Wealth is not a secret

Peri Scott - January 20, 2020

You might think that becoming rich is a closely guarded secret that is whispered only between royalty and the illuminati. You may even think that it requires special connections or family money. You may unfortunately believe that it requires nefarious activities. I know I have spoken to a lot of people that believe that you need to be unscrupulous to create wealth. It makes me sad that people believe these things. It is a symptom of our fast food culture, that inadvertently conspires to make you think that everything is instant, and easy.

Becoming Rich in 2020

People believe that becoming rich is a result of luck, or manipulating people.

This is just not true.

Most rich people acquired their money through years of hard work (22 years on average) and offering actual value to other people. As a consumer, you tend to spend your money on things that you believe are worth it. If you bought something from someone and it didn’t live up to your expectations, you would most likely not shop there again. You would rarely do repeat business with someone who you felt misrepresented what they were selling. Apple makes a lot of money because they make cool products that people like using. If you could only swindle people once, you would not make much money or at the very least, you would not be in business for long.

If you thought that becoming rich was a result of being exceptional at something, you would also be wrong. Most rich people just persisted longer than others. They are not any smarter or more talented than others. They just persisted through challenges and difficulties that many other people might not have been willing to tolerate. They had long term perspective and didn’t try to get rich quickly. Overnight success is rare and seldom lasts. This is why so many lottery winners end up broke within a short period of time. They just don’t understand the principles of wealth and end up spending it all.

Learning about money and how it works is a skill that you can use for your whole life. As I have mentioned before, if a person who made their money through legitimate means loses it all, they don’t worry about it because they know that they can make it all back again. They understand the principles of wealth creation and they just do it again.

Making money vs. Keeping it

If you figure out how to make a lot of money that is awesome. The key is learning how to keep it. If you are committed to long term wealth and possibly establishing a family fortune or legacy, then learning how to keep your wealth growing and producing income is imperative. You must realize that your SOURCE of income may come and go, but your long term wealth must remain intact. The wealthy families have figured this out and that is why they stay wealthy. There have been many great fortunes that have been squandered because the principles of wealth management and money management were not passed down to future generations. The most important part of wealth is knowing how it was made, how to maintain it and how to grow it. If you have billions of dollars and just spend it all, you are not really rich. The world needs money only to represent the value that is being exchanged. If you cannot offer value to the world, you will not be able to sustain a fortune. People need to exchange money for something they feel adds value to their lives. It is not important what that is, as long as people value it. People exchange time for money, as well as goods & services. If you offer the world something valuable then they are likely to give you something in exchange for that value, usually in the form of money.

This basic principle is often overlooked. People think that money is a thing unto itself, and that it needs to be collected as it appears. Its true value is lost on them. Do not be one of those people. Learn as much as you can about how money is created and invested. Our economy depends on there being a constant exchange of value. Money is just a byproduct of value creation. Building things that improve the quality of life for our citizens is a way to create value. The representation of this will tend to be money. So creating things just to get money is a bit of a non-sustainable ploy. Building things with the intent of creating something that people need or want is the true way to wealth. Then the money will most likely come in the general proportion to the value you have created.

People Create Value

People are what make the world go around. I often say that everything you will ever get in the world will be given to you from another person. Money doesn’t just magically appear out of nowhere. Opportunities and anything else that “happens” to you are almost always a result of an actual person making a decision to give it to you. People’s valuations of things make the world go around. Money is just the grease. If you are providing value to people, people will compensate you. If you move up in your company it is probably because a person saw your value to the company’s bottom line. If your skills are in demand it is probably because people value them. The world is not some sociological construct that exists independent of someones opinion about it. People are the ones who determine value, and they are ones who determine compensation. Whether we believe our products or services are valuable or not is irrelevant. The marketplace will determine that. So you will always be dependant upon people for your success, whether you like it or not. As much as that seems like your success is out of your control that is really not the case. You can use this information to change your life.

I read a book many years ago by Robert J Ringer entitled “Looking out for #1”. In it, he explains the “Value for Value” rule which states that people will help you to succeed in the exact proportion that you help them to succeed. Value for value is the philosophy that means every human interaction, which means every business transaction too, is healthy insomuch as the value traded is as close as possible to an equal exchange. Like they say, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. If something is valuable to you that I have and I exchange it with you for something that is valuable to me, then that is a good exchange. That is a win/win transaction. This is the ideal scenario. If you believe that you have taken advantage of the other person, or you feel taken advantage of, then that is not a healthy relationship and it will not likely continue. The company line is often “we don’t want happy customers, we just want loyal customers”. This sounds harsh, but if your customers feel like they are getting their money’s worth, then they will continue to spend money on your products or services. If they feel like it wasn’t worth the price, they will shop elsewhere. Simple economics. So always strive for a win/win transaction. This equally true in business as in interpersonal relationships. Many romantic partnerships fail because one person is giving or receiving much more value than the other. This applies if you are an employee too.

