Be Do Have
After watching the Rich Dad / Rich Woman video that I featured in last night’s post I had an important realization about the path to fortune. And I’ll get to that in a second.
Here are some of the common inner dialogs [including my own] of a person who wants to be rich.
“If I had an income of $XXXX a month, then I would, of course give to charity or tithe.”
“When I start making twice as much as my expenses then I will be able to afford to save for my future.”
“Once I get ahead then I’ll start putting aside a contingency fund.”
“If only I had a new car then I wouldn’t be too embarrassed to a [whatever people with new cars do].”
“If I had a new laptop my business would be more efficient.”
In the video last night Robert and Kim said that they put money aside for saving, investing and tithing BEFORE anything else, even when their expenses were much greater than their income.
How can that work out?
To be honestly I don’t have a clue. It makes no sense in my mind. But in my heart there is something completely lovely about it.
In the Rich Dad books he mentions that most people operate in this manner.
If I could have [blank] I would do [something good] and then be [happy, content etc]. It is like trying to blackmail the universe. I admit it, the thought, “if I win I’m going to donate 50% of my winnings to a worthy charity” has passed through my head many times as I purchased a lottery ticket!
I’m willing to change as long as I get what I want first….mmm, sounds kind of like a two year old.
If you believe in a universe that is interested in you basic good, why would it cater to that kind of behavior? It won’t…that’s why the vast majority of people are poor, even if they have money in the bank.
Kim and Robert worked the other way around.
Be -> Do -> Have
Be generous, and adopt the way of a wealthy person irregardless of your financial situation. Then you will be operating as a wealthy person in the things you do. Naturally from this space you will attract opportunities to create wealth. You will be more inclined to do the things you love, since that’s how a wealthy person would spend their most valuable asset.
And that can only lead to success in life, which will naturally get you the toys and income to be able to give, save and invest even more.
Going with the current or against it? Me, I’ve been playing the me first game up until now but time for that to change.
Tithing, saving and investing when my bills outweighmy income is like committing to my own success. A determination sets in to make the business grow and to continue to enjoy the ways of a wealthy mindset.
Next step will be to calculate how much money I actually made last month and set aside 10% to each of tithing, savings and investing.
I am also going to put a portion of the tithing into something on the Internet, since that’s how I earn my living it seems fair to give back.
More coming soon on this important topic, anyone care to join in on the fun? Maybe we can start a “Carnival of Internet Tithing?”
Jon
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Comments ( 13 )
[...] Motivation Jon at The Art of Money writes that you should Be, Do, Have. That is, if you want to be wealthy, you must do the things that the wealthy do so that you can have what the wealthy have. Most people operate in a “what if” mode, planning to do these things “eventually”, some time in the future. The best time to change is now. [...]
Get Rich Slowly » Carnival of Personal Finance #60 added these pithy words on Aug 07 06 at 6:56 am[...] Okay I’m stretching the metaphor here a bit, but I had another realization this week that was along the same lines as my tithing story. [...]
A Day Off - The Sunday Reboot | Art Of Money added these pithy words on Aug 07 06 at 7:50 am[...] (and I mean really "get it", not just rationalize it), when people talk about the BE-DO-HAVE ideas. So, back on topic, I am also very interested on learning what wealthy people talk about and [...]
Wealth Language - Millionaire Entrepreneur Forum added these pithy words on Jun 29 08 at 6:50 ammark added these pithy words on Aug 02 06 at 12:38 amJon,
On the “be-do-have” approach, I like this quote attributed to the English writer W.Somerset Maugham:
“It is a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best you very often get it.”
Fortunately, folks will have varying definitions of what “best” can amount to in their life – just as well really, or it would be deadly dull!
regards
Ted added these pithy words on Aug 02 06 at 1:22 pmThe guy is a fraud, plain and simple.
He made his money selling books, never through business, never through any businesses. His advice is just stupid in some parts and flat dangerous in others.
http://www.johntreed.com/Kiyosaki.html
I do like the be-do-have thing kinda, I’ve had my own business for the last few years and yeah it kinda resonates with me.
Ted added these pithy words on Aug 02 06 at 1:38 pmWait no, god no these are horrible ideas.
I thought it was be who you are->do what you like->you’ll have what you want
Not “spew money around when you don’t have any so people think you do and then since you’re acting wealthy you’ll make lots of money.” OH GOD no.
“put money aside for saving, investing and tithing BEFORE anything else, even when their expenses were much greater than their income.”
Hey, guess what, that’s not possible. If your expenses are “much greater” than your income, you’re not saving your money, you’re saving someone else’s money.
So yeah, go nuts on credit, max out your cards to fund your brokerage account.
This is not how I made my money, but there’s certainly a chance it will work for you. A small chance. The chance of bankruptcy with that business model is very very high.
James D. Brausch added these pithy words on Aug 02 06 at 3:52 pmHey Jon,
That’s cool! I hate messing around with Google Adwords. That’s why I leave that territory completely to my affiliates.
I also found that it was important to tithe and save BEFORE you “make enough to do that”… You can’t receive until you take the action.
Here’s another empowering action: Fast one day every month. Take the money you would have used to eat (and perhaps a bit more) and give it to a charity that feeds the poor). I can’t claim responsibility for this one in any way. It is a teaching of my church. If you want some serious abundance and security in your life, add that one to the tithing and saving BEFORE spending routine.
-James D. Brausch
Pete added these pithy words on Aug 07 06 at 7:28 amThe advise being given is similar to a lot of what others are saying. The basic premise is that you get what you focus on. So, if you focus on just getting by and paying the bills, you will continue to be in lack (just getting by). If you give what you have (freely, willingly, …), then your focus is on the abundance that you already have and that is what expands.
I have been writting about this lately, in particular about “We get what we have, not what we want” at http://myfinancialawareness.com/blog/?p=23
If you want to do a Carnival on Tithing then I have a few things that may be helpful to others.
Mmm... Life... added these pithy words on Aug 10 06 at 5:31 amInteresting post by Ted above. That post by Reed has some truth to it, but its not entirely accurate.
Kiyosaki has a lot of good ideas and is a great primer for opening a person’s mind up to new ideas about money. The problem is that Kiyosaki materials just aren’t enough to learn how to make the leap from middle class to rich.
The people who get disappointed are those who expect it to be a how-to manual. Its not. You don’t read a Zig Ziglar book and expect to suddenly be the happiest, most motivated ever. In the same way Rich Dad Poor Dad and other Kiyosaki books can only open your eyes to other ways of thinking… they don’t REALLY teach you how to achieve the goals you’re looking for.
Ted added these pithy words on Aug 11 06 at 9:22 pmKiyosaki has a lot of good ideas? Like what?
This one “spend money you don’t have so u get rich” is a bad, and very dangerous idea. A bunch of his other advice is really bad, dangerous and illegal as well (I like the one about tax deductions, that’s gonna get you 5 years in PMITA fed prison.)
I understand what goes into building a business- I do that myself. The fluff that guy peddles aint it.
yalumni added these pithy words on Sep 09 06 at 2:05 pmThere’s a great book also talk about Being, Do Have – title : Software for The Brain, by Dr Michael Hewitt Gleason
Angie Hartford added these pithy words on Jun 25 07 at 12:21 pmOne of my favorite affirmations is from SARK. “I have enough. I do enough. I am enough.”
Nathanael Matthias Weiss added these pithy words on Apr 16 08 at 9:16 pmWho originated the “be do have” formula?