Do you have the courage to be rich?

[impaul99]

This evening I was thinking about something relating to building wealth. I was thinking back to when I first started really developing my desire to build wealth and I soon discovered that it actually took quite a bit of courage to be rich.

I wrote an article on the topic if anyone's interested.

Do You Have the Courage to be Rich? | Inspired Money Maker

Feedback welcome.

[Steve Pavlina]

You sound like Suze Orman.

The courage aspect is important if you focus on the acquisition side (earn money, build reputation, etc), but I don't think it's as important on the value creation side. On the value side, I think compassion and caring are more important values. Courage is still necessary, but I think if you open your heart and connect with the well-being of others, you'll get a lot more mileage out of it. The real wealth you build isn't about an account balance. It's the collective impact of all the value you've contributed.

[impaul99]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

You sound like Suze Orman.

The courage aspect is important if you focus on the acquisition side (earn money, build reputation, etc), but I don't think it's as important on the value creation side. On the value side, I think compassion and caring are more important values. Courage is still necessary, but I think if you open your heart and connect with the well-being of others, you'll get a lot more mileage out of it. The real wealth you build isn't about an account balance. It's the collective impact of all the value you've contributed.

You don't think that it takes courage to go against the grain and run a blog instead of having a "normal job"? You don't think it takes courage to post your thoughts online?

What you have done, my friend, takes a high level of self esteem and courage that a lot of people don't have yet. Think back to when you were first starting your blog, or when Erin was starting hers. Do you not remember the fears and self-doubts that were running through your head as you embarked on this adventure?

Every single person I know who has built wealth has had to work on facing their fears and has had to "go against the grain" of the "herd". Whether it be leaving their "secure job" to start a business, or quitting school to go to work, or doing something they love that brings more value to the world instead of doing what everyone tells them they are "good at".

I was speaking to a friend earlier this year and I asked her why she doesn't have a website for her coaching business yet. She told me all about these technical issues about this and that which needed to be taken care of etc. I listened, and then I asked her if she was scared to publish her thoughts online. After a brief conversation, she admitted that was the real issue not anything technical. It took her months and months to finally accept herself as worthy to be "out there" in the public eye and just recently she launched her website.

If you don't think that people have fears about this stuff and if you didn't have fears about this stuff, you might be suffering from memory loss.

[Steve Pavlina]

Personally I think it takes more courage to work at a job you don't love, get paid a fixed income, call someone "boss", and deep down know the whole thing is a dead end. I did that for six months and chickened out for good.

In order to transition to doing work you really love, you may need a temporary shot of courage, but the idea that you must be brave on a daily basis just isn't true.

I totally agree it takes courage to start living consciously. But in the long run, I think compassion and contribution become more significant ongoing motivators than courage. Going against the grain of the herd is tough at first, but once you get in the flow of going with the grain of your authentic self, the herd grain doesn't taste good anymore and loses its appeal. So it doesn't take much courage or discipline to say, "No, thanks. I brought my own lunch." All you're really doing is going with what tastes better.

I'm comfortable sharing my thoughts online not because I feel brave. I do it because I know there's nothing to fear, I know that people are helped by it, and I enjoy it. It may look scary to some, but it doesn't feel that way to me.

I think when people imagine it takes an inordinate amount of courage to do this sort of thing, they're further distancing themselves from the flow of their authentic self. The authentic self is inherently fearless, so it doesn't even need courage. To be more authentic, we need to come into resonance with that fearless self. Exercising courage can be a step in the right direction, but it should be temporary.

[Boreas]

It reminds me of this quote:

‘Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond imagination. It is our light more than our darkness which scares us. We ask ourselves – who are we to be brilliant, beautiful, talented, and fabulous. But honestly, who are you to not be so?

You are a child of God, small games do not work in this world. For those around us to feel peace, it is not example to make ourselves small. We were born to express the glory of god that lives in us. It is not in some of us, it is in all of us. While we allow our light to shine, we unconsciously give permission for others to do the same. When we liberate ourselves from our own fears, simply our presence may liberate others.’

- Marianne Williamson in Return to Love: Reflections on a Course in Miracles


I guess the point is that it is not so much about courage as ridding oneself of fear. You can use courage to do this, or you can work to the higher good, like Steve. When money is the issue, I think it is better to try focus on the higher good, as this helps disassociate ego from the whole equation.

I am like you in that I am only after money at the moment, I would like to believe I care about a higher good, but I find I just cannot do not that.

I daytrade and I look at the whole thing as an excersize to keep my mind under control and divorce myself of false reality. It is a way for me to practice living conciously, which I found can fade without practice. I can tell you from daytrading one of the most profound things I found is how much we want to destroy ourselves. It is like once a certain level of success has been achieved a need is felt to lose it all back, it is this fear, this feeling that 'I don't deserve it'. The key to disolving that feeling is more than courage I think, it is a matter of letting go of the ego, however you can.

