The road to financial success is one full of pot holes, hills, barriers and road blocks. Only very few manage to make it to the other side of the bridge of prosperity as most often give up when they encounter some barriers.
We have identified 5 such barriers that can hindering you from achieving financial success. Keep reading; get inspired.
1.Lack of Discipline
Discipline is the ability to say NO even when others are saying YES. It is a form of freedom. Freedom from laziness, lethargy and bad habits. Freedom from your worst fears and weaknesses. Without this freedom, it is quite difficult to chart the path of prosperity.
Sure enough, if you don’t have freedom from your bad habits you’ll always find yourself in trouble with the authorities – and you have to pay an expensive lawyer to free yourself. If you don’t have freedom from your fears, then you’ll rarely invest. Besides, if you don’t have freedom from your spending weaknesses, you’ll forever be stuck in a desperate cycle of life.
In short, self-discipline is the corner-stone of prosperity in life. Even the wisemen say “Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments.”
2.The Culture of Pride and Materialism
Did you know that most doctors and lawyers are broke as a joke? It is not really ever discussed because on the surface they appear to be wealthy. They drive nice cards, live in good houses and wear expensive clothes. But if you look into their net worth then you’ll see a different story. You’ll see tonnes of debt and lack of life security.
Look, we are not trying to encourage you to hate the professionals and neither are we telling you that entrepreneurs are a more financially stable lot. All we want to communicate to you is that the culture of pride and materialism can rob you of wealth and freedom.
Trying to “keep up with the Jumas and Kamau’s” will only cause you to succumb to lifestyle inflation. Moreover, materialism and consumerism breed discontent. Instead of fighting lifestyle battles, focus on growing your intellectual and spiritual pursuits – these will better help you obtain inner fulfillment (which is far much a better gift than wealth).
3.Being a Friend of Bad Debt
There are good and bad debts. Taking a good debt enables you to acquire investments that return profit which can later be used to repay the same debt and even acquire more investments. Consumer debt (or bad debt) on the other hand is the real enemy of financial wellness.
Every time you take a loan to – buy a luxury car, pay for an expensive honeymoon getaway or buy expensive gadgets – remember that you’re robbing yourself of your future income. You’re simply creating unnecessary burden for yourself in the name of interest rate which grows bigger and bigger as the clock ticks by.
So, stay away from debt if you can. But if you can’t then only go for good debt.
4.Making Investment Mistakes
90% of those who start the investment journey fail not because they are not committed to the cause but because they make dumb investment decisions. Most don’t take time to research; and the few who take the trouble to research eventually end up reasoning with their hearts instead of their minds.
Still a good number makes investment decisions based on hearsay e.g “Nilisikia biashara ya kuuza nyanya iko na pesa, si tuijaribu” (“I heard that the business of selling tomatoes has huge profit margins, why don’t we go ahead and invest in it?).
As it turns out, most of us are not wired to make smart investment decisions. That’s why we create white elephants in our lives.
Well, we are not here to discourage you from investing. In fact, our goal is to nurture an investment culture among our people. But then, let every investment decision be guided by research and every single agreement be guided by legal and logical thinking. It is also advisable to take some investment training before venturing out.
5.Lack of Purpose
Without a clear destination in mind, you cannot set a course! If you don’t know why you are saving or investing, you have no reason to do so.
A ship that sails without a rudder easily lacks a sense of direction and can be blown astray by any storm. Likewise, without a clear purpose in whatever you do, you will not be able to align your financial goals and you will easily be blown away by any storm of failure.
So, get your purpose today and align your short-term and long-term goals with it and you’ll never be disappointed.
Final Word;
Whether you are working hard so that you can change your course of life before you reach thirty; or whether you are simply saving for retirement – it is essential to be watchful of these enemies from time to time.
Stay vigilant, stay committed and most importantly keep calm – live your life.
Your thoughts: Which of these 5 foes is your greatest nemesis and why? How do you fight it?
