Agbai Ina Obasi / Financial Independence

E- BOOK : THE SEVEN BAD HABITS.

Many people go through life financially hindered because of their inability to understand their finances. As a results, they suffer various consequences with adverse implications on themselves and their loved ones.

This is the reason we have set out to share with YOU, our knowledge and experience spanning over a period of 21 years in various management positions held in the Financial Sector. This ultimately culminated in the publication of my award winning book, Financial Independence, our main resource material.

Our enduring goal is to educate our readers on the knowledge needed to financially liberate themselves and how it can be implemented in their daily lives. One way we are doing this is by reviewing some of the habits that inhibits people from achieving financial independence and recommend alternative habits in what we refer to as “Good” and “Bad” Habits. We believe that a consistent application of these Good Habits will inspire you to think and act to achieve your financial goal.

THE FIRST BAD HABIT IS:

NOT SETTING GOAL.
Everyone dreams, but it's only those who take consistent steps to actualize their dreams that get to live the dream. Setting a goal is the first step in turning your dream to a reality.

You must understand why you are setting the goal and what is required to achieve the goal. To effectively do this, you must be sincere to your self. You must evaluate your strengths and weaknesses, starting from your base and seek out ways to improve on your weaknesses.

Passion is the key that drive the process. The more passionate you are in setting and pursuing the goal, the better chances you have to achieving it. You can start by constantly invsioning what it will be like to achieve your set goal.

It is recommended that the goal: be shared with your loved ones for effective buy in and supoort, be in writing, specific, measurable and challenging. Challenging goals improve productivity and induce a high performance culture that help you to achieve success.

Finally, without setting a goal, it's very difficult to achieve success. But just setting the goal is not enough, you must take Immediate and Consistent action to achieve the goal. To illustrate how important setting goal is, in an old Harvard study, college students that set goals just before their graduation achieved 10 TIMES MORE than their counterparts that did not, in ten years after graduation.

THE SECOND BAD HABIT IS:

PROCASTINATION.
Money follows speed and principle like the saying goes, "time is money".

Most people find it difficult to take a decision especially where the outcome of the decision is uncertain. But the few with courage that take swift decision end up benefiting the most as most profitable transactions are time sensitive.

Take for instance, a friend's immediate decision to invest in a Kodak shares on 7/29/20 based on an information he got on the evening news on 7/28/20 translated to over 200% return on investment (ROI) in less than 24 hours after the investment. If my friend had waited just for one day to take that decision, the opportunity for such a huge return would have been lost.

Why do people delay in taking decision? It could be because of uncertainty in the projected outcome or lack of verifiable information or not trusting their instincts. Whatever the reason might be, the people who overcome the shortfalls and take the bull by the horn, most often, rip the benefits of their immediate action.

There is no doubt that your undue delay or inability to take action, would certainly, be detrimental to your quest for financial freedom. This is the reason my book ended with emphasis on "Taking Action".

THE THIRD BAD HABIT IS:

YOUR BELIEF IN NOT MAKING ENOUGH MONEY TO SAVE.
This erroneous belief was aptly debunked in my book with the story of the Bank Branch Driver who thought he wasn't making enough money to start saving until his direct supervisor urged him to open a savings account and encouraged him to save 10% of his salary. The driver was amazed at his achievement after few years of consistent application.

Savings is simply generated when you live below your earnings. It entails distinguishing between your "needs" and "wants" and making sacrifices today for future security and perhaps, enjoyment.

No body can become financially independent without learning the habit of savings. That is why Financial Independence is like a three legged stool resting on savings , insurance and investment.

If you do not learn to save when your earning is small, it will certainly be difficult to save when your income increases. The reason is simple, the act of saving is a learned lifestyle/habit and not one that is dependent on how much money you make. That is why you see so many lottery winners reverting to status quo few years after winning the lottery.

Therefore, if you want to be Financially independent, decide today to pay yourself FIRST when you receive your next paycheck by puting 10% of it into your savings account. You will be amazed that nothing much will change in your life pattern except that your savings account will be richer by 10%. This point is specifically illustrated in details in my book.

THE FOURTH BAD HABIT IS:

FAILURE TO BUDGET.
A budget is simply a plan on how to spend your money with the aim of balancing your expenses with your income. The reason you do it in advance is to help you distinguish your “Needs” from your “Wants”. Quite often, many people never develop the habit of budgeting and they end up spending their income without a plan.

