Let me also caution you, however, that there are several definite roadblocks to becoming a millionaire.

Most are within your power to avoid. However, some are external factors and you’ll have to watch out for those pitfalls too. A few of the obstacles to achieving financial security are:

• Laziness

Unfortunately, some people simply aren’t willing to work at becoming millionaires. That’s a shame because for many of these individuals, all that stands between them and a lifetime of riches is a lack of drive – call it laziness, if you will.

Haven’t you ever known someone with so much promise and so much potential, yet that person never seems to get it together because they won’t work hard to achieve a goal? Don’t let this be your fate. I assume that by you picking up this book you’re eager to become a millionaire.

Promise yourself today that you’ll rise to the challenge and maintain the wherewithal required to push you through the process of achieving riches.

• Procrastination

You can’t get rich if you put off doing the things necessary to build long-term wealth and maintain that economic security.

It’s as simple as that. To catapult yourself into the upper echelons of the financial world, you must heed a number of calls. Some of them will require you to start doing things – and start immediately. At other times, you’ll need to stop doing things.

But you won’t turn into one of those nearly 25,000 Americans becoming millionaires each day if “I’ll do it tomorrow” is your constant mantra. When you learn new information that pushes you to act, or discover that you need to stop doing something you’re currently doing which is taking you off the path to millionaire status, you have to act on that information without delay.

Procrastination only inhibits you from joining the ranks of the millionaire class. And by the way, procrastinators come in all different forms: from the 30-something couple who (mistakenly) believes they can put off saving for retirement because it’s “so far away and we have to worry about current bills” to the well-intentioned (but ill-fated) parent who puts off saving for her Golden Years because she’s spending all her money and resources on her children.

• Perpetual money-drainers

I hate to say it, but sometimes, the people in our lives are financial drains in ways that are very unhealthy – a factor that can be a hindrance to someone striving for long-term wealth.

In Your First Million, I’ll help you look honestly at the ways in which the people you deal with, the places you go, and the products you spend money on are impacting your ability to become a millionaire.

• Lack of knowledge

Ignorance of how to get ahead financially can definitely limit a person’s fortunes. And Americans are in desperate need of practical financial advice about everything from how to manage their debt wisely and improve their credit standing to how much insurance they need. The problem is part lack of information, as well as part misinformation.

In many instances, though, people are overwhelmed with too much information – the whats and the whys about their financial woes – but not enough usable advice or realistic recommendations about what to do to solve their problems.

One of the objectives of Your First Million is to act as a bridge for those people who are willing to take action.

Your First Million will offer readers like you a concrete plan; a how-to model that you can follow to help alleviate financial difficulties and live a richer life.

• No discipline

The person who acquires money isn’t always the one who keeps that money, let alone retires wealthy.

Consider the high-profile celebrities, athletes and actors who’ve earned millions only to wind up in bankruptcy court. In many cases, a lack of discipline – in the form of outlandish spending and no fiscal restraint whatsoever – did them in.

Chances are you you’re not a rock and roll star or an NBA player with some multi-millionaire contract.

Nevertheless, you still have to exercise discipline and follow-through in a number of areas in order to become – and remain – a millionaire.

To summarize my point: don’t allow laziness, money-drainers, procrastination, a lack of knowledge, or a lack of discipline represent a barrier to you becoming a millionaire.

Make your commitment to the good life now and decide that nothing, absolutely nothing, will stand in your way.

Are you ready to start the journey to a lifetime of financial fitness? Let’s get started! Excerpt from The Money Coach’s Guide To Your First Million – Now in paperback