How to Use the Big Picture to Save $50,000 in a Year!

Her brown eyes regarded me with passionate curiosity, a twinkle of cheeky joy sparkling like Venus above the ocean on a crispy clear, dark dawn. ”A thousand dollars a week in savings! Really? Tell me?” She moved like a cat as she crawled over to me and sat beside me, embracing me with her arms and kissing me on the side of the head. She whispered in my ear, “That’s $50,000 in a year, are you serious?”

As I heard her whispers, it sounded insane – $50,000 in savings in a year, and yet something inside me had changed and I just knew we were going to do it. From the second I laid eyes on her, I made an instant decision that she would be my wife, that this was the woman I’d spend the rest of my life with and have a family with. Our family. So I stood up from the table I was sitting at with my girlfriend and walked over to the table where Trace was sitting with her boyfriend. I sat down at her table and started a conversation with her, right in front of her shocked boyfriend.

As you can imagine, my girlfriend was horrified and all my mates watched on with a mixture of terror and absolute disbelief. I was causing a massive scene at this party. Yet I was calm and at total peace. Something inside me flared to the surface and I just knew it would all work out and we’d be together. There was an incredible storm and some horrifying turbulence immediately following that conversation, that we both had to get through, but it was worth it. It was so worth it! In both little picture scenarios – deciding to save $50,000 in a year and deciding to strike a conversation with Trace at the party, it was big picture intent that made it possible.

Attempting to save $50,000 in a year sounds crazy, I agree. So does leaving your girlfriend at the table and openly chatting up another girl in front of her boyfriend and everyone else. Totally crazy, I know. And yet, in both cases because the intention was clear and strong. The end result was sealed before the first step towards it was even taken. That’s how intent works. It leads everything else and once we start living with intent, it changes everything and its so damn simple! The concept goes like this – Win First, Fight Later.

First comes the decision to win. First comes the intention to win. Without this intent, we lack the power of the Big Picture – the long-term picture. Most of us are stuck in the little picture – the short-term picture that tells us, this is too hard and taking too long – take the low road, the short cut, the quick solution. That’s life today and its totally killing our intentions. The truth is, there is no short cut, easy road or quick solution when it comes to achieving real success. There is only the high road, the tough road, the long-term road that we commit to walking for the rest of our lives with the intent to never stray. That’s the only thing missing from most of our stories and when we hear of some stunning success or victory and we wonder how it happened, at the very core of it, is the intent to walk the high road with long-term commitment.

The reason its so critical to develop a habit of strong savings, consistently over time – is it forces Big Picture thinking. Let me explain. Learning to build savings over time is the same as learning to stay loyal to your wife or husband. It’s the same thing as learning to be a good friend. Its the same as learning to quit smoking or quit pumping a large portion of your pay packet in the pokies while your wife or husband and kids stay at home waiting for you. Its no different to learning how to be a good parent or how to provide for your family. Learning to build savings fast, forces Big Picture thinking and this leads to long-term vision. Long term vision that in turn, leads to personal growth.

We can’t think like everyone else if we don’t want to end up like everyone else. We have to engage in behaviours that may seem crazy to everyone but that craziness is just Big Picture Vision being observed by little picture eyes. Of course sacrifice looks crazy to little picture eyes, I mean, why would you want to work seven days a week for a period? That’s crazy, right? Why would you work seven days a week when you’re in debt up to your eyeballs, living beyond your means and have people calling up and knocking on your door cause you can’t pay your bills? Crazy, right? Nuts! I know, just ignore it and keep cruising – surely someone else will come to the rescue and fix it all for us…

If you’re intention is to save $50,000 in a year and you’re willing to sacrifice and pay the price, then you’ll do it. If, however, your intention is to give it a go, you’ll fail at the first fork in the road and take the shortcut. Why? Cause its easier and your intent was just to give it a go! That’s no where near good enough for a huge result like saving $50,000 in a year. Intent + equivalent Sacrifice + Consistency + Long-term = Result. I+S+C+L=R. It’ll take anyone in the world less than five minutes to learn this short equation to memory and understand what it means. Only the intent of doing it and being it, however will work its magic and change who you are and how you live, forever. It’s really that simple, and the rest is up to you.

I looked deep into her eyes and lost myself for a minute in the sweetness of her warm embrace. I was so thankful to the universe for that instant of pure intent that allowed me this magnificent experience with the woman of my dreams and the mother of my babies. I caressed her soft face and kissed her on the nose, “I’ve never been more serious in my life, Trace. We’re gonna save $50,000 in the next twelve months and then we’re going to show everyone exactly how we did it.” She squeezed me tight, ”You’re my hero!” I stood up in a Superman pose, she crash tackled me to the ground UFC style and as usual, it all ended in hysterical laughter…

My name is Michael and I’d like to thank you for stopping by and taking the time to read this blog post. I’d like to add a quick note here, that Trace and I work in hospitality and security respectively. We do not hold any university degrees, so anyone, especially you, can do the same if not better than what we’re doing. I+S+C+L= R really works! Hope to see you back again soon, so I can share what we’re up to now, fourteen months later! Have a great day and go crazy!

Michael