In order to succeed financially it is imperative that you stop caring about what people think. Everyday we see guys aggressively driving their BMW’s, just to pull into the grocery store where they work.
We see Hummers and Mercedes-Benz vehicles pulling into apartment complexes (Not condos, literally ordinary non-luxury apartment complexes), and we see McDonald’s employees playing on their iPhones.
People will deny up and down that they do these things to impress people, but the majority is lying to themselves. They adore when someone takes a second look at their sweet ride, or when someone exclaims “is that the new iPhone?” We’re human, we love attention, and we want people to envy us, and we will go to the ends of the Earth to ensure that people wish they were us.
When The Tide Goes Out You See Who Was Swimming Naked
It was Warren Buffett who said “It’s only when the tide goes out that you learn who’s been swimming naked.” After the economy busted, that was exactly what happened. The successful man (uber-consumer) in the mini-mansion up the street, who drove the H2 Hummer, who had the new pool, and the paver drive-way, was now foreclosed on.
All of those important executives working for those huge companies, and now they are going bankrupt. How can people making 6 figure salaries go bankrupt? They were trying to impress each other. The huge houses, the second mortgages on the fancy houses, the fast cars, the expensive clothes, the fancy watches, and much of it put on the trusty credit card. Not to worry, they had their emergency credit cards just in case!
Real Millionaires Don’t Care
A great book titled “The Millionaire Next Door” provides excellent insight to how real millionaires actually think. To truncate the book down into one sentence: The millionaires don’t care about what other people think. They drive used cars, they get their clothes at normal, everyday stores like JC Penney, and they don’t buy every expensive thing they see; despite what television and commercials want you to believe.
Your Means Will Make Your End
Despite what everyone seems to believe, spending all of your money now, to look successful, will actually result in the opposite happening. You cannot spend your way into prosperity, and no matter how cool you look going broke, you’ll still end up broke. Here is one guarantee: for as long as you are spending your time and money trying to convince people you’re well off, you will never actually be well off.
The Irony To Becoming Wealthy
There is an irony to becoming wealthy: during the process, people will actually think you’re doing poorly. It is a very humbling irony. As you go against the grain of society, such as driving a used car, not having a phone with all of the bells and whistles, and cutting out unnecessary bills that others are convinced are necessary, people will think that you are making these “sacrifices” because you can’t afford them.
Don’t worry about this, in fact, you should ignore it. If you try to prove them wrong, then you will only look like you’re a cocky person who is trying to brag about all you have. Being wealthy in the eyes of others is a catch-22, either convince them and be broke, or convince them and appear conceited. The best choice is to stop worrying about convincing people, and just enjoy stability. Let go of the need for others approval, and embrace a life of stability.
