10 SERIOUS Mistakes That Are Keeping You from Making Money in 2024 (and How to Fix them)

Good morning,  lovely dreamers, and welcome to another money and life hacks related blog post here on the DoB blog!

Today we tackle another serious problem that all of us (that were not born with a silver spoon in our mouths) faced in our early 20s, and sometimes early 30s, the making money problem.

And we're not talking about minimum wage here. We're talking REAL money. BIG money. Money that can get you anywhere and anything you want. Whenever you want it.

The kind of Money that solves some problems.

Money to be free to travel, have a hobby, save, and be able to live happily without debts. All at the same time, even.

We're sure you've seen all those Instagrammers and TikTokers that travel everywhere, and are always posting their adventures from the most beautiful places out there. How do you think they did it?

https://www.youtube.com/embed/DqHbjaNsPbA

Don’t think that all of them have rich parents, or life partners to fly them from place to place like we take Ubers to go left and right. Most of them have worked to get to the point they can actually afford to go around the world, and we can bet that they all avoided today’s big no-nos!

Personally, we’ve done our fair share of travelling in the past 10 years, but it’s definitely not enough. 

It’s true since Covid hit our longest journey was the road trip to Greece and back from last September, but 2022 is just beginning. And a whole lot of new and fun adventures await.

If you’re wondering how we, and other crazy travellers like us, can afford to travel and have a good time, here are some tips:

• You need to learn how you save money, how to pay your debts,
• how to make more remotely and passively,
• and even how to become a digital nomad. 

Also, you’ll need to learn about your strengths and weaknesses as a person, and what are lifestyle areas you will need to improve:

• How to be more productive,
• How to plan your day,
• What books you should be reading,
• How to set and follow your goals.

Related:

10 EXCELLENT reasons why you should start a side hustle in 2022

How to Set Achievable Goals not New Year’s Resolutions

5+ Secrets of Making your Vision Board Actually Work

The Secret Sauce to Becoming a Digital Nomad in 2022 and beyond

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: achieving financial freedom is at the end of a long road, but it can be done. As long as you have the right map and compass, anything can be achieved.

But enough with the chit-chatting! Let’s get to it!

What NOT to do if you WANT to make money in 2022 (and beyond)

1. Waste time 

• Procrastinating 
• with "free money” phone apps and games 
• With doing all the wrong things (and all at once) 
• By spending it all only with your friends
• By just “winging it”

What to do instead:

• Learn about the different ways you can improve your work schedule and workflow, from task batching to using all the helpful tools to make office life easier (like a Daily Planner!)
• Instead of downloading and trying your luck with “free money” apps and games, that most likely will just be hard on your phone’s battery and nothing more, find that 1 side hustle that you can start and build, that will get you closer to your goals
• Instead of doing EVERYTHING all at once, please, take it one step at a time. This is how you avoid overwhelming. Start with a simple side hustle, turn that into a success, and work your way up to the next one, and the next one. Focus on doing it well, and in the long term, not on short term success (aka quick money).
• I’m not saying to dump all your friends and become an icy bitch that solely focuses on money, but you might want to spend some of your free time building relationships that can help you in your financial freedom quest, like collaborators, business partners, accountability partners and mentors.
• And last but not least, create a battle plan! Set goals and fix some milestones you want to hit on the way, make lists of steps, use tools that can make your life easier and faster.

2. Try every survey website out there 

As everyone does when they first start in their side hustle journey, you too will definitely get tempted by the vortex of survey websites that promise easy money for a few minutes of your day.

Unfortunately, these websites don’t work for everyone, and the payout is small, compared to the importance of your time. 

What to do about it:

Instead of trying to answer every survey on all the websites out there, why not trade that time for a smaller, part job? 

From freelancing jobs on sites like Fiverr, UpWork, Freelancer, where you solve problems for people that you know how to do, to Amazon Mechanical Turk Worker, where you help Amazon be better for the everyday users by performing smaller tasks, to becoming a Virtual Assistant for someone.  

This way you know that your time was spent doing something productive and being paid accordingly. You could earn anywhere from a few hundred dollars per month, to a couple of thousand dollars per month, depending on how much time you work.

3. Have only one source of income

This might be the biggest mistake everyone makes in their adulthood - sticking to one salary, and not diversifying the income portfolio. 

It’s hard to start, especially since you have no idea where to, or how to do it, but it's not impossible. 

How to build more income streams:

Step 1. Find that 1 thing you’re good at and simply love to do, apart from your day-to-today job. It can literally be anything, from writing, photography, design, and even customer service. It doesn’t have to be artistic. Your heart and your skills can do magical things when mixed together. 

Step 2. Every day you come home from work, focus on that 1 thing, and do it! There are tons of websites that can help you find the perfect job online, or teach you how to start your own thing, or how to improve on your existing skills, but if you want a more local side hustle, why not become a delivery person in your free time? Or start a blog? Or create and sell designs? Or have a local creative agency that helps other businesses?

You can do anything you wish, and all of them, as long as you start with one, focus on that for a while, and when that’s working well, add on the next, and the next. 

Also, make sure to create passive income streams as well as active ones, as those are the ones that will keep on working for you, while you sleep, eat, walk your dog, play with your cat, and travel.

Some of our favourite passive businesses include:

• Starting a money-making blog
• Becoming an Affiliate Marketing expert
• Print on Demand
• Selling eBooks
• Creating and Selling designs and design templates
• Selling stock photography

4. Spend all your free time in front of the TV or on your phone (or both)

Yup, we all do it. Funny thing is, in our culture, in Eastern Europe, the TV has a centre spot, unfortunately. Every house must have a TV, and something mind-numbingly stupid must play on it all day, every day. 

