do is believe in our hearts that we can overcome anything that is handed to us, get on our knees, and pray in earnest.
Being financially free entails perseverance, discipline, and being tenacious. It requires intentional persistence to change the way we handle our finances. Be tenacious and persevere in the pursuit of financial freedom. This is how you change your family history. This is how you build wealth.
Learn from mistakes
My son doesn’t always win. When he loses a competition, he would ask what he did wrong and improve on it. He uses that experience to get better and to be prepared next time.
We may not always win our battles. After all, failure is a part of life. What matters is how we react to these failures. We need to learn from them, get up, and keep trying. What we learn from our mistakes and failures will make us better and stronger than ever before.
A mistake teaches us an invaluable lesson if we open our eyes to see the lesson it brings with it.
Being human, we’ve all made mistakes but we shouldn’t use being human to continue committing the same mistakes over and over again because being human then becomes a crutch — an excuse.
If you’ve made money mistakes in the past — getting into debt that you have a tough time getting out, spending more than what you can afford, not saving enough, not having an emergency fund, etc. — reflect on what’s driving you to spend and get into debt. Envision a future where money is not an issue for you and be so focused on that vision that you are driven to get out of where you are right now. Accept no excuses and no crutches. You got this!
Dare to be different
My son knows that he’s smaller than other kids his age but he doesn’t let that get in the way. He told me that some kids call him “shortie” and while it breaks my heart, my son continues to appease me that he’s got it. He embraces who he is because it’s how God created him to be.
God created us to be different from everybody else. We should embrace that uniqueness and show it off. There is nothing wrong with thinking differently and not going with the flow. Sometimes, being different is what sets us apart. Show off that spunk.
Over the years, I have learned that in order to win with money, we have to live differently than most people. We still have and drive our 1998 Toyota Camry and 2008 Toyota Highlander. Our previous house had mismatched and hand-me-down furnitures. Our formal living and dining areas had toys instead of furnitures.
People will judge. I don’t care because we’re not broke. We didn’t get here by spending and borrowing a ton of money. We got here because we were intentional with how we spend our money. We went against the flow where not a lot of people dared to go. We lived differently and that’s why we’re winning with money.
Learn not to conform to what society is telling you. 54% of consumers in the U.S. are living paycheck to paycheck. Don’t let that be you.
Live differently and challenge the status quo.
You got this!
Don’t underestimate yourself
My son might be small but he never thinks small. In taekwondo, he fought bigger kids because he thinks he’s as big as them.
In swimming, he competes with much bigger kids as well and he doesn’t feel intimidated.
The problem with us adults is that we think so little of ourselves. The God that created us — you know, the one true King, the Alpha and the Omega, the Creator of the Universe — thinks we’re very special so we should feel special too. We all have a place in this world. God has plans for us that are bigger than ourselves.
When we belittle ourselves, we are insulting our Creator who thinks so highly of us.
Speak life (Be positive)
This one is something my son has been working on. He would sometimes think negative of himself, especially when he falls short, even in school. He is getting better at thinking positively.
We have been conditioned to think negatively most of our lives. We tend to focus on what’s wrong instead of honing in on what’s right. People tend to remember all the wrong things that was said and done more than all the good things that happened in their lives. It’s human nature.
However, the Bible teaches us to speak life over death.
Do you know what’ll happen if you start speaking life over death? You will create a more positive life for yourself. You will attract more people to you because of your aura. Positive people are happier, more productive, more successful, and fun to be around.
Never say you’re never getting out of debt and you’re never going to be financially free. They’re lies.
YOU will get out of debt and YOU will be financially free. It all depends on you and how you want to move forward.
A lot of people have done it. A lot of people have gone before you. Some of them have worse circumstances but they were able to win with money.
So can you.
Start believing that you have the power to change your situation.
Pray in earnest but also take steps to move forward.
Have a heart full of gratitude
Do you know that having a grateful heart allows you to attract more of what you’re grateful for in your life? As Eckhart Tolle puts it “acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance”.
