Others may inspire and others can help, but only you can do it.  Decide today to get control, to get organized, to get smart, to get positioned and to get managed.

2. Get organized.

If you are going to travel anywhere, you must first get organized.  You need to decide where you are going and the best means of getting there.  Then you need to calculate the cost and decide on dates and times.  You need to consider clothing and toiletries andpassports and many other details in preparation for your trip.  And the better organized you are, the more likely you are to have a successful trip.

Your financial health is a journey.  It requires thought and organization.  You start by understanding your starting point.  List and quantify all the things you own and all that you owe.  List your sources and amounts of income.

Then define your goals.  What do you want to accomplish and in what time frames?

Make a budget that includes all your needs and wants.  Then map out your plan.  We have provided Cool Tools to help you get organized.  In particular, consider the Budget and Independence Plan tools.

Once you have got yourself organized, you may want to consult a professional adviser or advisers.

3. Get smart.

The old adage states, "Don't work harder, work smarter." 

The first stage of smart is recognizing what you either can't do or don't have the time to do.  Fill those inadequacies with the best advisers you can find and delegate to them what you cannot or what you do not want to do yourself.

The second stage of smart is to gain enough knowledge about financial matters as you can.  You especially need to know enough to communicate effectively with your advisers.

The third stage of smart is to establish some basic working principles to guide your decisions.  Working principles can be practical or moral conclusions or "rules" that you reference when making decisions.  The founder of STAAR Financial Advisors developed a set of working principles for himself and the company, which you will be able to access here soon.

The fourth stage of smart is wisdom.  Wisdom involves taking your knowledge and that of your advisers and combining it with your working principles to enhance your probablity of success while avoiding big mistakes.

4. Get positioned.

Just like a ballplayer needs to be in the right position to make a play, so you need to have your assets positioned right.  There are three distinct aspects to positioning.

First is the general categories in which you want to place your money.  This is sometimes called asset allocation.  We have provided asset allocation tools on this site.

The second aspect involves the institutions in which you place your money.  Banks, brokerage firms, insurance companies and mutual fund families are some of the institutions in which you will need to place your trust.

The third is the specific securities or products you choose.  These include stocks, bonds, CDs, savings accounts, money markets, mutual funds, partnerships, real estate and privately-held businesses.

5. Get managed.

Money needs to be managed.  You need to track its value.  You need to decide what to do with interest, dividends or other income generated by your investments.   You need to evaluate the conditions of the economy and financial markets and periodically reposition your assets accordingly.  You need to decide when to buy and sell and what to buy and sell.  You need to consider taxes and how to best make withdrawals when you need cash to spend.

You can do this by yourself.  You can hire someone to advise you, but still make all the decisions yourself.  Or you can hire a professional money manager to do it for you.  Click here to learn more about SFA's Private Management services.

6. Get where you want to be.