How Financial Discipline Will Change Your Life

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:

Maintenance is not sexy. 

You probably don’t want to hear this… 

But largely, financial freedom comes from maintenance.

I bring this up because last week we talked about the limitations a scarcity mindset can have on your life and, ultimately, your finances. 

But here at The Wild Goose Chase, we’re seeking financial freedom… 

The freedom to do what you want with your money.

But before you get there, you have to adopt a daily practice of financial discipline. 

Yes, I said daily. 

The daily tasks you need to stay on track… 

The stuff that seems “small” but has a big impact… 

The boring work that is absolutely necessary for financial success.

And you won’t create financial freedom by ignoring your finances.

(Because honestly… you’ll probably never “feel like doing it.”)

You have to check in on your finances every single day. 

You have to track your saving and spending trends every single day. 

You have to strategize and plan ahead every single day.

I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re thinking:

“I have to check my finances every day?” 

I get it. 

It can seem like a lot, especially if you’re not used to it. 

It takes a lot of self-discipline.

How do I know this?

I used to be homeless and broke…

So, I know what it feels like to have no money.

But I knew this wasn’t the life I wanted for myself. 

I wanted financial freedom.

Now my business is making over 8 figures in revenue…

And it’s because I took control of my financial health. 

I decided what my financial goals were…

And dedicated time to review my finances daily.

I stopped letting money run my life.

Instead, I took control.

I figured out how to better manage my finances, and kept more of the money I made.

So, I wanted to share the tasks I used (and still use) with you dear reader, so you can have the financial freedom to do what you want with your life.

Avoidance Spells Disaster

Now, Iet me ask you a question: 

If you opened every one of your bank accounts right now, would you be surprised at what you saw?

I’m going to guess the answer is probably “yes,” and that’s because we spend a lot of time lying to ourselves about our finances. 

We lie to ourselves about how much time we have… 

“I’m too busy to look at my finances every day.”

We lie to ourselves about how much effort it takes… 

“I don’t have the time to put all that effort into my finances.” 

And we lie to ourselves about how it's better to stay in the dark.

“I just won’t look and worry about it later.” 

When you’re overwhelmed, stressed, or unsure of where to start, it can feel easier to just ignore it. 

It can even feel good to ignore it… because what you don’t know can’t hurt you… right? 

But the truth about finances is simple: 

If you don’t know your numbers, you don’t know what’s going on. 

You don’t know if your wealth is growing…

You don’t know if it’s going up, or even backward…

You don’t know what your general financial health is.

The longer you avoid looking, the worse it’s going to get.  

And you’ll wish you made time to deal with your finances earlier.

So, how do you manage your finances instead of letting them manage you? 

You start prioritising daily financial discipline. 

Today. 

3 Daily Tasks for Financial Discipline 

I’ve made it a habit to review my money daily, and now, it's second nature to me. 

I’m not going to lie to you, it’s going to be hard at first… and that’s okay. 

Finances can bring up a lot of unresolved stuff around guilt, shame, or embarrassment… 

I’ve been there before and it’s not fun. 

But you don’t overcome financial guilt, shame, or embarrassment by pretending it doesn't exist. 

Instead, you use the discomfort as an opportunity to propel you forward. 

And luckily, it doesn’t take much to transform financial stress into financial empowerment.

Task 1: Daily Check-Ins

This starts with reviewing ALL your numbers — daily.

And yes, it’s honestly that simple. 

Think of this practice as a “health check”…

A way to inform yourself about what’s going on with your finances. 

And if you have a business, it’s a great opportunity to review your numbers around revenue, expenses, and profits too.

Now, when you’re reviewing your numbers, ask yourself the following questions:

• Are they going up? 

• Are they going down? 

• What can I see?

• What are the trends? 

By looking at the cold, hard data of your finances daily, you eliminate any and all surprises.

And you can see what might be setting you back from your financial targets.

