Beliefs about money that are making you poor
And how to stop having them
1) Working longer hours = Earning more money
Many people believe that the more time you put into something, the better the output, so the more money you make from that output. But this isn’t always true, in a 9–5 job, assuming you get paid for all the hours you work, then yes, the more hours you work, the more money you get, however, this leads you to sacrifice your personal time.
Using platforms like Medium or YouTube allows you to invest hours of work on these platforms, but after a while, when your audience is large enough, you can generate money almost passively.
Although it may seem very appealing to leave your 9–5 job to devote yourself entirely to this type of platform, it’s important not to forget that it’s possible to work on both and that the 9–5 job is a more stable and secure source of income than these platforms, at least at an early stage.
The ideal is to have several sources of income.
2) Victim mentality
Thoughts like “I can’t do anything else outside my 9–5 job”, and “I can’t make as much money as everyone else”… These thoughts demotivate you and don’t allow you to move forward towards your financial independence. Negative thoughts are not proof of anything, if you have these kinds of thoughts it’s simply because you haven’t yet achieved what you want, it doesn’t mean you never will!
Whenever you have a limiting negative thought about yourself, add the word “yet” at the end, so that you convince yourself that it may not be possible now, but if you work for it, it can be.
3) The competition trap
It’s easy to do what others do, it’s easy to follow the crowd, it’s safer. But this is a problem when you want to make it in life. If you want to get out of where you are, if you want to be better and have a better lifestyle, you have to do what others aren’t doing.
“Your goal isn’t to beat the competition it’s to escape the competition altogether”
Peter Thiel (founder of Paypal)
Just because everyone is competing for the same thing, does it make sense for you to compete for it too? Is your happiness there, or are you fighting for something you don’t really want, but you’re doing it because everyone else is doing it too?
Realize what your strengths are, what you like and follow your path, then no one can compete with you, because you’ve created your own path.
4) Thinking that money is bad
In the book “Money — Master the Game”, Tony Robbins states that having limiting beliefs and emotions about money can prevent you from making money. Thinking that all millionaires are bad people, that money takes you away from your faith or spirituality or that all people with money are dishonest limits you and is false.
Thinking that money is linked to bad things prevents you from making money because it leads you to believe that in order to make more money you have to be a worse person, which is not true.
Instead of thinking like that, look at people with money as sources of inspiration. Instead of thinking they’re bad people, think “If they can do it, so can I”.
5) Using the phrase “I can’t afford it”
This phrase leads you to believe that you have no power and that there is nothing you can do to change your situation. Instead, think “how can I pay for this?”. This way of thinking allows you to restructure your thinking to find a solution to your problem.
6) Assuming that someone’s success is due to something abstract
Many of us, on seeing someone very rich, assume that they have managed to accumulate all that wealth in a way that we never will. Maybe they know the right people that I’ll never meet, maybe they got a lot of money in another way that I can’t, to start their business.
Try to find out more about these people and you’ll realise that many have managed to become rich through their entrepreneurial spirit and hard work.
7) Not having an entrepreneurial mindset
When we spend a long time in a company, for example, we get used to following orders and not thinking too much about what we do. It’s important not to forget to think for yourself and pursue what you want in order to be happy. This means taking risks and thinking outside the box.
8) Devaluing money
If you want money, you have to work for it. You can’t expect to get rich overnight. Learn everything you can about money, and invest time and money to achieve what you want. You can’t want to get rich if all you do is watch tiktoks all day.
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