Thinking-Rich.com

Along with reading motivational books and blogs to rev up your money mind, are you listening to audio books or podcasts? Depending on your learning style and receptivity you might actually be better off by listening - especially with headphones to cut down on distractions.

The reason I ask is because of an experiment I read about in Malcolm Gladwell’s book “The Tipping Point.” If you’re not familiar with the book, it’s a fascinating look at how small things can make huge differences in business, society and success.

In the chapter “The Law of the Few,” Gladwell discusses a study that was done on the effects of head movement on a person’s receptiveness to a message he or she heard.

Here’s the quick and easy: Three groups of college students were told they were part of test to determine the quality of a set of headphones while the listener’s head was in motion. The groups listened to a few songs and a short editorial on whether college tuition should be raised. Group one was told to shake their heads from side to side while listening, group two was told to nod their heads up and down, and the third group was instructed to keep their heads still.
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I have a couple of questions for you today that relate to success and obstacles you may have in reaching it. I’m talking financial success - purely money, honey, because you can be extraordinarily successful as a friend, a parent, a spouse, even a businessperson and still be lacking the financial success you desire.

Think about these questions for a few moments:

• Who in your life has the most doubt that you can achieve real wealth?
• Who is always asking “what if you fail?”
• Who is the first to tell you that you don’t have the motivation to succeed?
• Whose voice is the loudest when you’re told you don’t have the dedication required to become rich?
• Who tells you that you’re too lazy/stupid/unworthy?

Unless you’re in a demoralizing and/or abusive relationship that you really need to reassess, my guess is the person who you hear this from most is yourself. That’s right, the person who most wants to succeed (you) is probably the strongest negative force to overcome. Maybe the words sound like echoes from your past, and that may be where you first heard them, but the nagging voice in your head is being kept alive by you.

Even if you were raised in an extremely encouraging atmosphere where you were told repeatedly about your “potential,” you can have crushing doubt. Hey, living up to someone else’s expectations is no party. What if you screw up? What if you can’t live up to that potential? What you if you fail? It’s hard not to think “I’m better off not really trying, because that way I’ll always have that magic potential.”

And let’s get even deeper here. Some of us - no matter how we were raised - have so much self-doubt that we’re literally fighting inside our minds for even a shred of self-respect. What can I say about the biology or psychology of that? I’m not highly educated in either field, but I believe that even these chemical or mental twists that strip away our faith in ourselves can be overcome. Same as background. Same as being talked down. Same as ridding yourself of a scarcity mindset.

I don’t think there are many people who achieved wealth while allowing this inner doubt to overcome them. I believe - from what I’ve read and what I’ve seen - that even if the voice inside them had doubts, these people blazed ahead, taking risks and knowing above all they would succeed.

They didn’t fear failure, because they allowed failure to become a teacher.
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Manifesting money isn’t always as obvious as it sounds. Some people have a hard time accepting that it really happens unless they find the check in the mail or have the cold cash in hand.

But the Universe doesn’t always work that way.

Recently, my garbage disposal stopped working. Being somewhat comfortable with the jiggling of handles and unplugging/plugging back in of power cords, I gave it my best shot at repair. None of these advanced technical skills helped and my partner reluctantly agreed to go pick up a new for me to install. (I’m much better at installation than repair. After all, the instruction are right there in French.)

Garbage disposals are not hugely expensive, but they’re not cheap either. This unbudgeted expense was going to cut into some purchases that were much more fun and glamorous and didn’t require crawling under the sink.

When I opened the box of my new Rabid Badger Insinkerator 3010, I noticed a very small slip of paper with the tiny words “For the Installer” printed on it. It had five staples holding the elaborate origami folds closed and opening the page to read it seemed like it was going to take more time than the entire install.
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