The Inner Game of Money & Wealth

“Wu-Tang, Wisdom, & Wealth” by Chris Hurn

Chris Hurn’s Presentation

Introduction

When you think of money, what first comes to mind?

Is it a tool to get what you want? A way to survive? Something only snobby people cares about? Something you love and always want more of?

Turns out, the way you think about money has a profound impact on your ability to make money.

In this article, you will explore the Inner Game of Money, and discover just how much your psychology has affected your wealth.

You will learn:

• How your beliefs around money have influenced your ability to make money
• The core beliefs of the world’s wealthiest people, and what’s currently preventing you from developing them

[This article is pretty messy because Chris bounced around a lot of topics. But I’m sure you’ll find great wisdom and gems from it.]

“Life has advanced so far, and become so complex that even the most ordinary man and woman requires a great amount of wealth, in order to live in a manner that even approaches completeness… To understand the science of getting rich is the most essential of all knowledge.” — Wallace D. Wattles (The Science of Getting Rich 1910)

Inner game of money and wealth is all about changing your fundamental beliefs about money that is repeling you from attracting them.

Beliefs + Visualization + Affirmations + Actions = Success

We need to start by changing our beliefs about money.

Your Beliefs About Money

Let’s first work on your beliefs about Money. So, why are beliefs important?

Language shapes our thoughts (a.k.a beliefs), and thoughts shape our actions. And actions shape our reality. Beliefs affect how we experience life, they can either build us or break us, and it’s especially true when it comes to beliefs about money.

A lot of our personal beliefs about the world come from our parents. What do you hear about money from your parents?

• “We can’t afford that”, “Debts terrible”, “Money is all evil”, “Go to school and get a stable job”, “Money doesn’t grow in trees”…

And when you hear about money, what do you feel?

• Abundance or Scarcity (“Money doesn’t grow on trees”)?
• Acceptance or Guilt?
• Gratitude or Envy/Jealousy (“He’s must have screwed someone over to get the money”)?
• Confidence or Fear?
• Control or Victimhood (“I’ll never earn enough to get out of this debt”)?
• Freedom or Security?

Be dictionary, Prosperity is the condition of being successful or thriving, especially economic well-being. However, Prosperity is first and foremost, a State of Mind.

“Beliefs is the firmest at regulating what we accomplish in life.” — The Magic of Thinking Big, By David Joseph Schwartz

The beliefs and images in your mind have to be so clear and extraordinarily convincing, in order to attract what you want.

The words you use affect how you think about yourself in relation to money, wealth, and prosperity.

All prosperity writers say the origin of wealth is thought, rather than things.

“Ideas come from space, that may seem astonishing and impossible to believe, but it is true. Ideas come from out of space.” — Thomas Edison

However, there is no wealth to be found in an idea, only wealth to be had from acting on ideas.

“Our brains become magnetize with the dominating thoughts that we hold in our minds, and by means with which no man is familiar, these “magnets” attract us to the forces, the people and circumstances of which harmonizes with the nature of the dominating thought.” — Napoleon Hill <Think and Grow Rich>

On visualization:

“I can see zero in a vision of where I want to be in the future, I can see it so clearly in front of me when I daydream it was almost a reality. Then I get this easy feeling and I don’t have to get uptight, and I get there because I already feel like I’m there. That is just a matter of time. I set a goal, I visualize it very clearly, then I create the hunger and drive to turning it into a reality. There is a kind of joy in that kind of ambition. In having a vision in front of you, with that kind of joy, discipline isn’t difficult or negative or grim. You love doing what you have to do. Even when pain is part of reaching your goal, and usually is, you can accept that too.” — Arnold Schwarzenegger

Wealth Creating Beliefs

1. Abundance

There are no shortages. Your success does not block another’s, because there’s plenty of everything.

Your wealth doesn’t mandate another’s poverty. Addition to your bank account doesn’t mean subtraction from someone else’s.

2. Speed

“Money goes where it will increase the fastest, rather than where it is needed.” — Joseph Heller

Perfectionism enables procrastination.

