When I was graduating from college, I was given a Franklin Covey day planner as a gift. For those of you who aren't familiar with the company, Franklin Covey markets an entire line of products designed to help individuals maximize their productivity by utilizing a simple, but powerful system of prioritizing your daily tasks.

For over 10 years, with varying levels of dedication, I have utilized this system to keep myself organized, take notes regarding various daily occurences, and most importantly - to keep track of all the things that I need to accomplish on a daily basis.

Each day (or the evening prior) Franklin Covey instructs you to make a list of all of the things you want to accomplish. This is generally the easy part. The next step, however, is really the crucial one. You go through the list, marking with the letter "A" every task that absolutely MUST get done. You then put a "B" next to tasks that are important but could be deferred a day or two. Tasks that would be nice but are certainly not critical, receive a "C" and so on and so forth.

When I don't prioritize my list with A's, B's, C's, etc., without fail, at the end of the day, I've finished all of the simple, "no stress" tasks. I've handled the laundry, my desk has been organized, I've picked up the groceries. But the critical tasks - often the ones that seem perhaps a bit scary BUT without question the things that will actually move me forward in my life and closer to my goals - those, I "somehow" failed to find the time for.

As you read this issue's article, think about what you are currently making a priority in your life. Especially as artists, we frequently juggle so many things, it can be easy to believe we simply can't take on anything else. Still, just DECIDE to make handling your finances one of the "A's" on your list. It doesn't have to be every day - just one or two days each week at first. If I've learned anything it's that the laundry can wait - creating your financial future cannot!

Until next time - to your prosperity!

Miata

P.S. Please visit our new and improved website. We've added lots of useful information and resources for our readers!

We have spent the past few issues teaching you how to prepare yourself for financial abundance. You know how to treat your business finances as an entity separate from your personal finances, you know how to organize and keep track of your expenses, and you know from where you are starting on this financial journey. Great! Now what?

Not a thing in your financial lives will change if you do not do the footwork. You need consistently to devote the time necessary to improve your financial situation. So many of us are great starters. We begin to gather knowledge and make great plans, thinking of the ultimate outcome, but then we often do not fulfill our plan by taking the step-by-step actions required to bring us to that outcome.

Have you ever uttered, “I’m too busy”? Maybe “I can’t afford it” sounds familiar. These are excuses and you need to look closely at where they have gotten you so far. Are you even one step closer to the financial prosperity you wish to have in your life? As artists, we tend to fear anything that might take us away from our artistic pursuits. After all, we have to devote ourselves to our “day jobs”, the ones we know will bring in money to pay the bills. What other time we have we must spend on our artistic endeavors. Right?

Wrong! The financial distress we are in is so distracting it brings an almost unbearable amount of stress into our lives and our minds. How creatively focused can we be under that much stress? If we make a little time every week to take care of our financial situation – such as reading, attending a seminar, setting up a side business – we would actually free up time later on. Imagine pursuing your artistic dream with no financial pressure!

So what exactly does “priority” mean. A priority is a “must”, something we “must” do, and a “must” is very different from a “should”. We all have lists of things in our lives that we “must” do and we all have lists of things we “should” do. There is a critical difference between the two. For instance, I must pay my bills every month on time. This is something I would never allow myself not to do. However, I really feel I should exercise every day. Somehow, as much as I know I should exercise, I often allow other things to get in the way. For others, exercising every day is a must, and they are prepared to sacrifice to get that exercise time in.

I suggest to my students that, for the period they are working with me in private coaching or in our Artists’ Prosperity Bootcamp (see description in this newsletter), they make implementing the steps of The Artists’ Prosperity System a “must”. Generally, once we see our financial pictures start to shift, we will not go back to doing things the way we did before.

So, analyze your time. How do you use it? Where do you waste it? Be completely and brutally honest with yourself. Then, set aside a few hours every week to devote solely to the endeavor of creating financial prosperity. This practice will help you develop the sound knowledge that will allow you to start building the financial wealth you deserve and desire.

From Starving Artist to Money Magnet: A Step by Step Guide to Freedom & Prosperity for Actors, Artists & Creative Professionals

Saturday, August 19th – Studio City, California 2:00 PM to 4:30 PM

It is easy as artists to believe that we can wait to really learn about money until the time comes that we are making a lot of it! This mindset can quickly trap us in a cycle of financial stress and struggle. In this class, you will be taught how to combine financial literacy with confident leadership so that you can accelerate your wealth and riches, materially and spiritually.

The Artists' Prosperity Intensive Boot Camp

Starts Wednesday, September 13, 2006 at 7:00 PM Pacific

(Limited to Only 20 Participants!)

Join us for 10 weeks in this powerful, results oriented seminar. You will be coached step-by-step through the entire Artists' Prosperity System and will have all of the support you need to actually apply the process to your own life.

This Boot Camp is a way for you to dramatically increase your results and will give you a quick start towards time freedom and financial security.