As I indicated in last weeks article, I have been reading Rob Moore’s book on money. While there are many takeaways at a personal level, some ideas are thought-provoking.
One of the bitter realities in the world we live in is that while we all aspire to make money and grow wealth, only a very small minority achieve this dream in their lifetime. Millions of people never even get close to this aspiration.
As it turns out, there are certain basic rules of money and wealth that only the few who master them get all the money. The rest of us are left to lick the crumbs left behind. These rules are universal and are unchanging from one generation to the next. They are well known and documented, yet the majority of the people never master them.
Today we focus on six roads that will lead you to poverty or lack of money and wealth:
- Waiting for motivation to start – few people if any, are ever sufficiently motivated to get started on things that lead to money. The truth is that you must start, often through hard choices and personal sacrifices things that generate money and grow wealth. Motivation only comes along the way when you start seeing some small gains or benefits of your efforts. As I indicated in a previous article, this is a very lonely path that demands you walk alone despite setbacks, discouragements and sometimes outright humiliation. Few can stand this loneliness as most people love the comfort of a crowd;
- Following the masses – this is called herding or the sheep mentality in behavioural finance. As I keep on explaining in this column, money is a measure and store of value; if this is true, there is no way it can be found where everyone is or is going. If in doubt, only take the opposite direction than everyone else as a rule of thumb. You can never go wrong on this as a rule;
- Blaming everything except yourself – truth be told, no one is responsible for your money. Unless you are completely incapacitated for reasons that you can do absolutely nothing about, then your money remains your solemn responsibility. There are men and women in history who overcame extreme adversity to make money and grow wealth;
- Keeping the poor as your best friends – as the saying goes, of your five best friends, you become the 6th in the group. You must find company among those who have travelled the road that leads to your highest aspirations before you. Yours must be to plant thy footprints where they did theirs before you. The influence of your friends over you is often highly underestimated, yet it is such a powerful force that takes away the most noble aspiration from any man;
- Justify your lack – many poor people justify their everyday circumstances by blaming anything or someone else. The irony of it all is there will always be something to complain about or justify. This gives a false sense of peace as your mind is disconnected from your reality. That way you’ll never see your role in keeping things working against you; and
- Fear of failure – as I have always said, the path of true money and wealth is full of mountains to climb, valleys to conquer, rivers to cross, thorns to walk over and hate to be content with among others. Those who make it learn to develop a thick skin to survive all. They find strength from within themselves, and endure heartache and losses until they build resilience that powers them through all obstacles.
#It can’t be easy and never will it be. That’s not the nature of money!