Are You Blaming the Wrong Thing?

Identifying the real problem makes it easier to solve money woesIt’s pretty common to blame the wrong thing for financial troubles, a lack of fulfillment, or even just the inability to get ahead.

I know, because I’ve been guilty of it too.

A classic example

A classic example often happens when working on getting out of debt.

“If only the interest rates weren’t so high!” we think.

Or, “By the time I get done paying all my bills, there’s nothing left to put toward debt. How am I ever going to dig my way out when something always comes up?”

Common thoughts, right?

The real problem

The real problem, though, isn’t high interest rates or the amount of money we pay out each month.

The real problem is that we decided to borrow money, time after time, instead of saying “no” or “not right now” when we wanted something but didn’t have the cash.

It’s that we mistook being able to “afford the payments” for being able to afford the item and any associated costs.

When we blame the wrong things like that, we miss out on opportunities to change that could turn our lives around.

We feel powerless instead of powerful.

It doesn’t have to be that way

But we can get the things we want. We do have the power.

Work on the things you can control — your daily behaviors and decisions — instead of talking about the things you can’t.

Because even if all the debt you had today was magically switched to 0% interest, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference until you changed, too.

So go ahead, change your actions — a little bit at a time — and then see the kind of magic that can follow.