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Posts Tagged ‘ overcoming financial difficulties ’

The Hidden Psychology behind “Poor” People’s Mindset

Have you noticed how some people seem to have everything they need to be successful: right knowledge, good looks, family connections and starting capital and yet they fail miserably? While others who do not seem to be that smart or that outgoing become successful against all the odds? The true reason behind success and material wealth is not the resources that you have; it is the way you think, talk and act!
Usually after talking with a person for 15 minutes you can already tell if they will achieve the great heights of turning money-making into a never-ending struggle.
Poor people generally talk about:
• Their problems and all the injustices ever done to them
• Discuss banal reality shows, latest “news” and negative events that they have no control over
• Gossip about other people – what is wrong with them
• Blame everything and everyone for their misfortunes
• Complain about their lazy spouses, ungrateful kids, stupid boss, and controlling parents
• Have strong prejudices against other social groups (usually this includes wealthier and more successful people, people of other nationalities and other religions)
• Brag about all the good things that they have ever done for someone else
• Invest in things that bring instant gratification, without thinking about the consequences.
Wealthy or wealthy-to-be people talk about:
• New theories and skills that they are learning
• Investment ideas and strategies
• People who inspire and guide them
• Positive events that have happened in their life
• Activities and things that motivate them
• Their long-term goals
Poor people believe that:
• Having a lot of money will make them happy
• Wealthy people have more money, and therefore they must share that money with the less fortunate – THEM!
• Success is a natural result of “getting lucky”, not working hard towards your dreams
• Self-help programs and books are just rip offs, because if someone wants to help you, they should give you all the information for free. (But if information is free, it is perceived as not valuable enough).
• Quick-fix solutions are the best ones!
• They already “have it all figured out” and their opinion is the only right one.
Wealthy people believe that:
• Creating strong relationships will make them happy
• Money is just a tool to achieve higher goals and help others in need
• Wealth is a result of constant self-improvement and hard work
• Investments in education and knowledge always pay off
• Quick-fix solutions do not bring long-lasting results.
• They do not know everything and are opened to new ideas, suggestions and different opinions
Poor people:
• Are careless with their money and spend it on things that make them feel important or that bring immediate satisfaction (new car, huge satellite dish, alcohol, cigarettes, and entertainment)
• Rely on their credit card in cases of emergency
• Do not take good care of their health (eat junk food, do not exercise, do nothing about changing bad habits)
• Spend most of their free time watching TV
• Passively react to everything that happens in their life
• View obstacles as something that are beyond their control
• Perceive failure as evidence of their inadequacy and “bad luck”
• Get an adrenaline rush out of watching horror movies and doing “stupid” things
• Are very creative when it comes to making up excuses
• Respond aggressively to any type of critique
Wealthy people:
• Invest money in assets that over time increase in value
• Put aside a certain amount of money on a monthly basis in order not to rely on credit cards in cases of emergency
• Take good care of their health (eat organic food, exercise regularly, make regular medical check-ups)
• Spend their free time doing something fun with their family or reading books
• Take pro-active steps to make their life better in the future
• Perceive failure as an opportunity to learn valuable lessons and test their ideas
• Get an adrenaline rush out of starting new projects and applying new concepts
• Are very creative when it comes to finding solutions to the problems that they are facing
• View critique as a feedback
Of course, you can say that wealthy people do all these things, because they ALREADY have money. Therefore, they can afford to eat better food,  invest in educating themselves and put money away for the rainy day, while “poor” poor people are forced to eat fast food, because it is cheap, and rely on a credit card to make payments, because they simply do not have any savings. Maybe it is true. But maybe it is just another excuse…
It seems to me that it is more probable that wealth is a result of the right mindset, proactive thinking and long-term planning. Not that proactive thinking and long-term planning is a result of wealth.
What do you think? icon smile The Hidden Psychology behind “Poor” People’s Mindset

poor people mentality 300x290 The Hidden Psychology behind “Poor” People’s MindsetHave you noticed how some people seem to have everything they need to be successful: right knowledge, good looks, family connections and starting capital and yet they fail miserably? While others who do not seem to be that smart or that outgoing become successful against all the odds? The true reason behind success and material wealth is not the resources that you have; it is the way you think, talk and act!

Usually after talking with a person for 15 minutes you can already tell if they will achieve the great heights of turning money-making into a never-ending struggle.

Poor people generally talk about:

  • Their problems and all the injustices ever done to them
  • Discuss banal reality shows, latest “news” and negative events that they have no control over
  • Gossip about other people – what is wrong with them
  • Blame everything and everyone for their misfortunes
  • Complain about their lazy spouses, ungrateful kids, stupid boss, and controlling parents
  • Have strong prejudices against other social groups (usually this includes wealthier and more successful people, people of other nationalities and other religions)
  • Brag about all the good things that they have ever done for someone else
  • Invest in things that bring instant gratification, without thinking about the consequences.

