Developing A Weath Mindset - Part 2

I am particularly impressed by men and women who defied all odds to reach their goals despite encountering many obstacles in their solemn journey towards financial freedom. There is a saying by William James which says ‘the greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitude of mind’. This saying has been a driving force in my journey towards self liberation from the shackles of poverty. George Bernard Shaw summed it up when he said ‘the greatest of evils and the worst of crimes is poverty…our first duty – a call to which every other consideration should be sacrificed – is not to be poor’.

In continuation of my first article, I want to proceed by cautioning prospective entrepreneurs on the widely held view that to make it in business one needs to have a sound educational background. Yes, it is important to have some form of education. It is important to have knowledge about things, knowledge about the type of business you want to do. There are two type of knowledge, one is general and the other is specialized. General Knowledge, no matter how great in quantity or variety it may be, is of but little use in the accumulation of wealth. Knowledge cannot attract money, unless it is well organized, and intelligently applied through practical plans of action. Lack of understanding of this fact has been the source of confusion to millions of people who falsely believe that ‘knowledge is power ‘. Knowledge is only potential power. It becomes power only when, and if, it is organized into definite plans of action and directed to a definite end.

Remember an educated man is not, necessarily, one who has abundance, of specialized knowledge. An educated man is one who has developed the faculties of his mind that he acquires anything he wants or its equivalent, without violating the rights of others. I hope I have done justice in trying to dispel this notion which has held millions of people captive for centuries. Business or entrepreneurship is all about your vision; history to me is a great teacher, if you look at Bill Gates the founder of Microsoft Corporation, he is a college drop out without any degree, Richard Branson the founder of Virgin Group is also a college drop out. These two men defied all odds and went on to establish what is today two Major Corporations rated in the top 20 Fortune 100 companies.

Developing a wealth mindset is the first step towards developing an entrepreneurial spirit. Earl Nightingale said ‘you become what you consciously think about’, what this tells us is that, whatever, our mind conceives, it will surely come to pass. If our thoughts are always crowded with despair and despondence, there is no way; our thinking can come up with wealth creating strategies. Therefore, mind transformation set should take precedence over anything else in order to align our thinking. Simple steps towards aligning our thinking with our goals takes very minimal effort, it’s all about dreaming and planning….it’s a dream in the sense that you anticipate and visualize yourself in the position or status you intend to be in a given period of time. Personally I visualize myself being a group CEO of my own enterprise. I have already embarked on this dream….it’s not an event but a process. Every time I think about business, Sir Richard Branson keeps popping in my mind. He is not only my role model but somebody who inspires me to thrive and look for opportunities around us. Every Individual can do the same if we are focused and think and live our dreams.

To round off, we need to do soul searching in order to find out what we really love to do. This should be something you are passionate about, your values and your talent. After identifying your values and talents, the next step is to turn these talents into a viable product or service into a commercial entity.

On a parting note Mark Victor Hansen said ‘Poverty is a degrading, dehumanizing, cancer-like disease of the uninformed mind…’

To Your Success!!!