Menu
You may have noticed I’ve been super active on Facebook lately. Part of my launch plan for Katie Bell and the Wishing Well has been to grow my presence on social media so that I can reach as many people as possible. For those of you who know me, you realize how difficult that has been. For those who don’t, suffice it to say, I am a classic introvert who loves to make connections with people and communicate with them, but despise being the center of attention in front of big groups. Going live on Facebook requires a thirty-minute pep talk each time, just to turn on the camera.
One interesting side effect of being on Facebook so much is that I get to see a lot of feeds from people seeking out riches. You notice that I used the word riches, instead of wealth. That’s because I don’t see those two things as synonymous. For me, seeking a wealth mentality is seeking to live our purpose in life, independent of how much money that requires. Seeking riches, on the other hand, is seeking money for the sake of money. Big difference!
As I was saying, I now participate in several money and entrepreneurship groups and it’s not unusual to see posts like the two below. These are not made up, but actual posts I copied off a feed I saw this week:
“How can I make $25,000 this week on my website?”
“What’s a funnel that can make $2000 in one weekend?”
On the surface, there’s nothing inherently wrong with wanting to make money on our websites or in our click funnels, but it’s hard not to wonder what it is these people are after. Are they really just looking to make a crazy amount of money over one week or are they seeking something else?
Seeking out riches for the sake of being rich does not make people wealthy. In fact, it oftentimes does the exact opposite. Money cannot make a person happy unless it helps that individual fulfill some larger purpose that they actually care about. If more money was the answer, you would not see the kind of depression, sadness, and even suicide rates that exist among the world’s upper classes.
Knowing that money is not the answer, we still can’t help but chase after every hair-brained, get-rich scheme that comes along. And this isn’t anything new. In 1889, people rushed to Oklahoma to claim their free land and make their fortune; in the 1980s, people rushed to sell Amway and Mary Kay and make their fortune; in 2017, people rushed to buy Bitcoin and make their fortune; now, in 2018, people are rushing to digital marketing to make their fortune. There is no end to the list of get-rich-quick schemes that have come along to which we have all fallen prey. Unfortunately, the reality is that most of the time, the first group of people into these programs do well, but their followers have nowhere near the same success.
All of this brings me to two points today:
One of the biggest problems with chasing a get-rich scheme is that it takes us away from focusing on our purpose and instead puts the attention on the money. I have heard several very successful people lately declare emphatically that you don’t need a purpose to become rich—you just need to work hard at a money-making opportunity (this is usually followed up by some kind of pitch for their “secret”, “step-by-step” guide for making money.)
The funny thing is, I totally agree with these individuals: you don’t need a purpose in order to be rich. I have worked closely for years with orthopedic surgeons across the world and I don’t think I have ever met one of them who is wondering how they are going to pay for the next meal for their kids. In general, they are all very rich and live in large homes, drive nice vehicles, and vacation overseas multiple times per year. However, many of them are absolutely miserable. Despite the money and glamorous lifestyle, they are left with a sense that they want more, or something different, in their lives. They don’t know what they are looking for, but they want more. This general dissatisfaction leads them to live pretty unhappy lives.
That being said, there is also a large group among surgeons (probably even the majority) who are extremely happy doing what they are doing. They wake up every day excited to go in and put someone back together or help them walk when they were unable to even stand when they came in the door.
This discrepancy begs the question, what is the difference between the two groups? They both spent the same number of years going to school, accumulating debt, working long hours on-call during residency, and now working crazy hours to help their patients. They both do the same work every day, and yet, some are happy and some are very unhappy. While there are a ton of confounding factors in this equation, one of the biggest differences I see is the group that loves their work finds fulfillment in the opportunity to help people. It matches their purpose, and when they are able to fulfill their purpose, they find a sense of peace and happiness the other group doesn’t enjoy.
The same could be said of other high-earning professionals. Executives, lawyers, bankers, and financiers are happy if their efforts match their purpose. It is also the reason we see people in low-earning professions who are extremely happy. If the satisfaction of completing a new construction project matches your purpose then you are happy as a roofer or framer, even if you don’t earn as much money as your neighbor who is a doctor. We aren’t talking about loving your job, or not working hard here. Oftentimes a job is boring, mundane, physically challenging, or difficult but we can still find happiness doing it because it fulfills our purpose.
So, while I agree that you don’t need a purpose or passion in order to become rich, you most definitely need a purpose in order to become wealthy.
