Three reasons your finances feel ‘too hard’ to tackle

When I mention that I help people learn how to manage their finances, I often meet discomfort – the discomfort of being reminded of that item on your to-do list that you never seem to get around to, but you know you should.

I’ve found that avoidance is one of the most common reasons people struggle to make progress on their financial goals. You want to, but somehow can’t bring yourself to do it.

Avoidance is a common reason why people procrastinate acting on their financial goals.Credit: Simon Letch

If you’re like most people I’ve talked to, you’ve tried. You’ve tried budgeting templates. You’ve forced yourself to sit down and open your bank account, only to be flooded with anxiety. You open your letters – superannuation notices, bills, statements – but you don’t know what to do with them.

It feels too hard, too complicated, too stressful. So you do nothing. You tell yourself you’ll do it later – you’re too busy right now. You tell yourself there’s no point because you don’t earn enough so why bother trying. You stay stuck in research mode and analysis paralysis so you can avoid deciding.

Of course, you know this isn’t helping. You get locked into a lose-lose situation. It’s too stressful to do anything, but the more you do nothing, the more stressed you get.

I want to unpack some of the real reasons you get stuck in financial avoidance because it’s not a simple matter of laziness or irresponsibility. Identifying the root cause of why you’re not taking action is the first step towards progress.

You’re scared of getting it wrong

While many think that avoidance is a sign you don’t care, in reality you might care too much.

You might be so scared of making a mistake that it feels safer to do nothing than something. If this is you, you might get stuck in analysis paralysis, spending months or years researching options but unable to pull the trigger.

To tackle this, you want to start developing more awareness around why you’re so scared of making mistakes in the first place. Why do you put so much pressure on yourself?

If you did make a little mistake, what do you think the consequences would be, and do you not think you could handle the consequences? Start to get curious about why you don’t give yourself room to be a mere mortal human who learns by making mistakes sometimes.

Your finances make you feel inadequate, ashamed or guilty

Sometimes, it’s emotionally easier to avoid it than face reality. If you had to face your financial situation, how would that make you feel? Would you feel guilty for not having tackled it earlier? Or embarrassed by your choices?

Would you feel shame or regret over past mistakes? Or do you feel a little stupid for not understanding the complicated jargon? For many, the greatest obstacle to facing their finances is not the lack of technical know-how but the emotional resistance that stops them from starting.

How do you get past this? You have to accept and process the emotional baggage, most of which comes from a lack of acceptance – we resist accepting reality as it is today. It feels too painful.

But acceptance doesn’t mean that there is no possibility for change. When you can accept the situation as it is right now, and with compassion for yourself, that takes a lot of the emotional resistance out of it.

Now, the situation will no longer trigger the intensity of negative emotion that is causing you to use procrastination as a coping mechanism.

You don’t have a future vision that inspires you

What stops many people from taking action is they don’t have a compelling reason to change. Maybe your reality feels too dismal and hopeless, perhaps you’ve tried and failed before and that wore you out, and possibly you just don’t have a vision of the future that feels exciting.

Whatever the reason, if you don’t have something exciting and compelling to work towards, it’s going to be hard for you to muster the energy to take action. Change is uncomfortable. In many ways, it’s easier to just continue as things are. You need something big enough to outweigh the discomfort of change to get you moving.

If you’re stuck in financial avoidance, take a break from forcing yourself to take action. Instead, start by understanding the reasons why you’re procrastinating in the first place.

What are the underlying fears, stories and emotions that hold you back? When you address those, you’ll find that taking action feels a lot easier and requires less force and effort.

Paridhi Jain is the founder of SkilledSmart which helps adults learn to manage, save and invest their 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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