How to Get Rich

When I was about 13 years old I ordered something very memorable from an ad in the back of a magazine. It was a book called "How To Get Rich". As I waited for my order to arrive I dreamed about all that I would do once I got wealthy. Things like, not go to school, play video games all day etc. Finally the day came that my book arrived and I quickly devoured the contents as I expected to learn the great secrets to getting my materialistic dreams. It was not a very thick book so it did not take me long to read it cover to cover. Here is what the book said, "The way to get rich is to write a book on how to get rich." No kidding. Imagine my disappointment after hoping to hear some great secrets that would lead me to untold wealth. Of course, the writer of the book did come through on their promise to reveal how to get rich, it's just that the answer was something less than magical and even possibly unethical.

Today, 33 years later, the same game is being played in bookstores and over the internet. Numerous gurus and charlatans are promoting their get rich quick schemes by pointing to themselves as examples of how to get rich. How did they get rich? By telling others how to get rich. I will not mention any names but these are prominent members of the Law of Attraction community. Do not get me wrong, I am a big believer in the Law of Attraction, I just find it ironic that the way these people make most of their money is in telling other people how to make allot of money.

All this get rich stuff gets me thinking, what is wealth? I believe it is a perception. An American Indian living 500 years ago may have considered themselves wealthy if they had plentiful hunting grounds, a loving mate and a thriving tribe. Wealth seems to be relative to our perspective. Perhaps the true way to get wealthy is to have a wealth perspective. I would say you are probably extremely wealthy in material things compared to an American Indian 500 years ago, but I'll bet that American Indian felt more wealthy than you do. Why? Once again, perspective.

Warren Buffet (one of the richest men in the world) was once asked what it was like to be so wealthy. His reply was that his life was not that much different from most people. Besides having some extra conveniences like a private jet and some nice places to live it stated that it ate the same food most people eat, slept in a bed like most people, wore the same clothes most people wear etc. You get the picture. The fact that Mr. Buffet's life is not so dissimilar from the average person becomes obvious when we think about it. Most of our lives are pretty much the same when it comes to our human habits (eating, sleeping, excreting). Granted there are people living under bridges and others starving in war torn areas of Africa, but most people live very similar lives in the human habit sense. Perhaps the only real difference between a rich person and an average person is that after a rich person has gathered enough material wealth they allow themselves to feel wealthy.

So, I am going to tell you how to get rich. Allow yourself to feel wealthy. Enjoy and appreciate the things that you have. Be in the NOW of what you like and feel how much you like or love something while you are experiencing it. How many of us state that we love something but how often are we feeling that love while we are experiencing it? Next time you feel a cool breeze or smell a flower or anything that brings you pleasure, think about and feel the feelings of how much you love that thing. Then you will truly be a rich person.