In my journey on the road to financial freedom, I have come to realize over and over again that the journey happens on the inside. If it is the same old you embarking on the journey, after journeying for miles, you will still be a few feet away from the harbor. It is who you are that drives what you do. If who you are is not sorted out, you can ape Bill Gates, Warren Buffet et al all you like, you will not “have” what they have.
Let me break it down. A hood does not make a monk. The best set of golf clubs will not make a Tiger Woods out of you, nor the best round leather ball makes you a Ronaldo. The best diet in the world will not make you slim. If you don’t develop what it takes to stick through the diet, you will become a serial dieter. You have to develop what it takes to be a good marriage partner, or else you will become a serial monogamist. If you don’t develop what it takes to finish what you start, you will litter the landscape with abandoned projects.
Buying stocks or mutual funds will not make you rich. If you have a losing mentality, you will sell when you should hold and hold when you should sell. You will not have the liver to withstand panic impulses when the market goes into a tailspin.
You need to change on the inside
Who you become is the most important aspect of the journey. If you are still poor or middle class at heart, aping the rich will not make you rich. A rich man is rich because of who he is, not what he does. His biggest asset is his brain. You can copy him and still end up stone-broke and busted. Consequently, you can inherit a thriving business and wreck it within months.
Who you become keeps you on the straight and narrow way when you feel like reverting to your old habits or giving in to peer pressure. I have been tempted over and over again to reconsider some choices I had earlier ruled out e.g. look for a better job, whereas earlier on, I had made up my mind to say goodbye to 9-to-5 when I quit my present job; go for gratification I had earlier on decided to defer.
If you have not been long on this journey, the old you is not far away. There is the ever-present temptation to revert to old habits that put you in the mess in the first place.
Be – do – have
I came across the phrase be-do-have in Rich Dad’s Cashflow Quadrant. You have to become before you do, in order to have. The “have” is the goal/dream, the “do” is the “to-do list” or action plan while the “be” is what you become. The right sequence is be-do-have. Change on the inside, decide what to do, and do it to attain your goals/dreams. The “have” is the goal/dream, the “do” is the “to-do list” while the “be” is what you become. The right sequence is be-do-have.
Most folks set goals and go for it. They attempt to do-have-be. The problem is, you cannot have, unless you be, no matter how hard you try. You will simply wear yourself out. If you want to swim in the ocean, first of all, become a shark. The rest flows naturally. If you think swimming skills are all you need, you will ultimately become food for the sharks.
Change your worldview; change the way you think, the way you reason, your mindset, your thought patterns, the whole stuff. That is what got you into this mess in the first place. Don’t put new wine in an old wineskin. It will not work. It will burst. Change your paradigm. Upgrade your thinking. When the upgrade is thinking, use your new mindset and thought pattern to fashion a to-do list or action plan, and keep at it, stay focused. It is simply a matter of time, you will have it.
