Wealth is a story we tell ourselves. We know we want to be rich; we know we want to have lots of money. We only know that it would be nice to eat out more often. We see cute clothes, a hot car, an Italian countryside, a couple staring into each other’s eyes – financial struggle is the last thing on their minds – and we think, “if only that were me.” Maybe we just want to be able to sit with our family and not be worried about where the next paycheck is coming from. Whatever our dreams, we believe that we need money to make them happen.
While we may court beautiful visions of financial success, we are also told that thinking too much on money is greedy. We should turn our attention to those less fortunate, to the world of ideas, to an education, to our friends, to our family. The western mindset surrounding money isn’t easy to navigate, especially in times of global economic turmoil, when old techniques for gathering wealth are beginning to fail. Then, to the psychological confusion is added a generous helping of fear.
When we see gloom-and-doom reports about the “recession” on television, they don’t tell you one important thing. It’s not that the potential for acquiring wealth is weaker in times of economic downturn. It’s that the standard techniques aren’t working. If you have the right mindset, you will find and take advantage of new techniques for acquiring wealth. The trick is not to give in to fear, but to sit down and rationally consider our money and our finances. These seven keys will help you do that.
Have A Reason To Be Wealthy
This is the “soul-searching” key to a strong financial mindset. If you look and you see, “I really, really, really wish I could be independently wealthy because more than anything, what fulfills my soul is to travel to places I’ve never been,” then voila, you have your reason. You can’t get plane tickets and hotel rooms without money. Or if you just live for the thrill of going out to clubs in elegant, expensive, attractive clothing and feeling like the king or queen of the world, then voila, another reason to be wealthy.
The most important thing is: No moralizing! No judgments here! You don’t have to tell anybody, you just have to have a reason. That way, when times are tough, and they will be, you can look back on that reason for wealth and it will keep you strong.
Reasons can be modest or grandiose. Perhaps you’re in love, and you want to at least be able to stand on equal footing with your partner, if not provide for him or her. Perhaps you want more than anything to create a beautiful place for children to grow up. Or maybe you’re just passionate about expensive food. Whatever your reason, the only important thing is that it is sincere and keeps you fighting.
You Don’t Work For Money – Keep Your Eyes Open
As the active corollary to the above, you aren’t working for your paycheck. You aren’t working for your bank account. You aren’t working for your debts. You aren’t working to cover your expenses. You’re working for your dream. Live by that axiom, and never forget it. This may mean making a lot of changes in your life. If you’re stuck in a dead-end job barely getting by, you will never be wealthy. Better to look for opportunities elsewhere.
Opportunity, not wages, equals wealth. This is why it is much more important to seek wealth than money. Some may consider it a semantic difference, but I think it’s an important one. Money is a symptom of wealth; wealth is the opportunity to make money. If you are so preoccupied with and exhausted by your weekly paychecks, you won’t be able to look for wealth. Opportunities for making money will elude you if you don’t keep your eyes out for them. These can be investment opportunities, business niches, untapped demand that you know how to supply, or anything else.
Keep your eyes open for money-making opportunities, and always look back on your reasons for doing so.
Don’t Fear Poverty
This part is what nobody tells you about a strong financial mindset. If you want to make lots of money, you have to be okay with being poor while you build your wealth empire. The reason more people aren’t wealthy is because they’re afraid of not having any money. Ironically, it is exactly those people who are so passionate about life that they’d sacrifice anything to achieve their dreams, including wealth, that tend to end up the wealthiest. Don’t fear your inner passions. Embrace them, and stay on the lookout for unique business opportunities, and wealth will come to you.
Passive Income Is Your Best Friend
What if you could split yourself in two for the work day? The two of you could earn twice as much money as just yourself alone. Passive income operates under the same principle – by setting in motion income streams that don’t require you to spend time on them, you can make much more money than not.
Instead of thinking of money in terms of dollar amounts, think of it in terms of income amounts. I get such and such per month from this investment, such and such per month from this business, and such and such per month from this website. If you spend a little bit of time to create something, and then make your money work for you, you will succeed.
Understand Debt
Every guide tells you, “get out of debt!” which is easy to say, but hard to do. You know it’s not in your best interest to hold lots of debt. Obviously. More important than telling yourself, “no debt!” you need to understand what your debt is. Debt equals stuff that you begged for. Everything in your house purchased with a credit card is your debt.
It is your lifestyle that you can’t maintain. If you have a large credit card balance or a large loan or a large mortgage, look around at what you own. Can you truly say that it’s yours? Or are you living in someone else’s house, with someone else’s TV, driving someone else’s car, making use of someone else’s degree?
It is in your debtors’ interest that you not think about your debt. Credit cards are purposefully easy to deal with, easy to swipe, easy never to have to think about. Get in the habit of considering every debt-driven purchase as another chain tying you to a life that isn’t your own, and you’ll gradually realize that debt is killing you slowly.
Simplify Your Life
Get rid of everything you don’t need to fulfill your goals. Pursue everything you do need to fulfill your goals. Be honest and uncompromising with yourself. Flexibility and openness to opportunities will make you more money than hanging on to things that you don’t need.
Money Isn’t Everything
This may seem like a counterproductive view to hold, but it’s the truth, and the truth is never counterproductive. If you think that money is everything, you’ll approach making money with an unrealistic fervor. By putting money on a pedestal, you lose sight of the reasons you wanted it in the first place.
Money is exchange value – nothing more. True value lies in what it buys. If you forget to place personal value in the opportunities, experiences, and things your money unlocks for you, you fail to value money for what it is and chase it as a cure-all for the lack of personal value in your life, the money will inexplicably begin to fall away from you like grains of sand.