The person with high gears is magnetic to it. Money moves readily to the people that are on the move. Speeds create momentum, and momentum brings that serendipity (luck).

Speed is about simultaneous actions, not sequential. Most successful entrepreneurs are like taking a bucket of golf balls and throwing them down the hill and chasing after them.

Successful entrepreneurs take action and iterate. They learn from their mistakes. They fix on the fly.

3. Superior

“ … The man who, in his secret thoughts, believes himself SUPERIOR to MOST MEN, thus DESERVING of great wealth and power.” — Carnigie

You have to find and invent ways to make yourself superior to others. And the surest way of convincing yourself of such superiority is to actually create and possess it.

Believing in your Superiority (i.e. deserving of superior rewards and “spoils”) and having extreme self-confidence is essential to achieving prosperity.

You can have compassion for the lazy individual, but it helps to have complete and utter disdain for them as well; You can have courtesy for others, but not respect… respect is earned as it is based on merit; You can be nice to others… but keep this superiority view pretty private.

4. Risk-Taking & Betting on Themselves

“The insecure way is the secure way”- Joseph Keller

• Rewards only come before risks in the dictionary.
• The wealthy see working for someone else as risky. They try to make their money work for them by building assets and taking calculated risks.

“ Real wealth creators focus on creating a prosperous business instead of gambling on public companies about which they can never have all the information.” — Thomas J. Stanley, The Millionaire Mind

• The Rich bet on themselves. They make money “out of thin air” by turning ideas into opportunities through massive action.

5. Enriching the World

• If you want to be wealthy, you need to enrich the world somewhere. “A person dissatisfied with his money should recognize it is a measurement of the (perceived/accepted) value of what he has been contributing to others and then focus either on finding a better-paying client for whatever he provides or on altering what he provides.”
• I didn’t say: “ Do what you love and the money will follow.” A better strategy: Identify a viable, preferable underserved market, determine market demand (what it makes most and is willing to pay for), then align your purpose and do something for the market that you feel passionately about. Furthermore, become the authority, attract people to you through systemized direct-response marketing, while leveraging your time, providing more value, and associating with the “right people” all on your personal journey to autonomy.

6. Treasure Time

• Protect your time, talent, and energy resources
• Avoid the time suckers from your life, and outsource things.
• Fight for the highest and best use of your time daily
• Invest in time and time-saving actions
• Escape exchanging of time for money
• Intolerance of outright waste, recognizing the significance

7. Other Wealth Creating Beliefs (Long Lists)

• Be willing to take concentrated positions (in your developed expertise) for true wealth formation- to be “truly diversified” (as the person finance taking heads to plead) is to be mediocre. A bulk of your wealth needs to be in concentrated positions
• Most people think about how they can increase salary, but not equity
• Focus on increasing your net worth and income sources, not paychecks
• They master multiple high-level or high-value competencies
• Work on things for which you have exceptional skills
• They are extraordinary self-promoters, salesman, oftentimes they maneuver wealth politically
• Extremely high tolerance of pain, stress, mentally tough and resilence (successfully managing their failures)
• Being frugal when it really matters, and sometimes when it doesn’t
• Being emotionally comfortable with money
• Routinely investing in talents, and sometimes pay a premium for it
• Indulging or rewarding yourselves within limits
• Investing heavily in the acquisition, information, and association (associating with people)
• If you act wealthy, you help attract wealth
• Whatever industry you’re in if you become the authority, what does that mean? Expert positioning, being an influence, picking niches, attract don’t pursue
• Become a Merchant of Hope and Opportunity, Hope and Salvation, Grand Entertainment, Immortality.
• Get clear on your priorities (helps cement your beliefs)
• Have self-imposed discipline
• Have an appropriate self-image (helps your confidence about money)
• Clearly link your tasks with your goals and measure them
• Don’t be afraid to be ruthless

Wealth Repelling Beliefs

1. Beliefs from the news

Yet… so many want to “Eat the Rich”. They think things are very limited.

Here are some very ignorant, social-political media bullshit, meant to make you feel guilty, and justify stealing from you.

