Shifting your money mindset from spending to building wealth is the cornerstone of any wealth-building plan. Achieving this mindset begins with adjusting your overall approach to spending and your overall relationship with consumerism. In addition to the great suggestions offered in the video below, here are five ways you can craft a wealth building mindset and create generational wealth.
A wealth-building mindset means eliminating “the “Joneses from your vocabulary.
Keeping tabs on the Joneses is so easy with the popularity of social media. If you suffer from a case of the Joneses, you may find yourself constantly comparing what you have with what others have. So instead of being happy for a friend when he purchases a new home, a new car, or new clothes, you somehow feel inadequate and insecure. This sense of inadequacy and insecurity leads you to buy what he has just so you can fit in, despite your inability to afford it, causing you deep financial issues.
The irony of keeping up with the Joneses is that in many cases the Joneses can’t even keep up with themselves. In other words, the people who we are so busy trying to be like, the people who we assume have it all in the way of wealth and power are actually living a lie. Just like you, they are buying an image. You never really know how people obtain what they have, and honestly, that shouldn’t really be your concern.
A wealth-building mindset means understanding you can’t buy your self-worth from historically racist institutions.
Since our arrival to America as chattel, black folk have been (rightfully) bitter spectators as we watched our white counterparts exploit our labor and talent and deliberately and systematically block our attempts to break through to the middle class, garner access to quality education, and afford the occasional luxury. Our status as second-class citizens has given us a collective chip on our shoulder when it comes to buying.
Sometimes we spend as proof that we are just as successful as white folk. Sometimes we buy items just because white people have bought them. In essence, we consume conspicuously to show that if our money is just as good, we must be just as good. The truth about self-worth and net worth is that our self-worth is more likely to increase based on how much we save, not how much we spend on things that don’t appreciate in value.
A wealth-building mindset means redefining what “the good life” and “wealth” mean to you.
What is your personal definition of wealth? It may not be what the media is pumping you via reality shows like Real Housewives of Atlanta, Cribs, or Love and Hip-Hop. Wealth may include money. But it also includes love, friendship, community involvement, peace, free time, and creativity—all of which provide a sense of completeness and centeredness that is priceless.
A wealth-building mindset means distinguishing between what you want and what you need.
The survival of a capitalist economy relies on high levels of consumption. Newspapers, magazines, television, and radio bombard consumers with images of products, services, and goods in an effort to convince you that you need what they’re selling. Essentially, the media attempts to reprogram the average consumer to believe that material items will make them complete and at peace. But it’s up to you to distinguish between what you need and what you want.
This is not to say that you shouldn’t splurge or buy things that you like. It’s okay to splurge, once in a while, on something you don’t really need, but you shouldn’t make a habit of it. And when you do splurge, you should be conscious that your life would be just as good without that thing.
A wealth-building mindset means focusing on being grateful for what you already have.
Instead of complaining about what isn’t working and what has yet to come, try cultivating an attitude of gratefulness. Being grateful is like a muscle. When you train yourself to be grateful for the little or the simple, you’re preparing yourself to both attract and appreciate the greater and the grander.
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It should not take a financial disaster to make us appreciative of what we have. But sometimes it does. Learn to be grateful now. Learn to be appreciative that you can pay your rent and car note and have enough left over for some savings.
A wealth-building mindset means educating yourself on wealth.
Building a deep understanding about the wealth-freedom connection means investing in educating yourself about personal finance, whether through buying a book, following a blog, speaking with a financial mentor, or enlisting support and accountability from a community of wealth-minded friends.
BMWK: Check out the amazing Webinar below where BMWK Creators and Founders Ronnie and Lamar Tyler bring some real talk to generational wealth creation in the African American community and securing our financial well being and legacy for years to come.
