Last week while on an airplane, I finally caught up on some reading. I brought three books with me… Millionaire By Thirty, You’re Broke Because You Want To Be
, and 422 Tax Deductions for Businesses and Self Employed Individuals
.
While reading You’re Broke Because You Want To Be, Larry Winget wrote something that stuck with me. Loosely paraphrased it was “if you want to be rich, you need to make the decision to be rich.” I thought that it sounded pretty obvious, perhaps a little too obvious for the average person to think about. I tried to think back to when I was 24, and I clearly hadn’t decided to be rich. I was preoccupied with trying to woo the hot girl from my Spanish class, making my boss happy, drinking a little more than I should, and just about anything other than getting rich.
Flash forward to this plane ride… I could have brought the copy of the Buffy Season 8 Comic Book which my wife got me for Christmas. I have been looking forward to reading it for some time. However, here I was with three financial books… one being possibly the most dry topic off all-time… 422 Tax Deductions… and tax time is a good 10 months away!
I don’t know when I made the decision to be rich, but it seems that I clearly did. I have no other explanation as to why I would bring those financial book vs. a book that I’ve been looking forward to. I obviously still have a long way to go, but I think I might be moving in the right direction.
Have you made the decision to be rich? If so, how has the decision impacted your finances?
My decision to win with money started in December 2002. I had always maxed out the 401(k), but had always blown every other available dollar and ran an average bank balance of $4.13.
In December 2002, I made the decision to stop living that way.
The result? We became debt-free (except the house) in fourteen months and by 2010 we will be debt-free including the house! I was also able to fire myself from Corporate America, and absorb a massive paycut to go do EXACTLY what I have been put on this earth to do.
To borrow the marketing slogan from McDonalds – “I’m loving it!”
BTW, Buffy Season 8 is a good read. I really enjoyed it.
Good point on deciding to be rich. I would not have understood that while I was in school (that was a long time ago). But my wife and I decided a long time ago to live on less then we make and pay off the credit cards every month. That maid all the difference.
i made the decision when i was late 24. as with most converts, i had to get out of a hole before being able to walk in the right direction.
have had some upsets (with investment props), but am still learning. I have my life/other investments running efficiently as i keep plugging away at real estate.
i am 27 now, and definitely headed in the right direction, though not running yet.
I think we all want to be rich/comfortable at some point. But like you said, we get sidetracked by current things so much that we lose focus.
I think that the environment we hang around also plays a big role.
If you’re anything like me, it’s probably a good thing you didn’t bring the latest issue of the S8 comic on public transport.
I had people get up and move away from me on the bus. There was giggling, and then there was cussing. Then more giggling.
It is indeed to obvious for most people to think about.
I never made the decision to be rich, just comfortable.
I found the best way to achieve that was to stop buying books about becoming rich. Those are a money pit.
Fortunately two of the books above were sent to me by the authors. I sprung for the tax deduction one because it will save me money on my business this year.
I wouldn’t say I’ve made the decision to be rich, but I have decided to take control of my finances, and I have done that to a certain extent.
I’m not sure if I ever made the decision to be rich… I’ve always wanted money but over the past couple years its been more of a permeating thought (I too find I’m reading more financially based books than anything else… not to mention my personal web browsing).
So, other than being very dry, how was the tax book? Is it a good read for the self-employed?
Short answer is that it’s very good… longer answer will have to wait for a more in depth review.
I’m also only halfway through it, but it’s very much a reference book. You look up a topic like “computers” and it gives you information for when you can and can’t deduct computers and the like.
It doesn’t replace a good tax person, but it will help you get the most of the tax person.
Tcstone- apparently it didn’t make enough of a difference to master the English language.
Hey, be nice, Learn2Spell… I often make similar mistakes, not because I don’t know witch (ha ha) is the correct version to use, but because I write how the word sounds in my head. I really have to focus to knot (again) make mistakes like that.
All I care about is to be financially free (well, I still have to work on that). But being rich with millions, luxury cars and all that simply does not look that exciting to me.
I am a magnet for money i dont know why im just lucky. Im always thankful and i expect my wealth to grow. You all can to just expect it. May i suggest the Science of Getting Rich by Wallace De Wattles.