If you had all the money in the world, how would you feel?
There are all kinds of answers, and there are many books out there that try to teach us how to think about money.
Steve Siebold has written one called, “How Rich People Think.” It teaches, much the way Napoleon Hill teaches in “Think and Grow Rich,” or Robert Kiyosaki in “Rich Dad, Poor Dad,” that we have to look at how we think before we can get rich.
Sure, you can inherit a bunch of money from your late great aunt, or you can win a big lottery jackpot. But, chances are, if you have what Siebold calls “middle class thoughts” about money, you probably won’t have your fortune for very long.
Most of us have been taught that hard work, a good education and keeping your nose to the grindstone for, say, 40 years will help you retire comfortably.
But if you think like a rich person, you are not thinking about having enough money to retire, as Siebold writes. You are thinking about having enough money to make an impact on the world.
In other words, to be rich, you have to think of solutions to problems, and invent them.
Most of us were taught that if we had a job, or something else that was paying us, we had to worry about holding onto it. Rich people will try things, fail numerous times, and try something else. They don’t fear failure or loss. In fact, they don’t fear much of anything. Even if they lose their fortunes, they know they will find a way to make them back.
That may be why it’s difficult to really punish white-collar criminals. They used their genius for evil, and most of us would like nothing more than to see them lose everything. Even if they lost everything, they would find a way to make it back – hopefully in an ethical, law-abiding way this time.
Yes, we all would like to have a lot of money. Some of us believe it is not possible for us to get a lot of money. It’s possible for anyone to get a lot of money, just by thinking the right thoughts. You don’t think about who would give it to you. You think about how you can come up with the idea that people will pay you for.
Then, you think about how you can use and grow that money. As Siebold writes, middle-class people think about how to spend money. Rich people think about how to invest money.
Most of us have been taught to get a good education – get through high school, go to college, get a degree in something that will get you a good job. Rich people, Siebold says, don’t think of education in terms of degrees. They think of education as learning anything that will make them money. Some of the richest people in the world have relatively little formal education. They’ve just thought about ways to make money, learned what they needed to pull it off and gotten rich.
Do you think like a rich person? Do you think like a middle-class person? Do you think of making money via a job, or making money via an idea? Once you get money, do you think more of ways to spend it, or more of ways to invest it?
As you ponder these questions, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. You will see how some ordinary, middle-class folks got wealthy, and how you could do the same. The only difference between them and you is how they think. It’s difficult to become rich, until you first learn to think like a rich person.
Give it a shot. Think what you would do to make a lot of money, and to not just preserve it, but use it to help others. Don’t be jealous or envious of the rich. If you feel that way, remember the best way you can help the poor is not to be one of them.
Peter
Tag Archives: Rich Dad
HOBBIES, LUCK AND FORTUNE, PART 2
Are you an E person, an S person, a B person or an I person?
Robert Kiyosaki, with Sharon Lechter, explain the different types of people in their book, “Rich Dad: The Business School For People Who Like Helping People.”
E stands for employee. People in this category usually have a job, and are distressed if they don’t have one. They work for someone else, building someone else’s dream. They are OK with that. They work for money. They have to keep working or the money stops. They look forward to weekends (or days off), vacations and, ultimately, retirement. They’ve resigned themselves to a long, hard road – newly pocked with insecurity since 2008 – until they can retire.
S stands for small business owner. These are rugged individuals, wanting to be their own bosses. Most want their businesses to grow. Some don’t want them to get TOO big, where they can’t run them alone. These individuals believe they are the best and the brightest within their company. Everyone works for them. They may admirably spend their lives building their businesses, shun vacations and hope they will have something valuable enough to sell when they are ready to retire.
The B person owns a BIG business. He has many people working for him. He’s the boss, but some of his employees may be smarter than he. He’s OK with that. In fact, he strives for it. You see, he’s still, and always will be, the boss. (Note: Most CEOs are in the E category. They make a lot of money, but still work for someone else). Those in the B category will own their big businesses until they die. They will probably work in those businesses until they die. It’s financial security, certainly, but where’s the freedom?
The freedom rests in the I category. These folks build wealth, not income. They never have to worry about where their money will come from. They can do what they want. They can go anywhere, anytime for any reason – or no reason at all. They have as much, or more, wealth, as the B person, but they have the TIME the B person does not. These folks have residual income, defined as getting paid over and over again for doing something once. That’s normally associated with people in the movie, TV or recording business getting residuals from reruns. But those in network marketing build initial teams, and help them grow – usually by working with those they’ve brought in to build their teams – and their dreams. The best day of the week for them is the day the weekly check comes in, regardless of what they did the week before.
SECURITY AND INCOME VS. FREEDOM
The Rich Dad book goes into great detail about these types of people, but we’ll sum it up here. The E person craves security. He may envy the rich, or criticize the rich, but never see himself as rich. You can put a fortune in front of him, and he may never see it, or may fear it. Some may make good money at their jobs, but they are still working for someone else.
The S person sees HIMSELF as the catalyst for his life/business. People may help him get rich, but that task is so consuming to him and he doesn’t have time to help others. The important thing for him is that he is beholden to no one. He may tell others what to do, but no one – save, perhaps, a spouse or parent – can tell him what to do. Often, this person’s ego can take over his life.
The B person’s success is undisputed. He is among the fortunate in life. But his fortune comes at a price. He has little time for anything, other than business – or making money. He hopes he doesn’t die before he can relax.
The I person is the dreamer. He dreams not just of financial freedom, but also time freedom. He works for time, not money, though money gives him time. He builds his big dreams by helping others do the same. Chances are, he’s in network marketing, if he’s not in show business. Although, network marketing IS show business. You SHOW others how to do what you are doing.
If you see yourself as an I person, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. It may be the financial freedom vehicle you’ve been looking for. If you are among the other types, and REALLY WANT to be an I person, it would be worth your time to check out the site as well.
We are who we are, but can become who we want. But you have to WANT to become who you want. You can be an E, S or B, and work toward becoming an I – if you want. Many work full-time on their jobs or businesses, and work on their fortune and freedom as a sideline – until the fortune kicks in. Then, they grab the freedom. They say, goodbye E, S or B. Hello, I.
Peter