If you are in control of money you can go to work because you want to. If money is in control of you then you go to work because you have to. This is a subtle difference in writing, but a big difference in how you live your life. Even in the wealthiest Country’s in the world, 99% of the population is still being controlled by money mostly because they don’t know how to manage money better. The effect is lack of money, the cause is thinking.
Albert Einstein once said, “a problem cannot be solved at the same level of consciousness in which it occurs.” Knowing this, you must first raise you level of conscious awareness in order to create wealth. Conscious awareness is defined as “The conscious aspect of the mind involving our awareness of the world and self in relation to it.” When looking specifically at money and wealth, conscious awareness is studying money and how the world class creates wealth. Here are 3 ways to raise your level of awareness and manage money better:
1. Read books. There are thousands of books on the topic of money and wealth creation. It’s crazy, for twenty bucks someone will tell you everything you need to know about how to get rich. In 5-10 hours of reading you can find out what took the author a lifetime to discover.
2. Listen to CD’s. I listen to a lot of CD’s in my car as I run my errands. A lot of the books you might want to read are probably also available on CD. It could be the perfect solution if you don’t have the time to read. You can usually get through an average sized book in about 3-4 hours.
3. Find a mentor. This is probably the most important one. Find someone who is wealthy and ask if you can buy him or her lunch once each month. Tell them you want to learn how to become wealthy and ask if you can pick their brain while you have lunch.
This is exactly what I have done over the years. My latest friend I met while at a conference in Canada. I found out that he is a multimillionaire real estate sales agent and real estate investor. I told him that I wanted to become a real estate investor too and I asked him if I could buy him a coffee once a month and chat. We now meet more than once a month and he quite often calls me to make sure we set-up an appointment. If you are positive, coach able and enthusiastic they will want to hang around you.
The purpose of doing these 3 steps is to get you to start to think like a wealthy person and manage money better. The middle class believes that formal education is the answer to acquiring wealth, yet very few academics are wealthy. Wealthy people know that while former education is important, it has very little to do with acquiring wealth. A key point to remember is that the middle class trades time for money while the world class trades ideas that solve problems for money. The problem with trading time for money is that you will run out of time long before you make enough money. Again, the concept is subtle but the difference in quality of life is massive.
World-class wealth begins with world-class thinking. If you would like to make more, save more or just manage money better, it will have to start with your thinking. If you want a 10% increase in your results you must first make a 10% improvement in your thinking regarding money. Take the time and read some books or listen to a few CD’s. Find a mentor that is already where you want to be and buy him or her a coffee or lunch and pick their brain. A couple of hours a week spent raising your awareness will yield big results, I promise.
