I
am Alfred Nickson, a 26 year
old Self-Made Millionaire, Husband, Father and Man of God. Some say you can’t have it all but I am here to tell you that you can. Before I get into the good stuff let me ask you a few questions…. Do you find your self saying “when I make this amount of money (insert some crazy dollar amount here) I am going to be so happy”…… or “when I buy this new house or car or when I can travel
the world my life will be happy” only to find out when you reach one of those goals you still don’t feel the happiness you are searching for? You may feel some temporary gratitude, but then it goes away quickly and you are back in the rat race trying to chase either more money or things while you are waiting on happiness to magically show up at your door. Somewhere along the way, you learned that true happiness comes AFTER achieving success and that is the farthest from the truth.
You can have success, money, family, a thriving business and or career AND most important HAPPINESS at the exact same time. You don’t have to trade success
Before I get into these five simple tips, I will give you a little background information on myself. I grew up in the rough inner cities of Miami on welfare. I don’t have a college degree and I barely graduated high school. At 19 years old I realized I wanted more out of life, I wanted not only to be wealthy but I also wanted a very happy life. Growing up I saw a lot of property and unhappiness as a child. At the same time, I also saw people who did not have a lot of money who were extremely happy and that was intriguing to me.
and wealth for a stressful and unhappy life. And you don’t have to wait to achieve some magical number in your bank account that you think will bring you happiness. That approach is actually quite backwards and I will explain why later. After I started to apply these five simple steps in this e-book, I was able to create a life that is filled with love, happiness and success all by the age of 25! And you can too!
As I got older and started to be around people with more money, I saw some of those people who had gained a lot of material success still lived an unhappy life and it confused me. I asked myself, why would people work so hard just to be miserable? Isn’t the point of working hard so that you can be successful is to have a life you can enjoy? So after asking myself these questions, I started on my journey to create wealth and happiness at the same time. There was no way I was going to have one without the other.
At 19, I started my first business.
By 25 I became a millionaire, I found the love of my life and got married. Now at 26 I am a new father and my business continues to grow and thrive and guess what‌. Most importantly I am extremely HAPPY! So what is the secret to creating a successful and happy lifestyle at the same time?
Applying these simple five tips can help you achieve just that.
1. HAVE APPRECIATION
This is key to manifesting wealth and happiness at the same time. It first starts with you appreciating what you already have to bring in more of what you want. It also helps you practice the art of being happy. Having appreciation allows you to be in the moment, to be present so you are not dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. Have you ever had a bad day and then had a thought of a sweet gesture someone may have done for you and immediately felt happy and then your day got better? This is the space that you should strive to be in daily so when you achieve a certain level of success, being happy is a natural part of your daily routine. Appreciation and gratitude put you in a state of being happy and that happiness draws people, opportunity and success to you. It is not the other way around, I repeat‌.
HAPPINESS
and being in a state of happiness and gratitude is what actually brings wealth and success to you when you work hard and apply yourself.  
You can show appreciation and gratitude daily by doing the following things:
1. Keep a gratitude journal where you document what you are thankful for. Sounds cliche, but it works.
2. At
night before bed write down 5 things that happened during that day that put a smile on your face.
3. In
the morning when you wake up, take inventory of all the things you have in your life and be thankful for them. It can be the same things each day small or large. For example you can start with being thankful for waking up, you can have appreciation for having a place to sleep, for eating breakfast that morning, for having running water. These simple things we often take for granted and showing appreciation for them allows us to be in a energy space that brings in happiness. Write these things down and review your gratitude journal as much as needed.
4. The spoken word is powerful in bringing in success and happiness. Each morning say out loud 5 things you are grateful for.
• I am grateful for my • • • •
home I am grateful for my car I am grateful for my friends I am grateful for my health I am grateful for my family
Make it a habit to consistently be thankful for all the big and small things you have in your life to stay in a state of happiness. If you are having a stressful day or you are feeling unhappy simply slow down and mentally or say out loud….
I am so thankful for ______________ and keep listing what you are grateful for until you feel that shift from being stressed or unhappy to one of happiness and peace.
