5 Obstacles to Financial Success in 2011 (How To Avoid Them)
Plans are wonderful, crucial even. Planning for financial success in 2011 gets you a lot closer to attaining it, than living in a world without direction. But even the best-laid plans can fail if they don’t take account of the obstacles that might be in their path.
In the same way that a fitness plan will fall short if you don’t take account of your current level of fitness, so must the obstacles impeding financial success be heeded.
Here are 5 obstacles that might be in your path, and how to detour successfully around them.
Knowledge
Knowledge is, indeed, power. Without it, you’ll find yourself ill-equipped for the financial hazards ahead. Even with great plans and the best of intentions, a lack of knowledge will be a major obstacle to financial success. So how can it be fixed? Nothing is easier.
Grab a book from the library, type in a topic into Google, talk to loved ones who have some ideas about good financial practice. The better informed you can be, the better decisions you will make. If anything can ensure a prosperous and long-term financial future, it is being informed about finance.
Motivation
Maybe you’ve been doing well until now, and have slipped. Maybe you’re drowning in debt and can’t see the point in returning to the land of gradual budgets and discipline. Whatever the cause of your motivation-drain, a lack of inspiration is going to make your financial year a difficult one. Equip yourself with the knowledge to take control of your finances, and you’ll find you’re more motivated to get on top of the issues.
A lack of motivation is often a result of feeling helpless and like the situation is out of control, so get in control and motivation will be easier to come by.
Time
We all want more of it, and yet there are never going to be more than 24 hours worth in every day. 8 hours of our allotment generally needs to go towards sleep, and another 8 is usually directed towards work, so it’s easy to feel like we don’t have enough time to get on top of our finances.
The trick is to stay in control. As soon as things spiral, they take longer and longer to untangle. If you can spend half an hour a day on your finances, you’ll be across all aspects- bills, saving, budget, investments, debt. Consistency and routine will make time a more available commodity.
Role-Models
A lot of our financial know-how (or lack of it) is a result of our financial role-models. Our parents are the earliest example, other important figures throughout our youth- family, employers, friends. If you feel you’re surrounded by people who are giving you the wrong ideas about money or encouraging damaging financial practices, this could easily derail your financial 2011.
Stop looking to them for advice. Find role models- from your daily life, or famous ones- who exemplify good practices and copy them. Changing our financial behaviours takes a long time, but it is possible.
Risk
You love it or hate it, and inevitably it will affect your finances. Risk too much, and you could stand to lose a lot. Risk nothing, and you may get nowhere financially. The key is to understand your risk personality and to incorporate that knowledge into your decision-making processes. I’m not saying reverse your approach entirely. Instead, talk to a personal finance advisor about the right level of risk and incorporate their advice into your financial decision-making.
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