To be financially successful, you’ve got to know how to:
- Make money.
- Keep money.
- Grow money.
There were times in my life when I was good at #1. And there were times when I was really bad at it. And I was often bad at #2…I used to be a shopaholic.
And I made a few bad financial decisions…lost hundreds of thousands.
Invested in risky “private placement” (not publicly traded companies) with my financial advisor because I trusted him.
Hired a wrong team member in my business and paid a lot of money upfront (because she requested it and I trusted her).
There were a few times when I “threw good money after bad” with investing in falling stocks.
And so, I compiled 8 surprising “inner” reasons for why I wasn’t able to make or keep or grow money until I’ve learned my lessons (or so I hope! LOL).
Let me share with you some of these reasons and my lessons.
1. Dis-ease
When you are physically sick or depressed, you have much less chance to be successful.
If you’re an entrepreneur, your clients want to feel your upbeat energy, your liveliness.
If you are an employee, your boss wants to make sure you’re capable and enthusiastic about your job.
When I was commuting to my Wall Street job for over 3 hours a day, stress, lack of sleep and lack of exercise got me to burnout and exhaustion.
My body was sending me messages. I finally listened and quit.
When I was seriously depressed, I didn’t care about anything….
Health is Wealth.
So, take care of your health. Eat nutritious food.
Move and hydrate your body. Sleep minimum 7-8 hours a day. Meditate daily.
2. Inaction
If you want to succeed, you’ve got to take action.
Action creates momentum.
Action is when we implement our knowledge.
For a long time I was settling for my financially comfortable Wall Street career… I was waiting for a better timing to change…to start my business…
Look… if people were waiting for the best time to have children, very few would have them.
The same goes with getting the training you must get… or with starting your business…
So, start your business. You’ve got to get up and start.
Waiting game is the game of fear.
You’ve got to commit to your goals; be decisive; and accept mistakes as part of your growth journey.
Don’t waste time by waiting for another month or another year. Start NOW.
3. Self-doubts
Self-doubts keep you stuck.
Many talented and driven people feel stuck because they don’t think their services or products are good enough… and often, THEY feel that way because THEY don’t feel good enough (we talked about the Imposter Syndrome before).
Look…Your services or products don’t have to be perfect. Learn from Microsoft or Apple – they launch their products, then fix the bugs as they go.
Better done than perfect.
With this being said, you must ask yourself “would I use my service or product?”
You’ve got to offer value – something you would want to use yourself.
4. Ignorance about your money
Treat your money like a friend you love.
Don’t be disrespectful or ignorant about it.
Or money will not hang out with you.
This doesn’t mean you have to kill yourself by working hard in order to succeed financially.
But it does mean that you’ve got to work on
- all aspects of yourself (like your beliefs, habits, perceptions, etc.)
AND
- all aspects of your life – including your physical and emotional health, intentional communication, specialized work-related skills, financial know-how, and spiritual awareness…
so that you can make smart and aligned financial decisions.
5. Sloppiness
Patterns of sloppiness – unfulfilled promises, consistently missed deadlines, repeated mistakes, repeated tardiness, not keeping your word, lack of results and endless excuses – are recipes for broken trust.
And when the trust is gone…nothing else matters.
It’s a lose-lose whether you’re an entrepreneur or an employee.
So….
Be detail oriented.
Be accountable.
Be attentive.
Be focused.
Don’t forget everything your boss told you or everything your client wanted.
Persistent sloppiness leads to broken trust and failures.
6. Indecisiveness
When you constantly have problems with making decisions, you feel stuck often.
And when you feel stuck often, you get discouraged and quit.
Success requires confident decisiveness.
As an entrepreneur, you’re a leader in your company and leaders make many decisions every single day – from hiring and firing to investing, to scaling, to capital raising, etc.
As an investor, you’ve got to be able to take risk, to assess the opportunity, to decide whether you want to invest or walk away.
Some people are naturally more decisive than others. However, decisiveness, like other character traits, can be developed.
Practice making decisions and taking responsibility for your decisions. That’s much better than living with regrets.
7. No progress
Have you ever experienced “trying something” over and over and still not making any progress and not getting the results?
Some say “be persistent, keep going until you get through…”
In my experience, when something is not happening no matter how much effort you apply, it might be wise to rethink your vision or strategy.
The only thing that is worse than running in a wrong direction is running in the wrong direction enthusiastically.
When you make a lot of efforts and don’t see results – something needs to be changed, adjusted, and re-calibrated.
Sometimes “no progress” is a great signal to take a step back, and go in a totally different direction.
Pay attention to “trying too hard.”
Feeling in a flow is a sign of alignment.
8. Comparing
Your business is not growing. You’re losing clients. Your boss promoted someone else over you.
Your inner critique gets loud. You start judging yourself for not being successful as you “should be” by now….
And that’s when the “comparing” thoughts start popping up….
You compare yourself and your success with others. You feel not smart enough, not creative enough, not experienced, not fit, not well-spoken, not connected, not…whatever.
Comparison is the “dead end” game. It’s like expecting oranges from an oak tree.
Oak tree is meant to be an oak, not an orange tree.
And you are meant to be you, not Oprah and not Amelia Earhart
So…
Think out of the box.
Get creative with the talents you’ve got.
Be re-source-ful.
Your life is your workshop to learn from.
And so, I believe that if you have some or all of these 8 items working against you, you will NOT become financially independent.
How do you avoid these 8 obstacles?
I think that as a multi-dimensional being, you’ve got to focus on the following 5 items:
- Physical health: Eat, move, sleep well.
- Emotional health: Be mindful of toxic environments and toxic people. Surround yourself with positive, supportive people who you love and who love you.
- Creative health: Do something creative, something that inspires and motivates you. Write new ideas. Read or listen content that motivates you. Have an inspiring vision.
- Financial health: Know your numbers. Make sure you have money on your account to pay your bills. Master your money. Become a mindful and strategic investor.
- Spiritual health: Every day, meditate. Don’t obsess over the things you can’t control. Practice surrender. Allow more, force less.
You may get doubtful sometimes. Or tired. Or discouraged. But then get back to that daily practice.
It works. No longer can anything stop you from succeeding.
To your Health, Wealth, and Freedom!
P.S.FACT: most people think that Financial Independence is just a pipedream.
But there is a REALISTIC path to Financial Independence, without winning a lottery or killing yourself at work! Let me help you map out your unique fastest path to Financial Independence.
Take me up on this risk-free offer – schedule your “Never Worry About Money Again” consultation now.
