Do you want more wealth? If you’re reading this, you do.
To acquire wealth, you need to focus on increasing your income, not reducing your expenses. Focus on production, not reduction. You simply can’t shrink your way to wealth.
Last year, I wrote that the conventional wisdom of “Live Below Your Means” is bad advice. In a world of abundance, why settle for living a day below your means? Focus on expansion.
Let’s look at some examples of your everyday decisions that shape your wealth potential. It is the sum of these parts that help determine whether you’re living a life below your means, or expanding your means:
Spend years of your childhood…
Below: …practicing to become the high school mascot.
Expand: …practicing to become the high school quarterback.
Spend 5 extra minutes this week…
Below: …detouring to the cheapest car gasoline station.
Expand: …with your family because you arrived home sooner from the nearby gas station.
Spend 30 extra minutes…
Below: …waiting in line for a free Chik-Fil-A sandwich.
Expand: …learning about how credit scores work to get the best mortgage terms.
Spend 1 hour…
Below: …mowing your own grass when the neighbor kid would do it for $25.
Expand: …in research to find your next income-producing property.
Spend the month…
Below: …watching every season of Game Of Thrones.
Expand …watching half as much Game Of Thrones and gaining financial education.
Spend the next three years…
Below: …yanking weeds at home so that you could save money and hope you’ll live better “someday”.
Expand: …on ten memorable family vacations and five seminar trips, paid from your income property.
Spend the next ten years…
Below: …working voluntary overtime hours because your chief idea of income production is trading time for dollars over-and-over-and-over.
Expand: …having the time to attend your daughter’s piano lessons and ice skating exhibitions.
Spend 30 years…
Below: …commuting to work. You commute just to sell your time for money at a work-a-day job that you might not even like!
Expand: …enjoying durable passive income streams. Use your extra time to find fulfillment or create memories with loved ones.
Spend 40 years…
Below: …being a landlord. Every tenant has your phone number.
Expand: …checking on your income properties distantly with occasional e-mails to a trusted Property Manager who you’ve built a relationship with.
Spend your investor life thinking…
Below: …”debt-free”.
Expand: …”financially-free”.
Your mindset and work habits consist of:
Below: …hauling water buckets to the garden daily.
Expand: …setting up a sprinkler system in the garden once.
“Don’t Live Below Your Means. Expand Your Means.” is an enduring Rich Dad mantra. I asked Robert Kiyosaki about it the first time he was on my podcast, in Episode 84.
You can either choose a life of living your fears or a life of living your dreams. In life, settling for less correlates with regret. Look back on your past. You’re more likely to regret what you didn’t do, not what you did do.
A rich person digs for gold. A poor person is concerned with the cost of a shovel.
Here’s to your wealth and happiness!
NOTE: Some of this material is in my brand new Amazon #1-selling book, 7 Money Myths That Are Killing Your Wealth Potential.
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