One of the biggest factors separating people who struggle with their finances and those who are successful is patience.
It goes something like this. After years of living paycheque to paycheque, someone who is struggling decides they’re going to finally start saving money. So they consult various sources compiled by experts, make a budget, and start getting serious about saving.
But after a whole month of watching their pennies, packing their lunch everyday, and various other sacrifices, they only end up with a couple hundred dollars. It doesn’t take a math genius to figure out that it takes a long time for $200 per month to add up to serious money.
So they quit, and go back to struggling to make ends meet.
For most people, getting ahead isn’t easy. It takes regular commitment. It definitely takes sacrifice. And perhaps most importantly, it takes a whole new mindset. Instead of looking at the short-term, focus more on the long-term.
Or in other words, don’t look at it as only $200 per month. Look at each $200 stuck into savings as being worth thousands of dollars after decades of compound interest. Increasing savings to $300 per month might seem like a small win today, but it’ll really start to pay off in the future.
For every get rich quick success story like Mark Zuckerberg, there are millions of people who are just chugging away, slowly increasing their savings rate. Your chances of being the next Zuckerberg are incredibly remote. It’s much easier to slowly get wealthy. It just might take a little longer.
