Money Expert - Diana Clement - Financial Planning, Career, Investing, Economy, Property - MSN NZ

Think rich, get rich

14/05/2008 10:36:00 PM, Diana Clement Prev Next

Success in life has a lot to do with how you program your mind. The theory goes that if you really believe you're going to get rich, you will.

Do you think rich? What are some of your strategies for success in life? Have your say below.

Images lead to reality
That's because your images lead your reality. How many Olympic-class athletes, such as Sarah Ulmer or Rob Waddell, approached the start line with thoughts of losing? They didn't. Instead they visualised themselves crossing the line in first place.

Investors should follow suit and many, such as property investor and adviser Carmel Murphy, who runs Leaping Frog, have dream boards to visualise their investment and life goals. Some people put these boards on their fridges, bathroom mirrors or even on the back of the toilet door.

Christchurch-based property investor Steve Brooks stuck a picture of a Lamborghini, $1 million, and a massive boat above his bed and visualised himself owning them. Brooks had seen what it was like to be flat broke when his parents' marriage broke up and subsequently worked for his mother renovating houses from a very young age.

''I had a goal from 10 that I wanted to be a millionaire by age 30,'' says Brooks. At 19, when he actually made his first million, Brooks decided to add another zero to his goal and make $10 million by age 30.

Set SMART goals
One of the key elements of putting your belief that you will get rich into action is to set goals. Don't mistake New Year's resolutions for goals — they're made and broken too easily.

Real goals aren't so fluffy. They should have targets attached, says Kiwi motivational speaker and investor Mike Handcock. A resolution would be, ''start saving'', whereas a goal is ''save 10 percent of my income each month'', says Handcock.

It's oft repeated that they need to be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.

Think poor, get poor
Although the concept of thinking rich to get rich is very simple, very few people actually put it into practice and would-be investors often have negative programming that needs to be drilled out of their minds.

It may be that you think ''I don't earn enough to save'', ''I need a better job'' or ''my parents didn't teach me about money''. Get real. These are all examples of excuse-itis. Plenty of people who've been subject to these and even far greater hurdles overcome them and created their own financial prosperity.

Where to get help?
It's true that some people try to change, but fall back into the same old negative ways. Depending on your learning style you may want to do one or more of the following:

Play motivational podcasts on your iPod or MP3 player.
Read books such as The Power of Focus, by Jack Canfield or The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R Covey.
Find yourself a coach, mentor, psychotherapist or other professional who can help keep you on the straight and narrow.
Find a buddy with a similar goal and meet regularly.
Surround yourself with people who think the way you want to.
Set up a series of inspiration messages to appear on your screensaver or sign up to a service that e-mails them to you regularly.

Have your say: do you think rich? What are some of your strategies for success in life?

User comments

Money is authority! How much authority do you want? Authority as we know can be abused and missused. To be rich and not happy is futile! It is all about BALANCE and PRIORITIES. What does it profit to gain the bonuses that money affords yet find that at the end of one's life we didn't have any eternal dividends to show for it? It is obvious I have strong philosophical beliefs. Buckets of money balanced with strong spiritual beliefs makes for a successful life. The good book (bible) says that love of money is the root of much evil. People get so upset when they see religious preachers being wealthy. Yet it is not wealth that the bible is against. The greatest authority to "Think and Grow Wealthy' is the bible. Wealth creation genetics is true of many of Gods people (Jews). No wonder Hitler was jealous. To us all. Get WEALTH but also make certain that your entire life is not based around your belongings. God bless.

After reading The Secret and the Answer 4 or 5 months ago I am well on my way. I re-trained how I think about everything. I bombarded my mind with what I want. I now have the car I want, money is flowing. I bombarded my sub-consious brain with images of cars, money and anything else I wanted. I also memorised my affirmations and said them to myself constantly. Want to know the bit everyone forgets about? ACTION. Once you've re-trained how you think you need to act on what ever idea you may have. Thinking rich alone doesn't do it for you. I am about to start my 1st buisness, I have no debt and very happy with where i'm heading. It takes 28 Days to build a habit. Whether thats forgetting to turn your car lights off or thinking big. Being rich is a habit, not a thought. By the way i'm 20 and it does work. Just have to be focused and persistent. Start by putting an image of what you want on your phone. Even if its just a cup of coffee... attract it to you!

