Disclosure: This isn’t meant to put anyone down, any profession or anything.  It may upset you, and it may make you have moments of anger, frustration and even feel offended, however those feelings are necessary to push past the comfort zones of a poverty mind and move into wealth building.  The goal is to explore, expand the mindset as it relates to money.  Opportunities for making money are increasing!  While many speak negatively of the new “gig” opportunities for making money, it can be very rewarding when it is handled like a business.  IF the conversation and knowledge is pushed concerning money, there can be growth, there can and will be wealth and there will be legacy and inheritance to leave our children (and not just the money) but the knowledge of how to manage that money!

There is a meme going around that says; “F—– what you had, do you still have the money or what?”  It’s hilarious but it’s also true.  One of the hardest things to live with is the past especially if your view of the current is worse than your memory of the past.  Money can be that way.  I cannot tell you how many times I’ve said to people, “You, didn’t have money”.  When I say that, of course the first response is disbelief, followed by shock and finally anger; because it appears or sounds as if I’m calling them a liar.  The reality is the intent is to challenge their mindset.

The first person I said this to was a person I was dating.  At the time when I met him, he didn’t have a job or money.  In fact, he was at the temporary agency that I worked for seeking a job. As the relationship progressed, he would talk about all the money he had and how he started from nothing and build himself up, this time, another time and was doing it again. What he did not understand is that if you ‘had money’, there wouldn’t be a need to continue to start over, time and time again.  Money had him, but he never had it. 

1. Principle #1: “I had money”……hmmmm how much money must one have in order to use that phrase?!  In the case of my date, I knew quickly this guy didn’t know or didn’t have the same value of money that I had.  Thousands of dollars isn’t having money, even a million isn’t money depending on how it was acquired.  I say it in this fashion because this phrase of “I’ve had money”, usually flaunted in the midst of people of extreme lack and limitation.  Additionally, people who have really have money, never phrase it in that fashion.  They tend to attempt to hide or shy away from money discussions.  It’s only people that are hood rich that use that phrase and hood rich is based on the hood you in which you live, a very relative phrase and could mean you had just one more check than the next person! Simply put when a person says that they had money…..don’t be impressed, be sympathetic, apprehensive and cautious.
2. Principle #2: The next favorite thing out of his mouth is that I could buy whatever I wanted…….hmmmm This is another red flag.  People that have money never speak in terms of buying whatever I wanted!  When one has money, his or her attitude toward it changes and the tendency is to invest, save and acquire things!  Reaching a financial plateau isn’t taken lightly nor is disbursing of any funds taken lightly.
3. Principle #3: People who have money,may waste some of it, spend some of the money loosely and even purchase large or expensive toys, but they don’t lose all of it!  Now when money has the person, yessss they will lose it all and start over, but when one really has money, that’s not the case. 
4. Principle #4: People who ‘have money’ do not have it because of a hustle or a good job.  You cannot say you have money until you have money working for you even when you aren’t working for it!
5. Principle #5:  A hustle, a job or even a business that brings in quick cash isn’t the same thing as having money!  Beauticians, barbers, landscapers, construction workers, contractors all make money pretty fast and quite a bit of it; but that’s not the same thing as ‘having money’.  They are still trading hours for dollars. 

Money isn’t to be worshipped but it is meant to be respected.  Lack of respect for money causes a person to chase it; instead of money coming to them!  People that view ‘having money’ as the ability to make cash fast, don’t understand money at all!  UNTIL YOUR MONEY IS WORKING FOR YOU, you don’t have money.  You may have good fortune, good luck or even work a successful job but that’s NOT the same thing as ‘having money’!

It is possible to begin without money and grow to have it and build wealth but it means having the courage to change or challenge the current set of beliefs and principles of money that you are currently operating under or with. That’s not easy because handling money is a learned behavior done by what one sees for years and implements upon instinct.

You can have money and not allow it to have you!  This is only the beginning!

LET’S TALK MONEY!