Common mistakes that are made in the pursuit of wealth creation.

There are many ways to create wealth in this world. In fact, the ways are only limited to one's imagination. However, there are a few things that can actually stifle wealth creation and you must be aware of these, otherwise your best laid plans will fail, or at best, may trip you up severely.

The below mistakes are not in any particular order, and they are not a complete list. I'm sure you will be able to add your own points to this list based on your own experience and observations!

1. Do NOT spread yourself too thin - It is easy to come up with ideas that you think you want to try with regard creating a business, investing opportunities and options, marketing strategies etc etc. However, it is much more productive and effective to focus on what works and just keep repeating the same strategy. Adding other things onto your already full plate, just dilutes the effort that goes into what is already actually working and, as a result, efficiency and effectiveness is lost - sometimes to the point of not being able to recover. If, for example, you decide to be an investor in the stock market, then be the best you can be, stay focussed and do it well. Do not spread yourself thin by trying to invest in residential property, commecial property, starting a business, Property development etc. Focus on what works and do it well.

2. Wealth creation and Life are team sports - Few people actually do well in their financial sphere as well as their family sphere . Those that manage to do well in both, realise that they cannot do it alone and need the support of their spouse/partner. For this to happen, there must be absolute trust between you and your partner and team. Never allow anything to jeopardize the trust, because so much energy needs to go into repairing relationships, and the relationships often never return to the state they used to be.

3. Do NOT listen to what people say, just look at what they do - People will lie to you, but their actions do not. Nobody can act in opposition to what they believe in their heart. You will need to trust others, just be sure to pick the right people to trust.

4. Complacency and worrying what others think - The day you believe your own PR, the day you believe you are superior to others and start acting accordingly will be the day you start your downward slide. The successful did not become successful by worrying about others opinions. Do NOT worry about being "followed" on social media, this in itself is a huge distraction which will waste your time, your focus and subsequently your effectiveness in wealth creation. Screw what others think, and just do it FOR YOU and YOUR FAMILY!

5. Learning is never ending - The world changes around us. Since the begining of time, mankind has had to adapt to changes. Today, changes happen faster than ever, so you need to keep up your education and stay abreast of what is new and relevant to what you want to achieve. The day you stop learning is the day you start going backwards.

6. There's no such thing as an overnight success - Speak to anyone that has achieved any form of success, and you will find they have been working to achieve that success for many years. People think that it is "overnight" because they only just recognised that person's success just recently.

7. There is no such thing as a fast money making scheme - Speak to any wealthy person and you will discover that their wealth took years to attain. The longer wealth takes to get to you, the longer that you will retain it. If money comes to you quickly, it will leave you just as quickly - that's why the majority of lottery winners and people that have received an inheritance are most often broke within a couple of years after their winfall.

8. Failing to become an expert - I created wealth by focussing on industrial/commercial property investment and my business. I spent many hours working on both in order to become proficient enough to do well. These were my strengths, and I was lucky enough to learn that one must focus on their strengths in order to succeed. Every time I strayed into something different that I had no expertise in, I failed, and that is how I learned.

9. Failing to learn the lesson - A successful person has failed many many times. Failing does not guarantee success... but learning the lessons from your failures does guarantee success. In everyting you do, "you must either win or you must learn".

10. Giving up - Too many people have failed by giving up just before success comes to them. Be committed, be passionate, never stop learning, stay focussed, adjust your plans/strategy if you must, but never give up. Do not try to succeed... just succeed. As Yoda once said "Do, or Do Not... there is no Try"

11. Life is a bully and will try to beat you - Life's lessons come at you hard sometimes. Life will beat you and kick you until you drop. What many fail to to realise is that you need to treat life like you would any bully.... get back up on your feet and hit back. Never let any bully (Life included) beat you. Hit back at life's harshness, and like all bullies, life will eventually get tired of you fighting back and will leave you alone to find an easier target to bully. If you can handle bullies, you will enjoy the success in whatever endeavour you pursue.

12. Life's lessons MUST be learned. As per point 11 above, life will give you harsh lessons throught your life. Life's lessons are a real and "living" thing, they are a constant thing, they are tough, and must be learned BEFORE life will then allow you to have the rewards that follow the lesson. Your job is to not let life beat you. Your job is to get back on your feet after every setback and evaluate what lesson life was trying to teach you. Once life decides that you have learned the lesson and passed, you will be allowed to move forwards and receive your reward. The lessons get harder but with each lesson, the rewards get bigger too. Never give up learning life's lessons.

13. Being wealthy is not about money, it's about time. Remember why you started on your journey in the first place - Having a shed load of money and no time to enjoy it is NOT wealth. Having money that works for you, that generates passive income and as such, freeing up your time, is what being wealthy is about. Money without the time to enjoy it is pointless, and having lots of time without the money to enjoy that time is pointless also... you need both - do you understand?

14. Don't lose focus on what is important - When chasing your wealth goals, remember why you started in the first place. If your reason for starting your wealth journey was to make life better for your family (for example), then also work to be sure you still have a family when you finally reach your wealth goal. Neglecting and destroying your family while working to create wealth defeats the reason why you started in the first place!

15. Focus on your strengths, NOT your weaknesses - Many people try to do everything themselves and fail as a result. I know this, because I did it myself. My strengths are in business, sales, investing and logic. My weaknesses are in attention to detail (mundane things such as tax, accounting etc), dealing with the day-to-day business chores. So.... once I came to terms with the above, I focussed on what I did best, and had someone else do what I am hopeless at and that is when I started to make real profits in my business and investments. Truth be told, however, it was hard to let go of the things I sucked at, but it needed to be done - that way, I focussed on the money making side of the business. Trust me when tell you that if someone tells you that you need to work on your weaknesses in order to strengthen them, stop listening to them! Let's face it... Henry Ford did not do his own accounts, he did not do the engineering drawings nor did he do the assembly work on the car manufacturing line! Henry Ford was a visionary, that was what he was great at and what he focussed on - and that's why he created such a huge and successful business and personal wealth.

16. Never let your pride stop you from asking for help or advice - Personally, I am a pretty "open book" kind of guy. I know that I don't know everything, as such, I am always happy to seek the input/advice of those that I think know more than I do. I have asked questions and sought advice from all kinds of people. I have friends and relatives who have close family resources and have failed to seek their thoughts or advice because they were either too proud or too blind to see what was in front of them. It amazes me to no end, that people are too proud to seek advice from those that have the answers. It also amazes me that I have friends and relatives that know that I am very comfortable and yet have never sought my opinion or advice on financial matters - I'm unsure if it is pride or ignorance. What people fail to understand is that successful people are more than happy to help others become successful by passing on their knowledge and advice.... sadly, very few people actually ask for help and doom themselves to do things the hard way or fail miserably. Don't be one of those people.

I can sit here and add so many more points, but that is not the aim of this post. The aim is to get you thinking of the things that may possibly trip you up on your journey so you can avaid them or at least be better capable of recognising and handling them before they stifle your dreams completely.