Where Is Your Financial Thermostat Set?

What's a financial thermostat you ask?

If you refer back to one of my earlier posts "Defining Money" we discussed that money is a concept not a thing.

To better explain what I am referring to let's use flying as an example.

Flying is a concept. In order for a human being to fly it requires the use of a tool called an airplane.

Yes, I do understand that it's entirely possible to fly without an airplane however for a human being the risk of such an activity goes way up.

The point here is that in order to fly a person has to first get it straight in their heads that they are going to go somewhere by leaving the ground for an extended period of time (this is the concept part).

To fly you must use a tool called an airplane. In this example I am saying that the airplane and the cash (aka, money) in your pocket are both tools.

Based on your concept of the activity your choice of tools will vary.

For instance if I say I am going to fly to Detroit tomorrow most people will imagine me going to the airport and getting in an airliner.

If Bill Gates told you he was flying to Detroit tomorrow some of us realize that it would be ridiculous for him to fly commercial and we picture him getting in a private jet.

Bill Gates' choice of tools for flying would be based on his concept of flying and it is probably different for him than it is for most people. So is his concept of money and the value he places on his time.

I once heard that Bill Gates earns so much money, that if he was walking down the sidewalk and dropped a one hundred dollar bill every dozen or so yards that it wouldn't be worth his time to stop or go back and pick up the money. Bill's time is worth much more than a few lousy hundred dollar bills.

Naturally Bill Gates isn't going to go around dropping cash out of his pockets but he does give millions of dollars a year to various charities and he can afford to do so (when most people can't) because his concept of money is different than the average man on the street.

You could say that Bill's financial thermostat is set much higher and in fact I'll bet it is set so high that it would be impossible for him to be "just" a millionaire. Bill Gates has a Billionaire setting on his thermostat.

Consider the case of Donald Trump who has lost Billions of dollars several times over in the last thirty or so years. Once upon a time not too long ago Trump was twelve billion dollars in the hole and even the bum on the street corner begging for quarters had more "cash" than he did at that moment. Donald Trump's financial thermostat wouldn't allow him to give up, feel sorry for himself or settle for a few million...so...

in no time at all Donald was back in Billionaire status again.

You see, success leaves clues...

Your bank account looks exactly the way it does because of how you think about money.

In most cases the very wealthy people in our world are no smarter or more intelligent than broke people who struggle with money. In many cases the exact opposite is true. Some of the most brilliant people in our society have a lousy relationship with money.

People like Bill gates and Donald Trump have a different concept of money than a broke person does. Their self image is that of a Billionaire.

People will never out perform their own self image but they can change their self image and set the bar a little higher. In other words they can adjust their financial thermostat.

Get it?

See, there are literally thousands of people every year, right here in America who have turned their annual income into a monthly income.

They're probably no smarter than you are.

They're probably not as educated as you or many people you know who struggle with money.

In most cases they didn't start out with a "trust fund" or win the lottery or have a rich uncle die and put them in the will.

In fact in many cases these people have been dead broke for most of their lives.

Here's what made the difference for them, they made a choice to start thinking like a millionaire. They simple got information that helped them change their concept of money and in the process they changed how they think about themselves.

They changed their self image. They raised the bar a little higher and adjusted their financial thermostat and they made their dream a reality.

Here's another clue...

They got new information that helped them!

They made a decision to seek out and learn and they took action on their decision until they got the results they were after. Hmmmmmm this sounds a lot like the example I gave earlier about Donald trump when he was broke.

Life is a choice. If you're ready to start exploring the differences between the group of people who struggles and the group of people who wins...

then you have to start with a change of your own self image.

Based on this new concept of yourself you'll want to find some tools to help you on your journey. The book stores a full of titles that claim they can help you but knowing which ones to read an deciding who your millionaire mentor will be could make a huge difference in the time it takes for you to complete your journey

You may never see yourself as a Billionaire or even a Millionaire. Your financial thermostat may never go higher than $40,000/month of income but I will guarantee that until you adjust the thermostat and turn up the heat, living paycheck to paycheck is the best you can hope for.