Wealth Creation Blog

I hope I can get this point across without confusing the matter too much. Let’s give it our best shot!

In the last post we discussed reasons versus excuses. We defined a reason (such as the reason for not achieving wealth prior to now) as something based in fact that can be changed; while we defined an excuse as a lazy justification (a bit harsh, but essentially true) for the current state of affairs. Today let’s take this a step further. The reason you are not wealthy (yet!) may just be that you make too many excuses for it.

Is Your Reason Too Many Excuses?

While your excuses may be weak and not based in fact, it could be a fact that you excuse away wealth by coming up with a list of excuses for not being wealthy. Think about it. Perhaps your point is that you’re not wealthy because you don’t need money. So you use that as a crutch to not have to put the work into learning how to make money and be rich. Of course, there could be any myriad of excuses, and if you are like the average person, you will have many excuses for not achieving wealth.

It’s important to recognize when you are making excuses and laying blame. For one, by doing that you are focusing your energy in the past and not in the future, so it cannot work progressively for you. Moreover, as long as you continue to justify away your lack of wealth, you will not be able to build wealth; you will not work towards achieving the lifestyle and financial freedom that you really want (and should have!).

No Shame In Past Excuses

I don’t write this to make you feel badly about yourself, I write it only to enlighten you as to why wealth has been elusive up to now. This is a topic that Jamie McIntyre discusses in depth (and in far more eloquence) in his book, What I Didn’t Learn At School But Wish I Had. You can download the eBook for free with the previous live link. You’ll find it right in the first chapter, in the discussion over why most people are not rich.

Do know this, though—this is perfectly normal, human nature. In fact, it’s one of the reasons that most people are not rich; and in most cases, one that every non-wealthy person experiences. So there is no shame in it, and you are not alone, but by recognizing the harm excuses and blame are doing to your wealth creation efforts, you can remove a huge roadblock to wealth, and start securing your financial freedom.

Sean Rasmussen
Wealth Creation Blog
UniversalWealthCreation.com © 2004 – 2009

If you’ve been following along over at the 21st Century Academy Blog, then you’ve already been a part of this discussion. What we have been doing over there is slowly working our way through Jamie McIntyre’s seven-day Wealth Vision video series, and combining that with posts which follow along in his book, What I Didn’t Learn At School But Wish I Had. In the beginning I thought to move through these videos very quickly and just touch upon them, but this turned into a much more in-depth conversation of the book, so we’ve slowed it down to take our time and enjoy it, and that’s okay, too. We’re getting a lot out of breaking down Jamie’s video messages and his book—why don’t you join us?

At any rate, my intention with that was to introduce this concept, one that is really so central to any success with money. It is the concept of denial; or, more accurately, of living in denial of our interest in money. You see, most people deny that they are interested in money. We say we don’t need it, or don’t care about it, or that there are more important things in life; and that last point is not entirely untrue, it’s just that the way we go about getting money so that we can have and attend to those things is exactly opposite of what we are hoping to achieve by making money…or by saying we don’t need it.

Who’s The Master?

The average person places money in a position of much greater importance than he or she is willing to admit. We’ll say money is not important, but we’ll dedicate the vast majority of our waking hours to chasing money, working (usually for someone else), and not spending time with our family and those who are important to us, or in doing the things we really want to do. We’ll allow money issues to destroy our relationships and marriages. As Jamie McIntyre’s millionaire mentor said, it’s a classic case of denial.

Something else he said is that if you do value other things, and do care about having a quality life, you have to learn to master money. You cannot make money your god and let it control your life. But that is exactly what the vast majority of people do.

Denying money a place of importance is not the way to make your life a priority, not in the modern world where money is, undeniably, an important factor. Admitting that money matters does not make you a bad person. If you value your life you should value money, but in a way that allows you to control it, so that making money is not the controlling factor in your life. This “subtle shift” in thinking (as Jamie calls it), makes a world of difference, and will make all the difference in the quality of your life.

Read more about it–get your own free copy of What I Didn’t Learn At School But Wish I Had; you’ll find this discussion on page four of the book.

Sean Rasmussen
Wealth Creation Blog
UniversalWealthCreation.com © 2004 – 2009

As with the last post, I was duly inspired by an excerpt in Jamie McIntyre’s book, What I Didn’t Learn In School But Wish I Had. Of course, I’ve been inspired by his work for quite some time now, but it’s always nice to have a refresher of inspiration.

What’s The Difference?

The part that inspired me today is the second paragraph of the first chapter. Here, Jamie talks about how there is no age limit to success and wealth. He does so in an effort to figure out why it is that some people are rich while others are not. On the surface, the trend makes little sense—there is no pattern, no party line to follow, no rhyme or reason to why certain people make it big from nothing while others who have had all the advantages in the world continue to struggle along.

People of all ages become rich. They build wealth in their twenties and thirties, and sometimes even sooner; they build wealth in their fifties, sixties, and later in life, too. There is just not one magical age wherein wealth and success is a given. Education and advantage doesn’t seem to make the difference, either. There are people “born with everything” who are just as broke as the man born with nothing—and often more so, because just as often as not it’s the self-made millionaire that stands before you.

What’s The Lesson?

Given this distinct lack of reasonable pattern, what possible lesson can we take from all of this?

Well, for starters we can learn that there is more to wealth than money and advantage. By extension, we can learn that wealth is attainable for us all—regardless of race, benefit, stature, wealth, savings, education, or just about any other characteristic that you can muster. We all can be wealthy and successful if we all pursue the things that make it so. That starts with your financial education, with finding out what it is that wealthy people know that others are missing. The answers to that question just might surprise you.

Sean Rasmussen
Wealth Creation Blog
UniversalWealthCreation.com © 2004 – 2009

On my other blog, the 21st Century Academy blog, we have begun a series of posts where we walk through my Wealth Vision videos and discuss the major points of Jamie McIntyre’s book, What I Didn’t Learn At School But Wish I Had. I was preparing to write a post for that project, when it occurred to me the topic was very relevant to this blog, too.

Are You Just Curious About Wealth Creation?

There is a line in Jamie’s book where he says,

“My belief is that if you are not just curious but committed to excelling in the 21st Century, then what you will find…will be a real gift to you from someone who cares about helping others achieve similar things, if you so desire.”

Here, he is referencing specifically his book, but there are a few key points that stand out:

• Curiosity isn’t enough—it’s okay to be curious about wealth creation, and if that’s what led you here then fantastic! But that curiosity will only get your toe in the door. If you want to actually achieve wealth you have to be committed.
• People care—there are people who care about helping others succeed—people who know how to do it because they’ve been there and done it! So if you think you are in this alone, please think again. Jamie’s here, I’m here, and so are a score of others who’ve walked similar life paths.
• Desire gets you everything—Napoleon Hill dedicated a large proportion of his book, Think and Grow Rich, to developing a burning desire that could push you to achieve wealth and be rich. It was no fluke thing, either. Desire is another form of commitment, and if you don’t really want it, wealth will not be yours.

Curiosity is a great starting point, but it won’t get you all the way through the work of building wealth. Indeed there is work to be done, and there is no magic get-rich-quick-pill. But if you want it—really, truly want and desire it, you can be wealthy, too. You just have to make the commitment to make it so, and do more than take a passing interest in the subject.

Sean Rasmussen
Wealth Creation Blog
UniversalWealthCreation.com © 2004 – 2009