Feel hopeless with money? You might be in the ‘messy middle’

They say that starting is the hard part, but I disagree, starting is the easy part. Starting your investing journey? Starting the process of fixing your finances? Starting, in these contexts, is exciting.

You’re learning – reading books, listening to podcasts. You’re immersed in a whole new world. Sure, it’s overwhelming, but that’s also part of the fun. Then, you hit the middle. You aren’t a beginner any more.

Long-lasting wealth is built not from the thrill of the chase, or the excitement of reaching new highs, but from the quiet conviction to keep going through it all.Credit: Simon Letch.

You’ve made some progress, but you thought you’d be further ahead by now. Furthermore, you’ve been taking action, but you’re not getting the big results you see others getting.

Doubt starts replacing excitement. Are you cut out for this? Frustration starts to replace fun. Why isn’t it working? Fatigue starts to replace adrenaline. Maybe you should just give up.

This is the hard part. You’re past the beginner gains, the early wins. Progress feels slow. The tools that got you here – hustle, effort, enthusiasm, more research – aren’t moving you forward.

This stage isn’t about more financial tips, tools or tactics. It’s about upgrading your mental and emotional capacity. The core principles of making and growing money stay the same.

It can be tempting to make the mistake of continuing to look for the next ‘high’.

What changes at every level is the mental and emotional game: your ability to make bigger moves and recover from set-backs, your risk tolerance etc.

Here are some of the strategies that will help you through the “messy middle”:

Strengthen your staying power

By this point, you’ve probably encountered some set-backs. You’re a little war torn.

Maybe you lost some money along the way, or followed some not-great advice. Perhaps you’ve just been trying unsuccessfully, for what feels like forever.

This can take a toll. It’s difficult to keep trying, when you’ve been trying for so long – with minimal progress. It’s hard to take another leap of faith – when you’ve been burned in the past.

But this is when your real journey begins. How resilient can you stay, despite setbacks? How quickly do you quit when things don’t pan out? How many times can you get back on the horse after failed attempts? How strong is your ability to stay in the game – through thick and thin?

Master the mundane

In the beginning stages, there’s a lot of opportunity for improvement – countless little tweaks that can give you big results. You get the benefit of early wins. This can be exciting.

You set up a streamlined savings system, and you’re suddenly seeing your savings grow faster than ever. You finally figure out how to create a minimal-maintenance investment portfolio, and suddenly building wealth is no longer a complicated chore that consumes your weekends.

Then, you hit a plateau. You’re no longer seeing the big growth you saw in the beginning. This is where it can be tempting to make the mistake of continuing to look for the next “high” – the next shiny strategy that will give you the big growth you experienced the first time.

ETFs too boring? Let’s try stock picking. Superannuation too streamlined? Let’s open an SMSF and create more complexity. Savings on autopilot? Let’s micromanage every dollar.

Those things aren’t inherently wrong – but they can sometimes be unnecessary busywork. The middle part of the financial journey isn’t about how many new strategies or tactics you can learn. It’s about mastering the mundane, and getting better at the same things, again and again.

Let go of comparison

Initially, you might be inspired by other people’s stories of success. They might give you the audacity to believe in what might be possible for you.

So, you start the journey with gusto. You have no reason to believe you can’t get those same results – or maybe even better. After all, you’re smart, hard-working, committed. Why not you? But months go by, and you’re nowhere close to where you thought you’d be.

Suddenly, those success stories start to feel less inspiring, and more shame-inducing. How come they could do it? What’s wrong with you? Why aren’t you further ahead?

Being inspired by other people’s successes will get you started, but focusing on your own journey and celebrating your own successes is what will keep you going.

This switch requires you to tune out the noise of what others are doing, and be on your own journey for your own sake – not for what you can show or prove to others.

You’re past the beginner’s high, and you can’t get that innocent enthusiasm back, but if you work on the mental and emotional skills to navigate the messy middle, you’ll build something deeper – a resilience and steadiness that isn’t dependent on quick wins or big results.

This is where long-lasting wealth is built – not from the thrill of the chase, or the excitement of reaching new highs, but from the quiet conviction to keep going through it all.

Paridhi Jain is the founder of SkilledSmart, which helps adults learn to manage, save and invest money through financial education courses and classes.

• Advice given in this article is general in nature and not intended to influence readers’ decisions about investing or financial products. They should always seek their own professional advice that takes into account their own personal circumstances before making any financial decisions.

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