by Steven Hilgart, GWP Director of Marketing and Conference Operations

wealthLots of people want to be rich. Lots of other people think money is the root of all evil.

The common belief is that if you have some sort of wealth – you got it through cheating, lying, stealing, and stepping on people on your way to the top. This just isn’t true.

Sure, there are some people out there who have taken advantage of people to make money. But, I’m telling you that they are the exception, not the rule.

It’s actually kind of scary if you think about it. If you are the first person who would like to build a future for yourself and your family, the one thing you can count on is that there will be a lot of people who want to tear you down.

This isn’t new though. Throughout history, these two philosophies have waged war. They call it the battle of the “haves” and the “have-nots” …

The majority of the problem here is not due to a crumbling economy or a lack of resources – the majority of the problem is due to a simple, but dangerous, poor philosophical belief!

To explain a little better, I think I need to clarify the difference between broke and poor. Broke is temporary, poor is not. Poor is an entirely different mindset. It says “I am poor, I will always be poor.”

And when someone has this belief, they see the world with cynical colored glasses. Cynical about the world, cynical about the government, cynical about opportunity, and cynical about life!

But because of this cynical attitude it causes people to think in jealous terms. They see other people succeeding, growing, expanding, creating wealth – and since their eyes aren’t open to opportunity, all they see is that you are getting a bigger piece of the pie than they have.

And this leads to lots of flawed ideas, like taking wealth from one person to give to another – or borrowing more than you could ever possibly pay back!

With this mentality, it SEEMS like the only way to even the playing field is to take part of someone else’s wealth or drag them back down to your level. It’s only fair, right?

Lots of people just need to be shown that there is another way.

There’s another way to create your own piece of the pie. There’s another way to build a future for your family.

Taking from someone else is NOT your only chance for a future.

I know, I know, I’m preaching to the choir when I’m talking to you. But I just wanted to preface the cool content I’m going to share today.

My pops always told me, “Don’t come to me with a problem unless you have a solution!”

So today I’d like to offer a simple solution.

The way to solve the majority of our problems is through education. I’m not talking about a degree. I’m talking about real world, actionable knowledge. Today we’ll label it FINANCIAL EDUCATION.

wealth

Let me share with you three invaluable ideas that brought me from darkness into the light:

1. The Re-Definition of Wealth

In 1971, the U.S. dollar ceased to be money and became a currency. Meaning – it’s worthless. As fun as having lots of little green pieces of paper with dead notables on them is, in the grand scheme of things, they just don’t mean anything anymore.

So what is wealth and how do we measure it? Simply, wealth is VALUE. It is created by providing value and it is kept through owning valuable things.

Providing value is an enormous subject. It could be as simple as making a cheeseburger for someone, or as complex as a brain operation.

Value is always in the eyes of the beholder. When the majority of people think something is valuable – it is.

Real estate, gold, and silver are all good examples of things that people long before us decided were valuable, and this is why they still hold value today.

If you want to create wealth and sustain what you already have, the first key would be to make sure that first, you are providing value to the world, and second, you are doing it in exchange for things that hold value.

In our world it’s not as cut and dry as that but that’s the general idea.

But, it doesn’t stop there – true wealth is measured by the quality of your relationships, health, and life experiences. In the end, what good is a hunk of metal if we never truly lived? (How about THAT for some philosophy?)

2. Don’t Chase Dollars, Chase Knowledge

Educate yourself. And do it quickly.

The reason the economy is the way it is today is because there is an enormous shift of wealth being transferred from people who have done (and continue to do) stupid stuff, to people who have done (and continue to do) smart stuff.

If you want to be on the latter end, you need a good financial education.

Once again here, I’m not talking about a degree. I’m talking about learning why the economy is in the mess in the first place. Why is our money the way it is? What led to it? What does this mean? Since this has happened, what will the world look like in 5 years, 10 years, or 20 years?

If you understand the bigger picture, you can’t help but pull ahead in times like these.

Fortunes are created in recessions and depressions, fortunes that last generations. Just think – your family could be the next Rockefellers, or Carnegies, or Fords – IF you educate yourself now.

3. Value Creation

Many people still believe that stealing from one person to give to another is the way to create wealth.

Why?

Poor communication and people skills from upper management and business owners usually (not always) give the impression that workers are worthless.

The only reason they’re there is to be stepped on and stepped over to get what they want.

The majority of people these days see the large corporation and all they see is that they are being taken advantage of.

And sure, once again, it all comes down to philosophy. Which side of the coin do you represent? But this concept is so important: The ONLY way to create wealth is to provide some sort of value to someone else.

The worker provides a service by creating the product, the salesman provides the service of selling the product, the product provides value to the consumer and on and on and on.

You can do it through providing a product or you can do it providing a service. You can do it through creation or invention. You can do it simply by teaching someone how to do something!

The only way any business, product, or service can survive is if it continually provides value to the world!

You want to create more wealth? Here’s the million dollar question you must answer: How can I provide $100 worth of value and ask for $10 in return? That’s a thinker question. It may take some time to come up with a solution.

If we all thought that way about our jobs, our careers, our businesses, our relationships, or health the world would be in a very unique and amazing position.

Get out there and make a difference.

I hope you have a fantastic day, and live well!