'9 Steps to Financial Freedom' by Suze Orman is a great book, and is a trusty guide to help us forge a mental environment that will attract money and success to us. Indeed, without a prosperity consciousness, money will be saying 'goodbye' as quickly as it says 'hello'. So haw can we take the teachings of this book from theory to tangible financial results?



Firstly, it's worth reminding ourselves what those 9 steps to financial freedom actually are, as they constitute the foundation for anyone looking to build lasting prosperity:

Step 1: Seeing how your past holds the key to your financial future

We all have a key memory regarding money that if we're not careful can be a pattern of belief and behaviour that can strangle our financial success in later life.

Step 2: Facing your fears and creating new truths

This most critical of the 9 steps to financial freedom involves reprogramming our brains with new beliefs about ourselves by way of impact and repetition, in other words affirmations. Over time these new mantras can literally cut new pathways in the brain, just as happens when we learn to play a musical instrument or even riding a bicycle.

Step 3: Being honest with yourself

This is the section about budgeting and being honest with your income and outgoings. For people in constant denial of the shortfall, this can be a bitter pill to swallow, but essential in making any financial progress. You can't fill a leaking bucket!

Step 4: Being responsible to those you love

For those wanting step 4 of the 9 steps to financial freedom to be a watertight plan for earning $100,000 in the first year, this will disappoint. It's all about being responsible in one's will, life assurance, trusts and pensions.

Step 5: Being respectful of yourself and your money

This is all about paring down credit card debt and the like, and readers wanting the keys to quick profits are really glazing over at this point. However. feeling in control of money makes us feel more confident in our abilities and sends out a 'vibration' in tune with the attraction of money. Most people's default 'vibration' repels money and success itself.

Step 6: Trusting yourself more than you trust others

Of the 9 steps to financial freedom, this is the one that gets down and dirty in the world of investments. Some readers might be thinking at his stage 'help me make some money first so I've actually got something to invest!'

Step 7: Being open to receive all that you are meant to have.

This step reiterates that money doesn't bring happiness, which is true. Happiness can attract money though. I suspect many readers here would be thinking here 'just let me find out for myself if money makes me happy or not!'

Step 8: Understanding the ebb and flow of the money cycle.

This is my favourite of the 9 steps to financial freedom as it states that it's during the tough times that we make the greatest inner progress, even though it might not seem so at the time.

Step 9: Recognizing true wealth

Most of us would have no problem with the notion that true happiness is about non-monetary things in our life.

While I would echo nearly all the points made in the book, some readers might be forgiven for thinking 'now what?. Well, a success mindest is critical, but let's examine how you might actualise some tangible success.

One increasingly popular option is to put together an online home based business. This can take many forms but one with excellent potential would be one of the many network marketing businesses that can be built online.

Now before you sigh with disappointment you need to realise that the days of hotel meetings, handing out flyers, and bugging friends are over. The internet has begun to deliver the true promise of network marketing without the gut-wrenching 'horror' of personal contacting. For many it has been a gold mine.

So if we consider investigating this exciting business model as step 10 out of the 9 steps to financial freedom, step 11 would have to be deciding which of the 432 online networking businesses to choose!

Perhaps a less fraught step 11 would be to look at an automated network marketing system where the only work still to do is to drive web traffic to a marketing 'funnel' that will cultivate a downline for you. If you plug into a system like this, your financial online 'breakthrough' may be closer than you think.

In fact, step 12 could be setting up your Home Business 'launchpad', and driving this proven vehicle to any financial destination you choose to name. Get the mental environment right. But then, take action.