A practical exercise in improving your finances
$111 Challenge: How can you make an extra of $111 every week?
You can start saving and investing if you solve this puzzle and apply winning ideas in your life
Back in September 2019, I wrote on the possibility of an economic crisis looming over us and provided some practical tips for young people to cope with a possible economic crisis.
The economic crisis caused by the pandemic is now influencing all of us. Unemployment is rising, businesses are going bankrupt, and families are struggling in these hard times.
It is too easy to lose hope and give up during these times.
We need to do better.
We, humans, are an incredibly creative and adaptive species.
We have survived, even thrived in uncertainty.
We can also survive this pandemic. We can even emerge stronger.
We now need to tap into our imagination and develop our entrepreneurial skills.
Entrepreneurs are incredibly resilient and resourceful. They solve problems that are worth trying. They think and act with an abundance mindset. They are the ultimate optimists and they have a lot of confidence in their own agentic powers.
Moreover, they act quickly — they iterate, adjust, pivot, and improvise all the time.
We can develop this mentality in our lives.
We need to change our inner conversations and create a positive mindset for making progress.
We need to start with small positive actions and we need to do them consistently over the long term.
Sometimes, a positive trigger or a prompt is all that we need.
In this exercise, I will provide you such a trigger.
It is a very simple exercise you can do in 15 minutes or so.
You will create lots of ideas to make an extra of $111 every week (or £111 if you are in the UK).
Your brain works much better when you give it a specific challenge or puzzle to solve.
So, this is your puzzle: Making an extra of $111 every week.
You will create at least 20 ideas to make this happen.
Consider as many options as you can: Part-time, consulting, teaching, online work options, entrepreneurial pursuits, Airbnb, Uber, Patreon, writing, creating assets, investing, ways of saving more…
Here are some more ideas:
The idea is — you need to start somewhere and take an action — however small that action might be.
Of course, you need to be open to fresh possibilities and experimentation.
Also, it helps not to expect immediate returns, and go for the long term.
This exercise might also help you:
- start creating creative assets for your future;
- start building your personal systems for creativity, productivity, and entrepreneurship.
Are you ready for the challenge?
Please see the doodle poster below.
The goal of this exercise is to help you exercise your creative muscles.
The more you use your brain for solving everyday challenges and puzzles, the more you will exercise your creative muscles.
Your brain loves puzzles.
When you provide a specific puzzle to solve, it will create marvels.
In this exercise, try to create as many ideas as you can.
If you gain enough momentum, you can create 50 ideas or more.
Make it a habit to create at least 50 ideas every day — it can be any issue. What matters is you act as an idea generation machine.
When you are creating your ideas, do not judge them.
Do not evaluate your ideas.
Do not think about whether they are feasible, sustainable, practical, useful, smart, etc.
Remember: Your goal is to maximize the number of ideas. Originality emerges from the sheer volume of ideas.
I hope you enjoyed the exercise and it opens up new, exciting, and fresh possibilities for your future.
Sincerely;
Fahri
Fahri Karakas is the author of Self-making Studio. You can explore more here.
