The journey to financial freedom is never a straight line. There are always twists and turns along the way. Things never quite work out the way you think they should.
When you think about this on a deeper level, this is actually a good thing. You don’t want the future to be absolutely certain. If it was, then it would have essentially already happened. You would already have a memory of events yet to come. And that would make it seriously dull.
The key here is to practice acceptance of things going wrong on your journey to get the finances that you want. It won’t be plain sailing. There will be disasters. But, in general, the trajectory will be upwards. Eventually, you’ll get to the point where it is a choice whether you work or not, not a necessity. However, as noted in the following sections, you’ll need to be careful.
Are You Too Scared To Invest?
Many people view the stock market as a kind of casino where there are a few winners (the house), and everyone else loses. But when you actually look at how the market works, that’s not really what’s going on at all.
It’s not just a blind bet you’re placing. Instead, when you buy stocks, you’re saying that companies will continue to generate profits in the future and distribute them to shareholders.
Over time, markets increase in value. Companies grow in size and often reinvest in their shares, pumping up the price (or handing out dividends). The more you put into the system early on, the more you’ll get out of it later. It’s a virtuous cycle that can leave you much better off in the future.
Are You Taking Risks?
Financial freedom is also hard to achieve if you’re the sort of person who likes to take risks with their body. If you injure yourself, it is much harder to go to work and earn a living.
Getting the motorcycle accident attorney you need after a crash, for instance, can win you compensation. But you’ll want to think about the long-term ramifications of such action. Are you potentially denying yourself the future that you want?
Are You In A Job You Hate?
Financial freedom doesn’t happen overnight. It takes the average person around 27 years to reach a net worth of $1 million or more. That’s a long time!
For that reason, you want to be in a job that you love, not one that you hate. If you don’t like how you’re spending your time, the financial freedom itself won’t feel like it’s worth it. You’ll settle for a lesser life than you desire, and that’ll leave you feeling perpetually disappointed.
To remedy this, don’t give up on your financial dreams. Instead, do something that lets you enjoy the here and now. Stop wasting your time pushing papers in an office if you’d rather be doing something different.
Are You Neglecting Your Health?
Lastly, if you neglect your health long-term, any financial freedom you do achieve will feel like a pyrrhic victory. You’ll have spent your life striving for something that, in the end, doesn’t serve you because you’re too sick to enjoy it.
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