Is It The Impossible Dream Or Are You Just Uneducated On The Subject

There is a dream that is universal. That dream is hard to achieve for most. It, sadly, remains frustratingly out of reach. What is that dream? It’s the dream of being wealthy.

How to get rich is an old, very old, question. But, as we learn and grow, there are those who study the rich and wealthy.

Why is becoming wealthy so hard? Thinking about that, this week wasn’t the first time, I started wondering about why it’s hard to become rich. Many have done it, but they’re overwhelmingly in the minority.

One think that we have to accept is becoming rich is more than abut luck, or talent. Nearly everywhere you look for honest answers about becoming rich, this is the one constant you can find, eventually. Becoming wealthy demands:

• Willingness to overcome significant challenges.
• Resilience.
• Discipline

So, which of these three things do you suffer from a lack of? Do you understand what these things are? Let’s start there, instead of asking “How to get Rich!”

Discipline

If you’re an undisciplined person you’re likely going to struggle. It’s not going to be only with money that you struggle, but in general. But what is discipline, and how do you build a more disciplined life?

First, lets look at the definition of discipline.

Discipline is defined by Merriam Webster as:

• Behavior in accordance with rules
• Punishment
• Activity that’s engaged in regularly to train or improve oneself

If you guessed it’s the last one that you need to work on, then you’re probably right. Having an undisciplined mind or routine is a detriment to our daily lives. But, what are you doing to change that? It’s never too late!

Remember that the disciplined mind gets you so far, but you also have to have a disciplined body. That means, both have to be kept up and cared for in order for them to fuction as well as can be. In the case of the mind, that means it’s time to learn.

Some of the daily habits from Tom Corley’s Rich Habits: The Routines Millionaires Use Daily That Will Help You Build Wealth, include things like daily goal-setting, continuous learning, and disciplined time management. Sounds like someone’s been exploring the answers to that question, “How to get rich?”

Corley’s articles emphasize other attributes he found rich people doing. They wake up early. They exercise. And they strategically network. The last one is perhaps one of the more important ideas someone can embrace.

Do you surround yourself with like minded individuals? How many of your friends are doing the same things you are, or exploring the same ideas? If you’re not, then you’re making a mistake. The more we surround ourselves with like minded individuals, the more we are a part of a group that will help us to achieve our goals, that we can help with theirs, and that we can learn from. We all need a RAT PACK.

So, how many people practice the right habits. During Corley studying the subject, he discovered that out of 128 lower-income types, only 9 % practiced the same habits as the 80 percent of the 233 higher income or wealthy individuals he examined. It doesn’t speak well for the discipline level of poorer individuals.

Why is it that most people struggle to align themselves with such disciplined habits? Is it that adopting the daily routines that mirror those of the wealthy is too much of a shift, both mentally and emotionally? Do the poor find this more overwhelming than the wealthy? Or is it simpler, and poorer people are more concerned with short-term comfort over long-term gains? The latter seems like a possible right answer, but in this case, there’s not only one answer to the question.

There are other things to consider, like time and patience. Building wealth is a longer term task, and most people lack patience and can’t see it through. What Corley’s book indicated is that the average self-made millionaire took more than 30 years to have significantly made it. But, that was easier before the post 2020 economy left it nearly impossible for people to save much. It’s only getting harder as time progresses, and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight.

HOW TO GET RICH IS THE QUESTION

THERE ARE NO QUICK WINS IS THE ANSWER

Lack of Education about $$$$$

What do you know about money? Putting 20 dollars away every week means you’ve put 80 dollars away by the end of the month. For some people, that’s a tough one to do. Imagine putting 10% away, and then keeping it put away when you don’t have much to work with.

Financial knowledge is important to gain if you’re goign to attempt to build wealth. Continual learning takes time and effort. But, we all know we’re in some very untstable economic times, and more people are having to work two jobs to make ends meet, and doing it in a time of lay offs, downsizing, and against corporate greed, isn’t easy. Not knowing enough about money can hurt your finances and make it hard to build any type of wealth.

Not knowing much about money affacts not only you, but the people around you. It can affect your family and community. It keeps pepole from feeling confident about their finances, which slows economic growth and development.

The way to break down the barriers to building wealth starts with changing how people are educated about money. Give people the tools, say in middle school and high school, that they need to handle their money the best way possible. This would help the next generation to make better choices, plan for the future, and have a stronger base for themselves and their families.

A community of people who know how to manage their money helps their economy grow. It reduces inequality. It leads the way toward something better, and helps to close the gap between the wealthy and the poor by helping people escape poverty and do better.

Takeaways

Encouragement is great. But past encouragement, you have to believe you can change. Through discipline, an educated approach, and continual learning you can make a financial difference in your life that will last, and be passed on to your young, or the next generation.

Take the ball and run with it. That’s the scariest part for rich people. There are road maps there to help navigate your way from now to a richer future, but if we don’t use those road maps, and apply our best selves, there’s no way the rich will stop getting richer and we’ll only get poorer.

Haven’t we had enough of that?

**Links to Amazon are purely to share where to get the information, and I don't make any money off their purchases**