Not an evening goes by in London these days when you can’t check in to some kind of event, seminar or lecture aimed at improving some aspect of your life. In addition to attending events in person, there is no shortage of life hack-ery online, in the magazines we buy and in the big piles of 10-step self-help books that, I for one, have accumulated over the years.

 

But if that’s the case, why aren’t we all model human beings? The answer is simple: because we don’t put the advice into practice. Not really. Not in any long-term way that gets results. Our attention is quickly taken up by the next new thing. So, having a small group of driven women get home last week after a Wealthy Woman Workshop session with wealth coach Terhi Majasalmi and immediately turning advice into action is pure gold.

 

This was Terhi’s second session with DrivenWoman, the first mainly looked at attitudes to wealth and how our adult behaviours are, more often than not, shaped by our parents attitude towards money. The result, as I am sure many of you will recognise, are often unconscious feelings of guilt,  unworthiness, or just simply a fundamental belief that we are unable to manage money.

 

In last week’s session, Terhi got down to the business of saving. In the financial advice classic  The Richest Man in Babylon, George Samuel Clason says one of the fundamental rules of wealth is to save 10% of your income. Terhi advises the same. Ok, so where’s the magic in that, you may ask?

The magic is in the mindset.

 

This is saving for investment. Not saving for a holiday, new outfit, a new bathroom or anything else that sees your savings go or depreciate once the thing has been bought.

 

Terhi was talking about saving until a critical mass is reached when you can put those savings into investments. The investments then generate income which you re-invest. That generates more income and so it goes on. It’s the conveyor belt effect; once that critical mass is reached and with some sound investing, it can’t help but move you forward, snowballing as you go. It’s likely to be a long journey but if you don’t start, how will you ever get there?

 

Next up was asset classes and asking the question, where should I put my money?  Terhi covered stocks and funds, commodities, property and business and managed to so in a way that was easy and accessible for the uninitiated. The answer turns out to be a personal preference based on how much time you have, how liquid you want your funds to be, your approach to risk, your investment timelines and mainly, what it is that spikes your interest. I went into the session with an idea of which asset class might suit me best and came away more convinced than ever.

 

Terhi says wealth creation is 20% strategy and 80% mindset. And she should know, she’s been building her wealth for two decades.

Do I wish I started thinking about financial security and freedom at seventeen? Yes, of course, but we can only start from where we are which is why it is important to start today.

 

By the end of the session we were all focused on our financial future with a sense of optimism. What had been daunting to many, myself included, now felt a lot more achievable.

 

And to keep our motivation topped up, Miisa and Jennifer have decided to hold quarterly DrivenWoman ‘Wealth Club’ -sessions so we can report back on progress and collectively hold each other to account.

 

I know from other areas of my life that this accountability will give me the extra motivation I need to stick with it and deliver results. I know it’s early days, but I certainly feel 2015 is the year that I turn a corner on the path to wealth and financial freedom.

 

~ Adzowa

 

Adzowa is a DrivenWoman member. She took part in the Wealthy Woman Workshop on March 19. 2015