Things that hinder Financial Success

Do you think that after making that first deposit on some mutual fund will mean you are on your way to financial success? Well, think again! You may have started the journey but the difficult part is the things you encounter on the way. During your path, you may fall into the temptations of life that you would gradually let go of whatever it is you may have started! You might tell yourself "This is just for this month, I will not save so I can buy a new car" but once you stop a "habit" you might find yourself forgetting it one way or another. So, in order to avoid these hindrances, you must first understand what these hindrances are.

I will now jot down the obstacles to financial success other that inflation.

1. Procrastination and being lazy
This is a habit a lot of people seem to have. Procrastination is doing things tomorrow what we can do today. It is saying "Nah, I'll do it next time" or "Maybe it can wait until tomorrow" when there is something to be done. Sooner or later that one day becomes a week, and then it will turn into a month, and next thing you know its already been a year and you still haven't done anything about it. You would say "I can save/invest next time" but ONE YEAR of delayed savings of $3,000 at 10% annual interest would lose you $137,000 after 40 years of savings!

Delayed savings may also sacrifice high yield investments that may not be available in the future. Mutual or Equity funds that reach 15-20% annual interest may only be 7-10% in the future. So, you would lost the opportunity to EARN MORE! Everyday a lot of people are guilty of this habit. We lose the opportunity to buy cheaper homes and land, cheaper loans or stocks and a lot more because of this habit. Remember Procrastination would not only waste you time, but your money as well.

Laziness is also a big problem when it comes to financial success. Too much dependence on other people often lead to laziness. Not only do we lose the opportunity to earn cash in order to invest, we also make the person we are dependent to lost that opportunity as well! we should not rely on others. Not all the time would there be someone, somewhere for us to depend to. This path to fincancial success is all about you. It should be independent of others. Remember, this is YOUR money, YOUR path, so YOU should be responsible for it.

2.Yourself
Since this is your path to financial success and you alone. So, because of this, negative values can hinder us from achieving our goal. However, if we are determined, decisive and if we really desire to achieve financially, we can overcome these obstacles to financial success. Remember always. Losers criticize, winners analyze!

One major negative value that we must overcome is the fear of failure. Everyone fears failure. We are all afraid of making mistakes. However, people only see how they are bound to fail but not how to succeed. What we need to understand is that life is certainly not fair. We experience the good times, but we also get a taste of the bad. We need to understand that failure is a key to success. Yes, you heard me right, whenever we fail we must learn from our mistakes. We must analyze the situation and look for a way to turn it all around to our advantage. We cannot succeed unless we fail. Also, failure is a very powerful tool to motivate us to act. Remember 20% of the 2008 world billionaires started from very poor families and never even finished college because of this. Look at where they are now, enjoying all the pleasantries of life. So, don't let failure put you down but look for a way to make it push you towards the path to success.

Remember failure is not a person, you are not a failure. Failure is the key to success and to better ourselves!

3. Poor spending habits
This is one of the major habits that you must learn to control. It is very important that you discipline yourself when it comes to spending your money on wants. Look around, almost everything you see is actually optional, optional in the sense that we don't need it. Try to keep track of all your expenses for about a month or two.

You may be surprised when you look into the list that more than half of your expenses are actually unnecessary. Why is this so? Well, here are the reasons on why people spend on optional expenses.

• Impulse Buying

People almost always end up buying more than what they intend to. This is the fault of sales and promotions for product and services in the malls. The usual "30-50% sale" in the malls never fails to attract customers. This is because customers seem think that they are saving money on spending on things that are "on sale". One important thing to learn is that we must not buy the price but the value of the product. Now, what if the product you would buy in a midnight sale is of no use to you in the moment. It would be OK if you would find a use for that product later on but what if it was never used and just lain around the house? Sooner or later these items bought on sale just end up being given away as a gift, given to charity, or left to accumulate dust in the closet. Imagine how much you would earn if you saved the money to invest in equity funds or government bonds!

• Trend Spending

This is probably the real culprit to financial success. So many people spend their hard-earned money on items they can actually live without. I have a lot of friends that regularly update their cellphones, ipods, and laptops just because there is a new model. For women, jewelries and cosmetic products or services while men are more likely to spend money on a few gulps of beer and snacks while watching the sports channel. Let me point out that this is totally unnecessary because you can still live comfortably with what you have!

Remember that your spending habit determines your financial success. What counts is not the amount of money that goes into your pocket but the amount of money that actually stays there. You must control spending and even let go of some things in order to succeed financially. This is a value that you must practice daily. Always ask yourself whether buying a certain item puts you closer to your goal or not. Remember that this is your battle so you must control yourself and your spending habits. So go for it!

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