This
is the first of a few blog posts where I will provide
tips, techniques and motivation to support my readers on the road to financial freedom. After four years of just collecting rent checks on not doing much to contribute back to the community, other than a few UCLA classes, I decided it was time to get back into action in supporting others to create financial freedom. This is where
work becomes a choice instead of a requirement.
I’ve
said that regardless of how much money someone
earns, they cannot become wealthy unless they
think and act as the wealthy do. There are many
ways to measure the wealth of a person besides
money, but that’s not the conversation for this blog post. Here I am talking about financial
wealth.
How
do wealthy people think, and what do they do? Over
the next few posts, about one per week, we will
cover several areas where the wealthy think differently
than the poor. First we need to cover a
few definitions.
We
need to define wealthy, poor and broke. A wealthy
person has enough money to feel comfortable
in their lifestyle. They are not worried
that they will lose their home or they won’t
have enough money to feed their family. They don’t
care how much they’ll get from Social Security.
A
poor person does not have any of those attitudes.
They don’t have enough, they know they don’t
have enough, and they know they will never have
enough. If the government doesn’t help them, they
may not survive, and they believe the government
owes them what they feel entitled to.
Broke
is a condition where there is a lack of money.
I’ve
been broke twice before, and once I was poor. When
I was younger I only made enough money to keep
my head above water. Based on the relationship
with wife at the time my attitude was,
“It doesn’t matter how much money I earn, I’ll
never having any savings.” It was not a good marriage
because I could not support my wife in the
manner to which she wanted to be accustomed.
After
my second divorce I was broke. I had the attitude
that I could rebuild my wealth. I knew that
I was in control of my life and I had the knowledge
to make it happen.
“The
man who acquires the ability to take full possession
of his own mind may take possession of anything
to which he is justly entitled.” – Andrew Carnegie
Let’s
look at the first attitude of a wealthy person:
Wealthy
people control their circumstances.
I recall a program from about 40 years ago
where the presenter said the wind blows in the same direction for every
sailboat. But how the skipper sets the sails determines his direction. What I
hear in this is that the economy can be weak, there can be bad news, and civil
unrest in the world, but a wealthy person will choose how to respond to the
circumstances. The circumstances will not dictate the outcome. The mindset,
attitudes and actions of the wealthy will determine the outcome.
The
poor are controlled by their circumstances.
People
who are poor have a victim attitude. They believe
the world conspires against them. They do not
feel they have any control over what happens in
their life. They complain about their job, their
mate, their children, their health or their neighbors
to the point they have nothing good in their
life.
Regardless
of your income level, as an exercise, practice
catching yourself and see if there is something
you want to complain about. For seven
days, find something instead that is worthwhile
in anything you would have complained about
in the past. This will start an amazing shift
in your outlook.
In
the next blog post I will give you some ideas on where you can put money to work and earn 8-12% with little risk and as little as $2500.
For a free copy of the best selling, award winning book, Wealth On Any Income, log onto www.WealthOnAnyIncome.com , enter
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