Part 1 in a series.
I am learning that there are some basic skills for building wealth, and just like anything else worth doing, the better you get at these skills the better you’ll be at building wealth. Wealthy people use these skills and improve these skills every chance they get.
The first skill that wealthy people are good at is controlling their money. They know how they got their money, they know where their money is going, and they know what their money is doing. They understand that savings has two definitions; Saving by setting aside a sum of money from every revenue stream. (Pay yourself first; the ten percent rule.) And saving by getting the best quality for the best price. Someone once asked J.P. Getty the secret to his wealth and he responded, “I buy my summer hats in the winter.” In other words, he was always on the lookout for a bargain.
The second skill that wealthy people seem to have in common is that they know how to make money. Most wealthy people don’t work jobs, they create them. They look for new opportunities and act upon them. their idea of making money and our idea of making money is vastly different. The wealthy don’t see working a job for ten dollars an hour as a way to make money. However, paying someone to do a ten dollar an hour job so that they can make fifty is a great way to make money.
Wealthy people understand the value of setting goals and priorities, and planning. Wealthy people understand that having something to aim for is far more effective, so they set goals. They set short term goals; daily, weekly. and monthly. Mid-range goals; six months, yearly, and two years. And long-range goals; five to ten years and beyond. Many a guru say, “Start with the end in mind.” Meaning start with your long-range goals first, and work your way down to your short range goals. This way you know where you need to be at each step of the way.
Now the wealthy prioritize what needs to be done to reach those goals at each step of the way. They figure out what needs to get done, in what order, and what the steps within each priority need to be taken, and in what order. Then they plan when to do each step. the plan is the flexible part. Things don’t always the way we want them to, sometimes you have to take a detour, and sometimes an opportunity arises to jump the goal forward. This is where you go with the flow.
Tags: Money Matters, Wealth Building
