There are a few very important traits that will determine whether or not financial freedom is an attainable goal for you. Discomfort, dedication, and commitment are three of the most important characteristics that separate those who find financial freedom from those who don’t. These three traits collaborate and one without the other is not as effective. Before pursuing anything worthwhile, we must first find what makes us uncomfortable so we are better able to understand ourselves and extract ways to get better.
Discomfort
Discomfort is the single most prominent roadblock that causes people to fail, give up, or never get started on their journey towards financial freedom or anything else worthwhile for that matter. People inherently hate to be uncomfortable and do things they may not be good at off the bat. Discomfort leads to insecurity, and insecurity leads to giving up and failing. This is where most people reach the point that moving forward seems close to impossible. In the context of pursuing financial freedom, discomfort might come from not being able to find real estate leads due to lack of skill or not knowing how to actually get started, or fear of picking the wrong stocks and losing money. The key here is to just accept you will be bad at the beginning of whatever you try to do always. Some people will learn quicker than others but don’t get discouraged. If you put in the work, repetitions, and effort, you will get better and better at whatever skill you are trying to do over time. Oftentimes, difficult questions need to be answered along your journey through discomfort such as “Is this something I really want?”, and “How can I get through this difficulty and move forward?”. What separates those who fail in the face of discomfort from those who break through it is that the successful ones not only ask these types of questions, but actively search for answers to them. For example, the question “How can I get through this difficulty and move forward?”, is one that may take many tries to get an answer to. You may find things that you think work, but end up failing and causing you to start from scratch. The key to understand here is that successful people may feel a minor jolt of discouragement, but instead of staying down on themselves they actively look for lessons in what went wrong so they can improve their action plan and not make the same mistake twice. This is the formula for how success is done and those who are able to get through discomfort have actively persisted through what 90% of people either refuse to or can’t bring themselves to do.
Commitment, Dedication, and how they tie in with discomfort
The most successful people are dedicated and committed to their craft. The best real estate investors spend time trying to perfect their deal analyzing process to make it more efficient and less time consuming. The best CEOs are committed to taking their companies to new heights by making sure their team works as a cohesive unit all while taking their organization in new and innovative directions. The commonality those who are truly dedicated and committed to their craft share is that they all actively seek discomfort all the time. Once they master something, they don’t get complacent in their success and rather use their newfound mastery to improve other areas of their investing/life/business. Committing to success is not just a one-time thing. It is something that is continuously built on over and over again for once we stop improving, the only other natural trajectory is down. After many times of feeling discomfort and knowing the pleasure accompanied by getting through it, the most successful people actively seek it out and find ways to conquer it. Following these principles will always allow you to find purpose by constantly improving and adding value not only to yourself but also to those around you.
Using these principles in everyday life
Discomfort, dedication, and commitment do not only apply to the world of financial freedom and monetary success, but especially to personal life. For example, sometimes, it may be difficult to have conversations with your significant other that have been lingering for a while. Neither of you may want to talk about it but until you do it will linger and always be the elephant in the room. By getting through the discomfort of broaching difficult subjects, you will be able to express emotions from both sides and reach solutions that will in turn bring you closer together. Tension leads to fire and fire leads to failed relationships. This is true for any relationship as it doesn’t only apply with your significant other. Using these principles with your kids, parents, family, and friends will ensure that your relationships hold no hostility and that you can appreciate the small amount of time we have on this earth together with those we love. Getting through discomfort is a great way to show dedication and commitment. Saying “I don’t want to talk about it” is a defense mechanism to shy away from an important yet uncomfortable conversation where feelings may be temporarily hurt and tensions may rise for the moment. At the end of the day, expressing these emotions is normal as we are emotion-based animals, and resolving underlying issues is the best way to keep healthy relationships.
So, you see these principles will not only help you reach financial freedom, but will also help you achieve the healthy relationships and life you deserve full of love and positivity. Reflect on your actions and emotions and ask yourself if you are actively applying these principles in your life. If not, then now may be time to start. Life is short and every wasted minute is one that could have been used to pave a path to make you happier and more fulfilled than you ever thought possible.