At this point in our journey, we’re ready to join a community of people who are on the road to wealth.  But first we need to clear a few mental and emotional hurdles by identifying and confronting the white elephants in the room:

  1. Lack of confidence about money.  
  2. Nervousness about exploring and sharing personal financial stuff.  
  3. Difficulty sorting through the jungle of financial information available in the public arena.  
  4. Reluctance to set money as the top priority.

This environment of uncertainty and fear is where we enter the arena and join a financial freedom movement.  Let’s face our white elephants right now.

Lack of confidence about money.  Most of us were not born into financially savvy families nor were we taught the basics in school.  Instead, we’ve stumbled and fumbled our way through, picking up scraps of truth mingled with false beliefs and self-defeating practices.  We sense that the route we’re on is not leading to our chosen destination, and we’re in need of an FPS (Financial Positioning System) to re-calculate our route.

Here are a few confidence building thoughts.  We are not alone.  At least 95% of the workers in the US are heading for age 65 without the means to retire.  Financial illiteracy is real and it’s too dangerous to be ignored.  But the good news is that it is totally reversible!  It’s never too late to lock arms with the top 5% and immerge victoriously out of the quagmire.  

Nervousness about exploring and sharing personal financial stuff.We know people who are doing well but we don’t want to be nosey and talk with them.  Likewise, we don’t share our own information except with a professional.  But the foundational work of discovering financial dreams and setting personal goals is done apart from the formal strategy sessions with an advisor.  Dreaming and goal setting begin with close associates, when we are comfortable selecting and interacting with those chosen for our wealth community.

A startling fact helped me in this area.  I learned that my income is limited; it will not exceed the average income (plus or minus $5,000) of my five closest friends. So, if my annual income is $50,000 then the average income of my five closest friends would be in the $45,000 to $55,000 range.  To increase my earnings, I have to help my friends up their game, or find new friends, or both.  This thought pushed me to begin relating to friends on a financial level, talking about finances along with all the other important stuff.  I recognized that influencing others to be more financially aware is a benefit to me and builds community.   I stopped treating money as a personal, private matter and opened it up to discussion as a matter of personal development.  

Difficulty sorting through the jungle of financial information available in the public arena.  Books, YouTube and other social media platforms have no shortage of information, advice, tricks, gimmicks and shortcuts about getting rich.  But knowing what to read, who to follow and what to believe is difficult.  Often the information is confusing or conflicting.  How do we sort through to find our personal nuggets of gold?

I follow a handful of financial gurus on social media, each one specifically chosen to provide a unique educational, training, motivational or inspirational benefit.  Robert Kiyosaki is one of my chosen, despite the fact that he is a gruff, old x-marine—not at all a guy I’d normally hang around.  His coarse language, teachings on spirituality and some of his politics do not necessarily align with my personal values.  But I’ve learned to get over myself in this case.  After all, I’m not selecting him for public office or pastor of my church.  I joined his community because of his clear thinking about money, the powerful wealth system he has created and his uniquely effective educational platform.  I especially like the expert researchers and teachers who are guest speakers on his shows.  It’s fun when he hosts speakers who have opposing views –even some who disagree with him on certain topics.  I watch as he works his own beliefs, politics, theology and views into his wealth strategy.  Then I practice working with my own beliefs and dreams to personalize my wealth strategy.  I follow him to learn, and I recommend him to others for the same reason.

For me books and online resources teach me “how” to think.  I never want them to dictate “what” I think.  So, people like Robert and Kim Kiyosaki, Dave Ramsey, Mike Maloney, Stansberry Research, Crypto Coin Kid (and others) become valuable contributors to my personal, online wealth community.  

Reluctance to set money as the top priority.  Getting into the top 5% will require making money the priority.  Somehow that just doesn’t feel right.  Money should never come before family, friendships and other personal values, right?  Sometimes it seems that rich people are greedy, opportunistic, selfish—and no one wants to become any of that.

As food for thought, let’s carefully consider the following quote:

“Everything is all about money, until you have enough.”

“Poverty creates a total focus on money.”

“Only wealth can shift the focus to real values.”

“We can never stop focusing on money until we have enough to make it not an issue.”

Money is not life’s greatest treasure, but without it the people and relationships—our true treasures—experience immense suffering.  A shortage of money always adds struggle and stress to life while an abundance of money creates opportunities for personal satisfaction and spills over into great benefits for others.  We never want to fall into avarice, greed or selfish desire for money.  However, many who have written about riches believe that every person has an obligation to obtain some wealth for both personal well-being and the good of society. 

Please ponder the thoughts expressed in this discussion.  Bring them to your community and continue upgrading your mindset.  We are headed for financial freedom.