Many people strongly believe that there is a hidden secret to becoming wealthy. They often think that it requires a combination of vast knowledge, skills, luck, and a dirty trick or two that only a handful can truly pull off. The truth is, what you only need are the simple “basics” in order to build wealth. Before you continue to read on, keep in mind that simple actions are your ultimate key to wealth creation.
With that said, the very reason why almost 95% of people all over the world fail is that “simple” does not necessarily mean “easy”. In order to become wealthy, all you have to do is to “Live within your means, and spend less than you earn for a long period of time”.
Of course, when you look up the meaning of “easy” in the dictionary, you would find meanings such as “not difficult or hard; free from pain, discomfort, care, or worry”; and “requiring no great effort”. Unfortunately, these do not describe wealth-building because implementing even the simplest of tasks takes a few (but crucial) characteristics that many people find difficult to put into practice.
Simply put, the steps you ought to do that can lead to wealth are actually very simple concepts that anyone (even a complete simpleton) can understand. The part of “putting these steps into action for a long time” is what makes it far from easy for people to fully accomplish this.
In order to build wealth, you are required to have these key characteristics: discipline, patience, and persistence. While every one of us have these characteristics, the ones who really become wealthy have a very extreme amount of them.
Discipline, when you have a high level of this characteristic, will enable you to have a measure of self-control as you spend. Rather than purchasing all the things you want, you take a step back for a moment, prioritize your needs over your wants, and purchase only what is most important to satisfy all your needs. Discipline is also a required characteristic when it comes to paying your debts and saving up some money. There are some people who use up all their money just to enjoy and have fun all the time, but there are those who opt to exercise some degree of self-denial and discipline just to fulfill their goal of being debt-free and build up their savings.
Even the act of earning money requires a certain amount of discipline. Trying to increase your income means that there are times you need to get up early and stay up late. Most of the times, you are forced to fulfill tasks that you find boring or unpleasant. There are actually many people who acquire new skills or knowhow only after they have exercised some amount of discipline on their quest to become wealthy.
Patience, a trait that is actually rare in today’s technological and fast-paced world. We are surrounded by ads of instant gratification and privilege. You can have that nice vacation right now and pay with your credit card – you no longer have to wait a long time in order for you to save up the money. You definitely deserve that sweet car right now. If you meet the store’s policies, you can bring home that new 70-inch television you’ve been eyeing for weeks right now. The lack of patience or inability to “wait” to save up the money for the things we want results to financial insecurity and debt. Another thing is that only a few of us have enough patience to wait for results. Any business endeavor you take on will not yield results overnight. Also, a suitable emergency fund takes months, years or even a whole decade to build up.
Persistence, which means the ability to keep up with your efforts while building your wealth, is one important key characteristic that must never be overlooked. If you have the discipline and patience to build your wealth, without persistence, you will fail. It is easy to give up when you do not see and feel instant results, especially when you see other people (your neighbors, friends, relatives) enjoying their seemingly-lavish lifestyles. However, think about this, in the future, those people enjoying now are likely to have very little wealth because most of the things they bought now have been bought via debt. But of course, it truly is hard to remain persistent when everyone around you is enjoying the things they want while you are leading a more tight-reined lifestyle.
By simply following the simple concepts of building up your wealth with discipline, patience and persistence, eventually but definitely, you will finally achieve that financial freedom you are yearning for. Even if the concepts of becoming wealthy are simple enough, the bottom line is, it takes real hard work to put them into practice, and stick with it until you realize your goals.
