Create Your Wealth Mindset
A great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.Tommy John
I've been teaching financial topics for the past 17 years now.
And here's what I've learned: A wealth mindset is more important than financial literacy.
I could teach you investing and business, but if you have a poverty mindset, nothing will work. Believe me.
You can know everything you need to know about investments, entrepreneurship, and real estate. But if you have a poverty mindset, all that you know won't make you wealthy.
That's why I emphasize having a wealth mindset so much.
That's why throughout this book, I'll be teaching wealth mindset and financial literacy at the same time.
Work On Your Subconscious Mind
I remember the first time I drove an automatic car.
I was with a lady friend who owned an automatic car and I gallantly volunteered to drive it for her—even if I knew that I have never driven an automatic car before.
But she said yes and gave me the keys.
When I sat on the drivers seat, I put on my seatbelt, and put the shift stick to "drive”. I smiled at my friend and pressed on the gas pedal.
Vrrooooom!
The car made a lot of noise but we weren't moving.
My friend laughed at me.
I said, "Why are we not moving?”
She said, "Because your other foot is stepping on the brakes!”
I thought it was the clutch.
I released it and we began moving.
When you have financial knowledge but don't have a wealth mindset, it's like you're pressing on both the gas pedal and the brake pedal at the same time.
In your conscious mind, you may be saying, "I want to be rich!”
But in your subconscious mind, you may be saying, "No! I'm afraid to be rich! I'll lose my happiness!”
In this book, I'm going to help you train your mind to think in a different way.
Here are 4 objections that you need to clear away from your mind.
Objection #1:
"It's My Fate To Be Poor.”
"It's My Fate To Be Poor.”
"Bo, you're wrong. Poverty is a matter of fate...”
He came up to me right after I gave a talk on financial literacy. The man spoke to me with the gravity of a Supreme Court Justice, it scared me.
"Why do you say that, sir?” I asked.
"Because there are people who are born poor,” the man said, "And there are people who are born rich. That's destiny. That's the will of God.”
I winced. How could I tell him that I've been working for years (no, decades) with the poor—and this was the exact kind of distorted thinking that has trapped a lot of people in poverty. "God made me poor,” is an invisible placard written in the foreheads of many poor people I've met.
I told him, "To be born rich or poor is not a choice, that's true. But to become rich or poor—that's a choice that God leaves up to us.”
He looked at me as though I spoke in Swahili.
I wanted to explain myself but he wanted to ask me a very disturbing question.
Objection #2:
"Why desire more? I'm happy where I am.”
"Why desire more? I'm happy where I am.”
He asked, "Bo, why are you teaching us to become rich?”
His tone of voice was sharp. Like he was asking me, "Why are you teaching us to murder people, burn their bodies, and eat their liver?”
He continued, "If you're really a Christian, you should teach us to be content with where we are. Bo, aren't you content with where you are?”
I laughed. "Oh, I'm very content.”
I never told this to him, but I'd like to tell you: Right now, if I choose to, I can stop working and live on the interest of my investments. I'll be very comfortable. With the interest I'll earn from my investments, I can maintain my lifestyle.
And yes, I can still bring out my wife for our weekly romantic dates.
And I can still bring my kids for our twice-a-year vacations.
But if I stop working and live on my interest, a few things will have to change.
Today, I send a number of poor children to school. That has to stop.
Today, I finance lay missionaries. That has to stop.
Today, I provide capital for livelihood projects for the poor. That has to stop.
Today, I finance my new ministry projects in its trial period. That has to stop.
This is the reason why I've chosen to grow, to expand, to increase, and to become richer because I want to bless the world more.
That's why I work very hard today!
Here's what I learned: To be content and to want to grow can co-exist in your heart. That can only happen when love rules your heart.
