Honestly, if it was so easy go start an online store, make $500-1000 working at home or becoming a six figure blogger then we would all be rich.
But wait, reality check; most of us are still poor, that is 95% of us are. While the remaining 5% control majority of the wealth and live a truly meaningful life.
Why isn’t it so easy?
Perhaps it is because we are afraid to step out of our comfort zone.
Maybe we listen for advice from the wrong people.
Better yet we listen to advice that we want to hear not the advice we need to hear.
Personally, I am getting fed up with advertising that talks about how this and that is so easy to do, just pick up the phone and call. The funny thing is we all get suckered into this because it puts an ease on us.
…personal story
I have mentioned that one of my struggles while still in debt was that I kept buying into programs, seminars, ebooks and normal books thinking I would strike it rich. I mean everywhere I looked, all I looked for was at titles and the promise it made. So whichever one sounded best to me or made me feel good inside, I bought that.
This went on for a while as I went from one thing to another trying to find the magic solution. Finally, nothing worked and I learned a big lesson. What I was missing with this was that these tools just give you the basic steps to follow but the real work still needs to be done. The problem exists that people believe the hype that they will get rich fast that they forget about rolling up their sleeves and literally hustling.
So what usually happens is they start working at it and suddenly they are met with obstacles, they get upset, then get back into it and again, more obstacles. Sooner or later they get fed up and give up and search for an “easier” solution or method.
Guess what, it doesn’t exist, you just gotta find what you like and do the work.Got any stories or advice to give?
Links
Finding a way to do things you hate
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Andrew
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
It may not seem like it, but all the books, seminars, and things you learn from add up. The problem is testing them effectively and turning them into results. If your job is a good channel for it, you’re in luck. If it’s not, you bear the burden of creating channels to test your results and apply what you learn. One thing that’s helped me there is 30 day improvement sprints. I pick a theme for a month and focus on it.
Here’s the bigger lesson though. Mentors are your best short-cuts. So many things look good on paper and sound great in books. I bounce ideas across my sounding board now and it saves me a ton of time and wasted effort. Also, some mentors help me take good ideas and tailor them to my situation.
The other big thing is finding living examples or models. Success leaves clues you can learn from. A lot of times the grass isn’t greener and you have to ask deeper questions.
Dan Gilbert of Stumbling on Happiness shares a key lesson. We can’t predict our happiness. His suggestion is to ask your friends that have been there and done that, where to vacation and where to work. You can see the power of the social network to help you learn faster and with better advice.
Edward de Bono teaches us that success is serendipitous. You have to keep getting up to bat.
J.D. Meier´s last blog ..Likeability is a Skill
First off, “But wait, reality check; most of us are still poor, that is 95% of us are.” Not even close. The average income in the U.S. is $50,000. That may not be “rich” by many people’s standards, but not being rich doesn’t make you poor. And that buys a lot of stuff that none of us need. There are a lot of poor people, but most of us don’t do too bad — especially compared to other countries. Sure, there are a lot of people complaining about their situation, but that usually because they are BROKE — not poor. As I say, poor is an income problem, broke is a spending problem.
Reasons why we aren’t “rich”:
* We don’t know what rich is. Rich isn’t having so much money you can buy anything you want. Few people will ever have that much wealth and few should because the planet can’t take that much waste. Rich, imho, is having enough money to be reasonably financially secure, which you can do on a reasonable income if you’re willing to make sacrifices in your spending. And of course, you can be spiritually rich by enjoying what you have now — regardless of your income or debt. Bonus to that is it \makes those sacrifices not seem like sacrifices.
* We feel entitled to stuff we can’t afford. We tell ourselves we deserve it for working so hard or even just for being such a great person (aren’t we all?). Even if you do deserve it, life’s not fair and we buy stuff with money not brownie points.
* People are impatient and lazy. People are suckers for get rich schemes because they want to be wealthy now and don’t want to have to do anything to get there. People spend too much time planning and dreaming and not enough time doing. You don’t have to wait until you have a business plan the size of a novel to start making money. You can learn a lot by doing. Nor should you expect someone to swoop in and save you from getting your hands dirty. Building wealth takes time. Be willing to start small. And yes, there will be obstacles. Why is it that our generation sees obstacles and thinks, “Well, I guess it just wasn’t meant to be”? Getting past obstacles is what separates the hardworking (and maybe future wealthy) from the lazy.
Anyhow, I look forward to being out of debt and having a nice nest egg for a bit of traveling and emergencies, but I don’t want to be rich in the McMansion and Prada bag sense. That lifestyle just seems like such a waste, and I think my time is better spent doing more constructive things. Once we’re in a better financial position, I think my husband and I would be VERY comfortable living on $50k a year total or even a good bit less — which is still a lot better than many live on.
Hi, Tomasz! Thanks for the link.
As you can probably tell, I agree with most of what you say about anything worth having isn’t easy to get. Unfortunately get rich schemes will always be around because there will always be people, like you described, who buy into it. In a world where there’s a pill for almost everything, can you blame people? Even if we forget with every “pill” there are serious side effects.
@ Meg: I think you bring up some great points! SO true. Most of us only understand rich the way the media (and society as a whole) wants us to understand it and that’s a huge problem. I also agree with you about learning by doing. When you take your time you pick up so many skills along the way that people who get ‘lucky’ rarely ever learn. Which is why most lottery winners lose the money and most dieters keep gaining back weight.
Valerie M´s last blog ..Learning patience: Life is not a means to an end.
JD, thanks for your comment.
Interesting points you make, perhaps I am starting to see the value in building my own network and mentors.
I mean before I never really had a role model, or mentor or anything like that so I did make silly mistakes but now I put more value in the relationships I have.
Meg, thanks for your comment.
Perhaps I should be more specific when I use the words rich, poor, wealth and broke.
Thanks for point it out and giving some great examples.
I respect you comment that maybe the wealthy lifestyle is not for everyone.
But yes, knowing what rich means especially to us individually is very important because it could be the difference between true happiness and a disaster waiting to happen.
Such as doing work for the money as opposed to for the passion.