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You are probably all too familiar with the following sayings. “Money does not grow on trees”, “Money is the route of all evil” “There are no free lunches” “Money can’t buy happiness (or love)”. No doubt they have been uttered over time by an assortment of family member’s mentors and curmudgeons. Add these missives to the general belief that making and retaining cash is a hard slog and it’s no wonder that the majority of people have difficulty believing that making money is nothing but a great effort that requires a degree of nastiness and copious helping of luck.
Making money is simple
The good news is that making money is relatively easy. The difference between you and the woman sailing past you in the Bentley, is desire. She just wanted it more than you. Don’t believe me? Then think back to the time when you really wanted something with your heart and soul. I am not talking about winning the lotto here, but something that was within your grasp but you needed to put some effort in. Chances are you got it, and if you didn’t then you may have decided that it was not that important.
Making money and building wealth is much like any other goal, whether it’s losing weight, getting fit, or giving up smoking. The dividers between success and failure are desire, and a well worked out plan. If you are serious about getting fit you may get a personal trainer, if you want to lose weight you find a diet, or go to a nutritionist, and if you want to build wealth you would go to a financial advisor to give you a strategy.
How to make money
So there are two key things you need to do. The first is to decide that you want to make money and be financially successful. Once you have made the decision, you have to throw out the negative self talk that has held you like a deer in headlights for so long. You have to start believing that wealth is in your future. If your self- talk is telling you otherwise, ask this question “is telling myself that making money is difficult working for me?’ If the answer is no, throw out that belief and replace it with a new and shiny tape. It is as simple as that. Now you can’t just tell yourself that you are going to be rich, that’s not how it works, you need to action the thoughts. So when you make the decision to become wealthy the action plan is next.
Write down all the steps you will need to take to get moving. Start with the easy things to do because small successes will encourage you to keep going. Success breeds success, you have heard that before as well, and it’s true. If debt is eating up your cash scrutinise the things that sap your resources and redirect the cash into paying off debt. So if you know that your daily trip to the up market coffee shop is costing you a fortune kick the habit and work out how much you save. If your brand of Mocha is costing you R15,00 per day then 20 days of coffee is R300 per month. Take that cash and add it to a clothing account bill and before you know it you will have paid it off. Now you may have an extra R500 in your budget to hit the next biggest debt with. If you keep ploughing savings into debts you will be cash positive before you can say Designer shoes.
Changing your mindset
The key is to start thinking that you deserve to make money and build financial independence, banish scarcity thinking. What have you got to lose by replacing your belief that making money is hard by believing that it is possible to make money? Absolutely nothing!
If you really believe that "money is the root of all evil" then you will forever stay poor. Money is an enabler if you have lots of it, you can help other people. By the way, that quote is taken out of context in the first place. It was originally stated as "the love of money is the root of all evil". So it has nothing to do with the money itself.
You need to open your vistas and think about all the things you can do and achieve with your life. Get some good books on Neuro Linguistic programming, read biographies on how successful people got to the top, look for mentors.
Changing your mindset from what you were taught as a child to a healthier view of money will allow you to break free of the limitations you put on yourself. You must actively improve your thinking of money; it will have a significant impact on the way you go forward. Fear will be replaced by excitement and stagnation will be replaced with activity. Abraham Hicks once said, there is a vast ocean of prosperity and wealth all around us but we show up with our teaspoons to get our share! I say, pick up a bucket!
Iona Minton is a financial education consult and financial journalist. Iona’s 20 years of experience working in diverse financial markets has given her a broad and detailed knowledge of how the money world works. In addition to her writing and consulting, she is a professional speaker and frequently asked to do public presentations on the subject of personal finance. She is the author of two best selling books, Financial Fitness for Women and ‘The Property Game’ which helps first time buyers deal with the intricacies of purchasing a home. She is passionate about helping people build wealth from knowledge.
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