5 Money Mindsets that Keep you in Lack

“Money can’t buy happiness, but happiness can’t buy groceries,” a statement shirt once aptly observed.We all need money. And for some reason, some of us always seem to have a painful shortage of it. On the other hand, there are those who always seem to have all the money they need, whenever they need it.

What makes the difference between one living in lack and one living in prosperity? Many financial gurus will tell you, “It all begins in the mind.” 

So what could be in your mind that’s keeping money from flowing into your life?

 

Mindset 1: Money is the root of all evil.

 When this sort of mindset resides in our subconscious, we subconsciously keep on doing things that make or keep us poor.

But this mindset is a lie. Money is not the root of all evil; greed, pride, anger, lust, envy, gluttony, and laziness are. Money is only the tool by which we usually try to satisfy our greed, pride, anger, lust, envy, gluttony, and laziness.

But remember that money is also the tool by which we express charity, generosity, and love. It is how we comfort the sick, clothe the naked, feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, and protect the widow, the elderly, and the orphan.

Therefore, we cannot say that money is innately evil. It all depends on the hand that holds it. So always remind yourself this: You are a good person, and possession of money does not make you evil. With money in your hands, you can bring comfort and love to many – and you will. 

 

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Mindset 2: It is difficult to earn money.

 It can be difficult to make money if you choose to make money the hard way. For instance, if a writer chooses to make money doing woodwork, that writer will probably earn P350 from eight hours of carpentry, when he/she could have earned the same amount from half an hour of writing. On the other hand, a skilled carpenter who can make P4,000 worth of woodcraft in one day will probably find money difficult to earn if he decides to earn a living by writing biomedical research articles instead.

The point is, money can be easy to earn if you do the work you’re good at.

Money can also be easy to earn if you would only find the courage to price your service or product correctly. Stop undervaluing yourself. If your job pays you too little for the sort of work you are required to do, then find a new employer who knows how to pay people fairly. (Yes, such employers exist – but you will never get to work for them if you do not leave your exploitative boss.) 

To make money with less effort, choose where you spend your energy. Get rid of your low-revenue activities and clients, or delegate them to somebody else, so you have more time for the high-paying ones. 

How about making money grow even while you sleep? You can invest on real estate and put it up for rent. Then you’ll have money coming in every month without you working; the building for rent is, in effect, working for you. Can’t afford real estate? How about putting up your own car (or bicycle or baby stroller) for rent? You can also make money grow while you sleep by putting it in long-term investments such as mutual funds. Or you can plant a tree, which grows as you sleep, and sell the fruit later.

How about pyramid schemes? Those are easy ways to earn money, right? 

Pyramid schemes are not an easy way to earn money. They are complex ways to steal money, or easy ways to lose money. Stay away from pyramid schemes.

 

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Mindset 3: Wealth brings a feeling of gratitude.

 You’ve got it backwards. Gratitude is not the result of wealth; wealth is a result of gratitude.Why?
When we are grateful, we look at what we have and say thanks for them. Our focus is on what we have, not what we do not have.

The mind is a strange and powerful thing. What you focus your mind on, the mind attracts into your life. If you see the glass as half empty, your mind will attract emptiness. If you see the glass as half full, your mind will attract fullness.

Grateful people see the glass as half full. Some of them even see the glass as nearly full. This grateful attitude attracts prosperity into their lives, not the other way around.

 

Mindset 4: Someday, my big break will come.

 I just have to wait for it.A quote attributed to Albert Einstein goes, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”

You’re waiting for that golden opportunity, your big break, to fall down from the sky? You won’t get it by waiting. You will get it by moving, adapting, changing.

So move and change. Learn a new skill. Revise your life pattern. For once in your life, stop writing business plans and actually go out and sell something. 

Move. Look for a new job. Look for a new client. Consider working from home. Consider working at the office. Consider that your family may actually have a higher net income if you or your mate stayed at home fulltime to watch and educate the kids. 

Change. Start charging for all those services you used to give away for free. Remember all those people who owe you money, and instead of sulking about non-payers, try contacting them and asking if they would like to pay you on installment basis. Consider getting a bank loan so you can finally finance your business idea.

You don’t wait for your big break; you make your big break. If your current actions don’t bring prosperity to your life, change your actions. Only then can you expect change in your financial status.

 

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Mindset 5: A peso saved is a peso earned.

 Not really. Remember the parable of the wise servant and the foolish servant? When you bury your money in soil, you prevent it from multiplying. 

How do you turn 10 pesos to 20 pesos? You’ve got to spend it. You need to invest it in things that will make money for you in the long- or short-term future.

This is different from money that you spend to buy that cup of designer coffee. That’s money that will never come back to you or multiply -- unless you need to drink that coffee in order to gain the energy to put up your business, in which case it would be an investment, and the money will grow.

Any gardener knows that to make plants grow and bear fruit, you need to know the right things about plants. If you believe that plants need light 24 hours a day and should retain as many leaves as possible to bear fruit, you will act on those beliefs – and you will end up with a very poor harvest. 

A wise gardener knows that plants need darkness, and you need to prune excess leaves to maximize the plant’s fruit-bearing capability.

It’s the same with money: If you believe the wrong things about money, you will act on those beliefs, and you will end up with a poor harvest. But if you correct your erroneous beliefs about money and embrace the correct mindsets, then your harvest will be plentiful – pressed down, shaken together, and overflowing. 

It all begins in the mind.

 

Photo by Tax Credits via flickr creative commons