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This post is all about how to deal with financial failure and overcome it.
Nobody Want To Admit To Failure
It’s like once you admit you have failed at something, it’s out in the open for everyone to see and judge you.
I’ve had a few failures in my life. Rarely, did I like admitting to or talking about them.
Types Of Financial Failures
One of my biggest personal failures was not starting to save and put money aside at an earlier age.
I had to realize the hard way that spending money for years was going to catch up with me sooner or later.
And it did.
Stressful days, sleepless nights, thinking of how I would ever going to get out of that financial mess was apart of me for so long.
Overcoming Financial Failure and Achieving Success
So what did I do?
I sat down one morning and went through all of my credit card statements, looked at all of the expenses and checked the interest rates of said credit cards.
I wrote down my short-term financial goals and knew that with baby steps, I would get there. I paid off my credit cards totaling to almost 10K in a matter of 4 months. I threw everything at my debts.
Then I followed with funding my emergency fund. I had reached my goal after 8 months. I set new goals for my emergency fund for the following year.
Truth be told, I did put a lot of effort into learning how to budget and live way below my means.
Having my first $1000 dollar emergency fund funded felt so good. Seeing it increase over months felt also good. These were little successes that I achieved.
Once I had funded a good amount towards my emergency fund, I started focusing on investing and making my money work for me. I did learn all about investing for a good 2 years prior to making my first trade.
Lesson Learned from Failure
So what lesson did I learn from my failure of not saving earlier?Â
I became financially literate. I learned so much about money management, reading books, listening to podcasts, and of course, filling out debt free charts along the way.Â
I also learned that I had to finally be OK with myself and having failed for so long. I understood, learned and finally accepted it.
I also learned that there is light at the end of the tunnel, so if you work hard, you will reap the benefits of it.
Above all, I realized that just like for so many other things in life, you need a plan. You cannot live aimlessly day to day and this pertains of course to the financial aspect of life as well.
One great thing I learned was that I was my own case study and today, wouldn’t have had it any other way. I will do many things different, if I ever get blessed with children and will ingrain in them the value of a dollar.Â
Advice on Failure
If there is any practical advice I can give you on failure, it is that failure won’t break you but the fear of failing will keep you from reaching your successes.
- It is good to fail so you at least experience what it feels like.
- Failure can motivate you at a certain point when giving up is not an option.
- Failure makes you stronger.
- Failure can shape you for the better.
This post is all about how to deal with financial failure and overcome it.