5 Attitudes You Must Break If You Want More Financial Freedom

This week’s letter is a bit different, it’s not written by me, instead I have invited Paulo A. José, writer of Coffee for Retirement, a newsletter based on money and financial freedom to do a special issue for The Sujal Kumar Letter.

Enjoy.

Something in common I’ve noticed, from the many Podcasts I’ve listened to so far and from the dozens of books about successful people I’ve read, is that none of these people are complacent.

I am eternally grateful for the habit of reading.

All of these high-performance people, without exception, always want something beyond.

Want an example?

Today I feel bad if I put my head on my pillow and realize that I didn’t learn anything that day.

It makes me extremely uncomfortable.

I read very interesting research that said that there is no knowledge limit for our brain.

However, there is a daily limit of things to learn.

Therefore, each day without learning anything is a crime against yourself.

Understand one thing; there is nothing wrong with not wanting something more if that is your case.

If you are happy where you are, that’s fine too!

But if, like me, you want more from life, like having more financial freedom to travel the world, it is important to identify some habits, thoughts, or attitudes that do not allow you to evolve.

The following attitudes that keep you in the comfort zone are inspired by the knowledge of some of the most admirable entrepreneurs of our time:

Attitude 1: Resign yourself to a mediocre life — Tony Robbins

There is a term I learned from Tony Robbins called “the dormant zone.”

The dormant zone is when your life is not bad enough to frustrate you to the point that you do anything to change it, and the prospect of a better life is also not enough to motivate you.

This zone is the most dangerous place to be.

Attitude 2: Not learning from your mistakes — Ray Dalio

At the age of 12 and completely inexperienced, investor Ray Dalio had the idea to buy stock in an area company that happened to be going bankrupt, but luckily ended up being bought by another company before it went bankrupt, tripling the value. Of the stock!

Due to this fortunate event, Ray Dalio believed that the game of buying and selling stocks was an easy one.

A little later, and after many mistakes, he realized that there is nothing easy about investments. Over time he began to see his mistakes as puzzles he had to solve.

Whenever he solved a new puzzle, Ray Dalio wrote down the solution in principle form to use later as he progressed in his career. Today, he is one of the richest men in the world.

Attitude 3: Not adapting to the market — Gary Vaynerchuk

Although the topic is controversial, there is no escaping it. Change, no matter how much you deny it, happens every day in our lives. For us entrepreneurs, the case is even more serious.

If you refuse to adapt, your idea is soon overtaken by your competitors. In one of his stories, Vaynerchuk comments on how he used his persistence and his ease in adapting to change to excel in digital media.

Basically, there was a time when Facebook quietly accepted receiving direct links from Youtube itself in its posts.

The problem is that the change in its algorithm started penalizing content producers who did this, being less distributed to their respective followers.

While many people complained about the action, Gary Vaynerchuk saw that Mark Zuckerberg’s social media would not back down, so he soon adopted the practice of uploading his videos on the platform itself.

As a result, he saw his audience grow again, while other influencers were slow to accept the inevitable, becoming a real competitive advantage.

The lesson we can take away is, whether in your own business or strategies using social media, the rules are dynamic. What works today may not work tomorrow. And you must be prepared to deal with this.

Every day new technologies appear on the market, it is up to you to know how to seize the moment and get ahead of your competitors. So, are you prepared for this?

Attitude 4: Becoming a prisoner of your regrets — Richard Branson

Richard Branson has shared in several interviews that he failed many times until he got to the level where he is now. One of the things that allowed him to become so successful was that he didn’t let himself become a prisoner of his regrets.

If you make a bad investment, learn from it quickly instead of prolonging your suffering. In your next experience, you can make better decisions.

Attitude 5: Thinking like other people — Tom Bilyeu

Relying on and acting on common sense without questioning it. The herd effect, you know?

Being able to see what others don’t see gives you power. To think differently from other people, you need to learn to identify the social conditioning you are targeted by.

Something certainly to keep in mind is that if you perform the actions of most people, you will get the results that they have. And most people don’t know how to manage their finances.

Keeping your distance from an ignorant person is equivalent to being in the company of a wise man. — Ali ibne Abi Talibe

Final Thought

Our attitude toward life determines what we are and have. If the attitudes mentioned so far have kept you on a low income, it is in your hands to change them.

Having financial freedom or being held hostage by low income is a consequence of our habits.

So choose to have financial freedom.

Change it. It’s not easy, but it is possible.

It will take time, but the sooner you start, the sooner you will see results.

Talk more about finances with your family, read more books, articles, theses, researches, and texts about the subject, and, mainly, subscribe to my newsletter, it’s free because with it you will learn to think outside the box.

If you’re interested in learning more personally from the likes of Paulo Jose and others, remember to sign up for the waitlist of The Void (it’s free!)