[impaul99]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

Personally I think it takes more courage to work at a job you don't love, get paid a fixed income, call someone "boss", and deep down know the whole thing is a dead end. I did that for six months and chickened out for good.

In order to transition to doing work you really love, you may need a temporary shot of courage, but the idea that you must be brave on a daily basis just isn't true.

Oh yeah, I agree. Once you're making $40,000/month from a blog expressing your thoughts, doing what you love, courage has very little to do with things.

My blog talks to the "normal people" who still have the very deep rooted need to fit in with the crowd and to keep a job that is "secure" and offers a regular paycheck. Maybe it is because you were only in the workforce for 6months that you don't realize just how much courage it takes for the average person to go after what they really want.

Also, I built my wealth working IN the system, while you built yours OUTSIDE the system of the corporate world. Maybe that's why it didn't feel like this was a couragous move for you.

The other possibility is that the courage I speak of could have been developed by you PRIOR to starting your blog. The way I define courage is the ability to go in a direction that you KNOW and FEEL is right, which aligns with your values and long term success, even though an easier path exists and often times others prefer it. For example, it takes courage to ask for a raise at work, it takes courage to express an opinion that doesn't fit with your peers, it takes courage to tell your parents you're *NOT* going to be a _____ <-- Insert whatever they wanted you to be, etc.

I'm not saying it takes huge courage to STAY wealthy when you're already there. It does when you're not.

I totally agree it takes courage to start living consciously.

Yes, exactly.

But in the long run, I think compassion and contribution become more significant ongoing motivators than courage. Going against the grain of the herd is tough at first, but once you get in the flow of going with the grain of your authentic self, the herd grain doesn't taste good anymore and loses its appeal. So it doesn't take much courage or discipline to say, "No, thanks. I brought my own lunch." All you're really doing is going with what tastes better.

Yup. Once you've arrived, and developed the habits, it's not so hard.

It's like Martial Arts training. It's takes more courage for someone who has never trained to come with me to the DOJO for their first lesson than it is for me to come after years of training, even though they will feel NO pain during their class, while I may be beaten by my Sensei.

Exercising courage can be a step in the right direction, but it should be temporary.

Yes. It takes courage to overcome your fears at first. Once the fears are no longer there, it doesn't take a lot of courage anymore.

[impaul99]

Originally Posted by Boreas

I can tell you from daytrading one of the most profound things I found is how much we want to destroy ourselves. It is like once a certain level of success has been achieved a need is felt to lose it all back, it is this fear, this feeling that 'I don't deserve it'. The key to disolving that feeling is more than courage I think, it is a matter of letting go of the ego, however you can.

You are absolutely right. You're describing the process of self-sabatage. It is your fear of being successful, being rich, being important, being BRILLIANT that's stopping you.

If you became ultra successful at your day-trading, and earned 50 Million Dollars in the next 12 months, bought a 12,000 square foot home with a swimming pool and drove a $150,000 car, and wore a $30,000 Rolex, what would people think!

I'm not saying those are "worthy" things to do with money, and I'm not saying they are not. I'm saying that there is a lot of "fear" based thinking associated with wealth. What will people think? How will they judge you? What will your friends say? How will your parents feel? All these mixed emotions come up. It takes courage to dive into this line of thinking and transcend all that, and it takes courage to be TRULY COMFORTABLE with being wealthy.

[Steve Pavlina]

The biggest courage-building phase of my life happened in my late teens, roughly from age 17 to 19. But it wasn't job- or business-related... unless you consider shoplifting a job. After getting out of jail and going through a few years of working on my personal growth, I was a very different person courage-wise. Risking all my stuff to pursue an interesting business idea didn't seem like a big deal compared to risking jail time on a daily basis. So that experience gave me a different perspective on courage than most.

Courage is a mindset though and has very little to do with external results. You may think that enjoying an easily maintainable positive cashflow would make it easier to be courageous, but I usually see the opposite in people who have high incomes or lots of material possessions. They get so attached to their stuff that they become even more fearful -- of losing it. For some people their stuff becomes part of their identity and self-worth, so anything that threatens the stuff threatens the self. People can become very uptight and controlling when they start earning a lot of money, and it actually drives them further into scarcity thinking rather than being an expression of abundance.

Courage-wise I think it's easier to start doing what you love when you're totally broke and even in debt because you probably don't have much to lose anyway. Many people fall into the trap of thinking they should get rich first doing crap work, and then they'll have the freedom to do what they love. Erin and I have seen the long-term results of people who've pursued that path, and most commonly the person will just keep distracting themselves with one excuse after another. Year after year it only gets harder -- never easier -- regardless of how much money is amassed.

