Blog | Personal Finance

The Quitter Generation?

Financial Freedom Comes with How You Handle Adversity

Are we training our kids today to be quitters? Are we teaching them when a tough problem arises or when things don’t go as planned, to simply quit?

How often in your life would you like a “do-over”? “Wow, I really screwed up on that, I think I’ll take a do-over and start again.” Wouldn’t that be handy?

Enter the “reset button”. Many of the video games you and your kids are playing come equipped with a reset button. When you’re about to lose, can’t figure out how to get to the next level, or the solution to the puzzle takes too much brain power, what do you do? You hit the reset button – you quit and start again. The reset button makes quitting easy… over and over and over.

Are we programming our kids to accept quitting as an acceptable answer to life’s problems?

“Children who learn to bounce back and not let setbacks get them down have gained a valuable skill for life,” says Michele Borba, psychologist and author of the Today.com article, “How Not to Raise a Quitter. “If our children are to succeed in this competitive world, they must learn to hang in there and not quit.”

We all know there is no reset button in real life, so what happens when life kicks you in the butt? We all have different coping mechanisms, ways to handle adversity, stress and challenges. Quitting is not a way to cope. It is a way to avoid and run away from your problems. It’s a way to not be accountable for your life. And it’s not the way to obtain financial freedom.

It’s handling the pressures, the difficulties and the setbacks that make you who you are.

Triumphing against bad odds is invaluable. Overcoming great obstacles makes you stronger and smarter. How one handles adversity determines a person’s level of success in life.

Do you take it on, create new solutions and face your fears… or do you reach for the reset button that, oh I forgot, doesn’t exist in real life. Now you’re really screwed.

How do you keep on going when you want to quit? Please let me know below.

And if you need help overcoming your fears, dealing with adversity and more to reach your financial freedom, check out the free, financial education resources here.

Original publish date: February 16, 2012