Building Wealth

Today I am going to cover something that really gets people charged up.  We are going to cover the topic of wealth.  This is something that hits home with most everyone.  It is impossible to live in a capitalistic society without encountering the subject of money on a daily basis.  However, even though it is crucial to our existence, few are willing to discuss it.

Wealth

Money is a problem for most people.  And it is a situation that is only getting worse.  The protests by thousands of people in major cities in the past few years in the U.S. shows how frustration is growing among people.  The divide between the haves and the have nots is getting wider.  These are facts which are not subject to dispute since the data affirms this.  However, I will take exception with the direction where the frustration is placed. 

To start, wealth often means money to most people.  In this post, I am going to agree and will focus upon the financial aspect of things.  Nevertheless, wealth encompasses a great deal more than just dollars and cents.  People enjoy wealth in a variety of ways.  It is said the United States is the richest country on the planet.  That is true.  While not everyone in America is financially well off, the fact remains they are better than most of the world.  Are you aware the average income around the world is $2 a day?  Consider this the next time you feel you are underpaid and remember what others are dealing with.

The point is that people have access to things in the U.S which puts them far ahead of the rest of the world.  Ponder for a second what the average book costs.  You can walk into a bookstore and spend, let's say, $15 on a book.  If you want 5 of them, it will run you roughly $75.  For many, $75 for a luxury like books might be out of the question, especially on a regular basis.

Now, consider the fact that the same person can go to any public library and check out 5 books at any given time (most likely those same 5 books) for FREE.  The person has the ability to read and enjoy the books without paying a penny for them.  This amounts to a $75 benefit just because he or she resides in the United States.

We can see this same idea transferred to many other things which are readily available to us.  Therefore, if one spent some time thinking about it, he or she could feel wealthy at any moment.  The feeling of wealth is achieved by focusing upon what one has as opposed to what one does not have.  Sadly, most concentrate their attention to what is missing or, worse, compare themselves with people who have more.  A better course of action is to compare oneself to a person who has less and realize how lucky he or she truly is.

Make It A Goal

Now that we showed that the feeling of wealth can be achieved no matter what your present circumstances, let us turn our attention to the area of finances or riches.  From this point forward, when I refer to wealth, I am going to be concentrating on money.  I know this might sound shallow to some yet it is a crucial factor in our lives, hence something we need to concentrate upon.

The big question is why do so few ever achieve the state of wealth while most miss out on it?  This is a simple question to answer.  No matter who it is or the circumstances they are in, there is only one reason why a person lacks wealth.  It is because he or she has not truly decided to be wealthy.  That is it.  Anyone who has wealth, aside from those who inherited it, made a decision to become wealthy.  They made it a focus in their lives.  Everything was done in an effort to achieve that end.  Those who are lacking in material resources have not made the same decision.

It is a proven fact that no matter what one decides to achieve, if he or she puts 100% time and effort into achieving that end, it will materialize.  We see this with professional athletes, musicians, artists, and business people.  Those who are successful decide to excel in a single area and persist at that endeavor until success is reached.  Wealth is no different.

As I stated in the beginning, money is a funny subject.  It is something that affects everyone yet so few are willing to talk about it.  Rarely is one taught proper principles growing up at home regarding this lifelong topic.  Instead, it is ignored which leads to lifelong failure in most instances.  Did you realize that at 65, 95% of the people are either dead or dead broke.  Only about 5% of the people achieve financial freedom.  This is sad.  People work all their lives to end up with nothing.  Why?  Because they never decided to make wealth building an overriding goal.

And why is that?  The reasons are too long to list but basically it is conditioning.  Basically, people are taught to think of scarcity.  Growing up we hear phrases such as "money does not grow on trees".  Also, we are trained to detest those who have more.  Did you ever hear something to the effect "rich people are mean"?  Phrases such as this teach us to view those with wealth as dishonest and cruel people.  This is the same mindset we saw from the demonstrations a year ago.  They aimed their frustration at people who were successful based upon their naive conditioning.

Again, the reason why those people are not wealthy is because they did not make wealth building a goal.  They chose to make other things more important.  The truth is that anyone can become wealthy.  The tools for accumulating financial success are everywhere.  However, it is only the small percentage who choose to pick them up.  I do not know how accurate this is, but I once heard that only 10% of the people eligible for a 401K program take advantage of it.  That is pathetic.  Here is a basic wealth building goal over time because of the fact that it is tax deferred and usually accompanied by some type of company match.  Therefore, one is receiving an instant ROI (usually between 50%-100%) and given a free loan from the government to allow the tax dollars, which would normally be paid, to earn interest over time.  Yet, most skip this vital step.

We will cover this subject in much greater detail in ensuing posts.  However, the thought that I want you to take today is that for you to achieve financial success, it must be an overriding goal.  You must desire to be wealthy.  Hoping and wishing do nothing.  You need to DECIDE to make it a central part of your thought process and dedicate the time and effort necessary to build wealth.  The strategies are out there.  You must be willing to learn them.  If you do this, I can guarantee, as long as you persist, that success will be had.  It is impossible for anything else to result.


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