How do you become wealthy from nothing?
Ever wonder how that guy you see at your local coffee shop gets around in his sleek Mazerati wearing the latest Yeezies? How is he right now sipping on that double shot, idly scrolling the contents displayed on his 15-inch Mac Book Pro?
Where does his money come from? How did he get wealthy seemingly without breaking a sweat?
Meanwhile, I’m still trying to work stains out of my latest op shop score (to be fair, it’s couture), and if I can afford season theatre tickets without having to live on beans and rice for a year.
I know some people look like they have a lot of dollars on the outside when in truth they’re swimming in a sea of debt. I’m not talking about them. I’m also not talking about people who’ve been born into wealth, lethargically enjoying a legacy bestowed upon them.
I’m talking about self-made people. Genuinely wealthy in their own right — people with the kind of money that leaves a wealth legacy for their children’s children.
Secret wealth business
Is there a way to create wealth from nothing?
I did a little digging.
It turns out there are a few common beliefs shared amongst the genuinely wealthy. In this post I’m going to talk about two of them. Once applied, these two insights that the wealthy know, can turn your current wealth reality on its head and help you become wealthy.
Secret number 1. Wealthy people LIVE the dream
Wealthy people are grateful for the life they have. They don’t chase the dream. They LIVE the dream. They embody the dream. They show up to the reality they want before reality arrives. They consider each moment to be complete. There’s no lack. They don’t focus on what’s lacking or missing, or all the ways life could be better. They experience their dream life as though it’s real, and then wait for life to match up to what they already experience.
Professional sportspeople often use a similar technique. When preparing for a competition, they first visualise winning. They play out the whole event in their minds. They experience it so completely, as though it’s already happened. When they succeed in real life, the reality doesn’t feel any different to what they previously imagined.
As Mitch Behan says, you can either live the dream or chase the nightmare.
Secret number 2. Wealthy people balance their emotions
The wealthy know emotion can’t rule them. Emotions keep you stuck doing the low priority tasks instead of prioritising big vision actions.
The wealthy keep their emotions in check to get ahead.
But how do you balance emotions around money? How do you not get caught up stressing about not having enough, or feeling guilty when you’ve spent too much?
Would life be less stressful and more liberating with a big bank balance?
Let’s put it to the test. Let’s work out the pros and cons to having money and see if we can’t neutralise our emotions around wealth.
Write out a table like the one we use in Transform Your Wealth. Here it is below.
Starting at the top left corner, write down one benefit to HAVING money. It might be that you feel like you’ll have more freedom. So write down “freedom”, or whatever feels right for you. Then in the column next to it, write down a drawback to having more freedom. It might be you feel stuck about what to do with your life. Write down what’s right for you. Remember, you have to write down the drawback to having more freedom, not to having more money.
In the right-side column along the top under “financial failure”, think about one benefit to not having money. You might need to be more creative. That’s a benefit. Write down your answer. Now think about a drawback to what you wrote in the benefit column. A drawback to having to be creative might be you feel unsupported in your creativity. Write down what is right for you.
Now it’s time to complete the columns along the bottom. Start on the left-hand side. In the “financial success” section, think about a drawback to having money. It might be you feel used by people only wanting money from you. In the column next to it, think about a possible benefit to feeling used. It could be that you learn to set clear boundaries. Write down what resonates for you.
In the final two columns under “financial failure”, think about a drawback to not having money. You might feel frustrated or restricted. Next, write down a benefit to feeling frustrated. You might become more resourceful about earning money. Write down your answer.
Your table should look a little something like this.
It’s essential you follow the Z format, and complete the form from the top left to right and then from the bottom left to right. Once you’ve done one row, go back to the beginning and do it again until you run out of benefits and drawbacks.
Notice what’s happening?
No matter if you have money or not, it’s the same. We get so caught up focusing on the benefits of having money and the drawbacks to not having money, that we forget there is an equal number of DRAWBACKS to HAVING money, as there are BENEFITS to having NO money.
Isn’t that reassuring to know? Now you can relax and enjoy exactly where you are right now.
The wealthy understand this phenomenon. When you realise life is relatively the same, whether you’re rich or poor, you become less emotional about money.
Final thoughts
The quickest way to become wealthy is less about the number of dollars we have or don’t have and more about our perception of what we have right now.
Stay tuned for more wealth secrets. Coming soon!