You know, so we don’t feel “alone” in the house. It’s just there, like some weird background noise machine that never gives us anything valuable, or shows us anything truly entertaining.

At least in our house, if we work, it’s either off or there’s only ambient music on, so we don’t break the focus. 

The good part is that we never watch TV channels, for us, it's more YouTube and DVD'S these days. We even gave up Netflix!

The same goes for our phones. We’re so linked to our phones now, that at the first sign of disturbance we have to check it! And we get lost in the virtual world in our hands for hours…

The worst part is the combination of the who. Who needs a zombie apocalypse when we have technology? 

How to fix it:

First thing’s first. To solve this, you have to want it. There is no other way around it. Also, having someone to keep you in check works, but make sure i’s someone impartial, or that can’t be corrupted. A true accountability partner.

And yes, it might be hard at first, especially when you have to use social media for work, for example. But it’s definitely not impossible.

Scheduling your time to work, and your time of play is crucial when it comes to technology.

5 minutes of phone fun for every hour of work is a fair trade in our house. And we usually leave the movies for the weekend, and only have 1-2 hours per day during the week. 

5. Hope for a miracle (without lifting a finger or being consistent)

It's good to be positive and yes, in some cases you do need a bit of luck, that’s for sure, BUT just wishing for treasures and another life will not happen.

Unfortunately, there’s no Genie in the bottle, no matter what way you rub it. 

In this world, you have to make your own luck. And to do that, you need to work towards that big goal of yours. 

What to do about it:

Start by being thankful for what you already have, for the ideas, and for the tools that will bring your ideas to life. Next, focus on building a timeline path towards your end goal.

Think of it as a game, with levels. You have easy levels, hard levels, and with each level, you’re closer to the treasure at the end. 

Keep a positive mind, be careful to have a balance between working and resting, avoid burnout and most importantly, celebrate every small victory. It will fuel you towards the next one, and the next.

6. Envy and blame the rich, the universe, the Gods, the Ancient Aliens 

On the opposite pole, there’s a cave of negative emotions, filled with envy, blame, and even anger towards not just the more fortunate, but everything and everyone.

And yes, even if it looks easier to just go there than to keep your spirits up, especially when you’re only at the beginning of your financial road, keep in mind that making yourself miserable because others are further in their journey than you will only make YOU worse. No one else. So why waste time and energy being negative?

What to do instead:

Learn whatever you can from the people that are where you want to be. Read their books, watch their TED talks, listen to their podcasts, and follow in their footsteps.

Learning from other people’s mistakes and successes is how you will improve yourself, and how you can become successful like them.

7. Read all the wrong things 

Same as wasting your time with stupid apps, crazy games that promise you cash and social media, reading all the wrong things can be equally as damaging.

Yes, it’s okay to take some time and enjoy something relaxing, like reading the Witcher while drinking a glass of wine, but if you want to make money, then your focus should be on levelling up your financial IQ. 

Books and blogs to read instead:

There are quite a few books and blogs out there that help you in your financial journey, and not only, and here are some of our faves:

• Rich Dad, Poor Dad - Robert Kyosaki
• Start with Why - Simon Sinek
• Think and grow rich - Napoleon Hill
• The 4-Hour Workweek - Timothy Ferris
• Thesheapproach.com
• Makingsenseofcents.com
• Iliketodabble.com

8. Put yourself last

You can’t take care of everyone else, but forget to take care of yourself. The effects of stress on the mind and the body can range anywhere from a simple headache, to serious overall problems.

How to fix it: 

To avoid learning this harsh lesson the hard way, you should create some space and time for yourself, every single day. 

Do yoga, meditate, sleep, write, create a beauty routine for yourself, do anything you can to make you feel good. Even if it’s just for 5 minutes every day. But do them. Every. Single. Day.

9. Lose hope and direction 

When the road is long, and if you also happen to hit some walls, it can be easy to slip and get lost. And that’s okay, for a second. To shake it off and regroup.

But the important thing is you have to make yourself remember how to reset to the last saved point and not linger in “lost land” for too long. 

How to find your way back:

Find yourself an accountability partner that can also be your cheerleader when you need them to be. That knows how to pick you up, cheer you and remind you why you’re doing what you’re doing in the first place. The person that can help you reset.

This person can be your BFF, your loved one, your parent, your sibling, or even a total stranger that you’ve found on a Discord server or a Facebook group. 

As your confidant, this person’s part-time job is to keep track of your situation, so you must be honest, even when you don’t feel like it. Think of it this way. If you’re lying to your accountability partner, you’re basically lying to yourself.

10. Forget to DREAM - BIGGER or AT ALL

One of the biggest mistakes anyone can make is to forget what they’re working for. Not having a clear purpose can be killer - for your motivation, for your energy, for your drive - to solve the problems, to put in the work, to want more.

We’ve seen it happen, and to the people, we love the most - our family. And it’s the saddest thing anyone should see. 

No dreaming turns to lack of interest, to sadness, and eventually to numbness.

If you don’t see where you could be if you put in the work, what you can become, then you have no sense of purpose, no fire inside to make you do stuff.  

How to fix it:

There’s one simple and effective solution - the Vision Board. You see, when you create a vision board, you literally get to SEE the finish line of your journey. 

Your Vision Board has EVERYTHING you ever dreamed of. It’s there to keep you motivated, to show you what you want to achieve. This is the best way to upgrade your life. To know how you want to do it. 

Convinced, but still have NO idea where to start? We got you! Read: How to build the Perfect Vision Board that actually works! 

Aaaaand that’s all for today, lovely dreamers! We hope you enjoyed today’s massive list of mistakes that are keeping you from making money in 2022, and if you’re guilty of any of them, make sure to share it, pin it, tweet it! So we can fix them together!

QOTD: What’s the biggest mistake you’re making right now?