The 9 Steps to Wealth, Part 1

J. Paul Getty was asked if he had a formula for getting rich.  His reply?

“Get up early, work hard, and find oil.”

I am going to assume that most readers are not in the oil business, and, even if you were, oil is getting pretty hard to find (yes, I watch the news too).  So, now what?  In my book, The Wealth Manifesto, I have 14 principles of wealth that are both philosophical (how to think) and practical (how to act) that will move you along on the path towards wealth, from surviving to thriving.  As I have started teaching the material more and more, I have narrowed it down - from an implementation perspective - to 9 steps.  I am going to talk about the first 3 here and in two subsequent blog posts, I will cover the rest of the steps to not only be rich but get rich.

Without having to find oil.

Step 1 - Understanding the True Nature of Wealth

This either takes an hour or a minute to explain (let’s go with the latter for now).  The bottom line is that a) Read more

Article 10: Money is Potential Energy

You don’t want money. I don’t want money. WE don’t want money.

About now, you may be asking, “Who is this clown?” OF COURSE WE WANT MONEY.

Nope…we want what money gets us. Whether it is the Hawaiian vacation (that I just returned from), the new leaf blower (sounds like work, eh?) or peace of mind (now we’re talking!), we want what money gets us.

Money is a useful tool, a medium of exchange, a currency (we’ll get back to that in a minute) agreed to be “legal tender for all debts, public and private.” It keeps us from having to barter dry cleaning services for apples or trading a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie card for a car. It also provides us with a way to energize and contribute to causes we believe in and want to support.

In this sense, money is a form of energy … it can make things happen, in your life and the lives of others.  This gets right back to some of the fundamental laws of building wealth that I teach in my speaking and training programs: what goes around comes around. Once you have your basic survival needs (food, shelter, security) met, you should be doing two other things with your money: giving it away and investing it.

You can start to understand the true nature of abundance when you examine the the word affluence. It comes from the Latin affluere which means to flow to. This is what needs to happen with not only your money but the rest of the wealth and abundance in your life, including all of the talents, passion and expertise that anyone can bring to the market to make all the difference - and all the money - in the world.

Building wealth involves all dimensions of our life that are important to us. And this definitely includes money … if for no other reason than for all the good it can do in helping you towards contentment and purpose in your life.