Why you’re not rich yet: 10 secrets to overcoming the ordinary
Most of us daydream now and then about winning the lottery or coming into a small fortune. Wouldn’t that be nice? The easy route to wealth seems so appealing, despite its almost complete unlikelihood. Why not examine the things that are holding us back financially and take the surer route to wealth instead?
Here are 10 common obstacles to wealth — along with suggestions for overcoming them:
- You don’t pay attention. This is often a biggie. We may shake our heads with amazement when we hear President Bush didn’t know gas was about to hit $4 a gallon, but are we any different? Quick, how little could you live on in a year? How much do you REALLY spend on the things you habitually buy? Are they still worth it, or are you just paying what you’ve always paid? Where did that $20 go that you withdrew yesterday?
Just the act of tracking spending and plain old paying attention to the things you buy and invest in can go a long way. You see, when you pay attention, you care more about what you’re doing AND you get what you really want. Wealthy people do look for the best deals. They do watch their spending, income, and investments, and they make a conscious effort not to waste money or resources.
- You’re swayed by advertisements. Oh-mi-gosh, did you see the latest ad? Isn’t that cool?! Oh I want that! But did you want it before you saw the ad or heard about the product? No? Then you probably don’t really want it.
Give yourself a couple of days and see if you even remember the item then. Advertisements are designed to get you to buy things. And they work really well. Wouldn’t you rather use your money wisely instead, only getting the things that you really did want, while investing the rest and growing wealthier?
- You’re impatient. This goes right along with the former point. Not only do you want things, but you want them NOW. Three-year-olds express their desires with screaming fits in the stores; adults often express them by swiping their credit cards. But it’s a paradox. The long way to getting what you want is often the easiest and least costly; the short way is often the most expensive and least satisfying. Wealthy people don’t go out and borrow money willy-nilly. If they do, they’re quickly drained of their wealth.
- You’re compensating for your childhood. Ok, so you didn’t have a perfect childhood. No one did. That’s no reason to indulge your every whim because you couldn’t afford things as a child. It’s not a reason avoid learning to manage money because you never had to then. It’s not a reason to go out and buy a big house that you can’t afford because that’s what your parents had. It IS a reason to sit back and consider your actions. Are you doing something based on what happened when you were a kid, or are you doing it because it’s a financially sound idea? Wealthy people think things through. They plan and wait for the right opportunity.
- You spend more than you earn. Items one through four above all make it easy to spend more than you earn. To avoid this, you have to know both how much you earn, how much you’re currently spending, and how much you need to cut back. It’s simple: you cannot become wealthy by digging a hole. You have to BUILD wealth. Sometimes that means making hard choices, sometimes that means not going crazy with the toys, and many time it means just plain old paying attention and focusing on your goals.
- You’re afraid of success (or failure). What would your life look like if you were wealthy? If picturing that brings up some sort of nameless fear or negative feelings, think about what’s behind that. See if you can’t change your feelings around. After all, you won’t become wealthy if you don’t think wealthy is a good place to be.
- You stick to what you know, even if you don’t like it. This is often related to the former point. The devil we do know is better than the devil we don’t — or so we think. I find picturing worst case scenarios to be helpful here. What’s the worst that could happen? How likely do you think that is to happen? Do the wealthy people you know have those experiences? (And keep in mind that if it turns out you hate having plenty of money, you could always give it all away.)
- You’re uninformed. Maybe you just don’t know HOW to get rich in a reasonable way. Maybe you know nothing about managing money on a day to day basis, let alone about growing wealth and investing. The solution to that is fairly simple: go down to your public library or pull up information on your computer and start studying. Learn as much as you can, practice little by little, and keep on learning.
- You don’t hang around with the right kind of people. Sometimes it really is who you know. Now I don’t mean that you need to know multimillionaires in order to become rich — but you DO need to hang out with people who have a positive and healthy mindset regarding money. Don’t spend your time hanging out with people who act irresponsibly with money or who are always whining helplessly about their circumstances, because you’ll be tempted to act that way too. Find some responsible, reasonable, caring people who are good at managing and growing wealth, and emulate them. Just don’t emulate them by acquiring things before you can afford to.
- It doesn’t occur to you. I think this is a big thing. Did you know you can become rich? Do you really believe it? If you don’t even think that it’s a real possibility, you’ll never rise above the level of daydreaming about it. Allow for the real possibility.
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September 10th, 2008 at 6:11 am
Number 10 is probably the most important. If it didn’t occur to you that you could become rich you wouldn’t care about any of the first 9 items. However, if you realize that you can infact become rich, the first 9 items all become very important.
