One of the trainings I have attended in the business venture I am in is about character development that affects our financial life. Our mentor once said that we are the average of the five people we spend most of our time with because we are influenced by their behaviors and habits. We should carefully choose who to be with because being surrounded by the right people is one of the factors that affect our financial life. They shape our character when it comes to handling our finances. Here are some of the people we should avoid and the right people who can help us in our financial life.

#1 Avoid: The Heartless Scammer

This person just wants to acquire money even if it’s through illegal means. A scammer will always find ways to mercilessly trick people and get their money. This way of acquiring money will always have grave consequences in the end. This person will suffer a big financial loss while getting penalized by the law later on.

✅ Who to be with instead: The Wealth Advocate

This person has integrity. He will teach you legal and effective ways to build wealth by sharing to you the different wealth vehicles and methods he knows. You will learn financial literacy from this person and this will help you understand how money works and how to grow and manage it effectively until you build wealth legally, morally and ethically.

#2 Avoid: The Get-Rich-Quick Believer

This person is lazy. He always finds shortcuts in making money. If you have read one of my previous articles about the four animals in the stock market, this person is similar to the squirrel. He doesn't do his research. He recklessly takes shortcuts and would sometimes trick people to his advantage. This person is one of the reasons why there are scammers. They know how to lure this person by offering him opportunities that may look like easy money. This person will suffer a big loss later on from the wrong income opportunities or scammers due to lack of financial education.

✅ Who to be with instead: The Patient Investor

This person will teach you how to both work hard and work smart. He will help you understand that working smart means working hard for the right opportunity that will give you the life you want. This person understands that there is a process for that and you have to be patient. You will discover the right income opportunity for you to work hard for with the help of this person.

#3 Avoid: The YOLO Spender

This person only cares about being happy now so he'll spend money as if it's his last, not realizing how his actions affect his future. This person doesn't have a direction in life. It's true that you only live once and it's not bad to enjoy the moment but make sure you have a clear vision of what kind of life you want and what direction are you heading on. You will never experience long lasting financial happiness if you get influenced by this person. Your financial happiness will always be short term.

✅ Who to be with instead: The Smart Saver

This person knows how to have fun without making his future suffer. He enjoys his money while saving. This person knows how to set aside funds for fun, responsibilities, savings and sometimes, investment. He ends up enjoying the fruits of his effective financial management.

#4 Avoid: The Discouraging Pessimist

This person believes that bad things will always happen. He will always remind you that life is hard and unfair, which is very discouraging that it will tend to make you give up in life. If you're aware of the law of attraction, it's related to this person. Being negative will never bring you a positive life and this includes the financial aspect. This person will suffer the financial losses his mind has unconsciously attracted.

✅ Who to be with instead: The Realistic Optimist

This person is aware that life is hard and unfair but he works hard to turn the odds to his favor. You will learn the right approach to turn negative situations into positive ones with the help of this person. You will learn to be solution oriented if you stick to this person.

#5 Avoid: The Risk Avoider

This person avoids getting out of his comfort zone. That attitude is one of the major reasons why people don't succeed in life, including financial aspect. This person doesn't realize that everything we want is just outside our comfort zone and the biggest risk of all is not taking risk at all. A risk avoider will suffer financial loss by losing a lot of income opportunities that might have the potential to help him prosper.

✅ Who to be with instead: The Brave Analyst

This person knows that ignorance and inaction is the greatest risk of all so he carefully takes calculated risk. He analyzes the situation and educates himself so he knows what he is getting into. With this, he can guage risk levels and know what to do to handle them. With the help of this person, you will learn how to take calculated risks that will open more opportunities for you to prosper financially.

#6 Avoid: The Hopeful Dreamer

This person only wishes that life is better but he is not doing anything to make it happen. He's daydreaming about the life he wants and everything remains a dream because he believes that a better life will happen if the situation gets better. This person will suffer financial loss because he will be missing a lot of opportunities due to inaction.

✅ Who to be with instead: The Dream Chaser

This person is as creative and hopeful as dreamers but he takes actions to make things happen. He believes that we shouldn't wait for life to happen, we should make it happen instead. He never loses hope in life as he works on a better one. This person will give you the motivation to fight for what you want in life and will help you keep the fire burning.

#7 Avoid: The Spaghetti-Mind Thinker

This person loves doing things all at once and easily gets distracted. He is confusing to be with. Multi-tasking has been a trend nowadays and this can sometimes lead to spaghetti thinking if not done correctly. This can lead to not being able to accomplish anything or a sub-standard result because a person with spaghetti mind doesn't know how to focus on things that need serious attention. This person will lose money because he doesn't know his priorities. He will miss the opportunity to maximize his income potential due to many distractions and confusion.

✅ Who to be with instead: The Focused Doer

This person will always finish the goal that he started. He will teach you the importance of discipline and focus. If you have read my previous article about the law of attraction, it's applicable to this one. We attract what we focus on and a focused doer will most likely attract the results he wants as he works on his goals and he's disciplined enough to be consistent on his actions. He never lets distractions get in the way. This person can help you stay on track with your goals.

This training made me realize that character should be the first thing we should grow and finances will follow. This helped me assess who to choose to be with and it made a difference when I applied it. In my case, I learned how to step out of comfort zone and take calculated risks from my business teammates. I learned set aside different funds for different needs as well as investments for building wealth from business mentors. I am very grateful to these people who guided me to a better path of financial life.