A lack of money or income isn't the real obstacle, but it's a very popular excuse.

[impaul99]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

You may think that enjoying an easily maintainable positive cashflow would make it easier to be courageous, but I usually see the opposite in people who have high incomes or lots of material possessions.

Really? The wealthy people I've met and know are some of the most curageous people I know. They minds are pretty fearless, and they hardly ever seem to worry about their material possessions. The people I always see worrying about material possessions, clutching onto them like there is no tomorrow are non-wealthy people. That's been my observation.

They get so attached to their stuff that they become even more fearful -- of losing it. For some people their stuff becomes part of their identity and self-worth, so anything that threatens the stuff threatens the self. People can become very uptight and controlling when they start earning a lot of money, and it actually drives them further into scarcity thinking rather than being an expression of abundance.

Do you actually know wealthy people like this personally through personal experience, or are you just speculating? The people I've personally known intimately who have are multi-millionaires are non-attached to material posessions, they are NOT scarcity thinkers, and their self worth has nothing to do with their material possessions.

Maybe I'm surrounding myself with Inspired Money Makers and the one's you're seeing are the bad apples? Perhaps living in Los Vegas could have something to do with it? I don't know, but your description of wealthy people doesn't seem AT ALL to match the wealthy people I know personally.

Courage-wise I think it's easier to start doing what you love when you're totally broke and even in debt because you probably don't have much to lose anyway.

Yeah, exactly. Once you've got a "stable job" that you're used to, and you've been working in it for 10 years and your family depends on that stable income, it takes COURAGE to get out of that and move into doing what you love and being wealthy doing it. Maybe you didn't have to go through that yourself because you took the path of self-employment and going against the grain from a very early age. ie. it's not hard to be different if you've always been different.

Many people fall into the trap of thinking they should get rich first doing crap work, and then they'll have the freedom to do what they love.

Yup, exactly. I don't know anyone who's become rich doing crap work. This is exactly why I started my blog to teach people how to Make Money Doing What They Love. In reality that is the ONLY way they'll make money, long term and enjoy it.

Erin and I have seen the long-term results of people who've pursued that path, and most commonly the person will just keep distracting themselves with one excuse after another. Year after year it only gets harder -- never easier -- regardless of how much money is amassed.

A lack of money or income isn't the real obstacle, but it's a very popular excuse.

Would these be people who have increased their income from like $50k to $60k/year as an example, or are you talking about people who have ammassed millions of dollars in net worth and they're still doing "crappy work" that they don't enjoy?

[songwriter]

I think that besides courage there's a kind of sense of hope you must have.
Because when everybody starts a business for their own, they hardly have income.
I would like to know what was the income in the first months of this blog instead of the present one. Maybe no income at all... lol... that's what I mean... and keep on posting and keep on thinking when you see not much happens... is kind a different thing of courage...

[impaul99]

Originally Posted by songwriter

I think that besides courage there's a kind of sense of hope you must have.
Because when everybody starts a business for their own, they hardly have income.
I would like to know what was the income in the first months of this blog instead of the present one. Maybe no income at all... lol... that's what I mean... and keep on posting and keep on thinking when you see not much happens... is kind a different thing of courage...

I believe the idea you're describing is what Napoleon Hill called FAITH in Think and Grow Rich. You are totally right. It takes FAITH while you're still not getting results doing what you love to stick with it. Sure it's easy when you're already making money doing what you love, but at first it's not so easy.

One thing that I do is keep a personal journal. What I do is I go back to times when I wasn't succeeding at something yet and I read about how I used to think at that time. Why? Because it's important to understand your way of thinking BEFORE You became successful. A lot of "Guru's" forget the difficulties, the self-doubt, the fears they had to face, the courage it took, etc.

It makes people who aren't there yet think that they are such losers when they don't yet 100% believe in themselves etc. when the "Guru's" don't admit to being human and going through all this stuff themselves.

I'll admit right now that before I ever launched my first blog I made all kinds of excuses, I doubted my ability to write and communicate with people in written form, I worried about my friends and family reading it etc. Those are all normal emotions to have during that time and it's OK. It's a process and it takes a bit of time to get going but slowly you overcome all the obstacles one by one and you're on your way.

If you're not 100% confident yet doing what you love and making money doing it I would encourage you to visit my blog and sign up for my newsletter. I will be addressing all this kind of stuff there.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by impaul99

You are absolutely right. You're describing the process of self-sabatage. It is your fear of being successful, being rich, being important, being BRILLIANT that's stopping you.

