“Wealth is like sea-water; the more we drink, the thirstier we become, and the same is true of fame.” – Arthur Schopenhauer
What would you do if you had $1,000,000? Would you give it away? Spend it on cars? Watches? Trips? Regardless of what you would do, naturally, we tend to want money in order to spend money. When people claim that they want to be rich, most actually want to be spendthrifts. If you have $100,000 and you spend $100,000, you, my friend are broke.
When you are working towards building solid wealth, you will eventually have those moments where you realize that the assets you have are enough to buy you that Lamborghini you have always wanted, or that Chanel handbag you are craving. FIGHT THE URGE TO SELL YOUR ASSETS.
In this day and age, society is obsessed with luxury items representing what someone’s status and worth may be. This will make you go broke before you are even truly wealthy. This is why a majority of your friends will sadly either be average or poor – they do not have any true grasp of their lives. I am not saying you should never buy luxury goods, just don’t pull money from your investments because you do not have designated spending cash on you. I have talked about this before but we are going deeper today.
For the majority of my readers, you are either working towards being wealthy or you are already there. For those of you who are already there, you may have already figured out these tips in your life. But for those on their way, listen up. Here are a few tips on holding out on those materialistic urges that can hinder your wealth.
Evaluate Why You Want Money
Why do you want to be rich? Is it to prove the doubters? Get back at your parents? To separate yourself from the common person? To have the best of everything?
If you answered yes to any of those, you may be up to a rollercoaster of disaster. I will tell you from personal experience. Wanting the best of everything as your core reason for desiring wealth will leave you depressed and stressed out. What will you do if you can’t afford something that will make everyone turn their head to you? What will you do if all your money were to suddenly vanish? Does that mean that your value goes with it too?
Ensure that you have a proper and justified reason for desiring wealth. If it is only about buying things, you might as well just stop and find a sugar mama/daddy. It’ll save you the time.
Distinguish Between Rich and Wealthy
Growing up, aside from in my home, everywhere and everyone else would only talk about being rich, never about being wealthy. Even in talking about being rich, teachers and others of the sort would make it seem like being rich was immoral. Obviously, those who were saying such things clearly know so much about being rich when they are making $45k a year (big whoop). I digress.
Being rich and being wealthy are two completely different things. I have many friends who are rich, and I know many individuals who are truly wealthy. And let me tell you, the two are mostly different like night and day. A majority of those who I know are rich are spendthrifts. They either earn their money or their parents give them money and they blow it all and will ask you to borrow money for cab fare. Those who are wealthy preserve and build their empires. They are very meticulous with where their money goes and they never buy on impulse. They may have millions in the bank but they will consider whether buying a Dolce & Gabbana t-shirt for $700 makes more sense than getting one from somewhere else. They would rather have their money working for them, compared to giving a ton of monetary value for meager image value.
Choose what you want wisely.
Lastly…
Have A Long-Term Viewpoint
If you know that you need $10,000 for a heart transplant that will happen in two years, I bet you would not even consider spending $10,000 on a vacation this summer. The same evaluation should happen for everything in your life. If you are aiming to build wealth and you have set up a plan for it to grow to fruition, it is very unlikely that you will be a spendthrift and buy things that you don’t need in order to satisfy your temporary desires.
If you want to have $1,000,000 worth of real estate in ten years, you won’t spend your entire savings on a Porsche. What I have learned on my journey (that I am still on) is that no matter what you THINK you want badly at the moment, once you receive it, it’s like a toy that you don’t even care about. Not to sound explicit but it is just like sex. There is the great pleasure that lasts for a good amount of time, but then the climax happens and you have no interest in even looking at your partner.
This is human nature. Working towards something is always a great motivation. That is why some millionaires and billionaires can never settle. It is always about more business and more money. Why is this? We as humans love working towards something. If we want $100,000 in sales, once we get there, we want $200,000. This is why some businesses will cheat their clients just to make more money every quarter. There is no possibility of just being content with what has been made.
Back to the main point, have a long-term goal that is written out with detail (especially the dollar figures you aim for). Without a plan, you cannot succeed. If you do not make a plan, money will run through your fingers like water. Be wary and cautious about where your money goes.
Until next time,
Live Long and Prosperous.
J.M.
Wealthy Fools 