Wealth: Mind over Matter?

When I first began my moneyseeking, I was mainly started off reading the stuff by motivational gurus such as Anthony Robbins. These type of gurus say the most important thing needed to become successful is to use your mind correctly, and you must spend lots of time each day imagining your perfect lifestyle. I agree with this up to a point, but years later I think such gurus push the mental side too much.

Now that I've actually met real life multi-millionaires and had a chance to observe their activities I see that their beliefs do have a big part to play in their wealth but only as a starting point. It is their actions, their habits, the daily efforts they put in, and the risks they take which account for the majority of their wealth.

Actually taking action to ensure things get done can be the boring bit, but should be the main focus of your money making activities. The late multi-millionaire and inventor Thomas Edison, said "genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration". This basically means your financial intelligence is best developed by actually working towards your goals and more time should be spent working towards your wealth than merely thinking about it.

My own "mental financial work" now only takes me around 10 minutes each day. First I plan my daily activities, leaving as much time free as possible for unexpected events. Then, I listen to a pre-recorded mp3 I created which clearly and briefly describes the (financial) goals and habits I want to achieve this year. It only takes 5 minutes to listen to, and then that's it. (Some people like to take this a bit further and actually watch computer slideshows of their imagined perfect life. This is easy enough to create using programs such as Microsoft Powerpoint or similar. Latest versions of the windows operating system have a free automatic slideshow in the folder viewer). After I have used this mild mind control, I am painfully aware that only by taking action will I have any chance of achieving my financial goals in life.

Wealth begins in the mind, but don't spend too long in your head, or by the time you wake up, many of your chances will have passed you by. Once upon a time, when I was at rock bottom, I imagined that one day I would have thousands of pounds in the bank and would not be living from paycheck to paycheck, but it took years of action, saving, and frugality before I was finally able to realize this dream. My money seeking journey continues; it started in my mind, and the long road is paved with action.