Thinking-Rich.com

The title of this post may sound counterintuitive - most people have the belief that it’s lack that causes us to be aware of everything we don’t have.

Well, I’m no pro at this yet, but people a lot more successful than I am say our lack of money, love, health and/or happiness comes directly from our thinking about not having it. Is that hard to believe? After all, we’re clearly lacking something or we wouldn’t feel such a need, right?

The truth is we developed our mindsets - of scarcity or otherwise - from those around us when we were growing up. When we were kids, we probably didn’t have real money worries. We didn’t have bills to pay. Most of us had homes, food, clothing, toys, and all the things we needed to survive and more. But what did we hear? Were our parents’ attitudes toward money positive?

I don’t know about you, but all I remember hearing was the negatives. Even when things were going well, my parents always argued about money. If we had it, then someone was spending it wrong. If we didn’t have it, then there was no way the bills were going to get paid. A lot of what my parents believed came true. I remember the embarrassment of having our electricity cut off more than once. We rarely had the luxury of a telephone. This was life, although my father was rarely unemployed and we were not living above our means.

So, what have I been concentrating on all of my life? Right. The negative. Is this true for you?

Harv Eker talks about all of us having a money blueprint. For most of us, the blueprint was pretty much filled before we could even add our own input. But Eker doesn’t want us left hanging with a crappy blueprint. Since we live in a world of cause and effect, he says we just need to focus on differentiating the two. Eker writes:

A lack of money is never, ever, ever a problem. A lack of money is merely a symptom of what is going on underneath.

Lack of money is the effect but what is the root cause? It boils down to this. The only way to change your “outer” world is to first change your “inner” world.

Whatever results you’re getting, be they rich or poor, good or bad, positive or negative, always remember that your outer world is simply a reflection of your inner world. If things aren’t going well in your outer life, it’s because things aren’t going well in your inner life. It’s that simple.

While I agree with the basis of what Eker says here - I can’t deny the inner/outer effects - I don’t think it’s “that simple.” OK, it might truly be that simple if we were starting today from Square One, but who of us are? Yes, we need to change what’s inside us, but that’s going to be damn hard to do if we just ignore what’s already outside.

A lack of money - right now - can be a problem.

What can’t be denied is that money is a symptom of what’s happening underneath. But just like a doctor treating a disease, we can’t ignore the symptoms while searching for their cause. We have to treat the fever as we look for the cause of infection.

So what we have to do is change our mindsets while dealing with the reality of our current lack. And change so much that we don’t allow any “new” lack to come into our lives. If you have a lack of money right now, deal with it by taking the right medicine for your outer pain while curing your inner wound. Take positive steps to deal with debt. Face up to what you need to do and do it without fear. You can change your inner blueprint and make sure you’re never in the position of scarcity again.

Think positively. Act positively. Receive the positive.

~$~

There’s no denying it - just as there is a scarcity mindset, there is a millionaire mindset. And just as the scarcity mindset has many different permutations, so does the millionaire mindset.

Many of the mindsets focus on the expectation of making a lot of money. Some focus on the stock market, others on real estate, others on creating products we can’t live without and so on.

But one mindset we may be overlooking is the mindset of creating true wealth on what could be called an average income. The reason these “ordinary millionaires” exist is because they live with a frame of mind we may not have learned or may have just ignored because we want to see wealth in a flashier, more Hollywood-style way. But a truth is right here:

Wealth is not the same as income. If you make a good income each year and spend it all, you are not getting wealthier. You are just living high. Wealth is what you accumulate, not what you spend.” … The Millionaire Next Door

Notice I said “a truth is here.” There is more than one truth to wealth - getting it, creating it, keeping it, living it. If your idea of wealth is living high and you can do it from your income, then you are wealthy in my book. Not all of us plan to amass a fortune just for the comfort of knowing it’s there to pass on the next generation to live high on.

But … living high ends the moment our income does. Well, I may get a couple more months on my mortgage if I sell my Porsche and the pets and I will eat for awhile longer as I pawn away my baubles, but it will be gone faster than a Concord trip to Paris.

What the authors of the above quote were talking about is wealth as net worth. They’re talking about investments and savings and passive income streams that will continue to support us after we’ve decided that work is passe. They’re talking about a financial structure created on a decent income that will keep us from pushing a shopping cart down Sunset Strip babbling about our glory days of lobster and Tiffany’s instead of cat food and aluminum cans.

OK. Enough of that picture. My point is simply to show one of the mindsets that the majority of American millionaires have and have used to become wealthy without dealing drugs, the lottery, becoming a politician, an inheritance, or a silver spoon. If your idea of wealth equals future security on what you make now, then your mindset should turn to regular savings and wise investments and away from fast cars, houses you can’t afford in neighborhoods you can’t really stand, and a new Armani suit every day.

Wealth is like a mirror: each of us see something different when we look into it. As you take the road to wealth be reflective on what it means to you and set your course accordingly. You may need much less actual cash than you think.

~$~

This post has the honor of being featured on Finance Is Personal.

Regardless of what you think of Donald Trump, he’s a man who has made himself an outrageous living - by doing exactly what he loves. Maybe your vision of a wealthy life looks nothing like Trump’s extravagant and public lifestyle, but if you want to understand the mindset of the rich, his is a good example.

No, he’s not perfect. He’s failed more times than most of us have even tried. He’s also succeeded more times than most of us have tried. It’s just proof that failure is not a barrier to success, in fact, it’s often a requirement. Falling down to learn to walk … we knew that made sense even as babies, but somehow we’ve lost that daring. One of your top goals should be to regain that daring, because winning requires playing the game.

Here are some of the best of Trump’s quotes to get you fired up today:

Take the pains required to become what you want to become, or you might end up becoming something you’d rather not be.

As long as you’re going to be thinking anyway, think big.

If you’re interested in ‘balancing’ work and pleasure, stop trying to balance them. Instead make your work more pleasurable.

What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate.

I don’t make deals for the money. I’ve got enough, much more than I’ll ever need. I do it to do it.

Even if you haven’t encountered great success yet, there is no reason you can’t bluff a little and act like you have. Confidence is a magnet in the best sense of the word. It will draw people to you and make your daily life.. and theirs.. a lot more pleasant.

I try to learn from the past, but I plan for the future by focusing exclusively on the present. That’s where the fun is.

If you have to lie, cheat, and steal, you’re just not doing it right …

Sometimes by losing a battle you find a new way to win the war.

Finding your purpose may be a lifelong pursuit or you may have discovered it when you were 5 years old. There’s no absolute timeline for anyone. That’s a good reason never to give up, to keep on discovering things every day.

Anyone who thinks my story is anywhere near over is sadly mistaken.

I hope you’re inspired! Continue thinking rich.

~$~