after more than a decade immersed in finance from a finance degree and an accountancy qualification to spending nine years in banking one of the best skills I Learned was how to spot the true markers of wealth so in this video I wanted to share with you six eye openening reasons while you might feel like you're always playing catch up with your finances or dive into the truth behind that feeling and most importantly how to use that feeling to your advantage let's get into it number one you're making upward comparisons there's upward comparisons where we look
at people who seem to have more they might have more money a fancier car a more luxurious lifestyle and then there's downward comparison where we compare ourselves to people who appear less fortunate or successful we as humans and I admit this too find it so much easier and we're naturally wired to compare upwards but here's the thing a lot of what we see when we look up is Just an Illusion and the financial Mo that looks so enticing is usually carefully curated many people use tools and structures that make their lives and finances look far
more impressive than they really are for instance say you and a friend both decide to budget 500 a month for your cars you choose to buy a decent mid-range car on a 5year finance by the end of those 5 years you would have paid off the car and it's yours valued at around 20,000 on the other hand your friend leases a car for the same 500 a month their car looks much nicer and for 36 months they get to drive around a new shiny car but Once the lease is up they've spent 188,000 and have
to return the car with nothing to show for it same concept applies to credit card debt in the UK 38% of people carry credit card debt and in the US is about 44% many of these people fall under the debt revolver category meaning they only make the minimum payments on the credit card balances each month the debt keeps rolling over month after month making it a cycle that's hard to break as they continue spending debt is one way of creating a facade of wealth it's easy to look at someone else's shiny new stuff and feel
like they're ahead but often It's actually an illusion of them living beyond their means the comparisons that really matter are with those who look at investing for their future look at people who put their money into personal growth education skills these Investments might not be as flashy or visible but they increase a person's future value and reduce their future obligations it's a more grounded and fulfilling approach to personal finance number two you don't know what you stand for We compare ourselves more often when we don't know what we stand for although we're talking about finances
this applies to every aspect of your life if you're constantly focused on what other people have what they're doing you're always going to feel like you're falling behind and I'll give you an example when I was about to quit my job at the time all of my closest friends were climbing up the corporate ladder getting promoted or pushing for middle management roles a lot of them were buying their forever homes as they were stepping into the next chapter of their lives whereas I was taking a huge step back I decided to completely change what I
was was doing to study learn grow in a completely different direction and although part of me was really scared I didn't feel at all like I was missing out I knew that the direction I was going in was going to make me so much happier and in hindsight I was 100% right because now I get to do this every day whereas in a parallel world had I let that comparison control me and not known what I truly value and what matters to me I'd be in a completely different place far less fulfilling for me when
it comes to your finances knowing what you stand for and forming your own perspective is unbelievably important because if you don't align your spending with what truly makes you happy you're always going to feel like you're lagging behind you might find that you have joy in getting the latest upgrades or designed clothes and that's perfectly fine or like me you might find more value and experiences like travel investing in learning starting a business I might not have the newest phone or the trendiest wardrobe but I'm content because my spending reflects what matters to me and
that doesn't mean I'm locked into these choices forever I can always change my mind and realign with new values you might not have everything that your peers do but you'll have what you genuinely value and that's far more fulfilling number three you aren't learning this concept is my favorite on the list because transforming how I compare myself to others has been life-changing instead of letting the question why does this person make more money bring me down I ask how are they achieving this this shift turns Envy into curiosity and growth we often think others have
it all figured out especially when they seem wealthier or more successful and it's easy to believe that they're just lucky or they have advantages that we don't for years I was skeptical about people making money online I couldn't see how it was possible to make a living from it but my perspective completely changed when I started learning and actually speaking to these same people I learned they weren't just creating content they were building Brands connecting deeply With Their audience diversifying their income streams they were thinking outside the box in ways that I had never considered
and this is something that comparison can only offer when viewed through the lens of learning and growth and the same goes through investing when I talk about investing or an 8% return a lot of the comments are like how do you get an 8% return no bank is paying 8% interest at the moment you're right it's not but I'm not talking about keeping your money in a bank account the S&P 500 has returned on average over 10% over the last 100 years across any 20-year holding period the annual return has always been at least 4%
apart from during the worst market crash in history and in 79% of the time the annual return was 8% or more and in 59% of instances that annual return was 10% or more when you just take some time to learn about what someone else is saying and where it's coming from and understand how they're getting there your perspective and your growth trajection completely changes by the way if you do want to feel less stressed and more confident with your finances than ever before I'm hosting a completely free master class we cover where you need to
put your money on payday and in what order how to craft a budget that actually works and what to invest in to get consistent returns completely free if you want to check check it out link is in the bio number four you're forgetting the tradeoffs have you ever looked at someone else's success and thought wow they really have it all I know I have and it's so easy to see someone thriving and assume they've got everything perfectly sorted out but we often don't see the personal sacrifices they've made to get there or the ones that
they're still making to keep it all together we miss the late nights the Miss family moments the doubts they've had to overcome take spending habits as an example you might see someone jetting off to an exotic location and wonder how can they afford that what you don't see are the sacrifices they're making elsewhere to be able to afford that perhaps they live in a modest home they drive an older car they skip out on new clothes because traveling is the thing that brings them Joy when you get to know people better or you look at
their lives holistically you often realize that their sacrifices might not be the ones that you'd want to make understanding this helps you stop comparing your best moments to theirs because you recognize that their struggles might be incomparable to your own number five you're following the wrong SE when it feels like everyone around you is more successful or has more money it's easy to fall into a trap of competition but collaboration can take you so much further than competition ever will I've been working on something a personal project for about 4 months now and I had
almost finished it when a friend told me about a similar project that she had just seen launched online when I checked out my heart sank I felt deflated thinking I'd spent all this time and now I have to compete with someone else who has already done it and launched and had elements of it that were better than mine and I couldn't replicate I could have just treated this as competition but instead I emailed the founder told him what I do gave him a high level overview of my idea and how I think we could collaborate
and now we're working on a new product that combines both of our ideas and execution in one and this really taught me that collaboration can open doors you never knew existed many people are willing to let their guard down if you approach them with a genuine interest and a collaborative Spirit it often just takes one person to break the ice and to set aside the ego and the pride and the other person usually responds in the same way realizing that you're not out to compete but to build something better together number six you haven't focused
on you for a while when was the last time you truly looked at your spending and asked if it makes you happy it's easy to get caught up in tracking budgets and controlling expenses especially if you've been following my videos you're clearly dedicated to getting your finances on order but in the process you might have forgotten to spend on the things that bring you Joy part of the journey and getting your finances together is also about enjoying the fruits of your labor when you make room for spending on what genuinely makes you happy you start
to appreciate your financial decisions more and when you're building your own Financial confidence and you're so focused on your own path you won't have time to Envy other people or even compare to other people so this weekend take a moment for yourself treat yourself to something that brings you happiness whether it's a nice meal indulging in a hobby that you love a small treat or even sitting down to thoughtfully track your expenses for the month let it be something that enriches your life this way you'll find more joy in your own journey and less need
to compare yourself to others thank you for watching if you found this useful please share it with someone who might be feeling like they're financially behind and just needs a little reminder on how to let go of that feeling I hope to see you next week
