Following a Forbes story about Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson becoming the highest-paid actor in Hollywood ($64.5 million earned in 2016), The Rock shared this statement on his Instagram page: “Want to say two things about this. I started w/ $7 bucks. If I can overcome, so can you. Waffle House on me!!”
Anything is possible!
In talking about his poverty, The Rock also said that he during his valley he didn’t feel sad or discouraged, he just said to himself “this moment is significant because it will be the last time that I will ever only have $7 to my name.” The rest is history.
I binge on The Rock’s Instagram page because his life is a blueprint of how he went from $7 to the top earner in Hollywood. He is up at 4:30 a.m. every day to work out. He literally refuses to be out worked in any area of his life. The early bird catches the worm.
Dwayne Johnson is worth millions, travels on a private jet, but still works as if he has $7 in his pocket.
The Rock’s habits are considered obsessive and extreme by the average person. But he’s not an average person. You have to be extreme and obsessed to have extraordinary results. Watching the way he moves, I decided that I need to do more. I need to get extreme in taking my finances up a notch. There is always a next level!
Going through a checklist in my head, I didn’t know how I might be able to improve my finances, since I couldn’t make more money immediately. Then it dawned on me: I only check my net worth once a month for the update I provide on this site.
The very thing that I’m trying to fast track is something that I hardly ever look at. Imagine if The Rock only looked at his body in the mirror once a month or only read potential scripts once a month? How would he know what he needed or wanted to work on, how could he stay motivated?
The reason I have for not checking on my net worth is laziness. It requires me logging into each of my financial institutions, writing down balances, and entering those numbers onto a spreadsheet just to see my total financial picture aka my net worth.
I decided to do my homework and research net worth tracking apps. Technology is there to make things easier. Why hadn’t I done this several months ago? I found several products to choose from but ultimately went with Personal Capital. PC allows me to link all banking, retirement, brokerage and credit card accounts. Once linked each account is automatically updated when I log on. If a transaction is processing it is not included in the update.
The site breaks down your financials into three categories: Cash, investments and debt. It provides a separate total for each category and allows you to drill down into each individual account and see all the transactions made in that account. It provides charts that show how much money has been deposited and how much you’ve withdrawn for any span of time that you wish to see.
Front and center when you open the page is your net worth, all assets minus your debt. A graph next to your net worth, shows the fluctuations of your net worth throughout the week or month. My net worth graph showed tremendous fluctuations during the first two weeks of this month.
It let me know that I reached a new personal best, but it quickly plummeted a few days later. I got paid and quickly paid bills that weren’t due yet. It also showed that I dined out more than I even I care to admit.
Paying my bills early is not really a problem but I would like to keep my checking account more level. I don’t want any of my accounts plummeting. I think it demonstrates control and consistency on my part if I’m able to keep things level. Also, Personal Capital allowed me to catch a bad habit early in the month. I wouldn’t have paid attention to all the eating out if it didn’t immediately show up as a dent in my net worth.
I’ve since downloaded Personal Capital onto my phone. I check my net worth, investments and my credit card spending daily. The App has also motivated me to put more effort into getting rid of my credit card debt. The visual of my net worth being pulled down by credit card debt is tough to look at. So. I’ve laced my bootstraps up a little tighter this month and I’m ready to do battle with debt.
Personal Capital allows me to keep my eye on the prize. What goals do you need to start looking at every day?
