Читать книгу The Barefoot Investor - Scott Pape - Страница 14

These are all excuses. Every single one of them.

You can live the rest of your life with excuses about your lot — most people do — but they sure as hell won't protect you from the financial fire that's eventually going to work its way to you.

There are people who've sat where you are right now — with their self-confidence shot and with very little money or prospects — and they have singlehandedly clawed back control over their money and their life.

And you're going to meet some of them.

In this book, I'm going to introduce you to:

 a working-class couple who were convinced they'd left it too late … and got themselves on track to retire with a million-dollar nest egg

 a young man who doubled his money … and built his legacy

 a young woman who clawed her way out from under tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt … and then helped her mother do the same

 a grief-stricken widow who was left in dire straits … who went on to put all her kids through private school

 a single woman who bought her (capital city, non-dogbox) home all on her very own … no man was part of her financial plan

 a mother whose husband's parting words were, ‘You'll never survive financially without me’ … who proved the jerk wrong.

They're people like you — just without the excuses.

The truth hurts, right?

It's kind of like when you see a picture of yourself on Facebook and think, ‘Who's that fat bastard?’

When you're a bit flabby, there's no denying it. You know it. Your kids know it. You can't hide it. It's there on display for everybody to see and judge.

But it's the opposite when it comes to money. It's easy to hide your financial flab from the world.

I've found that it's often the most financially flabby people who appear to look the fittest. They can have a McMortgaged McMansion, a leased Lexus and a maxed-out platinum credit card, and you'd never know that behind closed doors they're the financial equivalent of pudgy North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.

No-one knows that they're walking around with the financial equivalent of cankles.

At least if you've got a muffin top you've got the motivation to buy an Ab King Pro on a late-night infomercial, or sign up for Light n’ Easy.

But if you look like you have a financial sixpack, you've got zero motivation to change. And that's why most people never do.

Facing up to the fact that you're not as successful or sorted as you tell yourself you are — or as your family and friends believe you to be — takes guts. It's like standing butt-naked in front of the mirror and looking at your gut. Stripped of your clothes, and excuses, there's no-one to blame but yourself for the situation you're in. You made your decisions. You decided to let yourself cruise.

That's the alpaca kick right there: seeing your situation for what it really is and having the courage to change it.

Success isn't found in the eyes of others: buying things you don't need, with money you don't have, to impress people you won't know in 20 years' time.

True and lasting success is knowing deep in your bones that you have the freedom to tread your own path in life, and the ability to protect those you love.