In a recent google search I discovered that at best only “4% of the population will ever be financially independent”.
Anyone who’s ever started a savings plan knows that this figure is accurate, as the temptation to spend your money now far outweighs the sacrifice of saving and having more in the future.
Are You In the Way of Your Own Success?
Maybe you haven’t discovered how much money our money can make by reinvesting our earnings; especially when working with a trusted adviser to help decide what steps and actions to take and which ones will be the most effective.
Maybe you are saving because we’re told too not realising the benefits from investing aligned to what’s truly important to you; or you’re still trying to figure it all out on our own.
Whatever the reasons are, here are some sure signs that achieving financially independence will be a struggle for you.
1. You’re a scaredy cat!
If you don’t trust anyone, worse still you don’t even trust yourself, you may want to stop saving now and start seeking other ways to find happiness. You’ve probably lost money in the past and are now stuck in a state of paranoid purgatory. You also probably don’t know what to do next and the fear of doing anything terrifies you.
You’re very uncomfortable dealing with professionals, family members or friends, believing they’re only nice to you because they want to take your money.
2. You’re a nice person but you're hopeless.
If you love to plan but you rarely follow through, as sure as night follows day your high levels of enthusiasm will quickly go M.I.A. and your desire for instant gratification replace it.
If only you could save and invest like you rationalise “You only live once! You can’t take it with you! and Money can’t buy you happiness!” you would be very rich.
You might act cavalier about your finances because of an expected inheritance however rarely will you get your financial house in order or ever understand how important having it in order is.
3. You’re an egotistical, know it all.
If you have a low opinion of qualified professionals with no qualms of taking advantage of them and you believe that doing everything all yourself and buying everything at the cheapest cost is smart strategy for life; then you will never experience the invigorating freedom that comes from being financial independent.
Also by continually comparing yourself to others rather than building relationships will keep you on a treadmill of unfulfillment, the road to loneliness, declining health and burnout, whilst at the same time you make other lives around you miserable.
4. Money is more important than anything to you.
If you keep the financial news channel broadcasting on your TV as a pacifier to help you sleep, you have a FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) problem.
If you’re miserable sitting at your desk and fantasising about an ideal life which you actually can afford but you’re too afraid to try because you like making money more than spending it, or your putting your purist for wealth and luxuries ahead of your health, relationships and life experiences when you already have enough money, you are short changing your own life and those important to you.
5. Money isn’t important at all to you.
You might believe money is the root of all evil, but it’s also the root of financial independence. If saying sayonara to the boss with the confidence you have enough money behind you to follow your dreams isn’t a motivation for you, then you’re going to struggle staying on track to become financial independent.
Those who want to be financially independent don’t feel embarrassed to do the hard yards so they can live the life they are fighting for.
When you are truly financially independent you naturally evolve to become your more authentic self, whilst being in a privileged position of opportunity to improve others’ lives.
6. You don’t have a sense of urgency.
If not now, then when?
The biggest obstacle to becoming financially independent is ones inability to save enough.
Delaying your regular savings not only makes financial independence harder, it can also cut into your quality of life later on as you seek to save a higher amount in order to your achieve financial independence.
If you’re not saving already you should be, if you are saving you should be trying to save more at least until you’re financially independent. If you are saving as much as you can then well done and keep going on your path to financial independence.
7. You’re a control freak.
If you believe you can maintain you’re A-Game with your career, family, health, relationships, personal growth, money experiences and downtime all at once you’re either a freak of nature or your in serious self denial.
The reality is those who experience the highest quality of life invest in activities that most directly benefits them and delegate everything else.
You may have issues with trust however in order to achieve true financial independence you also need to trust that markets, economies, laws and many more factors are outside of your control.
Let go of what you can’t control, outsourcing important areas to trusted specialists, investing your time and energy in the activities you directly benefit from can only but improve your quality of life and help achieve financial independence sooner.
8. Failure and frustration gets you down.
If the pain of saving is more than the pleasure of spending you won’t last long on your path to achieving financial independence.
Most of those who have gone on to become financially independent will tell you the challenges, setbacks and financial struggles they have had on the way to achieving financial independence.
A constant characteristic of those who are financially independent is their ability to say no, be patient and delay their desire for instant gratification. They will tell you that staying strong or getting back up after their setback experience was both character building and a reaffirmation of their “why”, being more important than their emotions at the time.
This post was written by Me, as such they are my personal views and not financial or general advice.
You should always seek independent financial advice when it comes to choices about your personal finances. This is one area of your life where it’s worth paying for it to be done right.
Comments