Building Wealth: The 7 things I wish I knew

This week I have been doing some reflection as I shift some of the projects in my business.

There has been a lot of material to review that got me thinking about the path I have taken in building wealth…

I recalled a webinar I was on with Sonia Ricotti, a woman who has a very successful business coaching people how to manifest their dreams and live an abundant life.

Sonia mentioned a great quote about manifestation – “You don’t manifest what you want, you manifest what you believe”.

This quote caused me to stop and think about my past, and some of the lessons I have learned along the way…

And surprisingly, it led me to think about some of the things that I wish I had known when I started.

Building Wealth – What I Learned

Before I give you seven things that I believe will help you in your personal journey of building wealth and save you lots of time and money along the way, let’s consider this quote and why it is so relevant to your journey.

Whether you believe in manifestation or the law of attraction is not overly important…

However, what this quote demonstrates is the power of your thoughts.

If you’re like me, you have probably had those times when you are in a bit of a funk. You’re not your normal self and everything seems a bit more difficult and you just aren’t that optimistic.

In these moments your thoughts are not that positive or uplifting, right?

So in effect, you perpetuate negativity with negative thoughts and feelings.

Now can you recall what got you out of this feeling?

I am almost certain that it was a positive experience or moment, maybe even a funny story or even a joke… It didn’t take much to change your feelings.

So when it comes to achieving what you want in life, it isn’t difficult to see how your thoughts have a big part to play. Your thoughts lead to your feelings, which lead to your actions, which lead to your outcomes.

If you want positive outcomes then you first need to believe they are possible…

Which will lead to positive thoughts, feelings, and outcomes.

When Sonia suggested that you don’t manifest what you want, you manifest what you believe, I thought, what is it that I believe now that I didn’t believe when I first started…

And before long I had a list of thoughts that I have collated into 7 things I wish I knew when I started building wealth.

This list doesn’t contain any great secrets, but when it comes to you building wealth, and wanting to make it an easier journey for you, these are great tips to add to your knowledge base.

The 7 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Building Wealth

1. You Are Your Greatest Asset

A lot of what you learn when first starting is about what assets to buy… Should you buy property, or stocks, or bonds? What is the best asset for me?

The simple truth however is that when you first start, the greatest asset you can invest in is YOU. Your education is far more important than any individual asset you may buy.

Investing in you and your education, your personal development is the secret sauce that will align you with your goals, YOUR WHY, and set you up for success.

To this day I continue to invest in my personal development and education when it comes to building wealth. I regularly invest in books and courses, as well as online research, to continue my development. It’s a habit I highly recommend you add to your routines.

2. Complicated Equals Costly

Oh the pain of this lesson… I lost count of the number of times early in my building wealth journey that I sort the complicated solution over simple.

And the trick to identifying these complicated investments is to notice how they promise easy riches or abnormally high returns…

It took a while, I’m a slow learner :), but eventually I realised that simple beats complicated every time. Investing is not hard, do your best to keep it simple…

One way to do this is to ask yourself one question before you invest – Do I understand this investment and will it take me closer to my goals?

If the answer is ever NO, then don’t enter the investment, simple heh!

3. Many Hands Make Light Work

Investing on your own is a trap for beginners. Now I don’t mean you have to find a group of people and invest together. Instead, I am suggesting that success is a lot easier if you have people around you to help your decision-making.

At a minimum, I suggest getting a coach who you can bounce ideas off. A good accountant who understands what you are trying to achieve is a must, and don’t assume any accountant fits, they don’t.

The key is to expand your skill base by having access to people who are skilled in areas that you may not be… it leads to better decisions and adds some accountability to your decision-making.

One of the great quotes that I learned over the years is that if you are the smartest person in your team then you have a problem. Having people with additional knowledge allows you to leverage their skills and therefore exceed your own limitations.

4. Constantly Update Your Goals

Over the years I have flipped and flopped on goal setting…

There seem to be two thoughts about the effectiveness of goals, those that believe without them you can’t succeed, and the opposing thought that they are a limiting habit.

I have come to the conclusion that for me, goals are crucial to success…

The key, however, is once you achieve a goal, you have to set a new one to constantly stretch yourself and have a target.

Once you get into the habit of setting and achieving goals, then setting and achieving again and again you will differentiate yourself from the crowd…

And develop very powerful positive momentum in building wealth.

5. You’re Never too Good to ask for Help

Right now you may not think this is a big issue…

But once you start to achieve some success, you will run into a time where you think you know all there is to know.

This will be the moment when a costly lesson comes your way, trust me it happens.

No matter how successful you become, how much money you make, never be afraid to ask for help.

I am part of a mentor group with a lot of entrepreneurs from around the world, and our mentor is a hugely successful businessman. He has made well over $100 million in his business and helped many more create successful businesses.

The one thing that he always talks about is the people that he still seeks out for help…

One of the keys to his success, and I suggest mine and yours, is that you are never too successful to ask for help.

6. Always Seek to be Challenged

I hear you, I just said investing is not hard and now I am saying always seek to be challenged.

Well, what I mean here is that you need to surround yourself with people who challenge you and at the same time support you when needed.

I have a favourite saying that I have shared with my kids from a very young age – If you want to soar like an eagle don’t hang around with turkeys.

It might be harsh, but the reality is you need to be surrounded by people who are uplifting and supportive.

This is a very tough one to manage, but crucial to your success.

7. Investing is the Long Game

With all the instant messages and news we are exposed to these days, there has become an expectation that building wealth can be done quickly too.

For some, this will be the case… But the basic premise of building wealth is that it is a long-term pursuit, it’s the long game.

The magic of investing and building wealth is that it is a lifetime pursuit and not an outcome. Sure there are great outcomes you can achieve from investing and building wealth, but the activity never needs to end.

You can be investing for the rest of your life and creating a legacy for your family and their family…

Building wealth is not only something you can do for yourself but a gift you can provide for generations to come…

Leave me a comment below and let me know your experience or your favourite from these seven tips.