Chip Wilson ™

Personal Economy Editor

Consider the idea of “Personal Economy.” What does that term mean to you?

Many would jump to the conclusion that it revolves around being your own boss, bringing in huge sums of money per month, etc. I’m not going to discount that kind of thinking entirely, but there is a lot more that goes along with it, which I’ll address in a second.

Personally, I’m a firm believer in the fact that each of our experiences points us down the road we were destined to travel. For instance, my undergraduate experience at Dartmouth allowed me to meet my amazing wife. In turn, it was she who openly supported my decision to further my education in the form of obtaining my MBA from the Harvard Business School. From there, I moved into working for Bank of America Securities, where I spent time working on mergers and acquisitions as well as corporate finance. During my time, I raised over $4 billion in financing…

While I could go on and on about my past, the bottom line with all of this is that I was highly educated, extremely successful and where I always envisioned myself to be.

Sound pretty good?

Well, the problem is that I just was not happy. My job forced me to be apart from my family for extended periods of time, and I swear I’ve never felt so empty. Realizing I needed to make a change for the sake of my family and my own personal well-being, I forced myself to get out of banking and into a new chapter of my life.

This is where you come in.

For the last 2 years, I’ve expended the bulk of my efforts to working with online entrepreneurs, coaching, mentoring, and teaching them to create their own “Personal Economies” which they, and they alone, control. This involves three main ideas:

The first aspect shouldn’t be anything new to you:

1. Develop a financial offense which you alone control and which generates significant cash flow, enabling you to lead the lifestyle of your choosing.

Of course, everyone also knows that the best offense is in fact a good defense:

2. Successful “Personal Economies” are grounded in knowledge of personal economic principles and understanding how to apply them to your unique situation. The goal is for you to accumulate and shelter wealth, ultimately creating your own secure legacy from which your family will benefit for years to come.

Lastly, though, the value afforded by a high-powered offense, and brick wall defense are diminished if they are not also used to create value for others:

3. You need to be proactive with your efforts and once you experience success, share both your knowledge and resources in ways that can help others through the same obstacles you encountered. Think of it as planting seeds for others to harvest instead of storing all the grain for yourself.

Over time, I can’t tell you how many people I’ve witnessed make a ton of money, only to lose it all just as quickly. It’s disheartening. While they now have nothing to show for years of hard work, what’s worse is that they are apprehensive and anxious about giving their children financial advice, which will inevitably lead them to making the same poor decisions when it comes to handling wealth.

To counter, I’ve dedicated a lot of time to building and publishing a special report titled “Securing Your Child’s Financial Legacy,” which relates to raising financially savvy and independent children. The themes in this report go hand in hand with the idea of your “Personal Economy.” If you are going to build an empire, your heir must know how to handle it, or else it will undoubtedly crumble to the ground; it happens more than you realize.

On the flip side, there are those who have made flawless decisions on their way to building and securing a prosperous life for themselves and their family. They’ve succeeded at accumulating a good amount of grain. However, their efforts are fixated on their personal circle and they are keeping seeds in their pockets. Instead, they should be spreading the word to anyone who is willing to listen. They should be planting seeds for others; not just friends and family. I’m not talking about boasting and flaunting in an effort to put your name in lights out in the general public. Rather, I’m saying you should be eager to help other entrepreneurs realize what you’ve been fortunate enough to achieve because it’s the right thing to do.

This is the lifeblood of my efforts and the reason I spend my time working with up and coming entrepreneurs. The pit falls of personal business are abundant, and they revolve around so much more than whether or not you’re filling your pockets. It has to do with building wealth, protecting wealth, educating your children and passing success forward so we can all be content and prosperous.

Anyway, with all of this, please, if nothing else, keep your eye on what makes you happy, what is important to you, and what will better the lives of those living around you.