I've read alot of those get rich books and to be honest they all sounded the same. the only people that really get rich is the ones that write the books because fools like ourselves are too naive and purchasing these hopeless books just puts cash in the writers pockets. People often get rich from hard work and abit of luck on your side your achieve your goals.

I have found in my 43 years that the saying" mirror image" is right, so if you give and treat people how you want to be treated, money doesnt become a worry.I didn't plan, to make more money than I needed it was being in the right place at the right time, being myself and really caring about people.I think the song dont worry be happy playing in my submind helped too, so people go out of my barber shop feeling happy. I also pray that I say the right things for my clients sometime I think why did I say that today, but it turns out to be the right thing for them to hear that day.So word of mouth has really helped me become richer in life. Cheers

There is not much point in jus thinking to be rich....instead act and be rich.

I am telling to the world that I want to be rich and famous....I am now very rich.......and I am now continueing to be rich ............I do believe saying these words will really help to materials what your want in life..What you think and what you say is happening.....If you think you are pretty .....you are going to become pretty...If you think that you are intellegent and smart .......If you think your sexy ...you going to be sexy....you will become what you think .... Ask and you will recieve......I recommending to read money and success..think and grow rich...and surf the internet every thing you want to discover information and guidelines ....will empower your dreams....

After reading the book Rich Dad Poor Dad i have never stopped thinking about becoming Rich although myself am poor i can tell you that book has a great way of explaining everything about how to get rich.. you are all right Positive thinking and being Proactive is the key to success Rich Dad expresses golden words to success is 1. Think Smart 2. Learn Financial IQ - Learn how a financial bank statement works He goes on to say once you have mastered all this then you will know how money works....i am still to find the answer to this one... thats probably the reason why i am still Poor. But they were words of wisdom and Power ... keep searching guys... you are all on the right track but we need to get out of the ratrace.

I may not have the wording quite right but Henry Ford said "If you think you can do something or don't think you can do something-guess what you are right." Read books like "Think and grow rich" by Napoleon Hill, also books about famous peoples lives ie Henry Ford,Edison,Richard Branson.You will be blown away at the difficulties they faced but also the sheer determination that made them succesful.Don't ever underestimate the power of positive thinking however it is peoples fear of failure that prevents them from achieving also self doubt.This is where most people-including myself stumble.Keep dreaming and setting goals.

Believe in the above article, because it’s true, it’s all physic logical I was on the Invalids Benefit for 6 years after leaving school at the end of 5th form, I have Chronic Bi Polar, with Asbegers Syndrome, Its hard don't get me wrong, but that positive thinking goes along way, even now imp still battling myself, however I’m still pushing myself forward no matter what.I was a pak n Save for 9 month them Studied I.T. part-time and worked part-time delivering pizzas for Hells. Studies, Videos, Notes, Practice, Hands-on, listening all are needed to get some were good too. I now work for EDS Tell yourself you can do it, that things ant hard, but only a challenge. do something you really enjoy and make a PLAN and stick to it.I am now a MCDST, MCSA and going on study for Project Management to become a I.T. Project Manager, the best thing is I have no idea about Project Management, however I believe in my-self, I CAN DO IT Remember NOTHING IS TOO HARD and EVERYTHING IS DONE BY A PROCESS.

I used brain entrainment technology on my computer to install into my subconscious mind the affirmation, "I will always have more than enough money to easily and effortlessly pay all my bills on time, and also have more than enough money to help all my friends". My SC mind then adjusted my spending habits automatically, so that the money I would normally earn in 12 months is now spent over 14-17 months. Before I knew it, my bank balance was reaching up towards the sky. I then created affirmations for every area of my life, and I feel like a magician as everything I NEED turns up in the fullness of time because I BELIEVE IT WILL. People who win Lotto have a huge list of "wants", and so the money comes to them and bounces off their chest into the arms of shopkeepers before they can stop it. What is the point of wanting to win Lotto if all you WANT TO do is spend it as soon as possible? No one ever got rich, unless they first made a habit of SPENDING LESS.

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