You Need to Offer Value

I read an article that really opened my eyes on Cracked magazine’s website a few years ago. It really hit home for me as it initially sounded very harsh, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. I suggest you read it (Language warning) and think about it. It suggests that people will only value you for what you can do for them. This is true. It sounds cruel, but in my experience it is actually the way it is. Even in romantic relationships - if someone makes you feel good about yourself, or treats you well, that is what they are doing for you. Then you tend to value them or the relationship based on that. If someone makes you feel rotten about yourself or makes you sad, that is not a good relationship and you will tend to look elsewhere for companionship. If you stick around in a situation like that, you might want to think hard about the value that is being exchanged. You deserve to feel good so don’t be loyal when it isn’t justified.

I am suggesting that becoming wealthy is the result of offering value to the world and the world giving you money as a symbol of the perceived value you are offering. This is a universal rule that exists whether we agree with it or not. Any other way of getting money is luck, charity or stealing. If you create more value, either by improving yourself or your product/service, then you should receive more value in return (money). If you try to manipulate this it will usually not turn out well or be unsustainable. Running a scam is a terrible way to get rich and the end does not justify the means. I appreciate that some people are in unfortunate circumstances and don’t have the opportunities that many of us have, and I sympathise. But a short-term, get-rich-quick scheme will not create a long-term solution that truly solves the problem. If you are living in poverty, a long term approach can help you, your family and your future generations to lift themselves out of that life by using the true wealth principles that I teach. By educating yourself and your loved ones, you can truly build a solid foundation of abundance that will break the cycle of poverty and lack. It is a sad truth that hardship often creates a lot of secondary problems like crime, substance abuse and domestic violence. Life can be hard. The solutions to life’s problems are not going to be quick or easy.

Educate Yourself

Learning about money and wealth creation, learning to invest, and learning how to build a fortune are topics I write about and many others do too. The information is out there. I apologize for not giving you a magic formula that will take you to riches overnight or a special “hidden secret” to wealth creation that nobody knows about. These things just don’t exist. Wealth creation is not a secret, it is actually quite mundane and boring. It just requires you to be a better version of yourself. You need to develop the the necessary self-discipline, skills and perspectives to do it. It is not witchcraft. It is just hard work, dedication and courage. Anyone can become wealthy, but it will not be quick or easy.

But is is very doable.

It is just matter of adopting a plan and sticking to it. It is exactly the same as losing weight. It is simple but not easy. It requires you to change your behaviours and adopt long term perspective. Your daily habits and decisions need to become a part of a long term strategy that forgoes quick fixes and short term pleasure for sacrifice, good habits and patience.

I have a spiritual philosophy about this that may or may not be true, but helps me to put things into perspective. I believe that the universe strives for balance. That means that life will offer you equal amounts of pleasure and pain throughout your existence. No matter what, that balance needs to be maintained. If you are experiencing too much pleasure, the universe will find some way to give you pain in order to maintain that balance. I am not sure if that sounds very spiritual, but the interesting part is this - You get to decide whether that pain is voluntary or not. If you CHOOSE pain, in the form of self disciplined behaviours, such as going to the gym and working your ass off, or working long hours at your chosen profession, that is painful, but you get to choose it, and it still goes towards your pain quota. So by CHOOSING what pain you endure, you get to reap the pleasurable rewards as part of the universal balancing equation. This may or may not be the way it actually is, but it helps me to appreciate the hard work and dedication it takes to succeed.. It gives the hours of work with very little immediate reward some positive context. It helps me to believe that even though I am not seeing any rewards quite yet, that there is a good chance that the positives are coming in the future, in order to keep the balance.

If you are not quite as “airy-fairy” as me, and believe in a very concrete type of realty, no problem. It should still make sense that having long-term perspective in mind when you make daily decisions is still scientifically been proven to be the common factor in most people’s success. Short term thinking is rarely able to create results that last. Brian Tracy, the master success teacher, says that success is often the result of many, many small decisions and habits that you do consistently that nobody sees or appreciates until you eventually succeed. Then they say that you are “lucky”.

Begin today

Learn all that you can about money and wealth so that you can stop struggling. Learn the rules of the game so that you and your family can have the freedom to live the lives you were meant to live and to be the people you have the potential to be. Money is not evil. It is just a means of exchange to measure value. If you understand that, you can focus on the right things and follow through on your plans. My plan works. So do many others. Find one that suits you and your personal preferences and do it. You are living in a time in history that has never been more full of opportunities. Take advantage of that. Stop believing in overnight success and roll up your sleeves. It is not a dream. It is reality. It just means seeing it for what it is. Opportunity is often disguised as hard work.