Practical Tips

What’s your internal money thermostat?

What? You don’t believe you have one?

Ask yourself this… "Am I making all the money I want and achieving all the success I aspire to?"

"How do I feel when I see someone who’s obviously made it?"

Do you immediately have thoughts along the lines of "They must be a crook, They’re just lucky, They’re living on borrowed money" etc.

Or you think, "I don’t want to be flashy - or I’d lose my friends and my family would keep coming around and asking for money" etc.

Or you have the voice of a parent or other authority figure resounding in your head, "Money is the root of all evil!"

If you can privately admit to any of this, take heart, you’re not alone.

And if you can admit to this you can change it (always assuming you want to and do aspire to a more financially rewarding life).

We all have an internal money and success thermostat. It was set when you were very young by your friends and family. And like all thermostats it’s designed to keep you safe.

From what? Glad you asked…

We all want to conform. It’s one of the basics for keeping our place in society. Most of us, deep down don’t want to stand out from the crowd. For to stand out could open us up to ridicule, envy, jealously, and certainly in Australia, being torn down as a tall poppy.

So our internal money thermostat keeps us safe. Every time we make more money than we believe we should, we’ll do something to get rid of it.

Now I’m not suggesting this is conscious behaviour as who doesn’t really want more money?

The behaviour is purely unconscious - and you will do your darndest to bring yourself back to your money equilibrium.

Think about major lottery winners. What the lottery people won’t tell you is that 87% of people who win it big will lose all the money (they give it away, go on trips, spend up big etc.) within 18 months to 3 years. A further 10% or so will lose all the money within 5 years.

Why would this be? It’s because their financial thermostat is set to their regular comfort level and the win is more money than they’re comfortable with. So they unconsciously get rid of it so they can feel comfortable again.

Could this be one reason why the rich seem to get richer and the poor poorer?

Over the years I’d read lots of stuff about how the majority of the world’s wealth is controlled by 5% of the population. There’s also a belief that should their wealth be taken away from them and distributed evenly to everyone on the planet, in a few short years, the wealth would be back in the original hands.

It all comes down to mindset and your beliefs about money.

Kerry Packer was until his death a few weeks ago, Australia’s richest man. At his memorial service, his son James stated that "His father was his fortune".

Did he mean that he was really lucky that dad was rich and he’d inherited big time, or could it have been that as his dad was rich, James learned how to think big in a financial way?

I don’t know - you be the judge, but I know where I’d be putting my money.

Money begets money and success begets success.

So if you’re not where you want to be in your life (and the greatest impediment to having a great life is already having a good one), here’s your chance to do something about it.

Our Bizsavvy workshop series on Mindset, Vision & Leadership, and Setting Goals is running in Sydney starting in April.

Click http://www.revealedresources.com/bizsavvy.html for all the details.

Full of practical advice and processes, you will learn what your personal thermostat is and how to break through (and if you like, break the thermometer completely!)

Remember, the series starts early April, and seats are strictly limited, so don’t miss out.

Head over to http://www.revealedresources.com/bizsavvy.html for all the details.

Rashid.

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