When it comes to your life, dreaming big is a good thing. However, it also comes with a lot of unwelcomed opinions from others. They may call themselves realist, but let’s be honest, they are just dream killers.
When it comes to your finances, don’t be afraid to have lofty goals too — dreaming big with your money is also a good thing. Don’t be afraid to desire goals that go against the norm. Having big goals and taking baby steps to reach them is much better than staying stagnant in your financial situation for years and years.
Here’s how to deal with the financial dream killers in your life.
1. Ignore the Dream Killers
There will always be negative people in your life. It’s best to just ignore them.
For example; my husband and I have set the lofty goal of being completely debt-free and mortgage-free at the age of 35, which is in ten years. We’ve received a lot of comments about it. Well-meaning family members and friends have told us everything from, “It’s good to have debt” to “It can’t be done. That’s a stupid idea”. Many times we have been urged to buy things we don’t need, such as a new car, cable, or sending my toddler to preschool. But we don’t agree with this because we have other priorities.
Here’s the thing when it comes to your financial goals. They are your goals, no one else’s. Therefore, it should not matter how many naysayers you have. We live in times where it’s so ludicrous to be debt-free, and live well under your means, that when you tell others you want to live that way, it makes no sense to them.
2. Don’t Try to Change Their Minds
I have one brother-in-law who thinks it’s wise to get a new car every three years because having a car loan is actually a better financial decision. It’s much easier to let him have his opinion, and nice, new car because this is his opinion. I can enjoy the benefits of my seven-year-old car that doesn’t have a payment attached to it, because that’s my preference.
When it comes to your personal financial goals, it’s not worth changing people’s minds or arguing over it, especially when it only affects you and your money.
When I wrote about refinancing my home to a 15-year loan, some people felt quite strongly that we were making the wrong decision, and insisted we should have stayed at a 30-year loan.
In the end though, my opinion was really the only one that mattered since the financial decision I make only affects me — not them. You can apply this same principal to your life. Opinions come in so frequently that it’s a complete waste of time to pay attention to them.
And if you think people want to express their ideas about your financial decisions, just wait until you have a new baby, and watch the opinions start pouring in by the truckload.
3. Focus on Your Actions
Whatever your financial goals may be, actions will always speak louder than words. Do you want to show your family that you can be debt-free, or be wise with your money? Then set up goals and action steps to complete them. Turn your goals into actions and your actions into completion.
A great place to start is reading through the archives of this blog, or the book Dream Save Do by Warren and Betsy Talbot.
Remember, in the end, these goals are yours. If you set a high goal and only complete half of it by your deadline, then you still made much more progress than if you didn’t set any goals to begin with.
In the end, be your biggest cheerleader and don’t rely on the approval of others for any financial wins.
