🏘 5 Reasons Not Letting You Build Assets

Even The Financially Educated People Are Unable 🤷‍♂️ To Create The Assets Which Can Provide Them With Regular Stream Of Income

So, I was discussing with a colleague few days back and was intrigued at his knowledge on stocks & on broader economy. However, towards the end of conversation, I was surprised how he still does not have any passive income stream and relies completely on the day job’s salary for household expenses.

It is a long story 🧾 on how our conversation took such turn in one single sitting, which I will explain on some other day. However, there are some life lessons from this interaction which I recall from one chapter of Robert Kiyosaki’s - Rich Dad Poor Dad.

This writeup ✍️ is regarding those 5 reasons mentioned in the book with some real life scenarios where even the most financially literate people are unable to build assets to achieve positive cash flows - Let us discuss them here one by one:

1 - Fear

It was quoted in the book,

“All in my years, I have never met a rich person who has never lost money. But I have met a lot of poor people who have never lost a dime” - excerpt from Rich Dad, Poor Dad

Fear is a very natural thing - this gives cold feet to the best of knowledgeable person. As Warren Buffet says:

“The first rule of an investment is don't lose [money]. And the second rule of an investment is don't forget the first rule.”

This however, does not mean that one should not take risks - what Mr. Buffet meant by the above quote is to avoid gambling.

The best way to overcome fear is to start early and start small. I explained the journey of my YouTube 📺 [not as an early starter, but surely starting small and growing over time through consistency] in this newsletter (click here) explaining how compounding worked for me. The same can work in every walk of life including investments if one starts early and start small while staying consistent.

The above chart shows the growth in my YouTube views over time - slow and steady, but there can be a trigger when it can blow out - ONE HAS TO BE PATIENT!

Best advice anyone can give to a young kid is to start early and start small with investments. This will make the youngster conquer the fear and would compound the wealth 💰 as well as experience as the time goes on.

2 - Cynicism

There has been a very famous saying:

“I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, most of which never happened” -Mark Twain.

As we are discussing people who are well versed in financial maters, the flip side is that they also worry too much if they don’t practice enough. Cynicism will not let you progress be it in your life or investments - the kind of person who tries to give excuses for each and everything and blame others will not progress.

One has to keep an open mind while studying the opportunities coming along the way and stop blaming others for their own misjudgments.

3 - Laziness

Busy people in the world have all kinds of excuses. I personally know a lot of people who have been explaining to me for the last several years how they plan to change the course of life and achieve financial independence but its just that their work has been cruel and not letting them achieve their dream lifestyle! 🤷‍♂️

“Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die” - Unknown

A couple of months back, I wrote this newsletter about how I am managing my work despite having a full time job, family & YouTube - The app I explained in the newsletter will definitely improve your workflow if you really want to become productive.

It is criminal to neglect your finances & investments by giving the excuse of being too “busy at work” - that too coming from the people who understand basics of personal finance.

People who are always busy with work & not having time for themselves and family are pure and simple lazy. Such people will always have the excuse for not planning enough to optimize their workflow and hence will never be able to achieve financial independence from the rat 🐁 race.

4 - Bad Habits

What if I tell you I know a lot of banking professionals 👨‍💼 - who apparently should be the most literate lot when it comes to finances don’t realize the blunders they do day in and day out with their house hold finances 😏

Some of those banking professionals took low interest loans (from the bank they work in) to renovate their house - whereas they should be acquiring assets with that cheap borrowed money. The examples go on and on…

Another bad habit prevalent in salaried class is that they dont pay themselves first - instead they save (if at all) after what they spend (on both haves and needs). The cycle should be reversed ♽, the savings & investments should be done prior to any expense from the income - this way, you will be more disciplined about investing and be able to acquire assets which provide cashflow.

I talked about how I kept myself in debt in this video (linked here) in order to pay for my investment mortgage first - forcing myself to pay even before household bills. This enforced investment/savings 💵 performed like a charm for me!

5 - Arrogance

In my journey of developing finance skills, one thing I have learnt for sure is to keep your mind open for new ideas 💡. It is the journey “being humble,” rather than the destination!

There are 2 major issues ⚠️ if one become arrogant for the knowledge he/she acquire:

1. They will close their mind for new ideas

2. As they bear loss they still won’t budge to new realities in investing world just because of their ego.

Let’s say if someone keeps a rigid view on one of the stock or crypto currency just because of their ego / arrogance & wont change their path even after knowing that the investment is doomed - they are themselves to be blamed with “know it all” mentality.

One should try to avoid all the above 5 traits in personality in order to progress specially towards financial independence. REMEMBER to enjoy the journey, not the destination 🔴

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