The Hurdles With Helping Others Financially

I’m all about experimenting, I guess it’s the scientist in me that keeps trying to break out of my work life that consists of a repeating grind that is way too familiar.

Recently, I decided to try a new financial experiment where I would take an attractive female or male (mostly female because I’m not a good judge of what an attractive male is), and try to teach that person what I know and set them on a course of action that would improve their financial well being. The person that I would teach would have to be willing and have capabilities beyond just good looks, so I’d have to delve a bit deeper than the surface.

So I’ve been on the lookout and came up with an idea where I would even provide the potential person with a small income stream via working for me as a contributing author to my blog. The small income stream was a side effect of another experiment that I will mention at a later date. While not much, I calculated that I would be able to provide about $40 weekly, at least at first. The idea would be that this could balloon up to something much bigger, independent of my involvement.

Most middle-class kids wouldn’t be interested in my proposal, and although I could probably find many potential candidates at local colleges in my area, I decided to hit the bars first.  The idea that a young full-time bartender would not be going to college and probably wouldn’t have the upbringing that a typical middle-class kid would have.  So while not exactly needier, the individual wouldn’t be trained in the same financial principles as the college kids probably had.  And so, that where I come to the crux of this article “The hurdles with helping others financially“.

Hurdle 1.  Approaching Potential Individuals

I decided to approach young females first.  The problem with approaching young females in a bar is that they would think that I’m hitting on them.  So often time the female bartenders are on guard and don’t really trust me, at least in a short time-frame.  If I were to attend a bar for a long time (maybe 1 year), then they might trust me, but until such a relationship exists, it’s would be hard to extend such an offer (especially with very attractive female bartenders).  I have to admit, it’s hard for me to crack this egg, and I’m not a very outgoing person by nature.

Hurdle 2.  Lack of Fun Factor

Part of the experiment would be to teach the individual what I’ve learned and in the short term, provide a very small additional income stream.  The problem is that bartending is probably pretty fun in contrast, so why would they want to try my experiment.  They don’t know what I know, so they might not see much benefit in trying what I would like to try.  I think if you don’t know that there is another way, you might be apt not to try any such suggestions.  I guess what I’m saying is it’s hard to believe when you don’t have the exposure to such a thing.  For all I know, perhaps it’s like believing in Fairy Tales?

Hurdle 3.  Perseverance and Follow-thru

What I would be teaching would require a lot of skills and disciplines that my target might not possess currently.  The individual would have to do all of the following:  Believe that it’s possible, have the perseverance to not cash your accumulated money, and stick to a strict wealth-building routine.  Continue with the program that I would set up for them, even when I wouldn’t be there to offer encouragement.  Perhaps by teaching understanding and coolness towards money, this hurdle might be overcome with some hard work?

The above are some of the main hurdles I would face with this experiment.  I’m sure that I can provide benefit to others, but I might have to reconsider my candidate pool.

In the meantime, I’m running out of bars and bartenders…

More to come hopefully,

Don