Can everybody be rich?

I have been asked this question at very many forums.  Can everybody really be rich? Can everybody actually be wealthy?  I even had the honour of addressing this particular question on television this week.  Do you believe everybody can be rich?  After following this column you probably know by now what my answer is.  I run an organisation whose core belief is that everybody can indeed be wealthy.  I do believe it is possible.  However because this question comes up so often, I would like to address the fundamental reasons that make us question this. I believe everybody can be wealthy but we will not all have the same amount of money. That’s a fact.  There are not very many people if any at all that have the same exact amount of money in their bank accounts today, or the same investment portfolio values. Wealth is supposed to mean different things to different people.  However in our society we have mistaken wealth to be material things such as cars, homes, gadgets, dressing, entertainment etc.  There is an unspoken standard that is set which is one of the reasons people doubt everybody can be wealthy. We will definitely not all be driving Range Rovers or live in the same neighbourhood.  It does not mean that those who do not are not wealthy (just the same way those who do are not necessarily wealthy).  It may just mean they value different things or have made different choices with the resources that they have. They may also literally not have the money today to buy that car but they are doing things and spending time in a way that honors their own individual values and the bigger vision that they might have. You will never be wealthy or believe everybody can be wealthy if you seek to compare yourself to others.  If you do that, you are walking down a very unsatisfying journey because there is always another benchmark. So point to note here is someone will always have more or less money than you.  In terms of tangible things, someone will always have more or less stuff than you.

When people ask that question, I think the answer they are truly looking for is “Can I be wealthy? ”. If the answer to whether everybody can be wealthy is an obvious yes, than that’s when we would believe that we, as individuals, can actually be wealthy.  We come from the mentality that says; if everybody can do it, so can I.  I think this is what happened with the ‘Quail egg uprising’.  Everybody started doing the eggs, and everybody figured out that since everybody is doing it that’s the thing to do and that’s what would work. This has become the side hustle of the century. We have an exercise in our classes where we put people in groups and task them to come up creative ideas to make a certain amount of money. That season everybody’s ideas was the quail eggs. No surprises there. So everybody can be rich but just understand not everybody is going to do the things that will make him or her rich. Therefore for that reason don’t look too much to numbers to justify you. Everybody can do it, not everybody will do it.  For example, out of the five people you spend most time with, one may be on the path to wealth and you might realise four are not.  Don’t look to those four to prove why you will not be wealthy.  Look to the one who is doing it. Don’t wait for those four, who are not on this path, to catch up before you believe you can be wealthy.  Just understand not everybody is going to do what it takes.  Not everybody wants to be disciplined with spending, not everybody will want to save, not everybody will stretch themselves to learn what needs to be learnt, not everybody will go outside their comfort zone, take a risk and invest etc.  Will you?

My last point may sound a tad bit philosophical but here goes.  Everybody can be wealthy because wealth is really a mindset. At the foundation of that mindset is the belief that there is enough for everybody. As a planet, continent, country etc. we may not be managing resources in a way that allows people to believe this “enough” but it is there. Again everybody can be wealthy, but not everybody believes there is enough and not everybody believes that they (as people) are enough to access this enough. This is really about the difference between a scarcity and abundance mindset. Wealthy people simply have an abundant mindset.  It does not necessarily mean that they are in current abundant situations.  But they accept where they are right now is only a current situation that can change with the right thinking. Say you have to walk down a dark corridor.  You can refuse to walk down the corridor because it is dark and stay where you are. You convince yourself that the day you can light up the corridor, you will walk down. Or you can just walk down the dark corridor, let your eyes adjust to the darkness and eventually find a torch on the way that lights up the remainder of the path.  All of us can be rich.  But many shy away from the dark corridor because they cannot see the light now. They actually turn away from wealth. Wealthy people believe that at some point they will find light (because there is ultimately enough light), start the journey, fumble around a bit and eventually find the torch. Everybody can be rich.  We will not all be wealthy the exact same way and have the same money.  Everybody can be wealthy but we will not all choose the path to wealth. What choice will you make?