Since you are reading this blog, I believe you have a vision of building wealth and living a rich life. For me, a rich life goes beyond wealth. It involves prospering in my relationships, impact, charity, and health. No matter how you define wealth and a rich life, if you are going to achieve it, then you must get rid of these three limiting beliefs. Limiting Belief One: I can’t achieve wealth because of where or to whom I was born. Limiting Belief Two: I am not capable of achieving wealth. Limiting Belief Three: Wealth is evil.
While I help eliminate these limiting beliefs throughout the book: How to build wealth and live a rich life, I want to share three stories that will help debunk these limiting beliefs now.
Chris Gardner
Ever heard of Chris Gardner? He was one of four children raised by a single mother who worked multiple jobs to make ends meet. Chris was born into a poor environment. Not only were they financially poor, but the social environment was equally broken. His biological dad was not around, and his stepdad was abusive and an alcoholic. He hardly spent time with his mom as she was working all the time. Moreover, she was twice sent to prison for different offenses. Hence, he spent a lot of his childhood bouncing between relatives and foster care. This kind of environment and upbringing took a toll on Chris. He himself went to prison and was homeless. If there is anyone that should have held onto Limiting Belief One, it was Chris Gardner.
Yet today, Chris is a multi-millionaire who founded a brokerage firm called Gardner Rich, a firm he started as a one-man operation in his apartment and later sold for millions. He is involved in numerous philanthropic activities, including helping to fund low income housing in San Francisco, the city where he was once homeless.
How did he turn things around? It started when he chose to speak to a man driving a red sports car, asking him how he got to own one. When he learned that the man made $80,000 a month as a stockbroker, Chris decided he was going to do the same. He saw a chance and he decided to take it and never looked back. Rich Gardner is the man portrayed by Will Smith in the movie, Pursuit of Happiness.
It is not about the hand you have been dealt; it is about the chances you are willing to take. Life is filled with opportunities. Look for the windows of opportunities and take it when you find one. Wealth always leaves a trail behind. If you know what the trail looks like and follow it, wealth is certain
JT Foxx
Ever heard of JT Foxx? As of the writing of this book, he is considered one of the best sales closer from stage. While most speakers are overjoyed to move 10% of their audience to action, it is purported that JT Foxx is able to close well over 30%. He is worth hundreds of millions and working on reaching a billion.
What is so astonishing about JT Foxx being the best closer on stage is that he was once a stutterer into his teenage years. If anyone could have held onto Limiting Belief Two, it is JT Foxx. When he left Canada, he started off with very little money and quickly ended up in debt. But in the course of a few short years, he went from negative net worth to multi-millionaire.
If you ask JT Foxx how he did it, I have no doubt that coaching or mentorship would come from his lips. He chose to learn from those who were where he wanted to be. He has an insatiable desire to improve himself. If you want to know more, I suggest you pick up his book, Millionaire Underdog.
Though you may not be capable today, it does not mean you won’t be capable tomorrow
JT started to turn things around in Chicago, the same city where Michael Jordan made his name as arguably the greatest basketball player in history. The interesting thing is that Michael was one of five children. And Michael’s dad, an avid sports fan, encouraged his children to play sports. So why did Michael become such a great basketball player? You can say that he was simply born with his capabilities, but if you say so, then you would have to explain why his other siblings did not become world beaters in sports since they came from the same gene pool.
Here is what I have found that I want you to know and imbibe: What you develop and practice is what gets engrained in your DNA! Therefore, it is not a question of nature versus nurture. The reality is that whatever you nurture becomes your nature...what are you nurturing?
So, no! The ‘gods’ were not favorable to anyone. No one is born with an unfair advantage. If you do the work, you will get the results. If you don’t do the work, you don’t get the results. And guess what, no matter who you are, it has been documented that it takes 10,000 hours of practice and development to become insanely great or become an outlier in what you choose to do. Read Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers, to find out more.
You should not ask if you are capable. You should ask how you can become capable
Frank McKinney
What about Frank McKinney, the multi-millionaire real estate developer? He was kicked out of many schools and graduated high school with a 1.8 GPA. After moving to Miami, he started to change his beliefs about wealth. He started by noticing that people were playing golf and tennis at all times of the day while he was stuck shoveling sand into the bunkers (sand traps) of the golf course.
This baffled Frank. No one who frequented the club seemed to have a day job, and he wondered what they did to make money. After learning that some of the people invested in Real Estate, he decided to do the same. Though he had no experience, he took the leap and invested money in a property that turned out to be a crack house. Long story short, he turned his first $50 investment into millions as he developed his capabilities, practiced his craft, and decided not to follow the crowd. Today, Frank McKinney uses his wealth to help build self-sustained villages in Haiti – providing shelter, clean water, access, and opportunity to thousands.
SuperChamp 