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My grandfather was a good man. Smart. Successful. Loving. He moved to Dillingham, Alaska in the 1950s to run the small hospital. From there he started his own medical practice which he ran until he retired after his 80th birthday. Everyone knew him as Doc Libby. So what was he right about?

I read a blog post today about the most common mistakes made by entrepeneurs. Nitromarketing.com has just started the post series. Today was about avoiding future spending and remembering taxes.

Future spending is defined as spending based on what you expect to make in the Future rather than present reality. “But I have to focus on my goals!” you say. And I don’t disagree, but I think it is such a common mistake for people in all areas of life, not just entrepeneurs, to spend based on what we want to make, what we hope to make, rather than our actual financial status. For those who believe in the law of attraction and positive thinking, I want to point out that no one said to throw caution to the wind and do whatever you feel like with no action focused on reaching your goals. Just because I want to live the life of financial abundance does not mean I can sit back on the sofa and buy whatever I want and fairly expect that the universe will pay for it. I have to take action to reach my goals. My grandpa always said to practice. Practice takes focus. Focus strengthens energy. And with practice I become better… at whatever I am practicing.

Grandpa also warned me about taxes. I know he helped out his own children when they miscalculated what they’d have to pay early in their adult lives. His advice to me was the same as to them. Don’t wait until the end of the year. Steadily put money aside for taxes so that at tax time you don’t have to stress about how you’re going to pay them. He said to expect the unexpected. That applies to taxes as well as future spending. Things change. That is a guarantee. And at our commercial fishing camp, working on a Honda three-wheeler with my grandpa, I realized he might know a thing or two about it. We hadn’t expected to need a new sparkplug and fuel line, but here we were, fixing the machine instead of mending nets and racking pull lines. But it was all okay. Grandpa had made sure he had enough time for those “unexpected” tasks, like teaching me about mechanics, future spending, and taxes.

For the full post from Nitromarketing.com, visit: The 13 Top Financial Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make