Info for Your Potential

This LOA tip is one in a series of tips that will look at why LOA doesn’t work for some folks. In Tip #3, we’re going to look at self-limiting beliefs about having money and being rich and why being rich is good.

“Money will not make you happy.” How many times have you heard that statement? Did it give you the impression that doing without money and living in poverty would make you happy?  What it really means is…if you are unhappy, having money and being rich will not give you the happiness you seek. Seek happiness first, then becoming rich will be a benefit of your happiness. Having money and being rich is good! You can do whatever you want with your money and it should make your feel that you are doing the right thing.

Self-Limiting Beliefs About Money and Being Rich

• Having money and being rich is wrong.
• Rich people need to give their money to the poor.
• The poor are poor because the rich have all the money.
• The rich get richer while the poor get poorer.

I was confronted by a lady who insisted that the rich were responsible for the condition of the poor and insisted that the rich had the responsibility to give their money to the poor. I was amazed at the irrational reasoning behind this statement.

I have personally seen what happens when I gave money to the poor, they just become more dependent on me giving them more money. Over 15 years ago, when I was working in town, several co-workers and I decided that we wanted to help poor street people by giving them money. We went to the local shelter and talked to the counselors.  To our disbelief, they recommended donating to the shelter or any other philanthropic organization and advised us not to give money directly to the poor.

Needless to say, we didn’t listen.  I think we all had been listening too much to those folks who condemned the rich and insisted they give to the poor. What we learned was a very valuable lesson. We discovered to our horror that word had gotten around that we were handing out money. The last day we went to the shelter, we were mobbed. The shelter counselors had warned us, but we found out for ourselves why it’s not a good idea to give money to the poor.

The money we gave out didn’t help the poor find a job and it certainly didn’t teach them how to handle money wisely. We became enablers. We enabled several people to continue to be poor. They simply waited for us to give them money and progressively needed more and more. They had no ambition to get out of poverty and improve their lot in life. Their only ambition was to wait for us to show up and hand out money.

Giving money directly to the poor doesn’t help them. They realize that it is much easier to have someone give them money, than to have ambition and earn it themselves. There are programs to help the poor, but they first need the ambition to use them and second, need to know they exist. It’s what counselors at the shelter called the “Too poor to care” syndrome.

The poor are poor because:

1. they have no ambition to rise above poverty

2. do not have the ambition to use programs provided to teach them how to get out of poverty or find out what it takes to get out of poverty

3. think that someone “owes” them something (welfare)

4. they were born poor, have been taught by generations of poor family members that since they were born poor, they will always be poor and need to depend on others for money or

5. simply prefer being poor.

No one “owes” anyone anything. This is irrational thinking at its worst. We owe it to ourselves to make our lives our reality. I love this quote, “If it is to be, it is up to me to do it!” I just wish I knew who said it. My research didn’t reveal the person who said it.

The rich do not owe the poor anything. We live in a nation of welfare babies who think they do not need to support themselves because their government “owes” them. That is one of the most self-limiting, self-defeating beliefs of the 21 Century and has given rise to generation after generation living on welfare. The elderly, disabled and mentally challenged are a totally different issue. Most need assistance and there are programs to help them pay utilities and buy food which is usually paid for by philanthropic organizations.

If you think you are too poor to become rich, let me give you an example of rags to riches. Some of the poorest people in the world rose above poverty to become very wealthy. Andrew Carnegie was very poor. He rose above his poverty, became very wealthy and gave most of his wealth to charity.

Then there are the wealthy who give generously to charities. John D. Rockefeller, although he was not poor, he most certainly was not born into a wealthy family. He started as a clerk and revolutionized the oil and gas industry by founding Standard Oil. He was known for handing out dimes to folks he met on the streets (at a time when a dime was considered a lot) and he tithed 10% to his church every payday. He was the United States’ first millionaire and went on to become a billionaire. The Rockefellers, even to this day, are known for their philanthropy.

Bill Gates, born into a wealthy family, gives generously to charity.

And the best for last, Christopher Gardner. His life became a movie, The Pursuit of Happyness. A homeless father who became a self-made millionaire. He is the model of ambition and rising above poverty. He is a philanthropist who sponsors Cara Program and the Methodist church where he and his son received shelter.

The argument that it is wrong to be rich because the rich make the poor poorer is a lame excuse most people make when they themselves lack ambition and/or money. It’s easier to blame someone else than to blame themselves for not having the ambition to attract their desires. The key to success and wealth lies in ambition, self-discipline, knowing what you want, the vehicle to get it and having the faith to achieve it. This is the exact idea behind the Law of Attraction.

If you want to be rich, then you deserve to be rich! Being rich has its responsibilities. It’s what you do with your money and your mind-set that makes being rich a good thing. Buy what you want and need when you want and need it, help family and friends in need, donate to charity, invest in quality investments, put money in a savings account for unexpected emergencies and have money left over.

Life is meant to be enjoyed. Enjoy your life to the fullest. Be happy, be rich and be wise.