The Rules Of Wealth (3)

RICHARD TEMPLAR

After all, you are saying goodbye to them in a way. You are proclaiming that the old you, the old lifestyle, isn't good enough any more and you are off to pastures new. Of course they are going to be unhappy about that. So keep it under your hat. That doesn't cost anything or require you to do anything.
Let this be our little secret. Carry on learning and practising the Rules but just don't go telling all and sundry  no matter how much you think they might benefit from reading this book.
Leave a copy around by all means of course.
The interesting bit is that even if you did go telling everyone, they're unlikely to do anything about it. Most people would rather watch television than drag themselves out of their pit of poverty I am only thinking of you when I say keep it under your hat. Anyone who gets religion of any sort needs to keep a tight lip on it. People really hate being preached at, lectured at, encouraged to think about their lifestyle or told that what they are doing isn't good enough. Gaining prosperity is one of those things you do privately, clandestinely, surreptitiously Not that there is anything wrong, just that it's best done alone.
Most people are too Lazy to be wealthy
You have to get up early, work hard all day and go to bed still working on your objective. Yes, money does sometimes grow on trees  or so it seems. Yes, people do win the lottery, the jackpot, the big prize. People do get sudden inheritances from long lost relatives. Yes people do suddenly find fame and fortune where they sought for none. But it isn't going to happen to you. Well, the odds are that it won't. If you set your objective as: Win the lottery and live in the lap of luxury for evermore then read no further. Put this book down and go and buy lottery tickets. If your objective is a little more realistic then read on.
Most people are too lazy to be rich. They may say they want to be, but they don't. They may buy a lottery ticket as a sort of halfhearted gesture of wanting to be rich, but they aren't prepared to put in the work. They aren't prepared to make sacrifices, study, learn, work their socks off, put in the effort and make it a determined and concentrated focus of their life.
And for a lot of them  not you  it is because they believe that if you do so you are somehow tainted with evil (see Rule 6). But is it OK to work hard to make money? Is it a worthwhile thing to want? It depends on why and what you are going to do with it I guess (see Rule 8).
Most people don't want to do the work. Yes, they want the money but only if it comes to them by accident, by luck, by chance. Then it's OK. Then it's not tainted with sweat and work and passion and focus.
I think if you look at anyone rich enough to be a role model Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Alan Sugar, Warren Buffett, Gordon Ramsey, James Dyson, Petr Kellner3  you'll notice only one thing in common . they work their socks off. They might make their money from computers, sales, cookery,, business, the film industry, vacuum cleaners, pop music, radio stations, whatever. But the one thing they all share is the ability to do more in a day than most of us do in a month.
And that's the wonderful thing about wealth  it's lying around waiting to be claimed (remember Rule 1). And those who claim it are the ones who get up early, work hard and put in the hours.
And you are going to have to as well. I don't have loungers, weight shifters or decorative spongers on my team. I want hardworking, dedicated, focused, ambitious, driven money makers. With a sense of fun of course.
Rule 6
Understand your money beliefs and where they come from
We all grow up with money myths. We get a lot of their our parents and the way they bring us up. I can still hear my mother saying, 'A penny saved is a penny found', and to this day I still have no idea what it means. Maybe I'm lucky My mono myths are based on a lot of nonsense like that. But most I have the following ingrained beliefs:
Money is the root of all evil; Money is dirty; I don't deserve to be rich; Money is only made by the greedy and dishonest; Money corrupts.
You mustn't brag about money  never say how much you  are worth or paid for something (unless it is a bargain). You can't have money and be 'spiritually pure'.5 You lose your friends if you get rich.
You have to work too hard to get rich.6 Happiness and money make poor bedfellows. The more you have, the more you'll want. It is somehow better to be poor. I wasn't meant to be rich  if I was I would have been by I'm not the right type to be rich.
Have a quick look through. Check which ones you believe. Check which ones strike a chord with you. Now you have to do a bit of that old-fashioned hard work. Write down ones that mean something to you. Add ones I've missed  there will be a few. Now work out why you hold these beliefs. Is it something you have actively thought about, reasoned out, dedicated some research to? Or are they inherited, left over, picked up along the way?
Get rid of any that you can question and accept are nonsense. Discard any that simply aren't true. And chuck out any that stand in the way, hold you back, stop you making some money
What you should be left with is none at all, nothing, a blank sheet. Now you can write new beliefs such as:
Money is OK.
Wanting money is OK.
1 am going to be wealthy
1am prepared to put in the work.
Wealthy people have none of the troublesome money myths we poorer people have. They have purged them or never had them. If we too purge them, we stand a better chance of getting there.

Rule 7
Understand that wealth is a consequence, not a reward
If you work hard at making money, you stand a better chance of becoming rich. You have to accept that money is a given to you for clever thinking and hard work. The harder and smarter you work, the more you will earn. You don't given the money by a committee who examine whether you deserve it or not, whether you have been good enough It is a direct consequence.
We often look at someone who has money and make all value judgements about whether they deserve it or not do it. I was reading about Calvin Ape the Internet bookie who has grown very rich indeed running online gambling  I has something like 16 million customers in the US. Department of Justice isn't very happy about this and want to shut him down. Ayre isn't a US citizen and doesn't reside there. You can read all about him on the www.Forbes.com website (home of the really wealthy folk). If it isn't your home page it jolly well ought to be. You are in this to be wealthy, which means understanding where wealth comes from.
Back to Ayres. He has grown rich exploiting an alleged US law loophole whereby what he does is alleged to be illegal but he isn't in the country to commit any crime. Do we judge him? I don't. I study this information to see if I could make use of it. What might be wrong is the gambling. But I am aware that his consequence of hard work has been lots of money
I was watching a TV programme the other day about a chap who cleans and polishes cars for rich celebs and such like. He charges 5000 for car washing. Mind you, this does include polishing. Now is his money a reward or a consequence? I don't think he would see it as a reward. It's the price he sets, and customers pay him because he is the best car cleaner in the world. The consequence of his business idea, skill and effort is to be very well paid.