I chose not to be poor: the rules to the game
This is a journal of my thoughts, things I’ve learned and my experiences going from broke to over a million dollars and back to very little to show for it. So I’m writing about this journey, the struggles I faced along the way,, the rules, principles and thought patterns I discovered, and the man it made of me to active choose daily not to do that again.
Before going any further… this is an open dialogue of my learnings mixed with some recommendations I’ve found helpful. I welcome any thoughts, comments or suggestions.
Understanding that there are rules to the game
As someone who finds himself competitive and always wanting to better myself, thinking about life as a game just made some of this more appealing for me as I reflected on it to be better.
There are definitely rules to the game of life and while many people can debate and too many of us choose to ignore them, I can see now that ignoring a few of these were quite costly. I liken them to laws or truths that are applicable for anyone to apply and partake in, not just someone from a particular background or walk of life, anyone who observes and obeys these rules/laws will not be poor at all. Speaking of poor, I’m not talking about money alone, but do know that you can be poor physically, emotionally, and spiritually as well.
As I write about this topic, I’m sure I’ll remember more, think through more add more to it, so keep coming back.
So, what exactly where the rules that I was so blissfully ignoring and that I have seen poor people ignore? This was a question I asked myself one day while staring at my bank account with less than 5k in savings despite earning more than 100k per year. How can this be? Where did it all go? I asked myself this question because I truly didn’t want to repeat that again. That would not be ideal at all and I felt I could do something about it, but it started with me first addressing the cause of it, which meant I had to dig into my past to better understand myself.
After lots of digging, reflecting, studying wealthy and poor people for 3 years and being honest and diligent, I discovered that the answer to those questions could be found in a set of rules or laws that I’ve observed and will list out. Many of these don’t seem like that should attribute to the outcome of not be poor, but they do.
“your attitude determines your altitude”
Ever heard the saying “your attitude determines your altitude ”and thought about why that is, or even better, how that is the case? If you haven’t, think about that for a moment. How is it that how you think or feel about something can determine how you will act or interact related to that thing? Its a great question to ponder on, and yet many times I remember just glossing over moments, operating almost like a zombie, not even paying attention to what was happening inside myself or in my own head. Granted I do consider myself an overthinker, but that’s not an excuse.
I first became more aware of this concept when I heard Les Brown, then Jim Rohm, and a few others make the following statement.
“He who thinks he can, and he who thinks he can’t are both usually right.”
So I’ll introduce what I consider is law number one:
#1. The Law of Thought/Mindset: How you think (set your mind) will govern how you act (set your life).
This is not a happen stance type of thing either. Think this is a joke, take a moment and think back to some point of time in your own life. Lets break that down a little further as you start thinking. How you ever thought about trying to do something and thought, nah I can’t do that. Then you attempted only to find out you were right. Maybe its saving up a certain amount or fasting for three days. If you think you can or think you cannot do something, you will more often be right about your ability.
Because this law happens in a more unconscious manner and really does impact so many areas, I put this one as the number one and most fundamental law to become aware of. It highlights the aspect of our choice and what we can control in our lives and that’s why I strongly urge you to pay more attention to. Ignoring this one long enough and you’ll find someone else determining how you live and that’s no fun. To accompany this, there is a verse in the Bible that says to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. This tells me that it is possible and necessary to have a mind that should be changed or reshaped.
But why would you and I need to renew our minds? Well how many times have you thought about something, was afraid of “what if’s” and really just talked yourself out of it? There is a major battle going on in your minds all the time. Most of your thoughts, fears, dreams and more all happen in your mind. The key is deciphering between the noise and ensuring that what you think and pour energy into is something worth birthing into the world through your physical actions related to that thought.
If you think you can or cannot, you are usually right. How are you thinking about yourself and things in your life today?
Did you find this impactful and helpful, leave a comment or share your own story about your reflections of this in the comments. Also follow me on this journey of sharing what I have learned and am still learning. The next post will include more laws that I’ve learned I ignored and should not have.