There is something you hear whenever you start doing something successfully that other people haven’t done or aren’t doing. It doesn’t really seem to matter what it is you’re doing, the people you tell will volunteer why it can’t be done.
Yoga? “That’s not for me, I’m not flexible enough. I find it really uncomfortable.”
Vegetarianism? “I couldn’t do it, I just love eating meat. I guess it’s good for you, but…”
Minimalism? “But I love buying a ton of stuff I don’t need and surrounding myself with it so I can’t see a single flat surface. It’s cosy.”
Saving? “Now you’re just being crazy. I don’t have enough money to get by today and now you’re telling me to save? That’s all very well for you, but I don’t have enough money to cover my basics, let alone save any.”
Sound familiar? These arguments are very common and do a couple of bad things. First, they reinforce to the person saying them that their current choices are right, even if they know they’re wrong and are damaging their lives. Second, they undermine the confidence of the person making the change, making them feel bad about being different, making it feel easier to give up and re-join typical group behaviour.
If you pursue MISSION25X, you’ll probably hear something similar during your progress:
- “I don’t have time to do a side-gig.”
- “I can’t live in a cheaper apartment, it’s too… (far/small/old-fashioned)”
- “You’re wasting your time saving. Live for today, that’s what I say.”
- “There’s too many scams out there to bother with investing.”
- “25X can’t be the answer for everyone. Some people need more.”
- “Not everybody can save that much. You shouldn’t tell people stuff like this when it’s not possible for everyone.”
And I get it. There really are people who can’t follow MISSION25X. I just think that for every one person who really can’t, there are more than a thousand saying they can’t – and I bet you find that will be true on your MISSION too. In fact, I’d change that to “for every two people who really can’t”, because I think there are two types of people that really do struggle with this.
We should be prepared to accept the argument from people who spend on nothing but the most basic food, cheap accommodation, and maybe some healthcare.
If they’re skinny non-drinkers with three shirts, a couple of changes of clothes no known vices and a total cheap-freak – and they still tell us they can’t save, we should accept the argument from them. Fair enough. We should probably think about helping them out.
But if they’ve got a social life, a smartphone, a food preference, a beer belly, some spare time, a favourite restaurant, a favourite drink, a wardrobe full of clothes, an unhealthy habit of any kind, holiday plans abroad, things they really want for Christmas, the occasional feeling that they “deserve it”, the pizza delivery number lodged in their head, something that they consider a “must-have” when they know it’s a “want”, an online shopping website in their browsing history, novelty stuff they bought for giggles, a drawer full of old gadgets they never used that will soon be full of the gadgets they are buying today and not using, a Starbucks loyalty card, or in fact, any loyalty card, sneakers that are twice the price they could have paid, but they liked those ones more, or, let’s face it, any of the things that all of us have deliberately tucked away somewhere we can’t see them because we don’t use them and never did, which we bought with money that could have been saved – then we shouldn’t accept that argument from them.
I’m not saying we fight with them. There’s no point. Our truth doesn’t work for them, but equally their truth doesn’t work for us, either. Let’s just know they’re wrong and move on.
The other person we should accept the argument from is someone who cannot point to a single person they know who lives on less than them.
Sometimes it is where we are, where we live and the things we have to do in the places we live that cost so much, and I accept that… but now they think we’re on their side, let’s make them look around harder.
Is there really no one living on less than them? Are there any migrant workers living on the tightest of allowances because they send everything home? Are there no old people around who shuffle down to the shop first thing in the morning, and then do who-knows-what the rest of the day, making their tiny pension stretch as far as it can? The people in the lowest, lowest paid jobs… the people with no jobs… what do they do? How do they get by?
If we have some empathy, if we put ourselves in their shoes, imagine their lives, and then imagine how they would view ours. There are things in our lives, no matter how simple or common-place we think they are that they would view as extra-luxurious. There are things we take for granted other people dream about.
If we are genuinely talking to one of those two groups of people, someone who really has no extras in life and they can point to no one else who lives on less than them – we should accept that they can’t do this. We should offer them our deepest sympathy, or maybe something more meaningful, and see how we can help them.
Direct them to sites like this where they can learn how to budget, save and invest so that one day, when they hopefully have more money than they do today, they don’t waste it, they make it count. There’s plenty of free information here which will get them started…
For everyone else, it isn’t impossible: it’s just hard.
There are things they have and do today that they don’t want to give up, which is fair – but that doesn’t make it impossible. There are things that feel like necessities, but they aren’t really. There are probably things they do for other people (parents, kids, significant others) that they want to keep on doing.
All of these things are choices. All of these things are choices they are used to making.
That they choose to do these things, whether it is give to charity or buy a drink in the pub rather than save, doesn’t make them a bad person. It’s their choice and a valid choice. We wouldn’t be free if we couldn’t make choices.
Recognising it as a choice is essential, though, because choices aren’t forever. Choices aren’t “impossible” to change. We can change our minds about a choice.
We don’t have to continue choosing to drink alcohol forever. One day we may choose to stop drinking, or drink less, saving the difference (and being slimmer too!)
We don’t have to continue choosing to eat out in restaurants once a week, on our date night: we might find an alternative idea. (My wife and I found an evening walk in the park was just as good a way of chatting as drinking a bottle of wine over Italian food).
Whatever you have chosen now, you may choose differently in future. The thing you choose to do today that means you don’t have any money left to save, you may choose to do differently in the future, and free up some money to save.
So when people tell you what you’re doing is not possible, remember it’s our choices that are making it possible for us, and their choices making it impossible for them.