Introduction
Most people that read the name of my blog site will assume my focus is helping my readers accumulate a lot of money. The first thing to understand about building true wealth is realizing that this is about more than growing your net worth or accumulating money. It is critical to make a distinction between monetary wealth and true wealth[1]. While the former guarantees your purchasing power, only the latter can give you genuine lasting happiness.
There have been all sorts of debates about the relationship between money and happiness. It may be easier to think about it in these terms: rather than purchasing happiness, money itself serves as a vehicle to carry you to financial freedom. Once you have financial freedom, you then are able to pursue your dreams and find lasting fulfillment. Once you view wealth as a means to live an extraordinary life, you can drop limiting beliefs about money that may sabotage your wealth-building strategies. Here are 10 key principles that will help you achieve both financial and personal true wealth.
Building Wealth Principle 1: Get Deeply Motivated
Monetary wealth is an external goal that by itself is a shallow motivator, often insufficient to drive one to achieve success. External goals like large bank accounts, fancy houses and luxury cars have inherent limits and limit how motivated you will be when pursuing them.
But Internal goals go deeper than the external trappings of monetary wealth. They can bring transformation to your life and drive your desire to succeed deep enough to overcome all the obstacles that stand between you and financial freedom. Such goals include the following:
- Freedom-Time to grow, create and live to your best potential
- Charity-Foundations providing financial muscle to empower great environmental and social causes
- Growth-Personal development
- Leadership-Serve as an example to others how to rise above financial mediocrity
Wealth Principle 2: Give More Value Than You Take
Giving more than you receive adds value to the world and makes everyone better off. Although some amass fortunes by exploiting others or the environment (taking value), those who give value bring happiness and fulfillment as well as riches, and that reflects true wealth. In doing so, success becomes a measure of how much you give.
Wealth Principle 3: Live With Integrity
Never take the path of the ends justifying the means over integrity in the pursuit of financial wealth. No amount of gain can substitute for peace of mind, a clear conscience and a good night’s sleep.
“When you are able to maintain your own highest standards of integrity – regardless of what others may do – you are destined for greatness.” – Napoleon Hill
Wealth Principle 4: Be Courageous
You must develop courage to forge new paths, develop new skills, to stand out from the crowd. True wealth comes from doing what others refuse to do so that you can have what they never will.
“Each mistake teaches you something new about yourself. There is no failure, remember, except in no longer trying. It is the courage to continue that counts.” ― Chris Bradford
Wealth Building Principle 5: Discipline Yourself
Wealth accumulates from cultivating disciplined daily habits that add together and compound over a lifetime. Essential wealth building habits such as saving, investing, reinvesting and growing personal, financial and business intelligence need dedicated consistent effort. Wealth will happen when you do what it takes to make it happen.
Wealth Principle 6: Avoid Ostentatious Displays of Wealth
People who build wealth spend less than they can afford in money, time and energy by living modestly so they can invest the difference for greater value in the future. In embracing this behavior of delayed gratification, they are motivated by a deeper cause that drives them to success rather than the more superficial goal of a material lifestyle.
Wealth Principle 7: Build Support Systems
Without persistent focused action, the distractions of life can sidetrack your plans for achieving wealth. You need to create a support system composed of your family environment, work environment, relationships, financial habits, and daily rituals. These must be structured to support and reinforce your plans, thereby providing the path of least resistance to building wealth.
Wealth Building Principle 8: Use Leverage
The following principles of leverage allow you to work smarter rather than harder to build your wealth:
- Financial Leverage: other people’s money
- Time Leverage: other people’s time
- Knowledge Leverage: other people’s expertise, experience and talents
- Systems and Technology Leverage: other people’s technology and systems to get more done with less effort
- Network Leverage: other people’s connections and resources
- Marketing Leverage: other people’s media connections
Wealth Principle 9: Manage Your Wealth Like A Business
You are in a personal financial management business as a wealth builder. You must manage your net worth like an executive manages a successful business. Above all, focus on your finances as they relate to your core values.
Building Wealth Principle 10: Be A Good Steward of Your Wealth
Money is actually no more than a tool that comes with the responsibility to use it wisely. It is important to understand that wealth is not something you own, but a flow which is temporarily under your stewardship. It is your responsibility to use this temporary gift to create greatest benefit for all those you touch by your legacy. You cannot only bless yourself and your family’s life now and in the future, but your wealth can also be a force for social good in this world.
Conclusion
Follow these key concepts and you will be on the way to building true wealth and thus securing genuine lasting happiness and financial freedom. If you have interest in exploring a quality online educational program that can lead you on a path to true wealth and achieving an awesome life, I would recommend checking out the Entre Institute. To learn more about this program, CLICK HERE.