Who's Minding Your Money?

WEALTH IS A JOURNEY

Let’s talk for a few moments about wealth or being wealthy, first let me say that I believe that wealth is a journey rather than a point in time. It’s a process, it’s a state of mind that takes continued effort to obtain and maintain but most of all wealth is relative.

Yeap it’s relative, not your relative being wealthy and you not being wealthy (sorry I couldn’t resist). What I mean is that you don’t necessarily have to be multimillionaire to be considered wealthy. Being wealthy is not based on how much you have but rather what you do with what you have. I am convinced that people with lots of money are not anymore happier than those of US who don’t have lots of money. I refuse to believe that having MONEY is the basis of my happiness, don’t get me wrong I do realize that having money will make life more enjoyable but not happier. I said all of that to say that wealth is relative to your lifestyle needs.

If you lead a modest lifestyle, a life where you are personally happy with where you are in life and you some how manage to live below your means financially then you will eventually build financial wealth over time. If you are not currently wealthy and you would like to become wealthy then you really only have to do one thing and that thing is CHANGE!

Change everything about you, the people you meet, the books you read, and most of all the habits that are currently apart of your everyday routine. If you want to change your financial life you must change the way you are doing things, and the reason you must change is BECAUSE WHAT YOU ARE DOING IS NOT WORKING!

DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BE RICH?

The path to wealth is a relatively easy one, all you have to do is spend less than you earn and save regularly and that’s it. Over time you will build wealth, so why aren’t more people wealthy? The truth is most people lack the willingness to change their current lifestyle and spending habits. Remember building wealth is a way of life; it’s like getting into really good shape, to stay in shape you have to continue to do the things that got you in shape in the first place.

Most people also lack the discipline to become wealthy, it’s not easy to change what you have been doing most of your life. You have to develop a level of “stick-to-it-ness” most people just give up to easily. There are also many misconceptions when it comes to building wealth like “if I were wealthy my problems would go away”, “more people would like me if I had money” and “if I were wealthy, I could do anything that I wanted” Part of what makes wealthy people wealthy is there ability to say “NO”. The difference between being wealthy and middle-class is being to afford anything you want but choosing not to anyway.

When I was broke I would go the mall and sometimes buy anything that I wanted even if it meant that I had to buy it on credit. In other words, I really couldn’t afford it in the first place, but I bought it anyway. Now that I have a higher level of understanding about money and I have developed discipline and good habits I could go to the same mall and have the money to purchase just about anything in there that I wanted but I choose not too instead. That’s what makes me wealthy; I am wealthier in a lot of ways.

Remember wealth is a journey not a destination. You must make the decision to seek wealth, if you do then you will find it, but you have to take the first step on a life long journey

This article was written by Lonnie R. Mathews for the Who's Minding Your Money blog. Lonnie is an author and speaker in the area of personal finance. To learn more about Lonnie or to contact him visit www.lonniemathews.com