You look around you see many people of different degrees of wealth. Some are rich, some are very rich and others are filthy, stinking rich. The same goes for the other direction. You have those that don’t make as much as you. Some are poor. There are those who are dirt poor and there are those who are so poor they can’t even pay attention.
You fall somewhere in the middle of the two extremes. You aren’t filthy stinking rich nor are you destitute.
You often see people talking about the poor and how terrible it is that they exist. Some want to use the poor as a pawn for their own quest for power and try to pit the poor against the rich. People see people as being poor but in all reality, it is just people with very little money that they see as being poor.
Yet when it comes to money you see the same people who cry for the poor say that they think money is the root of all evil. and the pursuit of money is greed. If you think of it, These strictly oppose each other.
So why do people want more money and curse money at the same time? That all boils down to the point that money is nothing but a circumstance. You have a certain amount of dollars in your wallet or bank account. You can also look at money as being a scoreboard for your value. You have a certain score and you want a higher score. So how do you increase your value?
Money is a circumstance
Money, as we have it today, is nothing more than an agreed-upon value. It’s not worth more or less it just is.
It can also be seen as representing the amount of value you are providing to people. The more value you are providing the more money you receive. So the reason you have or don’t have any money is completely dependent upon your thoughts.
Your thoughts create your results. They don’t change the circumstance. Therefore why do you not have enough money? It is because of how you choose to think of money.
So why are the poor, poor? It is because of their choices. Yes, it sounds cruel but it is because of their thoughts about their circumstance. If they see it as a limited resource then their money is a limited resource. In contrast, those who are rich see money in a completely different light. They see it as something you can create. It is a limitless resource. Poor people see money as a pie and the more people take from the pie the less there is.
Yet when you look at the fact that there are more millionaires now than there were at the start of the industrial revolution you can see that money is always expanding. We make more value. It’s not that the rich are getting richer because millions have left poverty behind and become successful.
Do you think people who don’t have money are a fact? Ok, let’s put it to a test. So if we look at those who are under the US poverty level here in the US. Most food stamp recipients have a large-screen television. a car and a cell phone. Or they may have more than one of each of those. Now, look at those who are poverty-stricken in India. Do they have a car? Do they have a cell phone? Do they have a 60-inch television? You see the poor in the United States are still part of the 1% richest of the whole world. Your wealth is subjective. I know men who struggle with finding their purpose because they can’t leave what made them millions. What happens if they don’t make millions? They have enough to live comfortably for 3 lives but they are worried about going broke. Then you see people on Bimini who are all smiles and living their best life and barely clear 100 a week. Money is just a value, it is a circumstance. If it was a fact then millionaires would have the same reaction to finding one dollar on the sidewalk as the homeless man.
People’s thoughts about money
How are you thinking of money? Does it elude you? Is Money hard to come by? Have you always been poor? Where does the money come from? How can you make money from nothing?
Why do you go to work? Is it because that’s what you are supposed to do? Really? I know many homeless people who don’t go to work, or they don’t go to work as you see it. Why do you go to work? Is it just to pay the bills or is it because your business is to provide the best service you can to the company you work for?
As I have been mentioning your thoughts about money will create your results in the money department. If you think you will never make enough, guess what. Your brain will only help you produce just enough cash to barely cover your bills. If you look at money as a limitless resource then you open a door that allows you to bring in more money.
Why are there poor people?
Though I have explained why poor people are poor I wanted to dive into some key aspects of what people believe.
scarcity mindset
I have talked about the dangers of the scarcity mindset for a while. There are blog posts and other podcast episodes that talk about why scarcity holds people back.
You see when you have a scarcity mindset you are more focused on what you don’t have and worry about what is not coming in and what is going out. Your view of the world around you is limited. Scarcity is a fear-based mindset. You believe you are going to lose what little you have instead of seeing how many opportunities are actually around you. Scarcity-oriented minds play a small because of the what-if factor.
The Scarcity people are more greed centered and less likely to share their thoughts because what if their ideas are stolen? I don’t know how someone can steal a thought out of your head but that shows the lack of logic a scarcity-minded person is.
Fixed Mindset
Now Carol Dweck wrote a great book about the difference between a fixed and a growth mindset. The fixed mindset is your life’s success is based solely on your talents. So when you hit your limit you can’t do any better.
While a person of wealth looks at the world as a huge playground for learning. If they don’t know how to do something then get out there and learn it. Get your hands dirty. It is OK for a growth-minded person to fail simply because they know they are learning what doesn’t work in the process.
don’t want to get uncomfortable
This is the biggest reason that poor people don’t become rich. They are afraid to get uncomfortable. I have argued with folks time and time again about this. Their thoughts are have you been in poverty before? The answer is yeah I was broke before. I spent a couple of years eating ramen noodles and lettuce sandwiches. It wasn’t fun but I also wanted a change and did something way out of my comfort zone. I joined the Navy.
Many poor are comfortable in their misery. They don’t want to have to give up their vices and bad habits to better themselves. They don’t want to face the uncomfortable thoughts that they have centered around why they are broke and face the life-altering realization that their poverty was in their hands this whole time. No, the man wasn’t keeping them down, They were keeping themselves poor. They didn’t want to give up the newest mobile phone so that they can get to a better house.
Why are you poor?
So why are you broke? Is it because you don’t want to make the change or because you see money as a finite resource? How you view money is vital if you want to make more of it. You cant have a lot of money and believe it is evil. If you would like help changing your mindset let me know by signing up for a consult call.
Great episode Bryan! I love the pointers you provided on having a scarcity mindset and how that’s causing others to feel like they don’t have money. For me, I can relate to this in many ways, as I’m a currently unemployed student. Sometimes I fear that I’ll run out of what I have sitting in the bank, and that’s what prevents me from taking action and living my life accordingly.