You would think it would be easy to get people to admit that they want to be rich and then take action, wouldn’t you? But no, people are very worried about firstly admitting they want to be wealthier, and then very fearful of taking action. So, as a Wealth Coach, I usually prefer to talk about Financial Intelligence rather than Wealth Creation.
In order for people to get excited enough to make the leap and join The Money Gym, we have to talk about becoming a millionaire, and the millionaires we have helped create, because most people can’t often be bothered for anything less.
Unless there are guaranteed results and they are big and compelling enough, people often don’t want to pick up a book turn off the tv, go to workshops and learn anything new, certainly not for anything less than millions. And they want it quick too!
Really, Wealth Creation and Financial Intelligence are very similar animals, but Wealth Creation needs to be underpinned by Financial Intelligence, otherwise the wealth will go the way of the wealth of most lottery or competition winners up the Swanee, spent on fast cars, big houses, champagne and very unsuitable companions!
Actually I just described my old age, if you add in long holidays in the caribbean, purple velour shell suits, with lurid hair to match, lots of bling and unfeasibly high gold sandals.
However, rather than my frittering away my kids inheritance, my old age will be funded from ever renewing wealth, because I will have finally graduated in Financial Intelligence 101 by then.
I’ll come back to the kids inheritance later.
How can you train your brain to think in a Financially Intelligent manner? I like to think of Financial Intelligence as a platform on which you build your wealth. And like any platform, it needs to have a sturdy support, which I think of as….The Four Pillars of Financial Intelligence .
PILLAR ONE
Pillar One is “Managing Your Mind” where you discover where you are now financially, your family history with money, where your beliefs, behaviours and attitudes to money have often come from.
Then you must look at your abundance versus your scarcity thinking and learn how to monitor that carefully because that old scarcity thinking will pop up when you least expect it.
Whenever you find yourself thinking “I can’t afford it” then you need to beware! You are getting into the wrong mind set and closing yourself off to ideas.
Think instead “how could I afford it?”
PILLAR TWO
Pillar Two is “Managing Your Money” and covers budgeting, cashflow management and projections, credit management and debt busting. Knowing the difference between good debt and bad debt (and if you don’t know the difference then you need to read “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki fast!).
Learning how to pay yourself first rather than paying Starbucks, Vodaphone, your local curry house, Sainsburys, Egg, Total Petrol, and the list goes on