Let me share with you a parable I told my kids when I was trying to teach them about purpose. I think it will help you, and hopefully your family, understand why it is so important to get our bearings right before heading out on our wealth journey.
There was once a man who wanted to take a trip. He hired a helicopter and pilot to fly him to his destination. Only the man knew where they were going, so the pilot took off and looked at the man, waiting for directions. The man promptly pointed in a direction to the west and the pilot headed that way. After a few minutes, the man pointed in another direction and the pilot made a course correction to follow the new path. This went on for an hour or two, with the man occasionally pointing out new directions for the pilot. Finally, the pilot looked down and saw that the gas gauge was getting low, so he mentioned this to the man and asked him how much farther they need to go and how to get there. The man became nervous and frantically pointed a new direction for them to go. The pilot obeyed and flew that direction for a couple of minutes before reminding the man again that they were running low on fuel. The man started to panic slightly and pointed in another direction, to which the pilot quickly adjusted. Finally, the pilot realized they were not going to make it to the destination and found a place to land the helicopter. The landing was quite dangerous, as the engines started to spit and sputter as the chopper descended. Finally, the helicopter hit the ground and the engines immediately ran out of gas and died. The pilot—sweating and shaking from the close call—turned to the man and told him he was sorry they weren’t able to make it to their destination. The man waved his hand and told the pilot that it was okay. The pilot then asked the man where they were going and the man looked at him a little confused and said, “I don’t know, but I sure hoped we would be able to get there quicker!”
The story is silly and my kids didn’t laugh as much as I had hoped (my comedic timing could definitely use some work), but it does demonstrate the ridiculousness of starting a journey without the final destination in mind. No pilot in their right mind would be willing to go one foot off the ground without a flight plan.
Pilots take great care to analyze their path and make calculations about fuel and weather conditions before they ever fire up the engine. The stakes are too high for them to ignore the planning process. Once they are in the air, they will often make adjustments to their course based on what comes up. In general, however, they still know the distance and direction they need to proceed to make it to their destination.
Unfortunately, we don’t give ourselves, or our families, the same guidance when we are starting out on the trip of life. How many people reading this ever sat down with someone (parent, guidance counselor, pastor) and discussed the pros and cons of different financial paths that you could take in your lives? Did you have a good understanding of what your lifestyle would be, for example, as a doctor or lawyer, or did you just know that it would pay a lot of money and that your academic abilities would allow you to be successful? Did anyone ever tell you that you might not enjoy being the vice president of a large company if being home with your family is an important part of your purpose? My guess is, probably not.
I have to admit that the ridiculousness of starting down a career path, without understanding what my purpose was, didn’t occur to me until I was far into my climb up the corporate ladder. That is perhaps the saddest thing about our current education about wealth. We let people walk a path deep into debt and far into their lives, without ever explaining to them that they may not be happy on that path, or that there are other options that they can pursue that will allow them to achieve their financial goals and still live their purpose. Additionally, once we let people rack up a couple hundred thousand dollars in student loans, it’s pretty difficult for them to change course. By not teaching correct principles early enough, we allow people to get locked into something that sucks the life out of them and chains them to a master they don’t want to be serving. My guess is that many of you reading this right now are in that boat.
So the real question today is, how are you going to break the chain? Are you courageous enough to make changes in your own life and face the difficulty of starting over so you can fulfill your purpose? Do you even know what your purpose is? And most importantly, what are you going to teach your kids?
My hope is that you will take the challenge to teach them to have a wealth mentality and to buck the system if needs be. I hope you will help them discover their passions and purpose early in life, and then teach them how they can become wealthy while they fulfill that purpose. Don’t know where to start? That’s okay, most of us don’t. My suggestion? Start by finding and sharing your own purpose with them, and then taking action to make it happen. Believe me, they will see what you’re doing and it will change their lives. That is the wealth mentality way.
P.S. If you really have no idea how to get going in defining your purpose, I suggest reading a few books on the topic. Stephen Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” talks about putting first things first and is one of my favorites. More recently, I read Simon Sinek’s “Start with Why” which I also highly recommend. Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my own book, “Katie Bell and the Wishing Well – A story of Finding True Wealth.” Among other things, it will teach you and your kids, with simple examples and stories, how to find purpose and start your wealth journey. If you are still unsure how to get started, feel free to contact us and I would love to offer any guidance or assistance that I can.