Many Kenyans face financial burdens, from high costs of living and healthcare expenses to taxes and college tuition. And for some people, these countless burdens can make it seem like they’ll always be poor — or at least “poor” by their standards.
Whatever your definition of “poor” is, there are strategies you can use to build your wealth over time. But before you start building your wealth, it’s important to understand which habits are putting a strain on your finances.
The following are the main reasons why you are still broke;
Failing to act quickly enough
Have you been waiting for something? What is it?
If you want to know the truth, there is no right time! It is however better to act sooner than later. Reading this post means that you’ve taken the first step.
You have a bad mentor (Or don’t have one at all!)
If you’re modelling yourself on someone, you better pick a good one.
Don’t choose someone without money. People without it will be quick to offer their advice. They call themselves life coaches and success coaches, but if they haven’t acquired money themselves, they can’t give you the advice you need.
On the other hand, don’t choose someone who’s rich if they don’t have ethics. You don’t want to hurt people along the way, so avoid those who follow the path of greed.
You slave away
How will you save or manage money efficiently if you live from paycheck to paycheck? Avoid being a pawn in someone else’s game, or you will make other people rich when you could be making yourself rich.
You’re in bad company
“Birds of a feather flock together”
Surrounding yourself with people with bad attitudes will only influence you to take on the same bad attitudes. This brings us on to our next reason…
You have a bad attitude towards money
Ask yourself this: do you really care about your money? Holding limiting attitudes will limit your growth – both in the bank and in life. Change your thinking to change your circumstances.
You have no ambition
What’s your passion? What are you striving for? Can you answer those questions?
If not, you are poor because you have no ambition. Ambition is the ingredient to maximizing your potential and overcoming your current state of mind.
So, the real question we should be asking here isn’t “Why am I still poor?”, it’s “How can I attract abundance into my life?”. This is ambition. It will allow you to learn continuously, persevere at that and aim for perfection. Ambition is the way forward.
Raise your goals, because providing average can only give you average back!
You’re short-sighted
Most opportunities require long-term vision: both to implement action successfully, and to take one step in the first place.
If you’ve not established your long-term goals, you won’t know what they are or be able to spot an opportunity to work towards that if it arises.
Looking down on opportunities
Poor people often look down on opportunities too.
Have you ever had a great idea but been too afraid to start? Did you not think you would have enough time to do it? This isn’t true.
Anything is possible, but if you don’t start somewhere, how can you get anywhere?
Lacking understanding
This is how mistakes happen.
Have you ever thought you’ve familiarised yourself with something, but then when someone asks you to explain it to them, you can’t? It’s easy to think you’ve grasped something when in reality you’re not there yet.
However, this can also stump learning, and continuous learning is a prerequisite to success.
So the next time you think you’ve gained an understanding of something, make sure that it isn’t just ‘enough to get by’. Keep learning the skills of business and making money. Keep growing. You can always be better, but you have to be patient. This is the belief you will need to get out of a poor mindset.
