Your Money_ The Missing Manual - J. D. Roth [18]
Don't dig a deeper hole. Money spent is money spent. Just because you've already sunk $200 into a gym membership you never use doesn't mean you need to keep spending money on it. Cut your losses by getting out as soon as possible.
Keep your goals in mind. A setback is just that: a temporary roadblock on your journey to something more important. Make peace with the past and keep your mind on the future.
Setbacks are disheartening, but remember: Failure is okay. Mistakes are lessons in disguise. There's a Japanese proverb about perseverance that translates as "Fall down seven times, get up eight." Successful people fail just as often as the unsuccessful; the only difference is that successful people learn from their mistakes, get back on their feet, and resolutely march toward their goals.
If you've made some poor choices or had some bad stuff happen to you—or both—don't give up. Use the mistakes to launch yourself on a new path. It's never too late to change direction and start making smart choices. Build your future on the ashes of the past.
Tip
For more on transforming failure to success, read John C. Maxwell's Failing Forward (Thomas Nelson, 2007).
Your Money And Your Life: Fighting Financial Trolls
As you travel the path to wealth, you'll inevitably run into financial trolls, which Steve Pavlina describes on his website (http://tinyurl.com/wealthlessons) this way:
Financial trolls strive to sabotage your financial pursuits. These trolls can be internal or external. They're the people who make comments like, "Wealthy people are so greedy. They only care about themselves and will take advantage of anyone to make money." Financial trolls are also the internal voices that say, "If you make too much money, people will judge you harshly for it. They'll assume that's all you care about."
External trolls are people with chips on their shoulders who cling to preconceived notions or just want to argue. They're not worth your time, so dealing with them is easy: Ignore them. Redirect the conversation, leave the room, or hang up the phone. Above all, don't argue—any time you argue with a troll, the troll wins.
Internal trolls are more insidious than their external cousins because they're part of you, so eradicating them requires self-discipline. Internal trolls include:
Self-defeating thoughts and behaviors: "I can't do this—it's too difficult", "I'm not smart enough", "It's too much work", "I don't deserve to have money."
Procrastination: "I'll start next week", "I'll worry about this later", "I can start saving next month." For more on how to beat the procrastination habit, see http://tinyurl.com/GRS-putoff.
Rationalization: "Buying just one pair of shoes won't blow my budget", "I'm out with my friends—I should have fun", "I deserve to reward myself for how well I've been doing lately."
Barriers: "I don't know how to open a Roth IRA", "It's too much bother to set up automatic deposits", "Sure I could shop around for lower rates, but I don't like talking on the phone." (There's more on how to knock down the barriers that hold you back at http://tinyurl.com/GRS-barriers.)
Most internal trolls are a product of self-doubt and can be best combated through exercise, discipline, positive social interaction, and a healthy diet. (Yes, exercise and a healthy diet can help you with your finances!)
Some trolls are difficult to defeat: What do you do about a partner who insists on sabotaging your family's financial security? How do you cope with your own compulsive spending? Problems like these may require the assistance of a trained professional like an accountant, lawyer, psychologist, or financial planner. The important thing is to deal with them; otherwise, they'll hold you back and keep you from achieving your goals. For more on defeating both kinds of trolls, read T. Harv Eker's Secrets of the Millionaire Mind (Collins, 2005).
Final Thoughts on Pursuing Goals
Setting meaningful goals that are closely aligned with your passions can help you make better decisions about money. When