Start the day with gratitude and end it with thoughts of what you’re grateful for.
I have kept a gratitude journal for years. Now, I am starting my kids with their own gratitude journal. They are to write even a single thing that they’re grateful for each day. It may be as simple as being grateful for summer break from school, or as big as being grateful for getting a new puppy.
Focusing on what you’re grateful for opens you up to having more reasons to be grateful.
Another thing that gratitude offers us is contentment. We learn to be content with what we have instead of longing for what we do not have. It allows us to look into our lives deeper and appreciate what we have instead of looking at what others have.
Keep a gratitude journal. I assure you it will make you look at life differently. Even on a very crappy day, there’s always something that you can be grateful for. And by doing so, it changes your perspective and uplifts you for the rest of your day.
If you are so inclined, write all the things that you’re grateful for and on the other side, write the things that are wrong in your life. You will find that there’s always a lot more blessings.
If anything, just remember that a grateful heart attracts more blessings.
Believe in yourself
I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard my son say “I’m going to make you proud mom. I’m going to win 1st place!” or “I’m going to do very well in school!” So I encourage him and cheer him on. He believes he can do it, so I am not going to say anything otherwise.
We all could use the same faith in ourselves. We need to speak life. We need to be our own cheerleader. If we think we can, it will happen. If we think we can’t, it won’t happen.
The power is in our hands. What will you choose?
We are the most advertised country in the world. All around us, we were made to believe that debt is normal and cool because everyone else is in debt.
As I’ve encouraged you earlier, dare to be different but also believe that you can be different from everyone else. You CAN be financially free by budgeting, paying off your debt, paying yourself first (saving and investing), and being intentional with your money.
You CAN change your family tree. Dave Ramsey said that personal finance is 20% head knowledge and 80% behavior change.
Believe that you CAN change your behavior so you CAN win with money. It starts with you. Right here. Right now.
Trust in God
My son knows to pray hard for whatever he wants to happen. Every night, before a competition, he would pray to Jesus about it.
In the Bible, Jesus told us that we must have faith like that of little children’s. They have this unwavering faith in God that’s amazing to watch.
God is always waiting for us. He is never too busy to listen, if we only have the time to talk to Him.
The Bible has a lot to say about money.
First of all, everything we have is God’s. We are merely caretakers and managers of His wealth here on earth. This was eye-opening to me. While income is the fruit of our labor, whatever we have is not really ours. They’re all provisions from God so we can take care of our families and use it to benefit the Kingdom of God on earth through giving.
One popular parable is the Parable of the Talents where a Master left each servant talents. The first servant grew the 5 talents to 5 more, the second servant grew the 2 talents to 2 more, while the third servant buried the 1 talent he was entrusted to the ground.
In this parable, the Master told the servants who doubled their talents “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much.” As for the servant who buried his talent to the ground, he was banished into darkness.
God wants us to grow the gifts we have been given in His glory. When He knows we can be trusted with what little we’ve been given by being good stewards of money through saving, investing, and giving, more will be entrusted to us.
If we squander our money away with worthless things and get ourselves deeper and deeper into debt, we are not honoring the gifts we have been blessed with.
It is my hope that in your journey to financial freedom, you will take the time to pray for guidance for good stewardship of money. May we all be like the first and second servants who grew the money we have been given for the purpose of taking care of our family and for the purpose of glorifying God through giving.
Aside from praying, it is my hope that you will also do the work towards budgeting, staying away from debt, paying off your debt, saving, investing, and being intentional with your money.
I’m not going to lie, it’s not going to be easy but believe that you have God’s guidance. He wants to see all of us succeed and prosper. He is our loudest cheerleader.
To summarize, here are the 8 lessons my 10 year old taught me:
- Be tenacious and persistent
- Learn from mistakes
- Dare to be different
- Don’t underestimate yourself
- Speak life (Be positive)
- Have a heart of gratitude
- Believe in yourself
- Trust in God
Before we end, I would love to hear from you. In the lessons above, what hit you the most? Please let me know in the comments below.