This can help you better understand if you’re taking the right actions to reach your goals, or whether you need to adjust and realign.

You need to become obsessed with your numbers…

So, build this muscle now.

If I can turn $0 into $1 million (and now over $20 million)...

There’s no doubt in my mind that by adopting this habit today, you will improve your financial health tomorrow.

Task 2: Daily Trend-Tracking 

Once you know your numbers… you can now start looking for trends. 

Daily trend-tracking lets you see the trajectory of your finances.

When you know the direction your finances are going, you can decide what is aligned with your financial goals, and what’s not.

Here’s a simple example: 

Say you like coffee, and you go to Starbucks almost every day. 

When you open your bank account, you notice a shocking number of Starbucks transactions.

After you do the math, you know exactly how much you’ve spent on coffee…

And it’s a lot more than you thought. 

So, by looking at your numbers, you were able to successfully identify a money-sucking habit you didn’t know you had.  

Trend-tracking helps you recognise what’s working, what’s not… and what you might want to change.

And now that you have tangible information to work with…

You can make data-informed adjustments that will bring you closer to financial freedom.

Task 3: Daily Strategic Action 

Thanks to daily check-ins and trend-tracking, you now have a better idea of:

1. What’s going on with your finances, and

2. How you’re spending your money.

Now you need to figure out if your spending patterns are getting you closer, or farther away from your goals — and why.

If they’re getting you farther away from your goals, what changes do you need to make to get back on track?

This is where daily strategic action comes in. 

When Gabi and I started our business in 2019, we had $5k in our bank account.

And we had a goal to grow Dashdot into an 8 figure business.

So we came up with a simple, daily strategic action to help us get there:

Maintain our current spending habits and lifestyle.

The problem with making more money is, it’s easy to spend more money — more money, more problems, am I right?

So, we chose the strategic action to live humbly based on our business financial goals.

And our business made 8 figures in under 4 years.

Your strategic actions might look different from ours, and that’s okay…

But as long as the actions you’re taking are in alignment with your financial goals…

Your success will skyrocket. 

Maintain Momentum

Nobody likes to be unpleasantly surprised, especially when it comes to your financial health.

But if you keep track of your daily numbers, you’ll always know what’s happening…

And never be shocked at what you see. 

So, besides being in the know about your own finances… 

Financial discipline puts you in control of your money… 

Not the other way around. 

When you know what your financial health is… 

When you know what you’re spending and earning…

When you know what you need to do to meet your financial targets… 

You get a completely unique snapshot of your life in a way you’ve never seen before. 

A birds-eye view of every financial decision you’re making…

A punch-you-in-the-face reality check of whether those decisions are getting you closer to where you want to be, or farther away. 

And, at its core…

That is what daily financial discipline is about. 

Gaining control, clarity, and confidence about your finances to propel you toward the life you’ve always wanted. 

And it can all start today. 

It’s as easy as:

1. Reviewing your numbers every day,

2. Tracking-trends in your spending and looking for patterns,

3. And choosing the right, strategic actions to reach your financial goals.

If I can do it, so can you. 

Stay awesome, stay powerful. 

P.S: Whenever you’re ready, here are a few things you might be interested in:

1. ’Goose & Gabi’ on Youtube: We’re FINALLY launching our new Youtube show this Sunday (we had trouble publishing last week). If you’re keen to experience more behind-the-scenes of my life running an 8-figure company while travelling the world, then tune in tomorrow for episode 1!

2. 'My Business Playbook’ Podcast: Brand new conversation with Laura Higgins came out this week. Check it out for more of my story, business strategy & mindset practices.

3. ’I recorded the ENTIRE CALL with my $20M mentor’: Our friend Chali needed some guidance on scaling his business. We jumped on a call and hit record. If you’re looking for tactical business tips, this is for you.

And, of course, if you know other people who might enjoy content like this, please share this with them.

Your help in building this community will be forever appreciated.