Saying "No" to nay-sayers in your journey towards financial freedom

The road towards financial freedom is fraught with "No"-bodies
Your journey towards financial freedom is fraught with challenges, obstacles and hindrances.

Nay-sayers, negative and non-value-adding people will tease you, tempt you and taunt you to stray from your path towards financial freedom.

When you are first starting out on this journey and your savings do not even hit the $5,000 needed to open a Maybank iSavvy account that generates 1.68% interest, nay-sayers may tell you to "forget it lah", or "why save" when you only have so little. Others will ask you to "invest" in 4D, TOTO or Big Sweep for better "returns".

When you have bought your first HDB home using the concessionary loan rate of 2.6%, nay-sayers will tell you to just borrow to the max and use the surplus CPF/Cash to "invest" not telling you the true picture that your interest expenses typically exceed whatever returns from risk-free investments you can make and omit telling you that you can lose 100% of your capital for risky punts in the stock, foreign currency or commodities markets.

When you are financially more secure, nay-sayers will tell you why be so thrifty with yourself because you can never tell if something bad will happen to you tomorrow so let's make merry and live for TODAY!

You determine if you want to listen to nay-sayers or to your own convictions
Nay-sayers will tell you 101 reasons why you can never achieve financial freedom. You have to decide if you want to give in to them or listen to your own convictions. I have encouraged you to find what is YOUR motivation that keeps you to the path towards financial freedom. Your reasons are yours alone to determine and the strength of your personal convictions and beliefs about the WHYs for doing something is a powerful motivator.

For me, the driving force behind my journey towards financial freedom is the ability to run my own little business in my own way and not have to worry about my paycheck that is determined in a large part by being an obedient employee executing decisions sometimes by clueless bosses who think they are better than you. This dream of being financially free so that I do not have to depend on the paycheck serves as my personal motivator.

In addition, I want to bequeath to my daughter a legacy from her father of being financially free from an early age. She will have to work for her future but I want her to grow up in an environment where she is made aware of the possibilities that financial freedom can bring to her in her life's choices.

In your individual journeys towards financial freedom, who are the people that hinder you from living within your means, saving and investing and living a life that allows you to move closer to financial freedom? Why do they have such a hold on your thoughts, beliefs and views?

Are you able to break free and not think too much about "face" and "image" of how others see you?

Your financial freedom, your rules!

Be well and prosper.