2. TELL YOURSELF YOU DESERVE TO BE WEALTHY AND YOU DESERVE SUCCESS!
Creating wealth and happiness at the same time starts with a positive mental attitude. Individuals who have achieved a tremendous amount of wealth believed that they could do it and behaved accordingly.
When you feel you deserve happiness AND wealth, you will appreciate it when it comes and you and you will not take it for granted. Most people feel they don’t deserve wealth and happiness at the same time, we have been taught to believe things like money is the root of all evil, or successful people are selfish and greedy, so when they achieve success it is difficult to feel happiness at the same time. But the difference between happy, successful p e o p l e a n d u n h a p p y, successful people is, they believe and know they DESERVE it. That belief along with being grateful and having appreciation allows you to achieve and attract a tremendous amount of success and happiness into your life.
Ask yourself “why not me?” Here are 3 affirmations I say daily that constantly remind me I deserve to be successful, wealthy and happy. “I deserve to be rich because I add value to other people’s lives” “I am a generous giver and an excellent receiver” “I believe money is important; money is freedom and makes life more enjoyable. I deserve to live an enjoyable life”
3. STEP OUTSIDE OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE
I tell people this all the time, that once you step out of your comfort zone, the world opens up to you. You realize there is so much more that you are good at. You gain more confidence as you learn new skills and expertise that help you to grow so you can attract more success and happiness into your life. You meet new people who can help you along your journey to obtaining wealth.
Doing the same mundane things day after day does not allow you to reach a level of success where you can truly be happy. Fear holds so many people back from experiencing true happiness. You will always wonder what if, you will always feel like something is missing. Even if you reach some level of success in your comfort zone, it is almost impossible to extremely happy not stepping out of your comfort zone. So follow that little voice in your head, take that risk to do something different, have faith knowing that you will be supported and your world will
expand to match your needs. Stepping out of your comfort zone helps build confidence and confident people are happy people. They know and believe they deserve wealth and happiness.
Here are a few simple ways in which you can step out of your comfort zone and create a happy and successful life:
• Develop
a new daily routine that is different from the one you currently have. For example if you wake up at 8am start to wake up at 6am. If you open your laptop or phone first thing when you wake up, replace that with prayer and meditation or working out. Start with something small and manageable to help build your confidence.
• Go
to an event, church, social gathering alone to meet new people. This is a great way to help you open up and expand yourself while feeling uncomfortable.
• Start a new hobby or project you have been putting on the back burner. Do it just for fun with no expectations but allow it to be something that will take you out of your normal routine and comfort zone.
• Talk to 5 strangers daily, this can be a simple compliment or asking someone a question while standing in line at the grocery store or breaking that awkward silence in the elevator. Speaking to strangers helps you meet new people and gives you the confidence to expand your network and as they say… your network is your net worth.
Starting with these simple things can help you overcome fears while building your confidence to take bigger risks and larger leaps out side of your comfort zone. The most important thing is to have fun and to stay positive while doing this.
4. COME UP WITH SPECIFIC MONEY GOALS AND MASTER YOUR MONEY It is important that you have good money habits to achieve success. Habits are the main cause for wealth and happiness or stress and sadness. It is up to you which habits you adopt daily that will determine what type of life you will live. Here are a few things you can do to master your money for success and happiness:
• Write out your money goals and review them daily. If you don’t know how much money you want to have, then how will you know what to work towards? Have a monthly goal and an annual goal and while its important to keep it realistic, you should also think big. Most self-made millionaires make it a habit to think big so that it forces them out of their comfort zone.
• Automate your finances so that you are saving each month. Even if it is a small amount. Seeing your money grow gives you the confidence to stick with your money goals.It also gives you more confidence in investing or starting a new business or creating another stream of revenue to help you create wealth.
• Start investing sooner than later, you don’t need a large sum of money to start investing. Research micro-investing opportunities that make investing more accessible and allows you to take advantage of compound interest.
