5 Day Weekend, now there is a dream worth reaching for right?

One of the best things I read in this book was a quote from Wes Jackson “If your life’s work can be accomplished in your lifetime, you’re not thinking big enough”. Because of the thoughts that are contained in this book I have started to think bigger than myself and only in my lifetime. This is a fun adventure in itself and I am glad that I was given permission to dream bigger by reading The 5 Day Weekend.

The 5 Day Weekend is split into seven different parts or sections, they are 3 More Days of Freedom, Keep More Money, Make More Money, Grow More Money, Power Up, Live Your Purpose, and Push the Boundaries. I would like to share with you the insights that I have gained from each of these sections. I hope this helps broaden your thoughts and actions.

The Big Idea

3 More Days of Freedom

This section of the book really sets the groundwork in place for the rest of the book. The idea is to rethink how you earn money, how you think about assets and liabilities, and how to set attainable goals to match your dreams.

Adding 3 days to your weekend isn’t about being lazy it’s about doing what you love more often then when you need to work. I hope that one day my “work” is something I enjoy as well, this will allow me to fill my passions and find more joy in what I do.

Your 5 Day Weekend

In this section goes more into depth as to what this mindset is all about and how to dream big to see where your plans need to be. This is about understanding that success is about doing more of what you love and less of what you hate.

New Mindset, More Freedom

I love to study ideas that stretch my mindset, there are many books that are on my must read list. One is The Happiness Advantage, it’s so good that we did a video and another post on it that you can find here. Another one that I love is Linchpin. The 5 Day Weekend is great though in that it spells out things that we don’t normally think about. For example, what is really security in a career? You don’t have to look far to see that there are people that have been let go of their job only to feel like that security wasn’t actually there.

When you realize that you need to build your own security and put your life in a good place you will be able to see why this book is so helpful and important to those who read it.

5 Day Weekend Plan

This section is where the rubber starts to meet the road in the book and we get to set a plan in place to get to our dreams. Here we learn about the next coming chapters and how they work together. As with everything you need to start with the foundation, making sure you are doing as much as you can to mitigate loss. Then you can move into growing your income all while knowing that you have figured out how to stop all the money leaks, as Garrett Gunderson puts it. Those two together grow into your wealth creation that feeds your journey. When you follow this you get to the last step of your Freedom Lifestyle which is living your purpose.

Active vs. Passive Income

Here we learn the main way to get to financial freedom, which is nothing new really and that is to have income that happens in your sleep. The thing I liked most about this section is the conversation about how to move from active income (income that happens only when you are working in some fashion) to passive income (income that happens regardless of what you are doing) and how this transition is a calculated move. It doesn’t happen in one night, there isn’t really a quick way to get there because passive income usually is generated from active income being invested.

There are a lot of good nuggets in this section that will be of value to all who read it. Garrett and Nik take complex ideas and turn them into actionable steps for the reader.

The Foundation

Keep More Money

This section is really about getting a financial baseline set so that you can build upon it. This includes paying off debt, managing expenses, and things of that nature. This is because if you do not plug the leaks now, you will lose more money as you do the other things to gain more that are here in the 5 Day Weekend.

Crush Your Debt

In this section, Nik and Garrett go into probably the biggest cost to people today. Debt. The best is that they have simplified how to decide what debt to tackle first to be able to move the quickest toward your goals. One of the things I love in this section most is stated to “never borrow to consume”. Debt is a tool that can be used for your benefit but you have to be disciplined.

Manage Your Expenses

In this section of the 5 Day Weekend, we read about assets vs. liabilities, what the differences are between them and why we need to understand them. My favorite part of this is the discussion of expenses and the different types, there are four types and there is only one that needs to be cut.

Plug Cash flow Leaks

The phrase that cash flow is like the lifeblood of your business or your finances is not new. In this section, we learn how to stop leaking cashflow. If you imagine filling a bucket of water to carry with you, you would instinctively stop any leaks before trying to fill it up more. This is what Garrett and Nik talk about in this chapter. There are seven different things they address to make sure you are not leaking money, some of these are boosting your credit and looking at your insurance costs.

Capture Wealth

This section is one of my favorites, to me this is the biggest thing a person can do but most do not. It isn’t something new either, simply pay yourself first. Take a portion of your income and set it aside, this allows you to build some security, peace of mind and opens the doors to opportunities that will come in the future. In this section, they also suggest putting aside a portion of your income so that you can spend it on whatever you like. Doing this forces you to be resourceful in paying your other debts but puts you in control of accumulation for your future self.