If you became ultra successful at your day-trading, and earned 50 Million Dollars in the next 12 months, bought a 12,000 square foot home with a swimming pool and drove a $150,000 car, and wore a $30,000 Rolex, what would people think!

I'm not saying those are "worthy" things to do with money, and I'm not saying they are not. I'm saying that there is a lot of "fear" based thinking associated with wealth. What will people think? How will they judge you? What will your friends say? How will your parents feel? All these mixed emotions come up. It takes courage to dive into this line of thinking and transcend all that, and it takes courage to be TRULY COMFORTABLE with being wealthy.

I think it takes perspective not to care what people think of you, and that requires not letting what other people think of you affect your self worth. Courage doesn't help me do this as much as mediation and feeding myself confidence. (Confidence and courage being different in subtle ways)

What really scares me about wealth is the feeling that since I have done so well, a fall must be inevitable. I almost feel like I have to give something back, or something "bad" will happen. This is completely an illusion, but it is difficult to defeat this illusion. I could face it with courage, but that would leave me with perpetual conflict, since courage only lets you act in the presence of fear, but doesn't actually dissolve fear. To dissolve the fear of "not being worth it" requires that I derive my worth from some other source that remains constant, and not from my wealth or anything else which is subject to risk and change by my very goals and actions.

Steve's blog post on self acceptance vs. personal development helped me to form this thought in my mind.

[songwriter]

Originally Posted by impaul99

I believe the idea you're describing is what Napoleon Hill called FAITH in Think and Grow Rich. ........ It's a process and it takes a bit of time to get going but slowly you overcome all the obstacles one by one and you're on your way.

I'm confident in me, but well, another question is external success. Money and that stuff. That's when I see people wondering how much money Steve makes NOW.... I don't care, enough for a living... what looks interesting for me would be the start of it all, and you're describing me yours. I read a lot of books (self-bios) of musicians and I know about the big journey from people indifference to hysteria. lol.

You know, people are only willing to pay expensive tickets for bands that already are milionaires. lol...

Yes, I thought of it as Faith... I never read anything of Napoleon Hill but I know The Beatles story, and when they were... out of success such like playing for just a bunch of drunken people in a weird night club... they said
"Where are we going? To the top! And where it's that? In the toppermost of the poppermost!!! (all together)!" And that's faith and nothing else.
Rock and roll bands have gone to it, cause it's a very hard journey to success. So they mastered it all about it... before the new PD books.

The "We will make it in the end".. was the motto of all successful bands.
I only don't know when "the end" will be... I don't have a clue. They didn't either. Just dream on till your dream come true.

[munish]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

Courage is a mindset though and has very little to do with external results. You may think that enjoying an easily maintainable positive cashflow would make it easier to be courageous, but I usually see the opposite in people who have high incomes or lots of material possessions. They get so attached to their stuff that they become even more fearful -- of losing it. For some people their stuff becomes part of their identity and self-worth, so anything that threatens the stuff threatens the self. People can become very uptight and controlling when they start earning a lot of money, and it actually drives them further into scarcity thinking rather than being an expression of abundance.

Many people fall into the trap of thinking they should get rich first doing crap work, and then they'll have the freedom to do what they love.

A lack of money or income isn't the real obstacle, but it's a very popular excuse.

Thanks.This is an eye opener.

[munish]

Originally Posted by impaul99

Really?



Yeah, exactly. Once you've got a "stable job" that you're used to, and you've been working in it for 10 years and your family depends on that stable income, it takes COURAGE to get out of that and move into doing what you love and being wealthy doing it. it's not hard to be different if you've always been



?

Your blog is good.

But this one is a big excuse.

[impaul99]

Originally Posted by munish

Your blog is good.

But this one is a big excuse.

Everything ultimately is excuses.

[Max Power]

It's called fear replication.

Courage is what you need when you are fearful that you need courage to make it.

As god, you need no courage, courage is a word to imply something you need that you think you don't have to beat something you're fearful of.

Guruship is bullshit, the ultimate self fulfilling lie that you can be more important than you already are.

It's the most boring part of being human.

Max
"Don't tell me I'm God, I already know that"

[impaul99]

Originally Posted by Max Power

As god, you need no courage, courage is a word to imply something you need that you think you don't have to beat something you're fearful of.

God is not my target audience.

[Max Power]

Originally Posted by impaul99

God is not my target audience.

Your target audience are people who want to make money doing something they love. Your target audience is every human being, that is not a niche, that is the entire human population.

You started this thread to encourage people to have the courage to focus on their power to choose to be rich and therefore be empowered by what you write. I'm sure you have much knowlegde on the subject, but this thread also includes conversation about what courage is, my opinion is directed at that.

I say again........courage like