Courage isn’t about knowing the path, it’s about taking the first step. 

– Katie Davis

So you want to be financially literate, but don’t know where to start? If you’re at a crossroads, you’re in the best place to start any journey to freedom. Spoiler alert: the path to financial independence can be overwhelming, challenging, and exhausting. But there’s peace in knowing we have a way out of our frustrating circumstances.  

Every journey is unique depending on our values and goals. But there are some parallels in our walks. To help jumpstart your journey to financial literacy, here are some simple steps that could point you in the right direction:

1. Acknowledge your financial problems

Every change starts with the awareness of an existing problem. If you’re unaware of the financial areas that need help, starting this journey may confuse and demotivate you when the going gets tough. 

At this stage, we should acknowledge that there’s a problem, identify what these problems are, and understand why we consider these as problems. We should also track how these problems came to be — what were the underlying factors that led to having these problems. 

In a nutshell, the journey to financial freedom requires us to be self-aware and reflect on our good and bad financial habits.

2. Equip yourself with sound financial knowledge

Knowledge is power — no matter how cliche this may sound. If you don’t know how to swim, chances are you’ll drown. So before diving into the vast ocean that is financial literacy, make sure to equip yourself with the basic principles of financial literacy. 

With the convenience of the internet, finding reliable information has never been this easy. You can surf through Google and find blogs that teach about personal finance, investing, and wealth building. Check out free resources on Dani Johnson’s website, Ramsey Solutions, and Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad website. 

You don’t have to spend money on financial advisers while you’re still getting your feet wet. Youtube and Spotify are great landmines of free resources that will help you understand complex finance and investing topics. Among my favorite channels are Nate O’Brien, Ali Abdaal, Chink Positive, and Iced Coffee Hour.

As you progress in your financial literacy journey, you can then start investing in books, courses, seminars, and conferences to learn more about the wealth secrets of the rich.

3. Find mentors that resonate with your values and goals

“A mentor empowers a person to see a possible future, and believe it can be obtained.”

– Shawn Hitchcock

You don’t want to learn financial management from your broke uncle or friend who can’t even make ends meet. Don’t get me wrong, as much as they have the best intentions in giving their personal views, getting financial advice from someone without visible results is a recipe for financial disaster. 

You need to learn about money from people who have real and lasting results. This gives you the guarantee that what they’re teaching actually works. 

Your financial mentors don’t have to be someone you know. Finding a “mentor” can be as easy as following a Youtuber, a blogger, a book author, or any online personality whose financial advice reflects your values and goals. But be careful, the internet is filled with frauds who want to devour the innocent and desperate.

If you have money to spare, taking financial management and investment classes will fast-track your financial growth. Paid courses give us insider information that we don’t usually find in free resources. They also connect us to literacy mentors who could help us manage our financial problems.

4. Ask your “why’s” and identify your goals

So you want to be financially free? That’s already a goal. But why do you want to be financially free? What are the situations that you are running away from? And how can financial literacy help you get away from these life stressors for good? These are just some of the questions I had to answer when I started my own journey.

Once we understand our deeper “why’s” (as Simon Sinek advocated), we can easily identify our short- and long-term goals. What do we want to achieve in the next year, three years, five years, decade? It’s helpful to write down our own goals and vision of success. After all, the smallest pen is more powerful than the sharpest memory.

5. Create a financial strategy

Finally, we need to identify the “hows” in achieving our goals. Do we need to save? Take in more jobs? Look for another job? Invest in stocks and funds? Build our own business? 

Having a solid understanding of financial management is imperative to know which actions are profitable and efficient. Investing in knowledge helps us obtain financial wisdom and create a SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound) strategy.

Reading financial books and signing up for courses can help you find a strategy that works best for your personality and risk level. You can start reading financial books like “First Steps to Wealth” by Dani Johnson and “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki. 

6. Be accountable

Growing up, I blamed my parents for not being rich. As I entered the workforce, I blamed my parents for my lack of high-paying job opportunities. As I began my financial journey, I blamed my parents for not teaching me about financial literacy. In all these stages, I always blamed someone and I was miserable.

We may not have come from old money and attended the most prestigious schools. But we can always improve our circumstances. We need to take accountability for the things we can change. Instead of blaming the people around us, we should be accountable and take action toward a more peaceful future. 

We couldn’t change our past and the people around us. But once we take accountability and change the way we react and act, our circumstances will eventually change for the better.

Bottom line

The journey to financial independence is an uphill battle. We will continue to experience challenges along the way. The good news is, there are lasting effects for every productive habit and lifestyle that we build now. It won’t be easy. And it might not always be fun. But it’s going to be worth it.

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