A self-made millionaire outlines 5 ways to change your thinking to get richer next year

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Most people have wonderful intentions to improve their finances, but they don’t take the necessary steps to actually make it happen.

They’re stuck in the same old ways of thinking about money, and therefore they get the same old result of financial scarcity, stress, and struggle.

Here are five things you can do right now to make good on those financial resolutions and improve your money-making potential in the new year.

1. Figure out your ‘why’

There are many great strategies for improving your finances. While it’s important to focus on how you are going to do it, the very first step is to focus on your ‘why.’ Without a driving motivator or reason, the how doesn’t matter.

Ask yourself: Why do I want this goal to become a reality? Why do I want to make more money? Is it for my kids and family? Do I want to take that trip around the world? Do I just want to finally be financially free? When you focus on your ‘why,’ it’s going to push you to take action in achieving those financial goals.

2. Create multiple income streams

If you look at the world’s wealthiest people, they all have multiple streams of income. Most people go to work, collect their weekly or biweekly paycheck and call it a day. Start looking around and finding ways you can earn more money. Start with your natural talents and abilities and see how you can serve people and solve problems.

Can you start your own business, even if it’s small and part time at first? Can you freelance on your spare time? Is the stock market and other investments a viable option? Could you buy used goods and resell them for more money online? The opportunities to make money are everywhere.

3. Stop holding yourself back

As I travel and speak around the world, one of the most common complaints I hear from people is: I just can’t do it. Yes, some people are naturally better than others at making money and it just comes easy to them. But the truth is, more times than not, the only person holding you back is you.

People love to play the blame game. It’s the government’s fault. I just don’t have time to start a business. I might fail. If people would just get out of their own way, we’d have a lot more millionaires than we do right now. Another truth: Many rich people aren’t any smarter than you. They’ve taken their natural talents and focused on money-making activities. You can do the same.

4. Be held accountable

Whether it’s a financial goal or any other goal, if there’s no means of accountability, you’re less likely to achieve what you are after. Do you have a spouse or partner who can hold you accountable to do what you say you are going to do? Do you have a friend with a similar money-making goal that you can share the highs and lows of the journey with?

Or the best strategy, and one that has created more self-made millionaires than anything else: Find a millionaire and ask him to mentor you. Having someone there to coach you who has already accomplished what you are after and hold you accountable is a huge advantage.

5. Set highly defined goals and urgent deadlines

While the masses scatter their mental energy and creative genius on multiple goals, projects, and hobbies and half-heartedly want a lot of things, self-made millionaires are the opposite. They wholeheartedly focus on one major goal at a time and set a deadline for its achievement.

If you want to really improve your finances in 2017, write down the amount of money you want to make and the specific steps you are going to take to make it happen. Revisit this goal every day always knowing that the clock is ticking. Having this kind of do-or-die commitment to building a financial empire virtually guarantees success.

Above all else, where do you want to be this time next year? Do you want to be figuring out how you’re going to change your financial situation yet again, or are you going to be looking back and be able to pat yourself on the back for a job well done? If you’re serious about making 2017 the year you finally achieve your goals, you can make it happen. It starts with the beliefs and philosophies you hold about money, and then taking massive action.

Steve Siebold is the author of "How Rich People Think" and a self-made multi-millionaire who has interviewed more than 1,200 of the world’s wealthiest people over the past 30 years.

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