The Rockefeller Formula

If you know anything about the Rockefeller family your interest should be have been peaked at this chapter heading. In fact, there is another book that Garrett Gunderson wrote on this very subject that goes more in depth, it’s called [amazon_link asins=’069263536X’ template=’DDH-ProductLink’ store=’ddhranch00-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’6cb0a652-d4b7-11e8-be18-19ac00cc5cfd’]. The basics are to use the same formula that John D. Rockefeller did to build a family bank and keep it in the family for generations. John D. Rockefeller implemented a way that has kept the wealth in his family for six generations and counting.

This section is a game changer for most people, it allows you to gain growth with mitigating risk to extremely low numbers.

Rock-Solid Financial Baseline

All of the sections above are revisited to remind you what you need to make sure is working in your favor to be able to grow your wealth in the most efficient manner possible. With the baseline described in the 5 Day Weekend, you are ready to move forward to more growth.

Income Growth

Make More Money

After you have put in place the work described earlier in the book you will be able to increase your income with less loss. Any wealthy person you speak with will tell you the key to becoming wealthy is to not lose money.

Increase Your Active Income

As mentioned above, increasing your active income is the first step to moving to passive income. There are many ways to boost your active income and in this chapter, we learn some of the ways Nik and Garrett suggest doing that. Most of the ideas are in having a side hustle, but be calculated in what you try. Make sure you test the market and idea before putting too much work into it.

It Doesn’t Take Money

Those who have read the 5 Day Weekend know that money is apart of an equation. Garrett Gunderson’s equation of value is this. Mental Capital x Relationship Capital = Finacial Capital. This is the foundation for understanding that you don’t need money to make money, more often than not you can “create” money by using what you know and who you know.

Exploring Entrepreneurial Ideas

This chapter goes into a lot of depth about what is out there and available for people to grow something of your own. There is no shortage of opportunities for us today with the internet and the ability to reach people all over the world. As you work on your mindset to not limit yourself you will see in this chapter how you have endless possibilities for growth.

Analyze Income Opportunities

This section is about understanding yourself when you are working on something that you enjoy it becomes a safer opportunity and more likely for you to succeed.

Before you quit your job

In this chapter of the 5 Day Weekend, we learn that all though it may seem to be empowering or exciting to leave that 9-5, you really need to make sure you have certain things in place before you do. Knowing that you have security in place and savings to support you will greatly free you to be able to make your ventures a success. Without these things, in place, your devotion will be robbed by fear and a scarcity mindset.

Wealth Creation

Grow More Money

The power of compounding interest, this is how most have grown their wealth, but with compounding, interest comes compounding losses. In this section of the 5 Day Weekend Nik and Garrett talk about how to grow wealth and mitigate risk.

Build Passive Cash Flow

If cash flow is the lifeblood of your finances, then passive cash flow is the holy grail of blood flow. In this section, Nik talks about the 3 different types of entrepreneurs. Wantrepreneurs, Solopreneurs, and Liberated Entrepreneurs. He talks about how to transfer to each and why to obtain a 5 Day Weekend you need to be liberated as an entrepreneur.

Real Estate Cash Flow

This is an area that I have been studying for a long time now, for two reasons. One is that I feel that it will allow me to do more of what I love and two it will allow us to buy and build Double Diamond Hill Ranch with bison and elk. I really enjoyed reading this section.

The chapter is a good overview for getting into real estate investing, one of the biggest advantages of real estate is that you can use leverage to control a larger asset. For example, I could use $200,000 to control a $1,000,000 property using a loan. This allows me to grow my cash flow faster, as long as the property produces more cash than the mortgage payment.

Cash Flow Growth Investments

In the 5 Day Weekend, this chapter talks about different investment strategies to help grow your cash flow. Nik spells out some of his favorite ways to gain passive cash flow and how to reinvest that back into your investments.

Go Big – Momentum Investments

In this chapter Nik talks about investments that pay out large lump sums, the best advice I can glean from this is to reinvest those funds into cash flowing investments so that you have ongoing replenishment of your accounts. This will allow you to grow your passive income faster and keep gaining benefit from your large win.

Why Conventional Investments Fail

The 5 Day Weekend explains why there are what we call conventional investments that are not helpful for you. One of the biggest things I see are the fees and volatility of the stock market. Jack Bogle did an interview that you can see here where he shows that if you were to get a 7% return over 50 years and were charged a 2% fee, over the life of the investment you would have given up 63% of your earnings to fees. On the volatility side, if you invested $100,000 and in the first month the market went down 10% and in the next it goes up 10% we are told that it averaged 0% and so you would assume that you still have your $100,000 right? Wrong. $100,000 down 10% is $90,000 then if you go up from there 10% you get $99,000. When we are told that there is an average in the market return the amount you lose matters big time.

The biggest idea in this chapter is to know what your money is doing, mitigate fees, gain cash flow today from your investments and don’t lose money.

