How To Become Rich and Wealthy By Looking In The Mirror

What if I told you that you can, right now, become rich and wealthy. Yes, I know there is a difference in the two but think about that. How cool would it be if I could wave a magic wand and all of a sudden you were? Do you think I could do it?

In this article, I want to do something a little different. From that intro you probably think I’m going to sell you some bull crap product, I’m not. No fancy tables and no complex math. Instead, I want to take you through the concept of being rich and wealthy and what that truly means.

In a sense, this is going to be a reflection piece for myself. Call it a brain dump if you would like. My hopes are that you can also relate and do some internal reflection yourself.

By the end, I think I will have you convinced that you too are rich and wealthy.

One of The Richest People I Know

Let me tell you about one of the richest people I know. This past weekend I went to a wedding in my hometown. There were many familiar faces but the one that caught me off guard was my old boss. He was my first boss, a farmer, and I started as a farmhand for him when I was 14.

It was one of the best, if not the best jobs I have ever had. The hard work was fulfilling and every day involved something new. I learned a ton from my boss who I’m not going to name even though chances are he will never read this. Of everything I learned, the most important was how to be happy.

You see, I didn’t realize this until many years later but my boss is one of the richest and wealthiest people I know. If you haven’t caught the gist yet I’m not talking $$$ wise. I have no idea about his financial situation and frankly, it is none of my business.

When I think back at all the memories it is hard to find one where he was mad or upset. Instead, my memories are full of him interacting with his family and always having a big smile on his face. The man is 6′ 7″ so it was a BIG smile.

I vividly remember his 4-year-old daughter (she’s 14 now) coming out and him wanting to show her what we were doing, making sure that she was getting attention. I’ll explain why in a minute but this was one of the big reasons that I knew he was wealthy.

What Does It Mean To Be Rich and Wealthy?

Being rich and wealthy is not the same thing but they do work together in some fashion. My favorite quote on the difference is by Robert Kiyosaki. If you didn’t know Robert wrote the book Rich Dad Poor Dad, which happens to be one of my favorite books of all time. Seriously, it’ll change how you think about money.

Anyways Robert says this, “there is a difference between the two; The rich have lots of money but the wealthy don’t worry about money”. There are a ton of rich people in the world but as you know from one of my most recent YouTube videos, rich doesn’t last, wealth does.

Young, Dumb, and Not Broke?! is a brand centered around personal finance. Part of my mission statement reads “To create straight forward, easy to use, and sustainable financial advice for young adults”. Well, not all of that advice is in the numbers. Actually, most of it isn’t.

Most of your success will come from your mentality.

What does becoming rich and wealthy have to do with your mentality? Let me explain but before we start, remember I’m talking nothing about money, at all. As you read the list below ask yourself if this describes you.

Rich and Wealthy In Life

What if we took Robert’s quote and changed out a couple of words, specifically “money”. Let’s try this: “there is a difference between the two; The rich have lots of resources but the wealthy capitalize and invest in them”.

Now, let’s take that idea and translate it into everyday life. Here are some examples:

How I’m Rich

I have lots of fresh drinking water – I’m Rich
I have a comfortable bed to sleep on – I’m Rich
I have the ability to read this article – I’m Rich
I have a phone that can do almost anything – I’m Rich

Are you starting to see what I mean? Rich people have the resources but that doesn’ t mean they use them. Let’s see how wealthy people differ.

How I’m Wealthy

The wealthy list is going to be slightly different than the rich one. If you remember Robert’s quote above he said that wealthy people don’t worry about money. How can this be? The simple answer is they invest.

When it comes to investing you don’t have to just be talking about money. You can invest in hundreds of other places in your life which will, in turn, make you wealthy. Here are some examples. Not all of these apply to me but maybe some do to you.

My significant other and I eat dinner together so we can talk – I’m Wealthy
I come home from work and play with my kids – I’m Wealthy
I call family and check up on them – I’m Wealthy
I’ve written over 80 blog posts and my numbers are growing – I’m Wealthy
I use my comfortable bed to get 8 hours of sleep per night – I’m Wealthy
I read articles and watch YouTube videos to learn – I’m Wealthy

Everything from the list above is an investment that has a positive return. Whether that be in the relationships in your life, your health, or your knowledge. By understanding what you have and where you should allocate attention you will become happier.

I truly believe there is a ripple effect here just like my old boss had on me.

The Bottom Line

To be blunt, we are all spoiled. This is the easiest time in the history of the world to be alive. We have the best resources whether that is medicine, access to information, and so on. Just think about what you would have to do if you wanted to travel from New York to San Fransisco 200 years ago.

You would have had to get on a wagon train for months and risk your life. This is a dramatic example I know but the point is we take a ton of things for granted. Every single day.

All I’m asking if that you reflect on where you are rich in your life and ask yourself is this something I can make into wealth. Jumping back to my old boss he made his family a wealthy part of his life because he invested in them.

It would have been no problem to tell his little girl to go back inside but he didn’t. He gets it and it’s a lesson he taught me. There is much more to life than money yet that seems to be the only place people want to invest. Where are you investing your time, resources, and attention?

Is it something that is going to make you wealthy in life int he long run?

Think about it.

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