Wealthy or wealthy-to-be people talk about:

  • New theories and skills that they are learning
  • Investment ideas and strategies
  • People who inspire and guide them
  • Positive events that have happened in their life
  • Activities and things that motivate them
  • Their long-term goals

(more…)

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Posted in Financial Abundance, Positive Thinking | 34 Comments »

7 Great Counter-Intuitive Tips to Save Money

Saving money is not about having to deny yourself something you want or feeling guilty about spending it. By doing this you only suppress your desires and make yourself feel unsatisfied and inferior by not being able to afford the stuff you want. Trying to force a “frugal” lifestyle onto yourself is like trying to stop the flood from a broken drainage pipe with your hand. It helps to temporary stop the flood, but does not fix the real problem!
I am a true believer that saving money should be painless and even an enjoyable activity!
Here are 7 Counter-Intuitive tips that will help you save more money for a rainy day than any “money-saving plan” could ever do:
1. Redefine your definition of “wealthy”. Most of us define wealth as having LOTS of money and LOTS of things. How do you define when you are rich and decide that it is enough? When I was a student, I dreamed of having my own car. After 7 months of hard work and many sacrifices I finally bought my first car. It was a sky blue 12 year-old Toyota Celica, with a scratch on the left front door. I loved it! And for a time I felt really cool! After a year and a half I bought a new car, but it did not feel as great, because there was an even cooler car at a dealership that I could not afford. No matter how much you have there will always be more.
Now I sit in my rented apartment in Miami, looking at a picture of my family and my closest friends on the desktop and I feel like a millionaire! Being rich to me means having enough money to pay my bills, puting some money away for “rainy days” and being able to give some money away to those who need it. What is your definition of wealth?
2. Redefine “fun”. Have you ever noticed that children have an amazing ability to make a game out of everything? They can easily turn a piece of wood into a racing car or play with a ball that they have found in the street and completely ignore all the “cool” toys that are lying around the house. For some reason as we grow older we come to believe money is essential for having a good time. Get a little creative! You can find ways to have fun together with your family without going to the mall or eating out.
3. Get out of the “quick fix” mentality. In today’s society money is used as a substitute for “hard work”. Why change your eating habits and exercising, when you can take a diet pill or put on a ‘magic’ belt that does the exercises for you? Unfortunately, there are three main reasons why quick fix solutions are a waste of your hard earned money.
First of all, if something works “instantly” and without any effort on your part there are always side-effects and/or far-reaching implications attached to it.
Second, quick fixes bring results that pass just as quickly. There is a difference between losing weight and keeping it off for good.
Third, there is something quick fix ads never tell you – any quick fix still requires “hard work”. Take, for example, weight loss surgery. In order to stay thin and have great looking skin you WILL have to change your eating habits and start working out! You CAN NOT solve long-term problems such as health, finances, and aging with fad diets, “get-rich-quick-schemes” and anti-wrinkle creams.
4. Stop competing with your next door neighbor. For many of us it has become a question of honor to demonstrate to everyone how wonderful and successful we are by having the biggest TV, driving the coolest car, wearing name brand clothing and having the best looking lawn in the neighborhood.
There is no doubt that receiving envious looks from your neighbors rubs our ego the right way. But, let’s face it, it does not make us feel any happier inside. Nor does it make us a better person. So who cares about brands?! Strive to have a better family and happier relationships, and a more gratifying life instead of competing for who has the most “stuff”.
5. Stop sounding like your mother.  If you have trouble manifesting material wealth into your life – try a simple exercise. Think about your parents. What kind of money beliefs do they have? Very often, your negative beliefs about money and rich people have been ingrained into our subconscious mind since our childhood. It might well be that your parents when they discussed their money problems talked about how you have to work hard for money or that wealthy people are cunning, greedy and evil. These were the same beliefs that were passed to your parents from your grandparents, just as your parents have unknowingly passed them onto you.
Such negative beliefs create friction and block the flow of abundance. If part of you believes that money is dirty, then your subconscious mind will do everything in its power to prevent you from having more of it.
6. Avoid impulse buying. The easiest way known to reward yourself is to buy something new. In 99% of the times anything we buy impulsively is not something that we truly need. Otherwise, it would not be called an “impulsive” but rather a “rational” purchase.
It is always exciting to open a box containing a new pair of shoes or come home with a new cell phone. However, when the excitement wears off a little, nasty feelings like regret and guilt creep into our heart. One of the easiest ways to save yourself a lot of money is to give yourself two-three days wait before buying something that you really want. That way you will not feel guilty afterwards.
7. Limit your advertisement intake. Advertisement helps companies to sell their products, just as it helps consumers to learn more about various offers and sales. However, more and more research demonstrates the downsides of excessive advertisement intake. One such negative effect is known as the “tyranny of choice” provoked by the endless need to decide between numerous brands competing for our attention. The claims of advertisements often crowd in on people, raising expectations about a product and leading to inevitable disappointment after it is bought.
But the biggest indirect and less obvious danger of advertisement is that it is engineered with two purposes: to create a strong desire and need to buy something, and to make us feel incomplete or inferior if we do not have something (be it a slim waist, white teeth or a new laptop).
P.S. If you have other great money-saving tips, please, share them below with the rest of the world!

