If building wealth were easy, we would all be millionaires! However, you can build wealth if you have an income and combine it with the right mindset.
Here are 9 wealth-building tips you won’t find in business books to help you on the way.
Think and Grow Rich
by Napoleon Hill
⏱ 13 minutes reading time
🎧 Audio version available
Act like a secret millionaire
You might imagine that wealthy, successful people live a life of luxury and spend lavishly, but the truth is that most don’t. People don’t get rich by spending money needlessly, and many ultra-wealthy people live very modestly. If you are incredibly rich, there is no reason to show the world your bank balance by your clothes or the car you drive. Adopt the same mindset.
Get out of debt
If you are in debt, there is no quick-fix solution; you have to clear your debts before you can move forward. So make a repayment plan and ditch all unnecessary expenses to enable this as fast as possible. Credit card debt where you pay high-interest rates is especially crippling so set a time frame to clear the debt in no longer than 36 months and do not use your credit card again.
Change your priorities
When most people get their paycheck, they spend some of it, pay bills and save what’s left. To generate wealth, you need to reverse this order. So make saving your priority, then pay your bills, and finally, if there is anything left, it is yours to spend.
It doesn’t matter if you start small. Saving $50 a month is a good start, and once you get into this good money habit, you will be surprised at how quickly your saving gathers momentum.
Apply the same money-saving principle to everything you do.
It can be nice to feel rich and splash your cash around. A shopping spree once a week, buying a round of drinks for your friends, regular dine-ins at upscale restaurants, spending a few dollars here and there without considering it. The problem is that this type of extravagant behavior is extremely bad for building wealth. Never spend money carelessly or in order to look good to your friends. People never get rich by giving money away.
Set up a side gig and use the earnings to boost your savings
You may already have a job, but unless you are in a highly paid profession, it is unlikely ever to make you rich. So if you have a hobby or a talent, you can use this to generate extra cash and then use the money you earn to boost your savings without impacting your main job. So whether it is buying and selling collectibles, becoming a yoga instructor, tutoring, doing bookkeeping, or doing some private work as a chef, it will help generate income.
A side gig may not be enough to live on, but even if you only make $1000 a year out of your hobby or pastime, it boosts your savings. And it gives you more money to invest.
Start a business
Entrepreneurship can be a way to financial success. Starting up your own business can be a great way to grow wealth. However, if you don’t want to give up your day job just yet, a part-time business that can be carried out after work hours may be the best solution. So if you already have the skills as a plumber, hairdresser, or any other service that people need, you may find that doing it alone is the best way to grow wealth for yourself, rather than helping your employer get rich off your back!
Starting a business is not for the faint-hearted, but you don’t have to set impossible targets for yourself. You probably won’t come up with the new Facebook or re-invent Google, but if you are careful, you can build a successful business if you use your talents to invest in retraining if necessary and go for it.
Investing in stocks and shares
If you have amassed even a small fund of investment money, you can use this to work for you and make more! If you go down this route, and many people do, be careful with investing in stocks and shares, as it can be risky. However, with the right financial advice and a cautious approach, you can boost your savings far more effectively than leaving your savings in a low-paying interest account. The easiest way to invest in stocks and shares is to diversify in order to spread the risk. And to get some good financial advice from a financial adviser, you can trust.
Let go of self-limiting beliefs
Many of us struggle with the idea of success, and if you grew up in relatively poor surroundings, you might believe that wealth is only for the privileged few. Although this is true in some ways, the power is in your hands to change it. The whole social system is designed to keep you in your place, so changing your mindset and accepting that you can be successful is extremely important.
Although this is not a plan as such, it is an important component for achieving financial success. You are unlikely to be successful with a negative mindset that is set to expect failure. To boost your mindset, try gaining inspiration from people who have had equally humble beginnings and learn from their mistakes and successes. In many cases, self-belief, hard work, and determination carry people through.
What do you want anyway?
To succeed, you need to have a plan to define what this success looks like. So figure that out first, and then you can work towards it. If you don’t have a plan, it is like driving your car without a specific destination in mind, and you may find yourself directionless and going around in circles.
In some cases, this is the hardest part of any wealth plan, but once you have established what it is you are aiming for, you will have a far better idea of the sort of money you will need to get your business started in the right direction.
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