Most people are good at only a handful of things; and mediocre to utterly miserable at the rest.
All our lives we are told to improve ourselves by working on our weaknesses. But when it comes to Financial Independence (FI), I have found this approach to be counterproductive.
There are many ways to achieve financial independence. You can start a side hustle or invest in real estate. You can save more, re-skill yourself to get a higher-paying job, invest in stocks, start your own business, etc.
No one is good at all of these things. But chances are you are great in one or two of these areas. So focus on those.
Me? I am not good at entrepreneurship, real estate, etc. But I am good at saving money.
So instead of trying to work on my weaknesses, I focused on my strength. And I’ve been able to achieve financial independence by doing just that.
It is far more fun to leverage your strengths than by trying to fix weaknesses that will, at best, become mediocre.
Focusing on your strengths helps you notch up wins. As you go along the wins become bigger. Every year, I try to increase my savings rate by not falling for lifestyle inflation.
Focusing on strengths doesn’t mean neglecting weaknesses altogether! It is important to maintain a baseline level of competence in other areas. For example, if you are great at real estate investing, you should still make sure you have a decent savings rate. Otherwise, all the money you earn through real estate will be spent and you will be no closer to your FI dream.
Don’t be a jack of all trades, be the master of some…
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