How I cracked the code and became wealthy (and YOU can too; guaranteed!!)

How much do you need to feel wealthy?

This is a question, which reveals an interesting aspect of the psyche of humankind. Let’s say 100 people live in the same zip code in a town. They would have access to the same stores, eat similar food, could potentially buy the same kind of houses, wear the same variety of clothes…practically do everything in the same way, which would designate the person as wealthy. On the outset, you would think that there might exist a universal benchmark that would deem a person wealthy in this zip code and which everyone unanimously agree upon. However, upon questioning these 100 individuals separately as to what they consider wealthy, the responses are surely not going to surprise you! You certainly wouldn’t know in advance as to what each of their responses would be; but you could be certain that they all would have a unique and distinct set of answers as to what they construe as wealthy, which would be very different from each other.

Person A might say that they need a 2-bedroom house, a salary of 100K and a savings account of 1 million dollars and they would considered themselves really wealthy. Person B on the other hand might say that they need 10 million dollars to consider themselves even at the very beginning of the “wealthy” spectrum. Person C may have an entirely different number in mind, which might be shocking to you or to the other respondents in the group and so on.

And here’s something even more strange; you ask the same question to the same set of people, 5 five years apart and their responses would be vastly different. Their numbers and expectations might have gone up significantly or in some cases, due to life changing events, they might be content with much less than they stated before!

Take a minute to introspect and mildly scrutinize your own life. Your definition of wealthy is not only different from everyone around you; it is very likely that, what you consider wealthy now is markedly different from your own mindset when you were in school or in the first year of your career.

While this revelation is not new or surprising, it is an oft overlooked fact of life- the fact that the considerations that go into making a person think that they are well-off is fluid, ever changing and often dictated by things outside one’s locus of control.

Consider this fictitious example and answer this honestly; you graduated with a class of 100 people. 99 of them received a job offer for 50K/year. You, the lone star in that group received an offer for 100K/year! How does that make you feel? Elated? Proud? A sense of achievement perhaps?

Now imagine that you received the same 100K/year job offer. However, the rest of them, all 99 in the group, received a job offer for 200K/year. Remember, your salary hasn’t changed!! Now, how do you feel? Short changed? Disappointed? Wondering what went wrong with you? In this case, did your perspective of your own standing in the social ladder change based on the others around you?

The aforementioned examples reveal a damning truth about one of the gruesome tragedies of human existence;

We are seldom in control of our own happiness and how wealthy we feel. We let the world around us run amok within our brains, baking our emotions, shaking our realities, frying our perceptions and serving an ill-ordered platter of a warped world view as to what being wealthy really means!

There is a question that we tend to ask often;

How is it that scores of people around the world…living in destitute conditions, alienated from the comforts of everyday living…many sages who have abandoned the luxuries of life…myriad of unfortunate souls who have gone through the worst of tragedies….countless individuals who have lost everything through a series of unexpected life changing events….how is it that many of them exhibit a sense of joy, an exuberance for life, an unbridled optimism for the future?

Why is that people, folks like you and me, who seemingly have vastly more material comforts than these folks can’t have an unrestrained joy for existence like them? Why is that you don’t feel wealthy still? Why is that we are always geared towards the next big leap, hoping that…maybe, just maybe, that will make you feel wealthy…until the devastating reality dawns on you that once you reach that destination, you are now frantically gearing yourself up for the next frontier to conquer, hoping that it would be the last…and the proverbial cycle continues and you never seem to attain a state of mind when you feel that you have enough!

But it doesn’t have to be this way! There is a panacea for this vapid existence! An elixir…a heal-all…a sovereign remedy to becoming wealthy. Success is Guaranteed!!

How?

If you closely examine the lives of the aforementioned groups of individuals who seemingly have cracked the code to feeling content and having a sense of abundance, a common thread quickly emerges!

They are all inwardly focused. Instilled with a sense of gratitude. Their thoughts are awash with thankfulness for what they have! They are completely aware of what they lack, what they are missing out on, compared to the rest of the world. You could argue that many of them are actively trying to change their lot by ambitiously pursuing lofty goals. In that sense, they are no different than you and me.

BUT

The overwhelming attitude of theirs is that of giving…sharing…thankfulness, gratitude, lack of regret…and most important of them all…a complete disregard to how they are doing in life in comparison to others!

A decade or so ago, I embarked on this personal journey to live a wealthy man. I realized that what I thought would make me feel wealthy was all achieved within a couple of years of me graduating with an MBA. But I had already reassigned my goals by then, which not only made me feel NOT wealthy…I in fact felt poorer than how I felt in high school!

I decided to actively incorporate the lessons I learned from observing those who really lived and felt wealthy demonstrated in the examples above.

I realized that there is a stark distinction between being rich and being wealthy.

Being rich takes action. Being wealthy is a decision.

I CAN DECIDE TO BE WEALTHY!!!

I decided to be wealthy. Be inwardly oriented. Have an attitude of gratitude for what I have.

The more you focus on being thankful, the more things you will find to be thankful for! Everyday! Many things that you take for granted, suddenly...magically...start appearing to be remarkable.

The trivial becomes sensational! The ordinary transforms to amazing! The mundane turns extraordinary! The dull changes to bright! The tedious appears interesting! The routine converts into unusual!The austere unveils as luxury!

I want to close this article by issuing a challenge to you! Make a decision to fiercely look for things in your life to be thankful! Peruse the things that you take for granted and develop a sense of gratitude for each of them. Make it a daily habit to scrutinize and find aspects of your life that were once a prized possession but has now become trite and rekindle an appreciation for them!

Of course, let’s continue to pursue our ambitions for more in every area of our lives. But dedicate a lion’s share of your emotional and physical energies to appreciating what you already have! To be grateful! To be thankful!

You will develop a strong agency over how wealthy you feel! I promise!

And that is how you crack the code and become wealthy! Cheers and have a great life!