🌼These Financially Fatal Lies Prevent You From Building Wealth And Accessing the Freedom You Deserve
## Unlearn your limiting beliefs
Money isn’t real.
It’s an imaginary unit of exchange we all agree on.
The key to making insane amounts of money? Stop taking it so seriously and treat it like a game.
Learn MoreTreating like a game helps you take big swings:
> _”Being rich is fine, and at the very least is better than being poor. But it shouldn’t be the be-all and end-all of your life, or anyone’s life.” — Felix Denis_
Making money doesn’t make you a better person. It won’t fix your problems. Knowing that upfront means you can go for it just to go for it.
Read also: 5 lessons from a billionaire to invest better and become more successful
Let’s dismantle some lies about money right now.
# (All) Wealthy People Are Stealing From You
> _It is the great multiplication of the productions of all the different arts, in consequence of the division of labour, which occasions, in a well-governed society, that universal opulence which extends itself to the lowest ranks of the people. — [__Adam Smith_](https://www.adamsmith.org/adam-smith-quotes#:~:text=It%20is%20the%20great%20multiplication,22%2C%20para.)
When you create something people want, you _create wealth_ where the was none before.Building wealth is a product of your productivity plus the ability to _scale_ your productivity. If you can provide a lot of value for many people at once, you create larger amounts of wealth. And the value spreads around.
A business employs people and helps them increase their productivity, which gives them more resources to buy more stuff, which creates wealth for the companies they buy products from, who then turn around and employ people, who buy stuff from companies, who employ people, etc.
Economies grow_ because_ more innovative people create products people want. The combination of specialization and trade is a modern miracle. And many people squander it.
# Money is the Root of All Evil
> _”I have never understood why it is “greed” to want to keep the money you have earned but not greed to want to take somebody else’s money.” — [__Adam Smith_](https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/332454-i-have-never-understood-why-it-is-greed-to-want)
Many people feel a sense of guilt about creating wealth because they’ve been taught that money is the root of all evil. Funny, the people who often teach this have money.
Politicians will preach this to you when the [median net worth of congresspeople is $500,000.](https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/10/25/richest-members-of-congress-by-net-worth/40290533/) Hollywood celebrities peach asceticism while flying in private jets. Millionaires will criticize billionaires and the one percent, including Bernie Sanders — who owns three homes.
Remember the full quote:
> _For the_**_ love of money _**_is the root of all of evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows._
The money itself isn’t evil. The context you put on the money determines what it means to you. I look at money as fuel. A means to an end. I look at money as a vessel for my freedom.
# The Subtle Lie That You Must Keep Up With the Joneses
> _”You are not your job, you’re not how much money you have in the bank. You are not the car you drive. You’re not the contents of your wallet. You are not your fucking khakis. You are all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world.” — [__Adam Smith_](https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/2066-you-are-not-your-job-you-re-not-how-much-money)
For a population filled with people who say they ‘don’t care about money,’ there seem to be plenty of people who love new cars, big homes, nice clothes, brand names, smartphones, and more. It’s not as if people are living in a monk-like dwelling with no toys.
The same people who subconsciously believe that money is the root of all evil fall for keeping up with the Joneses trap.
Middle-class people complain about their lack of savings but have homes that are way too big. People Tweeting ‘destroy capitalism’ from $1,000 phones that double as supercomputers. Stressed-out millennials suffering from ‘stagnant wages’ who wear Lululemon and drink $7 coffees.
I buy stuff. I’m a slave to consumerism myself. But I try to be cognizant of it and learn how to have enough. If you never have enough, you can never build wealth, because ‘lifestyle creep’ will always cause you to raise your living standards.
[Naval Ravikant](https://movemequotes.com/naval-ravikant-quote-on-freedom/) said it well:
> _”People who live far below their means enjoy a freedom that people busy upgrading their lifestyles can’t fathom.”_
To build wealth, you need to build the skill of not caring what other people think about you. The less you _need to flex,_ the more wealth you can build.
# The “Dave Ramsey” Lie
> _People often confuse the term minimalist with frugality, they are not the same. The difference between the two is relatively simply a minimalist chooses what he spends his money on while a frugal man is forced to live his current lifestyle. — [__Adam Smith_](https://wallstreetplayboys.com/become-a-minimalist-dont-be-frugal/)
This point will contradict some of my earlier ones but stick with me.
I like personal finance experts like Dave Ramsey, but they do perpetuate a certain lie or at least a fib. You can’t save your way to wealth.
Ok, **you can**. But the heavily disciplined penny-pinching approach where you patiently save a portion of your money over a long period of time is difficult, to say the least.
Dave Ramsey isn’t rich because he cut up his credit cards, he’s rich because he has a multi-million dollar information product business. Saving money is important, but increasing your income _makes it a lot easier_ to save money.
If you can generate more income, maintain the same lifestyle, and invest the difference, you can be wealthy. I’m not a fan of the ruthless frugality approach to saving because it’s so deeply rooted in constraint. Constraint and discipline are necessary, but you also want to, you know, live a good life and have fun.
Read also: 12 changes you need to make to escape Mediocrity
# There Are No Opportunities to Make Money
> _”Good things happen to those who hustle.” — [__Adam Smith_](https://meaningin.com/quotes/anais-nin/26591-good-things-happen-to-those-who-hustle–)
If I took the time to do it, I could find several hundred different side business ideas that you could start for a relatively low amount of capital. Hell, I’ve made nearly a half million on Medium, which costs me _zero dollars to use_. Even if you factor in my MacBook and internet access, you’re looking at 100x ROI.
The internet is a great income equalizer in our society. If you’re reasonably intelligent and not destitute, you have no one to blame for yourself. No one. I’ve seen too many examples of success from people of all walks of life to have sympathy for most of the people living in the West.
Hell, I’ve seen freelancers from Pakistan and India build six-figure agencies from scratch using nothing more than internet access. The difference between them and you? _They’re hungry_. You’re not. Of course, wanting it bad enough still doesn’t mean you’ll _actually do it_. But, there’s no one blocking you _from_ doing it.
I never said pulling one of these projects off was easy, but I am saying that you can do it.
# Only the Smart and Talented Build Wealth
> _”No investment points are awarded for difficulty or complexity. Simple strategies can lead to outstanding returns.” [__Adam Smith_](https://cafemutual.com/news/events/501-master-of-money-psychology-morgan-housel-to-speak-at-cafemutual-ideas-fest)
The author who I quoted opens his new book by telling the story of a Janitor who died **with a net worth of 8 million dollars** as a result of investing a small portion of his income in blue-chip stocks and index funds.
You don’t need to be a genius to be wealthy. Read _The Millionaire Next Door_, which says that many millionaires are people who built moderately successful businesses, made an upper-middle-class income, but lived a middle-class lifestyle and invested the difference.
Read also: 6 simple strategies for boosting your savings
Nothing is stopping you from building a side business, getting a better job, or developing the skills needed to make more money. Nobody is holding you back from putting your money into a simple investing account. Your investment app or brokerage account doesn’t know what you look like so it can’t be prejudiced against you.
For every Mark Zuckerberg or Oprah Winfrey, there are thousands, even millions, of people living wealthy lives who didn’t need to be rocket scientists to do it.
You can be one of these people. The question is, will you?
_This article is for informational purposes only. It should not be considered Financial or Legal Advice. Not all information will be accurate. Consult a financial professional before making any major financial decisions._
Contributed by Ayodeji Awosika
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