There is more than one way to let money block your success. You have to see it for what it is and overcome the roadblock.
No Money
The obvious example is that you have a dream to start some business venture, or perhaps to buy your own home or that boat and go sailing around the world. The one thing that is holding you back is money, or in this case a lack of it. So, you either:
- whine about how life is unfair
- give up and move on to something else
- use this as a chance to grow, and raise the money you need
- or come up with another way to get there
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Not much fun in the first two. Nobody likes a whiner, and it still leaves you blocked. If you quit, then you will set a precedent future challenges. You will be seen as a quitter and that will not help you with others who might have helped you and your dreams.
I prefer options 3 and 4 over options 1 and 2, since you do end up successfully achieving your dreams. If you can find a way to raise money, then you are developing a skill that can help you time and again to fund all your future dreams. People like successful fund raisers or rainmakers, and you will be popular. Perhaps you can then go on to the lecture circuit and sell audio programs via infomercials - hehe just kidding.
I like option 4, because it is perhaps the most creative. If you think about it, all the other options kind of accept that you NEED the money to achieve your goals, and that you can't get there any other way. With option 4, you take back the power and manifest a solution without all the money you originally thought was needed.
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Comfort Zones
Another way money can block you, or stunt your growth, is that it can provide a comfort zone that keeps you from achieving your potential. I have fallen into this trap more than once. I was building a small consulting business and I got lured into a well paying job with a predictable steady paycheck. The job then later disappears such as when the company closes its doors, and then I am left with no job and no business.
There is little security in working for a company these days. This may sound hugely negative, but you have no control over your future as an employee. Even if you do a great job and bring in profits for the company. Here are some ways the rug can be pulled out from underneath you.
- Although the company promised jobs for life, and you work long hours doing the best job you can, they sell off the division to a competitor. The competitor shuts the division down and lays everyone off.
- Mismanagement and allegations of fraud causes the company to go bankrupt.
- The company you work for is so successful due to your efforts, that it is bought out by another company. They have no idea how to manage things and within a year give up and close things down.
- You work in a division of a larger parent that is losing money. The division is expected to generate more revenue than is possible, and so the parent shuts it down.
- The parent company moves a division, and all the jobs overseas. Often it is either Bangalore or Shanghai. Either way you are out.
- The market demand for the products your employer makes suddenly goes away. Rather than come up with a new product for a new market, they close up.
- In a privately held company, you work hard to build a successful department that makes the company money. The owner's son likes what you did and the next day he is given the department to run. If you are lucky you get severance.
- You manage a sales territory and become too profitable, so the company divides your territory in half. The good half is given to your rival.
You get the idea? There is more risk these days working in a regular job. I used to do both contract and permanent jobs. To me, permanent means it is a 1-2 year contract, at a lower rate than regular contract work. A regular salary/paycheck doesn't mean anything, since it can be gone in an instant. Yet many people hang on to it.
It is not so doom and gloom. There are opportunities all around. But don't let the promise of a paycheck keep you from going after your dreams
Duncan
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