Some might say that being rich is being happy with who you are and what God has given you. I can’t argue with that. Money is not everything and being rich doesn’t make people happy. Nonetheless, money does enable us to bless others and live fruitful lives while we are here on earth. It is wise for us to constantly improve on our finances; I don’t know anyone that would turn down a raise or an increase in income. Most people would like to have more money.
The first step is to ask ourselves what is holding us back from earning more than we currently make or believe we can make. Here are 5 reasons why you may never be rich.
1. You don’t want to
Every day we move one step closer to a two class society in America: the rich and the poor. The old idea that “if you aren’t growing you’re shrinking” has never been more true than it is today. If you aren’t improving your finances every day, chances are you are on a slippery slope to poverty.
Many people say that they don’t care about money, and while I think that can be partially true most people would not mind having more money than they do now. What it really boils down to is that people don’t want to spend all of their time working. They have other priorities in life that are more important. I respect that and completely agree; balance is important.
The key to making it all work together is to do something you love. Be innovative and create something. When you are tied up in a job you hate, success is not important. You are just living for the weekends and waiting for the clock to strike 5:00pm. The whistle blows and you get to go home.
But when you find something you love doing and you have the freedom to be creative and help people, you are naturally motivated to succeed. The money will follow. Making more money does not mean giving up the things that matter most to you. Be creative and don’t feel like you must separate business from pleasure.
2. You don’t know how
This is a big one. “Where do I start,” “what can I do to earn more money,” “how can I increase my salary?” Normal people ask those questions when they think about making more money. It’s not easy to find ways to increase your income, and that’s why so many people fail – “I don’t know how” will crush you. So eliminate that from your thought process. Instead think, “how can I?”
No one knows how to do things when they start, but rich people start anyway.
Start with a thought and an expectation. You acknowledge that you want to increase your income and you begin your journey. The best tool you have is your own creative mind. To get inspiration, read books, look at what others do, and find problems you can solve. People pay for solutions and the more time you spend learning and doing the more ideas you will have. You just have to start.
3. It’s hard and risky
We all have to pay our dues which involves making mistakes and improving the quality of our work because of it. Very few people do something perfectly the first time, but we learn and grow from those mistakes, so they are worth making. Remember, hard and risky scares away the competition too.
4. You’re lazy
The couch is a nice, safe, and warm place to be. No one will bother you there while you put your feet up and relax. The Bible has a lot to say about laziness. Proverbs 10:4 says “Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.”
There is clearly a difference between being lazy and taking much needed rest. We need to rest and recharge so we can be ready to do our work each day. This verse from Proverbs really says it all. Laziness takes us down the wrong path.
The best way to get off the couch and work on something productive is to find something you enjoy doing and make a business out of it.
5. You believe that your current job will pay off
Seth Godin shined the light on this for me when he explained that the old model of showing up to work every day, collecting your paycheck, saving for retirement and living well was dead. Things just don’t work that way anymore.
Pensions are dying, if not already completely dead. You cannot rely on social security to take care of you once you retire. And considering where the economy is now, I’m sure most of us will need to work until we are 70 to retire properly.
Working from 9-5 and then mindlessly managing your money is not going to work. More is required in this new day and age.
This really hit home for me when I sat down a few years ago wrote down what my goals were. Among them were to own a decent home debt free, save for my kids’ college education, and be able to live well when I retire. I added up the future value of those things and was discouraged when I saw the numbers. I realized that if I relied on my current job and salary, I would not get there. I needed to develop new streams of income to meet my goals.
Unless you are very successful at your current job and climb the ladder to the top you may need other income streams to live the life you want to live. Consider your goals now, and start working toward them diligently.
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