September 10th, 2008 at 8:05 am
I think points 6 and 10 are related if you’re afraid of success or even failure then you won’t truly believe that you can become rich. Its strange but I think that I bump into a fear of success more than a fear of failure. The unfortunate thing is that the fear of failure is clear and apparent but the fear of success manifests itself as laziness and procrastination. Both are equally valid and very powerful.
Great list!!
September 10th, 2008 at 8:10 am
What a refreshing post!!!! This is some great advice!!! :)
September 10th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Refreshing, as said above, and timely … I’ve just lost a fair sum due to impatience and not paying attention! So I’ve bookmarked this site as a reminder.
Thank you.
September 11th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Great post. Another thing I’d add is “You forget what you already have.”
Sometimes I get an urge to have something (or think I need to buy something I really do need, like soap) without realizing that I have it already. Or that I have plenty of other things, so I don’t need it. Like buying more fabric when I have unfinished projects, or buying a new book when I have lots of unread ones I want to get to. Just stopping to say “Wait, do I already have something like this?” saves a lot of money.
September 13th, 2008 at 12:37 am
It’s true enough. We all know how to lose weight – eat less/ exercise more; but we spend millions on junk food. We all know how to get rich – maximise earnings/ minimise outgoings; yet we live in this half-life of debt.
September 13th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Great post. Very though-provoking. A wise man once said to me “the reason that people don’t become wealthy is that they are too busy working.”
September 14th, 2008 at 8:04 am
I think “you have no self-discipline” should be up there, unless it falls under the impatience category.
About impatience, I find if I write the items that I ‘think’ I NEED, up on a list
inside the kitchen cabinet, and the item stays there for a year…. and if I still
really NEED it, and not just want it, then I’ll allow myself to buy it. This is what
I do for any item over $50. Surprisingly how few items are still up there after a year –
a lot of times they arrive as hand-me-downs from friends or family, or garage sales.
or the ‘want’ has passed.
Good thought-provoking post!
September 14th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
#9 – Sometimes it really is who you know.
This is unbelievably true and something I learned, and put into practice, recently. As my group of friends and I are entering our mid-to-late 30’s, we’re all becoming more financially stable and responsible and our lifestyles are reflecting that. There is one exception and she somehow becomes the focus of every social situation we find ourselves in.
An example: Lynne (not her real name) is always screaming, “I’m broke,” when we make plans for something as simple (and relatively inexpensive) as brunch. Lynne has a good job and makes a decent amount of money and has a relatively low amount of debt and is by no standards broke. However, her attitude about money is fatalistic and, frankly, dramatic. So, the rest of us are frequently downgrading our restaurant choice so that Lynne can come along, or we just pay for her. This was a constant source of frustration and this (among other issues) was a large reason for my breaking off my friendship with her.
Since then, there’s been a lightness and the fact that I no longer have to change my positive outlook on finances to think, “Lynne’s broke and if we go to X restaurant, she can’t come along,” is a relief.
This isn’t to say that I have no sympathy for those with financial issues (I have had plenty of my own over the years), but someone who is broke with no hope (or aspiration) of being anything other than broke, is bad money mojo for everyone around them.
Great post — thanks so much!
September 16th, 2008 at 12:37 am
Meh. Vague advice, obvious points. Translates to “Work hard for a long time, save money, don’t spend it stupidly.” I think people pretty much already know that, even those who don’t get “rich.”
Not a bad blog post or anything, but basically useless except as minor emotional guidance.
Just constructive criticism.
-J
September 16th, 2008 at 7:06 am
Great post! some good words to chew on there. For me, impatience is a big one! We all want it all and want it now.
September 16th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Excellent post. No wonder why it is in the stumble upon buzz page. For me I think the most important thing is to watch your spending. That is something my grand parents have mastered and have been successful. But when it comes to our generation in this commercial world no one is paying attention to a extent as they are supposed to do. An eye opener for most of the readers.
Keep up the good work.
Stumbled- Reviewed.
November 5th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Yes, I also stumbled this. It is very inspiring. I think the main point for me is PAY ATTENTION. I often realize that I have let an opportunity slip by because I wasnt fully engaged or paying close enough attention to what was happening within my realm of responsibilities. The more and more you take on, the harder and harder it is to focus on all the details, but often the point that is missed is the big picture. Paying attention to the big picture is very important.
November 25th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
I love the to busy comment. It is true. Very few people got wealthy working. You must focus on doing things that make you wealthy, not working!
Great post!