Serious question…” Are you friends with money?
Earlier tonight, I was browsing through my Facebook timeline, when a friend of mine messaged me. Like myself he’s an entrepreneur and we share a lot of interests.
We hadn’t talked in a while so it was good to catch up, however the conversation turned a bit awkward near the end.
What started out as just catching up turned into a lengthy conversation about the recent earthquakes in Japan and Ecuador, what kind of support the United States should send, the economy, which candidate for president I support, politics…
Then the conversation turned to money.
For a lot of people this is a really tough subject to talk about because it’s just one of those “hot button” issues.
Like most of the poor and middle class, he has issues with people who have wealth.
Now, the war between the “haves and have nots“, have been raging on forever, but what disturbs me is that he automatically assumes that in order for them to have what they have, then they must have screwed someone over to get it.
Now, I understand that there are unscrupulous mogul-wannabes who think the only way to get rich is to lie, cheat and steal so I understand the resentment.
What concerned me though, was that he’s an entrepreneur, and he’s working his tail off trying to create financial wealth himself, because he knows that being wealthy is the only way to provide for his family the way he needs to.
That disconnect in thought is what prompted me to ask him a rather serious question.
Are You Friends With Money?
I asked him, “are you friends with money“?
When he asked me what I meant, I asked him to explain how he can be so resentful of people with money, which working so hard to become a person with money, something he hated.
You know how in Facebook chat you can see when someone is typing a reply?
Well, for about 10 minutes I watched that little “dot dot dot” start and stop, then finally he said, “I never thought about it that way before“. Then he confessed that no one ever pointed that out to him before.
For about 45 minutes after we chatted and it ended on a good note as he finally purchased a book that everyone has been telling him to read for years, Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki.
BTW: If you’re serious about understanding money, or if you’re wanting to create wealth for yourself (entrepreneur or not), buy that book asap.
Don’t go looking for a free download somewhere, buy it. One of the things you’ll learn about money is that there is value in purchasing something. This I learned from another great book, Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill (another book that’s highly recommended).
Getting back on track here…
Why You Should Become Friends With Money
One of the first things I learned when I decided to become an entrepreneur full time came from one of the audios that I listen too weekly, where 5 and 6 figure earners in the industry speak. It’s called the Empower Hour and you can check out the live stream here >>.
Anyway, one of my mentors, Tony Rush spoke on this very topic. In fact the audio was called Making Friends With Money.
It presented two big questions…
* Have you ever wondered why two people in the same business can have radically different results?
* Have you ever wondered why some people make success look almost “effortless” while others spin their wheels?
Then, for the next hour and twenty minutes, I listened intently as Tony talked about how some people make success harder than it needs to be, and how a simple shift of perspective can change your results.
Out of that audio, I learned a very valuable lesson.
“Your bank account doesn’t reflect who you are, but who you are being and your thoughts about money.” Tony Rush
There were many excellent points raised but for the sake of brevity I’ll get to the point that my friend and I spoke about.
He was frustrated that he wasn’t getting the results he wanted because he was trying to accomplish something that he was resentful of, and he was trying to become a person in which he hated.
… And there’s something about working toward a goal with resentment about that goal hiding beneath your mindset.
It is a booby trap lying in wait, and it will work against you.
Magnetic Pole Mindset
Certainly Tony has his unique way of explaining things, but it didn’t really get through to my friend until I explained it my way.
Think of two magnets. They each have two poles, north and south. Depending on you face them, they can either attract each other, or repel each other.
When you work in resentment, when you have a poor mindset, your mindset is one magnet and your goal is the other.
You may put in a lot of hours and work tirelessly to achieve your goal, but until your mindset is right, you will continually repel your goal, like one magnet repelling the other.
This is why self improvement is a must for financial success. Without improving yourself and dealing with your mindset, no matter how hard you push, you will always push your goal away from you.
You will always work against your own best interest.
Another quote comes to mind:
Mark 3:25 “If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.”
Clearly the context is different, but the principle applies – Change your mindset; change your results.
In short, you have to become friends with money.
