Bewaređ¨ Of the poor personâs mentality
Poor people often have the mentality that they are better off doing everything themselves. Rather than calling the plumber, theyâll pull up a how-to video and try to do it themselves to save money. The wealthy donât think or operate this way. At the end of the day, who has more money, the wealthy or the poor?
What wealthy people understand is that they have limited time and that time is precious. What are you doing with your precious time? Not DIYâing the plumbing, I hope! Thereâs a reason why the saying âstick to your day jobâ exists. What you need to be doing with your time is finding what youâre really good at, and spending all your time doing that, preferably for a paycheck. Then find people of good character to do the other tasks for you.
Weâve also established that you canât save your way to wealth and you should be focused on making money rather than just saving it. When you try to do things for yourself, youâre trying to save money while also wasting your precious time on what will only turn out to be an amateur effort riddled with mistakes. This is what I mean when I talk about the poor personâs mentality.
Another thought that fits into this mentality is that ârent money is dead moneyâ. Weâll talk about this in greater detail in chapter 5, but for now, all I have to say is that both options of renting and buying come with their own expenses that can be called dead money. What really matters here are those bottom-line numbers and in most cases renting (while owning investment properties) is the more cost-effective option.
An additional example of the poor personâs mentality includes the old sayings that we discussed earlier in this chapter: âmoney wonât make you happyâ and âmoney is the root of all evilâ. Repeating these phrases to yourself (and your kids) is a form of self-sabotage. The longer you continue to believe their truth, the longer youâll stay where you are financially. Youâre sabotaging yourself out of pursuing wealth and denying yourself and your family all the wonderful things that wealth can bring to your life. Remember what you thought earlier on when I asked if youâd be instantly happier if I gave you $1 million right now? Money might not make you happy, but it does enable you to do things that make you and your family happy.
Hereâs a great analogy: Picture a giant apple tree in your backyard where you can pick apples to enjoy whenever you like. Someone had the forethought to plant that apple tree there for you to enjoy in the future.
The growth of an apple tree
When a poor person inherits that apple tree, their logic tells them to pick all the apples, chop it down for firewood, mulch up whatâs left and get a big lump sum of money for their products. Theyâll use that money to have a big party or buy a car and then never make another dollar from that tree again.
Conversely, when a wealthy person inherits the apple tree, they know they need to make it sustainable. Theyâll pick a few apples to enjoy and then plant some seeds to grow more apple trees. Theyâll build a huge orchard and have a surplus of apples to sell, making them an income indefinitely.
Itâs all about your perspective, the education you have and how you take action on the knowledge that youâve got. Which perspective do you relate to more? If youâve been stuck in the poor personâs perspective, itâs time to leave it behind and start adopting a wealth mindset. Iâll discuss this analogy in more detail again in chapter 5 where youâll learn how to leverage your investment properties.
Stay tuned for more daily insights from Wealth Through Property.
~Daimien Patterson