Years ago I worked in a camera shop with a man named Sam who was constantly bemoaning his bad luck. He often talked about Mr. Dawson, a man in his seventies who was really lucky. Dawson owned real estate all over the western suburbs of Chicago.
One day when he mentioned Dawson, I commented, "Hey, Sam, you're only thirty-five now. Why don't you start buying buildings this year? By the time you're seventy-five you'll have become as rich as Dawson."
He glared at me and stated huffily, "But I don't want to wait THAT long."
It took me a while to figure it out: Sam didn't want to BECOME rich. He wanted to BE rich. No time delay, no learning, no work.
The last time I saw Sam, fifteen years later, he was fifty and still working in a camera shop for about the same pay. Still not wanting to wait.
The point here is obvious, so I won't belabor it.
However, if you have ambitions for greater wealth, here are 5 tips I've personally found useful.
1. Find somebody who's doing it
I'd never had much success until I met John, who said he'd lived in Japan for years and had made good money there.
After he returned to Japan, he phoned and invited me to come on over, too. "There's lots of work and the pay's terrific," he told me.
I didn't quite believe it would work for me, but I tried it anyway. And that was the start of a great new career - and leap in income.
I found success by following the example of somebody who was already succeeding.
2. Feel like you DESERVE success
If there's something inside you that feels you don't deserve good things, it'll try to sabotage you at the most unexpected times.
Old habits may pop back up to dilute your energies. Or you might start unintentionally alienating your most important employees, customers or suppliers.
There are a million ways to defeat yourself when you don't feel you deserve success.
How do you lock in a feeling of deserving?
Some people set aside a certain amount of time to devote to worthy causes. Others donate a tithe of their income to charity or church. Still others meditate on their oneness with their Creator.
The best approach for you will be the one that satisfies your own inner need for reassureance and a feeling of worth.
3. You're not ENTITLED to success
A common wrong turn is the attitude of entitlement.
Please understand, life does not OWE you or me anything.
It strews untold riches and joys at our feet, but it's up to us to recognize them, to reach down and pick them up.
Russell Conwell was famous for telling the story of a man who sold his farm and went off in search of diamonds. He traveled the world for decades without success.
But the man who bought that farm from him found one of the largest diamond deposits ever discovered on the African continent. The black sand in the stream running through his property was loaded with diamonds, and he became enormously wealthy.
The first man had sold his land for nearly nothing and walked away from the riches that life had literally strewn at his feet. True story, by the way.
4. Sometimes it's a grind
Most times, opportunities come in kit form. You ask life for a chance at becoming rich, and circumstances send you a problem or a puzzle.
You may notice that many other people have that same problem. Once you solve it for yourself, you can then make a very nice profit helping other people to quickly overcome the same difficulty.
Life has just given you a rich opportunity. It does that all the time, but mostly we don't notice because we're so busy griping about what a grind life is, what a raw deal we have.
5. Be thankful in advance
It's just as simple as managing well what you've already got. Appreciate and be thankful for the things you already have. Love the people who are already in your life.
Then, just to prime the pump, be thankful for even more than you have - for stuff you haven't received yet.
It is said that nature abhors a vacuum.
When you give thanks - real, soul-lifting, jubilant thanks -for things you don't have yet, nature rushes in to fill that vacuum.
It'll fill that void with all the things and qualities and people that are bubbling joyously in your heart and mind.
Of course, you can say, "Nah, it can't be that simple," lay this aside and surf on to the next site.
Or you can try these ideas.
If you do try, I believe you'll discover that life is EAGER to hand you more of what you want.
To summarize, you can simply:
1. Follow in the footsteps of somebody who's already successful. They can save you countless wrong turns.
2. Master those feelings that you don't deserve good things. Make sure your success benefits others even more than it does you.
3. Accept that life doesn't owe you anything - besides you're not yet recognizing all that it's offering you now.
4. Remember that some assembly may be required. Ask life for a cake and it may hand you flour, water, sugar and eggs.
5. Be thankful BEFORE you receive. After ordering a book from Amazon, you relax and believe it's on its way. Why not start trusting life as much as you trust Amazon? |
