How you think about money is not an accident. Your feelings, approach, and response to money are a result of a personal belief system that has been cultivated since a young age. For better or worse, these beliefs are powerful and some of these beliefs are not true, exaggerated, or incomplete.
Let’s consider some of the common beliefs that get programmed into us from the time we are little kids. Are any of these familiar to you?
- Money doesn’t grow on trees
- It takes money to make money
- There are two kinds of people; the haves and the have-nots
- In the game of life, there must be winners and losers
I’m here to tell you, these are all false; they originate from a scarcity mentality. The opposite of scarcity is abundance—believing that the pie is infinitely growable. It is the belief that there is enough for everybody, that we can provide food and shelter and water and great housing for every human being that walks this planet and any future generations. Scarcity is the belief that there are truly limited resources and that you have to get yours at the expense of someone else. It is grounded in fear and negativity and is exactly what keeps people impoverished when they have the resources and ability to have wealth.
Unpacking Our Beliefs
Where do these negative, scarcity-based beliefs come from? Sources include parents, friends, schools, bosses, and the media. They’re all around us, and it’s easy for us to buy into them. If we don’t combat them, they will impact our belief system.
I have friends that have made hundreds of millions, lost hundreds of millions, then made them back again because of their mindset and strong internal locus of control. You can think of this as a kind of thermostat. Think about any business mogul or millionaire—they think in terms of hundreds of millions. Their thermostat is set that high. By comparison, some people are happy just to make an extra thousand bucks. Their thermostat is set that low.
Because mindset is an internal process, we can control it. Once we control our mindset, then we can control our beliefs. If I believe that the world has lots of opportunities and that it’s up to me to go out and take advantage of those opportunities that I can control, then those opportunities are going to show up because I’m going to be open to them. I’m going to be looking for them and will notice them when they appear.
The Power of Decision and Awareness
Think about the last time you decided to buy a certain car. Let’s say you decided to buy, just for example, a Honda Pilot. From that moment on, you noticed that Pilots were all over the place. Every other car you passed on the highway seemed like it was a Honda Pilot. Did Pilots suddenly outsell every other car over the course of a few weeks? Hardly. This particular mental effect is known as the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon. It’s because you have opened your mind up to that Honda Pilot and your brain is paying selective attention to what is going on around you.
That’s your mindset playing out in your behaviors, but you can use it to your advantage. All you did was change your mindset and then suddenly—“Hey, there are tons of Honda Pilots on the road.” That’s now your belief. Why? Because your mindset was that you were going to start looking for them. It can work the same way with your finances. If you say, “Hey, there are economic opportunities out there,” and you believe it, guess what you start finding? You notice economic opportunities all over the place. They’re everywhere. You have every ability to become wealthy if you want to, and you can start that process right now.
The truth is once your mindset is “I can do it. I can start building up different sources of income. I can get to a point in my life where I don’t have to work,” you then start to believe it because it’s true for you in your new worldview. Once your mind says, “This is an opportunity,” that impacts your beliefs and that controls your behaviors. Once you realize that what you’re believing is true, your behaviors will shift. When you add your mindset, beliefs, and behavior together, that’s where you get these results. I guarantee it.