The little guy can’t get ahead. Rich people are born rich. It takes money to make money. Rich people aren’t happy.
The problem with these notions is that they are false beliefs built on portrayals of old wealth.
Keeping up with the Joneses
Hollywood’s portrayal of wealth is one filled with mansions, Ferraris, and care-free glam. If this is the only image of wealth people have, it’s little wonder normal people believe the myths surrounding what it means to be a millionaire and why they view being wealthy as an insurmountable obstacle. They are using the wrong measuring tool.
According to Chris Hogan‘s research, there are over 11 million millionaires in the U.S. These “everyday millionaires” he do not flaunt wealth, so normal people often do not know what attainable wealth looks like. In fact, looking wealthy – often called keeping up with the Joneses – can often be a facade for a fragile financial condition.
The truth is that most millionaires don’t look like the Hollywood elite. They are everyday people who follow a proven path to wealth – controlling spending to enable investing.
'Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.' Robert Frost Share on XA change in philosophy
Accumulating wealth takes a minor change in philosophy.
Normal broke people work to pay bills. Weird future millionaires work to build wealth. Release the mindset that you need a certain level of income to build wealth. Here’s how…
Pay yourself first
The habit of investing is far more important than the size of your salary and wages. You don’t need more income to spend; you need more discipline to invest.
Most everyday millionaires have achieved wealth without extraordinary paychecks. They are middle-class people. But they paid themselves first and spent the rest. Spending first and saving the rest is a well-traveled path we know leads to poverty.
No pain, no gain
Anyplace worth going has a more difficult path to travel as described by poet Robert Frost. This is universal life aphorism. Taking the road less traveled by makes all the difference.
The reason it can be hard to stay on the road less traveled is that we don’t notice a difference in a day, a week, or a month. It takes discipline to see the results of paying yourself first. Building wealth requires crockpot patience, not a microwave impetuosity. The crockpot meal always tastes better.
Your beliefs are your reality. Change your beliefs, and you’ll change your reality. Take hope in knowing that the wealth road is one that we can all choose to travel. It may be 10, 15, or even 30 years, but we can all end up living the lesson of the road not taken.
For even more perspective, I recommend reading Everyday Millionaires by Chris Hogan.