If you are struggling with your finances, proper budgeting is a must for you. Your goal will be to cut off all the items on your "wants" list and review your " Needs" list to see how to prioritize the items therein and save more.

You could start by putting off your annual family vacations or buying a used car (recommends 3 year old models with it's added depreciation benefits) or refusing to move into a bigger house after substantial payment of your current mortgage or buying your daily needs from thrift stores and other low cost stores, the list goes on.

The other way to do this is to decide Today to list your Assets (things that bring money to you) and your Liabilities (things that take money away from you) and determine how to increase your assets and reduce your liabilities. Thereafter, from your list of liabilities, determine which ones are your "Needs" and which ones are your "Wants" and pririotize ONLY to focus on your "Needs" going forward.

Whichever option you may chose, the idea is to free money from your current budget to enable you save more, pay off your debt or invest.

THE FIFTH BAD HABIT IS:

THE TENDENCY TO OVERSPEND.
This Habit is closely related to the fourth bad habit of not budgeting. It causes people to spend more than they can afford in an effort to live like others including family members, neighbors, colleagues etc.

This is an ego trip habit that makes people want to do things to creat an impression to outsiders even though they know they can't afford the life style that they are pretending to live.

One way to avoid or minimize this bad habit is to be real to your self and try to live within your means. For example, and elderly family (Husband and wife) with grown up children who are now living on their own, decided to sell one of their two cars and use one car instead. This was possible because of their compatible job schedules as each worked about 30 hours every week. This decision saved the couple a minimum of $350 monthly car payment which they now invest in their retirement plan.

Other people have done this by taking advantage of the numerous opportunities abound in shopping for value where they utilize the huge savings offered by some discount outfits like GoodRX for prescription drug purchases which are absolutely free.

You can decide Today to take advantage of these opportunities by critically reviewing your expenditure pattern. You could start minimizing your expenditure by simply goggling "coupon" and get a whole list of free coupon sources online. You will be amazed how much you will be saving.

THE SIXTH BAD HABIT:

THE UNWILLINGNESS TO STEP OUT OF ONE'S COMFORT ZONE.
Stepping out of your comfort zone involves uncertainty and risk. However, most people shy away from taking risk and are afraid of venturing outside their comfort zone. They forget that whenever progress is made in any field of human endeavor, it had been accompanied by change. Change come with uncertainty and risk. If you are scared of taking risks, you will most likely remain the same and end up not achieving much in life. Remember, No Risk No Income.

Decide Today to do something different from your routine that is aimed at helping you achieve your financial independence. For example, a neighbor who lost his job due to the Covid-19 Pandemic decided to go do something different and got a job with the biggest online delivery company on Earth. Unlike his previous job, the new job is very physical as he is on his feet for upwards of ten hours, four days a week.

Initially, my neighbor almost resigned due to the strenuous nature of the new job but his family inspired him to stay on. After 90 days at the job, my neighbor has lost almost 20 pounds (something he has been struggling to achieve in the past five years without success), health insurance (including vision and dental), 401k (with employer's 50% match), and option to own the company's stock. My neighbor was able to achieve all these benefits (which were not available in his prior job) because he was willing to step out of his comfort zone.

THE SEVENTH BAD HABIT IS:

THE UNWILLINGNESS TO LEARN NEW SKILLS.
Achieving financial independence involves investments and succeeding in investment, requires skills and knowledge.

Whether you are a salaried person or self employed, improving yourself is always a good investment. However, if you are interested in financial independence, you must learn the language of money as your financial wellbeing can only grow to the extent that you are able to grow your financial knowledge.

For instance, for self employed, Investing on knowing more about your customers will be one of the best investment you can ever make as a business owner. So also is learning more skills and knowledge about investment opportunities in the Stock market or Real Estate, a rewarding investment for you.

Decide Today to start learning the grammer of investment by reading inspirational books on Financial Independence. The more familiar you are with the industry knowledge and terminology, the more comfortable and confident you will be in participating in the investment process

Written by:

Agbai Ina Obasi
Author: Financial Independence

This E- Book is now incorporated in the new edition of my financial independence book. See link below:
https://www.amazon.com/Financial-Independence-No-Risk-Income/dp/1959682369/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1690830249&sr=1-