• “Excessive profits” (Are these profits so-called stealing, or are they used in R&D?)
• Those “less fortunate” (But so-called “less fortunate” people can also climb up the success ladder)
• “Giving back” instead of “Paying it forward” (Giving back has a presumption that you took something)
• “Opportunist” (All entrepreneurs are opportunists who exploit some holes in the marketplace that actually helps people)

You have to be very careful about what goes into your mind. Turn off the news and other crap. The demonization of the profit motive is destructive.

2. Guilt

“I have no complex about wealth. I worked for my money, producing things people need. I believe that the able industrial leader who creates wealth and employment is more worthy of historical notice than politicians and soldiers.”

Guilt repels money. It is the chief reason why most people don’t attract wealth… so much guilt burdening their conscious and subconscious mind.

3. Morality

“Men can employ money as a tool or they can dance around as if it were the incarnation of a god. Money votes socialist or monarchist, find a profit in pornography or translation from the Bible. Commission Rembrents and underwrites the technology of Auschwitz.” — Lewis Lapham

Try to separate money from morality. There is plenty of good, decent, hardworking Christian people who go through their entire lives needlessly poor and sadly disappointed because of a belief that the way to attract money is just to have a “cleaning living” or worse, sacrifice.

Money can’t be evil. It’s the people who use it are.

4. Other Wealth-Repelling Beliefs (Long List…)

Basically fear, envy, ignorance, victimhood, and drama get in the way.

• Opinions/beliefs accepted as facts that haven’t recently been tested
• Industry norms that could be violated
• Self-imposed limits: not believing enough in yourself and what you can accomplish (Limiting self-belief), or exaggerating others’ superiority
• Unproductive or unconstructive association: ignorance, jealousy, ill-informed, invest in the status quo, insecurities
• Excessive sensitivity to others’ opinions: prioritizing approval over the result, this affects your personal promotion, inhibits your ability to make demands on others which is key, the need to be liked. Be “Often Wrong, Never In Doubt”, Self-Entitlement Injection Theory- “Why Not Me?!” “Why shouldn’t I be successful and wealth?”
• Greed: something for nothing. Every successful entrepreneur work their ass-off
• Sloth: intellectual or actual laziness (procrastination)
• Waste: poor stewardship of time, money, resources, and opportunities
• Complacency: impotent goals
• Arrogance: absence of gratitude, absence of healthy paranoia
• Security: Poor and middle class think money (pay) is what matters… that this equals security… working for money. “Go to school to get a good job… to be secure”.
• Simplistic reaction: panic often prematurely, intimidation, poor health, transfer responsibility whether to religion, destiny or circumstances

Extra Topic #1: Aligning with the Right People

• Inspire you to do better, do more.
• Recognize your merits and build your self image
• Can be trusted and tell the truth
• Express appreciation for you as a person and for your contributions
• Inspire your imagination

Extra Topic #2: On Debt

• Debt is cheaper than equity.
• Most entrepreneurs use VCs (ain’t no shame in it)
• There’s good debt and bad debt- know the difference
• Consider down payment, monetary payment, loan term, balloons/covenants, and then interest rate (in that order)… when borrowing money
• Be very prepared when you go to borrow money- it’ll increase your chances of success (don’t just wing it)
• Consider buying property, but NOT before you’ve established yourself. This is an easy wealth-creation strategy. This is building equity in an appreciable asset- builds your net worth. No more time today to get into Bank Underwriting 101, analyzing all the options out there, etc

Last Word: Take Massive Action

Most people have two lives: the life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between it stands resistance.

• Identifying what stands in the way is the first step toward removing these barriers.
• Modeling your behaviors on other successful, wealthy people helps.
• Deploying the “right” strategies helps. Don’t do something cause you love doing that, I love watching soccer but no one is paying me for that.
• Unshakable and positive self-belief about your vision will make it come true as you take Massive Action toward it.

“ Great souls have wills; feeble ones have only wishes”- Chinese Proverb.

There’s no excuse of not getting wealthy in our life times.

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