money saving tips 200x300 7 Great Counter Intuitive Tips to Save MoneySaving money is not about having to deny yourself something you want or feeling guilty about spending it. By doing this you only suppress your desires and make yourself feel unsatisfied and inferior by not being able to afford the stuff you want. Trying to force a “frugal” lifestyle onto yourself is like trying to stop the flood from a broken drainage pipe with your hand. It helps to temporary stop the flood, but does not fix the real problem!

I am a true believer that saving money should be painless and even an enjoyable activity!

Here are 7 Counter-Intuitive tips that will help you save more money for a rainy day than any “money-saving plan” could ever do:

1. Redefine your definition of “wealthy”. Most of us define wealth as having LOTS of money and LOTS of things. How do you define when you are rich and decide that it is enough? When I was a student, I dreamed of having my own car. After 7 months of hard work and many sacrifices I finally bought my first car. It was a sky blue 12 year-old Toyota Celica, with a scratch on the left front door. I loved it! And for a time I felt really cool! After a year and a half I bought a new car, but it did not feel as great, because there was an even cooler car at a dealership that I could not afford. No matter how much you have there will always be more.

Now I sit in my rented apartment in Miami, looking at a picture of my family and my closest friends on the desktop and I feel like a millionaire! Being rich to me means having enough money to pay my bills, puting some money away for “rainy days” and being able to give some money away to those who need it. What is your definition of wealth?

(more…)

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Financial Abundance | 12 Comments »

If you don’t have money, you shouldn’t buy it! Or should you?

If you are worried about your future and financial security of your family, if you experience financial difficulties, if your credit card payments continue to steadily grow, it can mean three things:
a) you don’t make enough money
b) you don’t spend your money wisely
c) you don’t make enough money and you don’t spend them wisely.
To have more money, you need to spend less of it! Sounds obvious, and yet any time we see the next “cool thing” we really want to have, we all face the ultimate dilemma “To buy, or not to buy!”.
Now you can stop that inner struggle and just take a quick Affordability quiz to find out whether you can afford it or not!
1. If you justify your current purchase with a raise that you might get in two months, income tax refund, inheritance  (or any other future event that brings you lots and lots of money)– You can’t afford it!
2. If your heart misses a bit every time you see a bill in your mail box – You can’t afford it!
3. If you have just enough money to make minimum payment on your credit cards – You can’t afford it!
4. If instead of asking the price of the product, you ask “how large will my payments be?”  - You can’t afford it!
5. If you have to pause before making an online purchase to consider which of your credit cards is still under the limit – You can’t afford it!
6. If your “emergency fund” is your credit card or your parent’s bank account – You can’t afford it!
7. If as soon as you get some spare cash you buy something, because you “Absolutely must have it!” – You can’t afford it!
8. If you have no idea where to get money to send your children to college – You can’t afford it!
9. If the only investment you’ve made in the past year was a flat screen TV – You can’t afford it!
10. If you are secretly hoping to pay off your debts by winning the lottery – You can’t afford it!
I suggest that if you are an emotional buyer you print this quiz and carry it with you at all times. Before rushing into buying a new “cool thing”, take a deep breath  take it out and read it!
P.S. For the more detailed explanation, on why you should not buy things you can not afford, watch this video. It is hilarious!
Click here: http://consumerist.com/consumer/clips/snl-skit-dont-buy-stuff-you-cant-afford-252491.php

doubt 300x216 If you dont have money, you shouldnt buy it! Or should you?If you are worried about your future and financial security of your family, if you experience financial difficulties, if your credit card payments continue to steadily grow, it can mean three things:

a) you don’t make enough money

b) you don’t spend your money wisely

c) you don’t make enough money and you don’t spend them wisely.

To have more money, you need to spend less of it! Sounds obvious, and yet any time we see the next “cool thing” we really want to have, we all face the ultimate dilemma “To buy, or not to buy!”.

Now you can stop that inner struggle and just take a quick “Affordability Quiz” to find out whether you can afford it or not!

(more…)

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Financial Abundance | 3 Comments »

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