Don't Fall for These 12 Mental Money Traps

Most of us were brought up poor or in the middle class --
and then continue the rest of our lives plagued by the
thoughts, ideas and actions of the poor and the middle
class. If you were brought up like I was, by parents that
had great intentions but few ways to create financial
freedom, then there is a good chance you are still
trapped by mental money traps that continue to hold you
prisoner.
No one would deny that the wealthy think and operate
differently regarding money, wealth, finances and
investing. Here are some common mental money traps:
1. "I just want enough to be comfortable."
At the core of the middle class is some idea that they
can somehow find this place of comfort, which becomes
a compromise for any possibility of financial freedom.
Consider that a significant number of people save little
money for retirement. This has caused masses of
people to be unable to quit working at retirement age,
because they are without enough money to take care of
themselves during economic contractions.
Related: The 12-Step Plan for Creating a Rich Life
2. "I need to make money."
It’s actually against the law to make money -- that is the
job of the government, which over the last decade has
been more and more willing to manufacture money in
unjustified amounts. This idea -- that you need to make
money to have it -- limits you to believing you must trade
time for money. Quit thinking about making money and
think in terms of collecting it. When you trade something
of value with the public you will get money in return.
3. "Bigger isn’t better."
Wrong. Bigger is better and more is glory. Quit thinking
little. The best companies in the world are big. Staying
small takes a lot of energy. I talk about this in The 10X
Rule -- go 10 times bigger than you think is necessary.
It’s more fun and it gives you a better chance of
succeeding.
Over the last 12 months I have interviewed more than 50
very successful entrepreneurs that run million-dollar
companies to $100 million companies that started with
nothing. Almost every one of them shared with me that
their biggest regret was not thinking bigger from the
beginning.
4. "More money, more problems."
This is simply an idea that those without money use to
justify having less and being broke. If more money is
more problems, then bring on the problems, because I
tried being broke and that was more than just a problem.
Quit trying to make rich ugly -- it’s not.
The truth is the more money you have, the more control
and choices you have over every aspect of your life. If
you are sitting in a first class seat, it doesn’t mean you
won’t have a drunk sitting next to you. Buying your own
jet allows you to control who gets on it, but now you
have to hire two pilots, a mechanic and feed the
airplane. More money means new problems, not more
problems.
5. "It takes money to make money."
The reality is more than three quarters of all millionaires
today are first generation millionaires. That means that
ordinary people got rich because they had the courage to
follow up on their ideas.
The phrase, "it takes money to make money" is
completely incorrect. It takes money to make more
money. While later in life the rich use their money to
create wealth, in the beginning stages it only takes
courage and persistence to create money. This belief
that you first need money makes you a victim and gives
you no way out.
I started with no money, in fact, I was in debt. At the age
of 25 I was broke, by the time I was 35 I was in a
position to never be broke again.
6. "Money doesn't grow on trees."
The person that commonly throws this phrase around is
suggesting money is limited and scarce. There is
something near $134,000,000,000,000 (trillion) on this
planet -- most of which is merely represented by digits in
bank accounts, investing accounts and the like. The only
shortage of money on this planet is in the mind of those
that don’t have money.
Related: How to Spend Your Way to Wealth
7. "Another day, another dollar."
The job force of America is trading time for money every
day. Is your time worth $10 an hour or $50 an hour? The
reality is no matter how much you get you are still
selling time and you only have so much of it.
The rich exchange dollars for time because they know
time is more valuable than money. Unwilling to trade
money, the average person believes the only way to
make more money is to work more hours. Big money
requires thinking about money without time
considerations -- think broad money.
8. "Money is the root of all evil."
The actual saying is " the love of money is the root of all
evil.” It has been passed down inaccurately and become
misunderstood that money is somehow evil. Rich is
right, not wrong. Bill Gates told a college class, “if you
are born poor it’s not your fault, if you stay poor it is.”
I believe it is evil to not be able to provide for my family,
fund my church, take a trip, grow my business and feed
my dreams.
9. "A penny saved is a penny earned."
Believe this and you will never have financial freedom. A
penny saved is a penny and if you spend your life
thinking about pennies you will never create financial
freedom. Saving in itself is not bad, but the masses are
so focused on saving they never advance their money.
No one ever got rich saving mone, they just got old.
10. "Money can't buy you happiness."
I never met a rich person that was trying to get happy
while they were trying to get rich -- they have nothing to
do with one another. In fact, my entire life I have not
been seeking happiness. I have been seeking a
meaningful life where I am free to do what I want to do
and what I love the most.
I know happy and unhappy people. My wife is the
happiest person I know and is happy regardless of how
much money she has. I assure you she still likes having
the freedom to spend money without constant worry.
There is no way money can make you happy or unhappy
-- it’s just money.
If you are a wanker, then you will be a wanker with or
without money. If you are going to be unhappy, don’t be
broke too.
11. "A penny for your thoughts."
This is the kind of damaging, freely thrown-around idea
that shows how little people value their time and money.
I own four businesses. They all started with ideas and
were followed up with actions. The guy that created
velcro, the founder of Starbucks, Ted Turner of CNN,
Henry Ford and the likes all had ideas and they didn’t
trade them for pennies.
Quit thinking about pennies and quit demeaning your
ideas. Your possibilities are limited only by thoughts,
ideas and actions.
12. "Rich people are selfish."
I must be honest, I have been selfish at times in my life
so that I would never have to depend on anyone
financially. My dad died when I was 10 and left my mom
with just enough money to get her three boys fed,
clothed and educated. She had to be a bit selfish so that
she could take care of us.
It takes a bit of selfishness and self-esteem to prioritize
taking care of yourself and creating financial freedom so
that you don’t become a problem for others. If you don’t
think enough of your own finances how are you ever
going to make the difficult decisions and necessary
choices for your spouse, children, community, and your
future?
You better get somewhat selfish until you have
something to share -- whether it is opportunity, money or
wisdom. I'm sick of people saying, “If I had his money I
would help so many people,” but they can’t help anyone
financially, because they never focused on their own
finances. They then live a life talking about what they
would do, and not what they can do.
The fact is if you are already rich, you need to up your
game and start thinking the way the super wealthy do. If
not, maybe it's time to change the way you think about
money.
Any rich person will tell you anyone can get rich. Any
wealthy person will tell you the same. Get rid of the
mental money traps and get your friends, family and
associates on the same page with you. Remember, you
are surrounded by limited thinking -- 76 percent of
Americans live paycheck to paycheck . It seems like a
bunch of people have the wrong information.