During the economic boom of the past 10 to 15 years I’ve watch many people make large amounts of money only to see it run through their fingers like water out of a sieve. Making money is only half the equitation, being able to save a portion of it is the other. I’m not advocating living like a miser, hoarding all your money and living on bread and water. That’s the other extreme, but finding a balance between the two.

Up until 1923 most people bought things for practical reasons like food, clothes, shelter etc. the basic human needs. All that was about to change when the major retailers of the time hired Edward Bernays, the nephew of Sigmund Freud, to help boost their sales in the stagnant economy of post-WW1. He taught their marketing teams to link the purchase of goods and services to peoples ego needs, such as sex, status, prestige, and a sense of themselves as prosperous and successful. Thus, not only was modern advertising born, but also the curse of emotional spending.

This not only fuelled the boom of the 20’s but also the great depression of the 30’s. In modern times the techniques employed by modern advertisers are far more advanced and far more subtle. It has almost become the “art of selling without selling”, it has become so subliminal. Every time we turn on the TV or open a glossy magazine we are being subtly programmed to spend. Many of us have cupboards (or even whole rooms) full of “stuff” we have purchased, used for a week or two, and then put it into storage never to see the light of day again, until it’s thrown out, given to charity or sold for a fraction of it’s original cost. We don’t stand a chance in the face of all these sophisticated marketing champagnes telling us how perfect our lives will be if only we had this or that product.

However there is an antidote. Learning how your mind really works is like a kind of “consumer protection for the brain”. Emotional spending is an addiction. As with overcoming any addiction it involves reprogramming ourselves, changing our associations, our biochemistry and ultimately our actions. There are two main things you need to do: 1. Change your old associations; 2. Redesign your priorities

Think of all the things that make you feel good that money can’t buy. Some of the free things that make me happy are, being with friends and family, sunshine, listening to my favourite music, looking at a child happily playing and laughing…. Make your own list. The next time you are tempted to buy something non-essential to make yourself feel better, look at your list and do one of the things on it instead. With practice you will break the association between spending and feeling good.

Next get into the habit of categorising everything you buy into one of three categories as follows:

1. Essential; B. Important but not Essential; and C. everything else.

Every time you buy something, ask yourself what category it falls into, if it is not A or B then ask yourself why you are buying it. If it just to make yourself feel better, go back to your list and do something from it instead. You will be amazed how much money you will save without ever feeling deprived of anything.

Once you cut out emotional spending you’ll find you are able to save more. This is important because when you have savings you are less susceptible to the economic rollercoaster of life. If you had 100€ and you lost 10€, how would that make you feel? Would you feel the same way if you had 1,000€ or even 10,000€ and you lost 10€? See how the impact is lessened?

Money acts like a magnet. People who have no savings tend to feel anxious and focus on scarcity, which in turn affects their decision making. They tend to look for quick fixes like buying lottery tickets, or even worse get ripped off by “get rich quick schemes” that don’t work. When you have some savings, you will feel more relaxed and positive about money, and therefore more likely to attract more of it to you. Your focus is more on abundance and your thinking is calm, considered and more long term. So the chances of making good financial decisions are much greater.

Olive Branch Retreats offer you the chance to take time out from your everyday life. Whether you need to distress physically or mentally or both, the range of therapies on offer allow you to attain what you need in the tranquil setting of rural Spain. They operate from a luxury hotel near Jumilla Spain. For more information send an email to

Donna@olivebranchretreats.com

Gerry

What do you think of when you think of being rich? How would you measure a person’s wealth? Your answers to these two questions will reveal your current thinking on the subject, which is either holding you back or propelling you forward towards a richer life.

When you are truly rich you will not only have more than enough money, you will know that you can always create still more. Therefore, you will never fear not having enough and you will feel an inner confidence and happiness. So perhaps being rich is not about the size of your bank balance or what you own, maybe being rich is…

…living life on your own terms, according to your possibilities, not your limitations.

But if you are not rich yet, it’s not your fault, it’s not your parents fault, and it’s not even the current economic climate or the government or fate that’s to blame. It’s just an indication that your current wealth generating strategies are not serving you well. Your mind is like a computer, it’s only as effective as the software programs its running.

Almost ninety years ago, one of the richest men in the world was the legendary industrialist Andrew Carnegie. He was convinced that he had discovered the real secret of creating wealth and commissioned a young reporter named Napoleon Hill to interview 400 of the richest men alive to see if they too had used this secret to create their fortunes.

Hill spent the next twenty years meeting up with nearly every person on the list, and discovered that, without fail, they had followed the same simple blueprint for wealth. The book he eventually published “Think and Grow Rich” has become one of the best selling non-fiction books of all time.

The secret Carnegie and all the great achievers used to create riches in their lives was simply this:

All wealth is created with the human mind.

Look around you – how many things can you see that began as a thought in someone’s mind?

Do you drive a car or travel by airplane? At one time, oil was not considered to be of any use – it was essentially a waste product. Someone’s mind turned it from a waste product into one of the most valuable commodities in the world today.

The world’s best selling drink, Coca-Cola, was originally launched as a headache cure and was a total failure, until someone had the crazy idea of selling it simply as a refreshing drink!

What will the next big idea be? More to the point who will come up with it? Even more to the point, why not you?

You often hear people say that rich people are just lucky, or that they work harder, or that they are dishonest. In fact the truth is much simpler:

The difference between rich and poor people is that the rich have learned to recognise the value of their thoughts.

Therefore it is more beneficial when measuring someone’s wealth not to look at the amount of money they have in the bank or the total of their possessions but rather looking at the quality of their thoughts.

Rich thinkers will be rich regardless of the current size of their bank balance – they will always be looking for possibilities and living life on their own terms.

Poor thinkers may have big houses and wear fancy clothes, but their heads are filled with fears about the future and mistrust of those around them. They are driven to continually try to protect what they have or grab more from others.

Making money is just a skill, like learning to juggle or riding a bike. Once you have mastered that skill you will be able to make money no matter what circumstances you find yourself in or what is going on in the world around you.

That’s why you could take away all Richard Branson’s money and in a very short space of time he would have it all back – simply because the one thing you cannot take away is his ability to think rich and make money as a result.

This is the first key to your success – recognising that your riches are not in some far off place but they are waiting for you to find them inside your own mind. If you are going to go inside your mind to find them it would be useful to have a map of the territory you are about to explore.

In my articles over the coming weeks I will talk more about the working of your mind and explore in more detail the characteristics of rich thinkers.

 Gerry