Yesterday, I discussed Twelve Reasons I Will Be Rich. Today I’m going to look at the flip side and give you three things that are preventing me from being rich.

1. I’m Lazy – The was an obvious one, wasn’t it. People who know the online Lazy Man, would argue that I’m always commenting, participating in forums and Google Groups, etc. Offline Lazy Man is the complete opposite. I procrastinate getting going is the mental equivalent of climbing a mountain. This is the reason that everytime I get a great idea for a product or service, it doesn’t lead to anything. I’m too lazy to follow through.
2. I’m a Horrible Networker – Much like the previous point, online Lazy Man is the exact opposite of offline Lazy Man. Online Lazy Man has about 17 email thread going on with other bloggers at all times. Offline Lazy Man finds meeting people and extraordinary difficult thing to do. It may be simple shyness or it may be social anxiety disorder.
3. I’m the Slowest Reader I know – I’d say I spend about 70% of my non-sleeping day reading. Whether it’s other programming code for work or websites, I’m usually reading. When I’m not reading on a computer, I’m reading magazines. Ironically, since I never read books, Energi Gal complains that I don’t read enough. The problem is that I’m such a slow reader that it takes 3 minutes a page no matter what the content is. It could be a picture book and it would take me 3 minutes to read a page. The only thing I have going for me here is that I have as close to perfect comprehension as I think there is. People ask me questions and I’m able to dig up references that I’ve read 9 months ago with a couple of Google queries and pass along the answer.

I’m not sure I’m ever going to overcome #1. I’m hoping to within the confines of it, utilizing my online work ethic. I think I can also overcome #2 to some extent. I read that if I read How to Win Friends & Influence People, it will be helpful. I’d like to work on #3. If anyone out there has taken any good speed techniques, I’d love to hear about them.

Perhaps these won’t prevent me from being rich.  More than likely, they are simply preventing me from reaching my full potential. Let me know in the comments.

Jeffrey Strain writes 10 Reasons You Aren’t Rich for The Street.com. He also writes the popular Personal Finance Advice. The ten reasons are great, but before we get there, I have a couple points of minor criticism.

The title says “rich”, but the introductory paragraph implies that means having a million dollars. Many would disagree in this world of inflation that a million dollars is equivalent with being rich. As an example, it buys a nice little home in my area, Silicon Valley.

My other criticism is that the title is present tense. It heavily implies that if I have followed all ten reasons to this point, then I am rich. Then that promise is broken in the opening paragraph with the words “or on your way to becoming [a millionaire].”

The ten reasons are well worth the read. I personally liked “9. You’re Financially Afraid.” It’s a big reason why I don’t tie up a lot of money earning 5% interest in a high interest bank account. After inflation and taxes, you’re lucky if you make a dollar or two. At the end of the article, I realized that I’m following all the rules, so I’m on my way.

I’d still like to add two more reasons reasons “why you are not rich”:

11. You Need More Time – If you do all these things at age 60, you aren’t going to be rich at age 62.

12. You Need to Have Income -  Many people will say this is not true, that’s it’s always possible to spend less than you earn.  Back in the Dot Com bust, I had lost all my income except for the occasional contracting gig.  I became a frugal maven out of necessity.  I would not have become rich with that life style though.