WEALTH STARTS IN YOUR MIND FIRST AND FOREMOST

It all starts with your mindset

By Melvin J. Howard

"Everything can be taken from a man but ...the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way. Viktor E. Frankl

The first step to having wealth is to know what it is. And few people know what it really is, in and of itself. What is wealth? What causes it? What causes the cause of it? Let us start with money, the world’s symbol of wealth, and then move deeper. Lets take a look at money. Money is merely legal tender, a form of exchange. We use it to exchange value. It represents value. Money is the ‘body’ of value. It is the physical representation of value that rises and falls in ourselves, within us. Not within ‘things’ outside of us, but within us. For without us, what can the value of a thing, such as a car, be to us? Nothing, at least not to us. In other words, it is we, the observers, that place value in things, but this value is really value in us – we give value to the material things. The material things have no ‘money’ value in themselves – we give that to them. So, money is the external physical representation of a particular section of our internal value, within us, within you. That is why a house or a block of shares valued at $1 million today can fall to a valuation of half a million dollars tomorrow when fear is introduced into the hearts of those involved. The fear kills a portion of the internal values of the participants and that is reflected by the paper money, the ‘body’ of value.

Money is not the enabler; it is that which makes the people point their attention and their power in a certain way. It is the carrot on the stick. It gives you a promise, alters your belief so you may act in a certain way. In fact, it doesn't do it by itself; you build that image all by yourself in your mind. You build the belief and the promise in your mind, you convince yourself, and then you act in that way. This acting ‘in that way’ is what people mistake as the power of money. Money can't do anything by itself. It is we the people that do things, create things, exchange things. And we do it all based on what we believe. And then we think we are powerless and it is money that has the power. And this misconception has such a strong grip on people’s minds.

How many times have you felt powerless, defeated and incapable, just because in your mind you did not have ‘enough money’? How many times have you reduced yourself and thrown away your dreams because of this idea? Don’t you find it incredible that you can actually believe, in an instant, that you are next to nothing just because the ATM slip printed less zeros than you expected? You can actually be dreaming of starting a business, doing something for yourself and loved ones, and all those dreams can be shattered in one second when you get your bill or account statement. Why do you choose this? Look, if you only have $10 left, the reality as it stands would be that, at that moment, you only posses $10 of funny money. That is all. That is not related to the next moment of your life – it is up to you to choose how you will next move. It is not related to your dreams and goals – it needs not shake them one single bit. It is not related to your emotions and mood – you choose how to feel about that $10 and that is why different people feel differently about $10. It is not related to your power, capability, confidence or anything else like that – you choose all these yourself.

Walt Disney, against all odds, criticism, and a string of ‘failures’, stuck to his imagination and became the entertainment king of the world. Mickey Mouse was launched at the lowest point of his ‘failures’. No one could have predicted that an empire would have been launched on a mouse. When we willingly go where our most desired imaginations take us, we become creative forces that have no limits. Albert Einstein said that imagination is the greatest creative force. Learn to be willing to go where your imagination and desire takes you. Your thoughts are a major part of your wealth consciousness and beliefs. Example remember that most people who win lotteries lose all their money within a few years and actually end up in debt, while people with high wealth consciousness make billions out of nothing repeatedly.

 Money is not something you need. It is not a need.  As long as you feel you need money, you will find it hard to get. The minute you drop your neediness of it, your belief that you are any less without it, you will find you are surrounded by it and by whatever it is that you desire and move towards. Money is a communication device, and when you have neediness, you are communicating lack of, and that is what you will experience.

Whether you are in a job or a business of your own, the way to gain increasing wealth (and money if that is what you want – but remember that you can have wealth without money) is to continuously go within and find the value and power that is inherent in you as it is in everybody. Then bring it out and communicate it. And you will find that, in ways you can't even predict, the wealth and money will automatically come. Go within, bring it out, communicate your value, ask for what you desire, and repeat. Ask and it shall be given. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you. We have seen how money enables you to convince someone else to act in a certain way. It shifts their beliefs towards something you would like to have happen. But what else does money do? It shifts your own beliefs – it convinces you that you have the power. But it is not the money that convinces you; it cannot possibly do that. You convince yourself, without a shred of doubt, that you have the ability! When you don’t have $100 that you imagine you need to get a pair of shoes, the $100 you imagine is the only way, out of infinite possibilities, that will get you the shoes, you convince yourself totally that you don’t have the ability to get shoes. When you have the $100, you convince yourself totally that you have all the power you need to get shoes. 

Did you know that you could convince yourself of either of these even without money? You may have the $100 but convince yourself totally that you have some perceived shortage and you shouldn’t spend it on shoes or else you will suffer. And so you remain without shoes. Of you may not have the $100 but you convince yourself totally that you will get shoes, and somehow you end up with shoes (as a gift, through some special offer, or in any of many other ways! This all teaches you two things: (1) you can convince yourself either way regardless of the money and the results happen regardless of the money and (2) you always, always, regardless of the money, have to convince yourself first of your ability so that you may use it.