Seasons of Investing

In this chapter of the 5 Day Weekend, we are taught about the seasons of investing and what to look for in these seasons to know where we are at. Markets are cyclical so we know that we will have downturns

which for smart investors means cheaper prices for the assets we are hoping to buy. Understanding the market and where we are in the cycle will help you to make smart decisions.

The Journey

Power Up!

In this section, we learn how after we have mastered the fundamentals, the ways we can improve further and faster in our pursuit of the 5 Day Weekend.

Strengthen Your Mindset

I believe that your mindset is key in everything you do in life. You are your most valuable asset, and your mind is most of that asset. In her book, Mindset Carol Dweck goes into detail about how and why you need to bolster your mindset and make sure your mind is on the right path. You have the power to make or break your goals. In the 5 Day Weekend, Nik does a good job of going over why this is important and what to work on first.

Build Your Inner Circle

It is commonly stated that you are the sum of your 5 closest friends or people that you associate with. Make sure those people are not dragging you down but lifting you to higher achievements. These people will be fundamental in helping you get to your success.

Fortify Your Habits

Having good habits is not a new concept, but this is why it is important. We tend to discount the value of what has been said in the past and look for only new developments. Habits are what make you who you are, make sure that you have good habits and routines that will propel you towards your goals.

Amplify Your Energy

This is where the 5 Day Weekend talks about being efficient with your time and energy. We know that even the best of us lose focus when we do not take breaks from a project or a task. Make sure you are listening to your body when these fatigue points come up. Also, make sure you are taking care of your body, it’s the only one you have and to have the energy to push through to your dreams you will need it functioning well.

Freedom Lifestyle

Live Your Purpose

This section is one that allows you to do what drives you the most in life. When you have a purpose nothing stops you and when you can fulfill that purpose you are given joy in return. This is a topic that has been touched on a lot in the past. If you are looking for more purpose-oriented reads, Start with Why by Simon Sinek is one of the best.

Freedom From Stuck – Creating Purpose

In the 5 Day Weekend, I learned that I need to be creating my purpose and not searching for it. If I just find one out there that exists already is it really my own purpose or am I compromising somewhere.

Freedom From Yes – Creating Choice

This is not a new concept but it needs to be in the 5 Day Weekend to be complete. Those who are successful and have done well know that there is power in the word “no” and that it empowers your more when you say yes. Using this concept you can get to a 5 Day Weekend.

Freedom From Perfection – Creating Productivity

This section talks about being able to say that something is good enough to be sent out into the marketplace and about setting deadlines. Those that can live a 5 Day Weekend lifestyle know that nothing is truly perfect, which allows them to deliver on deadlines.

Freedom From Stuff – Creating Simplicity

We are wired to consume but the media that exists today. More often than not we are not happy with what we buy, even when we are then “better” than the “Joneses”. This habit is not a healthy one and it hinders you in multiple ways. One is that our brains tend to get cluttered as our external lives do, the other is that most of these toys tend to cost more of our valuable income. Those who achieve the 5 Day Weekend know what to buy and what not to. Sometimes a “thing” helps bring happiness long term, but buy it for you not to impress.

Freedom From Boredom – Creating Adventure

Nik, the author of the 5 Day Weekend, is quite an adrenaline junkie. This is the chapter where you start to understand the magnitude of this sentence. Even though you may not be as adventurous as Nik, this chapter is helpful for building your life of value.

Freedom From Regret – Creating Peace

This is a chapter that I feel everyone can learn from, regret robs us of happiness as we wish we could have changed the past. We live in the now and can choose what the future holds for us at least to an extent. Choose to live with purpose now so that you can have no regrets.

Freedom From Self – Creating Generosity

“Making money is a happiness: making other people happy is a superhappiness.” – Muhammad Yunus

In the 5 Day Weekend, one of the key principles of those who are successful is giving back to others. You now have a greater power to help others become happy and improve the lives of others. Plus it makes you feel good as well.

Outside the Box

Push the Boundaries

Learn to dream again without boundaries when I started reading the 5 Day Weekend that was hard for me to believe that it could be a possibility. I placed fake boundaries on myself, this is what we need to break.

Escape the Ordinary

In this chapter, we learn that it is almost an obligation for us to choose to write our own story and follow through with it, rather than let life just happen to us.

Build Your Own 5 Day Weekend

This is an action taking chapter. Other books like the 5 Day Weekend are great to read but most people do not implement what they have learned. In this chapter, Nik talks about how to take action now and put in place your own 5 Day Weekend plan to get there and enjoy life more fully.

If you have stayed with me this whole time and read my thoughts on the 5 Day Weekend I want to thank you. I know this was a long post but I hope it was helpful to you. I feel like this book has allowed me to start putting things in place to be able to bring to fruition our dream of Double Diamond Hill Ranch.