• Surround yourself with wealthy people. You
know the saying you are the top 5 people you surround yourself with? Well it is very true. So it is important to not only surround yourself with wealthy people, but with HAPPY wealthy people. Happiness and consciousness are contagious. When you are around happy successful people you will find yourself feeling the same way. This increases your chances of expanding your thinking as well as your income. Look at joining business associations or clubs or take up hobbies such as golf or tennis and get comfortable in these atmospheres and environments, remember get out of your comfort zone and watch your world expand.
Learning
how to master your money and not let it master you, brings happiness while achieving wealth. Your money works for you instead of you working for it and you are able to get out of the rat race of chasing after wealth without happiness. This allows you experience positivity and around money. The more you learn about money, the fear and negative stigmas a tta ch e d to mo n e y disappear. The more you surround your self with happy successful people the more you increase your chances of creating that world for yourself.
5. GIVE AND GIVE SOME MORE
Giving is one sure way to guarantee happiness and wealth. It is important to give to others as well as give to yourself. It creates a complete circle that allows wealth to generate for you and also by you. You don’t have to always give money, you can give your time, ideas and energy. If you want to feel good, it is important that you do good. Giving allows you to create stronger connections with people. You can give back through foundations, your church, local programs or simply by counseling a friend through a problem. While you can find local charities, churches or organizations where you can donate your money, time, or energy, it is important to also remember to give to yourself. If you are totally depleted then it is nearly impossible to create wealth and happiness at the same time. Here are a few things you can do to give to yourself to ensure you stay in a happy state while building your wealth.
• Pray daily. As I mentioned I am a God fearing man so my religion and spirituality are important to me, my happiness and my success. I pray every day and I have a strong relationship with God, my church and my family. Praying allows me personally to tap into something greater than myself. Without my faith in God I would not be where I am at today. You can also mediate, say mantras or whatever works
for you but it is important to believe in something greater than yourself to really achieve happiness while building wealth.
• Connect with Family. My wife is an instrumental pillar in my success. Being able to spend time with her and our children grounds me and recharges me. While work is important, I make time to be in the moment with my family, truly being grateful for having them in my life, cherishing each moment while creating new memories and this brings me tremendous amount of joy and happiness. Family is one of the greatest motivators in achieving wealth. So take time to spend with family on a weekly basis. Turn off the phones, talk and do activities together and truly be in the moment. This is a major key to creating and maintaining happiness in your life.
• Read for 30 mins a day.
Most self-made millionaires read at least 30mins a day. They are always learning and helping themselves to become better people. Knowledge is key to success. Check out CNBC's round up of some of the best personal finance books out there, or consider Bill Gates' favorite books of 2016.
• Do nothing.
Take time to recharge. Allow yourself to be in a peaceful place that allows you to disconnect from the world. You know the saying when something stops working unplug it and once you plug it back in it will start working again? Well it is important for you to do that for yourself periodically to maintain a healthy state of happiness.
• Work out, eat healthy and sleep.
Your mind and body cannot operate at its optimum level without proper diet and sleep. So that old saying “sleep when you die”… yeah throw that out the window.
BONUS TIP
BE RESILIENT Life is going to throw us curve balls. No matter how well we plan, or how positive we are, life will throw us those curve balls that may get us off track. We are going to experience stress, loss, failure or trauma. But how we respond to these has a big impact on our well-being. So how do you bounce back during hard times? • Increase your faith. Pray, mediate, speak with a spiritual advisor. • Check in with your emotions daily. If you are feeling stressed or sad - remember your list of what you are grateful for.
• Get a mentor or life coach. Having someone you can talk to, or who can teach you life skills is essential to your financial success and mental and emotional health.
Having the right support system will help keep you focused, on the right track and will help you develop tools to increase your chances of creating the life you deserve. Practicing these 5 tips consistently will be life changing for you and will get you on the path to creating wealth AND happiness at the same time. It helped me go from welfare to wealth in less than 5 years. To schedule a coaching session with me visit: www.alfrednickson.com
Follow Me On:
Instagram @alfredenickson | Facebook: Alfred E. Nickson
www.alfrednickson.com