Jharb81
What does it take to become truly Wealthy? I know for the longest time for me; it was all about trying to get rich quick. The longer that I have been on my journey to true wealth and ultimately financial freedom, I have learned a few valuable lessons along the way. Stick with me for a few moments as I give away thousands of hours’ worth of research and life lessons that have taught me how to build true and lasting wealth.
First and foremost, I would like to thank you for stopping by and deciding to get some insight on building wealth. True wealth does not come over night and it does not come in the form of an account or accounts with lots of money. True wealth comes from within; it’s a mindset that over time will lead to an account or accounts with lots of money in them. Until you master the mindset of the wealthy though you will never truly be wealthy, maybe rich, but not wealthy.
I just finished the book, “The Next Millionaire Next Door,” by Dr. Thomas J. Stanley and his daughter Sarah Stanley Fallaw PhD, and it confirmed what I already knew to be true. There are plenty of people who appear to be rich which the book describes these people as being “Income Statement Affluent” (meaning they have high incomes but no real accumulation of wealth) vs individuals who are “Balance Sheet Affluent” (meaning they have the assets that are true stores of wealth and good incomes to go along with a substantial Net Worth.) Depending on the lifestyle you want I suppose either could work, but since I want to be truly wealthy and that’s what this post is about, we will stick to Balance sheet affluence and the things these individuals do to be so successful.
When I was much younger, I really wanted to have this work life balance thing that I had heard so much about, but now that I am older and hopefully wiser, I realize that work life balance is the ultimate myth if you want to become truly wealthy. Hear me out for a second. I want to be wealthy, but I don’t want to work all the time, and I want to be able to enjoy lots of time off or away from anything that resembles work. I would liken this idea to two things: 1. I want to be in great physical shape, but I never want to work out and I want to eat anything and everything I want or 2. I want to be the greatest basketball player in the world (insert anything there and the corresponding task to achieve it), but I don’t want to go to the gym and shoot 1,000’s of shots to achieve this status. It would never work.
To build great wealth you must take the same steps as all great achievers and you must devote your life to it. You can have great wealth in love, and happiness, and relationships, and still build a massive fortune which is true and ultimate wealth. The money itself is not what makes you wealthy. It’s the peace, the happiness, the joy, and the fulfillment of knowing that you didn’t completely lose yourself in the process of attainment. Building true and lasting wealth is as much about identity as it is about identifying a unique opportunity or problem that you can solve and receive compensation for.
On the money side of things, finding something you are great at is as important as finding something you are passionate about. If you can marry a passion for what you choose to do with a great skill or mastery of a craft, you can’t help, but to be wildly successful. Finding a passion and a zeal or maybe a righteous fervor will take you a long way, but if you don’t have the skill to complete the task, you will only get so far. You must also have a tenacity and a discipline that will keep you plugging away for years maybe even decades before you see the actual fruits of your labor.
Once you find your way of earning your money, and your happiness, and your freedom: then you have to find a way to maintain them. Maintaining the money part isn’t really all that hard unless you are trying to keep up with the proverbial “Joneses” and then yes you will probably not become truly wealthy. Like I said before, “wealth is about a state of mind” and if you are too worried about “keeping up with the Joneses” then you are not winning the battle of the mind. True wealth builders and true accumulators of wealth are not out making superficial purchases, that have no value add to their lives, when and if they are making purchases, they usually buy things that are going to create more wealth.
Building lasting wealth takes time and one of the things that I have observed about fast money is that, as quick as it is made or received, it tends to be gone just as quickly depending on the individual and the mindset attached to the individual. I know I have experienced it myself firsthand growing up with a single mother, as soon as she got her tax refund back, we (mostly I, I was a selfish, self-absorbed little shit) would have it spent almost before it even cleared the bank. If this is you, trust me you are not alone. Even the income statement affluent “Rich” have similar money issues and as soon as their checks and or bonuses hit the bank they are gone.
You might ask why or how is it that people who make $200,000 per year have lots of stuff and lots of things, but have no true wealth and very little relative net worth? Once again it goes back to mindset and also lifestyle which once again goes back to mindset. One of the biggest questions you have to ask yourself is, do I want to look wealthy/rich or do I want to actually be wealthy/rich. At this point, you might be thinking why can’t I have both and the fact is, you can, but there is a caveat. Every dollar you spend trying to look wealthy/rich is a dollar less that you have to invest, which over time is going to build true lasting monetary wealth and stability.
If your first thought when you know money is coming your way, is what you can buy for yourself or what frivolous purchases you can make then you are going to have a hard time becoming truly wealthy. If you are always trying to please others and chase trends and have all the hottest and latest fashion, then it is going to be hard for you to become truly wealthy. Building true and lasting wealth is often done by facing a true ego death and not worrying about what others think or what others are doing.
Sometimes you are going to have to work later than you want to and sometimes you are going to have to miss out on the nights at the club drinking and partying with friends in order to build true wealth. Some days you are going to have to sacrifice a little bit and maybe decline on an offer to go to the fancy new restaurant that your whole crew is going to check out. While you are making those sacrifices though, your wealth and your true self will be growing quietly and confidently and one day before too long, you will be able to reemerge from your cocoon of self-actualization and realize that you have become this gorgeous beautiful being that others are astounded by because they notice the difference and they notice the change is for the better even if they are scared or unwilling to admit it.
The best part about becoming truly wealthy is the freedom to choose your own adventure and your own path. Following the crowd and the trends will get you what the crowd has, but if you want to be truly wealthy and free then you need to do something different, something unique, maybe even something a little weird. Life will only give you back what you put into it, just like anything else in nature. If you put bad things into your mind and body bad things will come out. It’s the same as computers and technology you get out what you put in. If you don’t give the computer, the proper commands you will not get the right outcomes.
As I bring this post to a close, I want to take a moment to reflect on what it takes to become truly wealthy. It’s not just a checklist. It’s a mentality. It’s a lifestyle. It’s a commitment to the journey. It’s a discipline that creates freedom. When you find true lasting wealth, you will have found peace, happiness, contentment, and joy. True wealth takes away fear, and worry, and anxiety because you are secure within yourself no matter how much money is in your bank account.
Go in peace and plant seeds that will bear the fruit of a great harvest that will continue to grow long after you are gone.
