As I hover around the 500-episode area, I am becoming more philosophical and want to share some insights I have had over the last ten years or so in the storage business.
I’ve talked about the five biggest mistakes I have made in my career and the five decisions I have made that helped me make the first millions of wealth.
In this episode, let me share with you five things I have learned about creating wealth. Some may seem evident, but these are all critical lessons I actually had to learn on my own. I didn’t know anyone who could teach them to me.
1. Wealth Is Created Through Assets, Not Income.
This may sound like duh…but it really took me a while to get this.
I began to study people who had created wealth and started asking them questions. I was trying to learn what they actually had their attention on.
I thought I was going to learn how to “make a lot of money.” In my world at that time, I thought to make a lot of money meant I made a good income.
To my surprise, that is not what wealthy people I talked to had their attention on. They were focused on assets. How could they own or have ownership in assets. Now most people know this, but I didn’t.
Now I have also learned the hard way that I must put time and energy into making ongoing income as well, and my wife appreciates this. But I spend most of my time creating ownership in different assets, primarily self-storage.
I don’t have to own an asset all by myself. I actually feel safer having others in the asset as well. Spreads risk, increases the brain power, and allows different skillsets to be present over and above just me. This is just my preferred way of owning storage, but not necessarily the right way.
I also own stocks, companies, I am a passive investor in others’ investments and more. But my primary asset class is self-storage.
When I started focusing on how I could own or have ownership in assets, not primarily on making money, that is when my personal wealth really began to grow.
2. Wealth Follows Vision, Before Actions.
Over time, I began to understand how the universe really works. That is what my most recent book is about.
One of the most startling things I learned was that without a clear vision of what I am creating, I flounder. And when I say clear vision, I mean crystal clear. I am creating x (what) by y (when). Not only that, what is my life like in that future I am creating. How does it feel? What are my days like? What do I do?
To this day, I spend the first part of every day experiencing the future I happen to be creating. I really experience it, live into it. The book The Creative Method of Wealth Generation goes deep into this.
I have learned that it is my vision that gives my thinking and feelings during the day. My commitment to that future dictates my thoughts, my thoughts dictate what I do, and what I do creates my results.
If I just plan out an action plan, but don’t have a clear vision and experience that vision on an emotional level, or said another way, I don’t have a clear vision I am committed to; my thinking is often not given by my commitments. My thoughts are often influenced by how I feel at a particular moment, not by a commitment to a vision I live into every day. Thus my actions are more prone to my feelings, and results are always from actions, not intentions or wishes.
I always have a bigger future I am living into. When one vision is achieved, I create another. Nothing in our universe, from the subatomic level to the entirety of it, is ever still. Life is either expanding and becoming more, or contracting and dying so more expansion can take its place.
I have learned that results (wealth if that is what I am creating) follow my visions, before they follow actions.
3. More Wealth Is Created During Challenging Times Rather Than Boom Times.
Over time, I have also seen more wealth is usually created during tough times than boom markets. Both brands I sold were created during the 08-10 Great Recession.
Most people sit on the sidelines waiting for times to get better.
Assets can usually be purchased for less, and if one has a clear enough vision, the right people and circumstances usually show up in unpredicted and unexpected ways.
During boom times and expansions in the economy, I grew at a slower rate. That was my experience.
Most people wait for certainty. I discovered real wealth builders develop the muscle to act amid uncertainty. Opportunities show up that don’t show up when everyone is trying to buy in boom times when money is plentiful.
4. Relationships Are More Critical Than Capital
Over the years I have learned money (capital) follows trust.
Tony Robbins teaches that “proximity is power.” It took me a while to really get this in my bones, but people are how my wealth is brought to me. Assets are the vehicle the people in my world use to bring that wealth. But people are the critical component.
My most valuable asset is my relationships I have with people, and those relationships have to be earned over time with trust, or integrity, or whatever synonym you want to use. The kind of relationships that have people ask you to join with them, or who are enrolled in your vision of a future and want to play with you in such a way they write a big check to join, is a sacred thing.
It is way more valuable than just money.
One does not need a lot of capital if one has these types of relationships. I spent most of my time developing these relationships rather than hoarding capital. As I create wealth, others do too, and vice versa.
That is a way more fulfilling game than just creating wealth alone or making a lot of money.
5. It’s Never The Money.
When I first started focusing on creating wealth, I thought it was about the money I could create. Now don’t get me wrong, the money is important. But as I spent time every day living into and experiencing the future I was creating, I learned it is never the money.
It’s always about what we think the money will provide us.
This became important to me as I began to develop the relationship I discuss above. Given people are the way wealth is brought to us, and one of the best ways I can contribute to others is to really understand what is motivating them, I always try to understand what is really driving someone to want to play the same game as me.
It doesn’t matter if I am dealing with someone I am coaching, a partner, an investor, or even a vendor or a small child as we discuss an allowance, I am very interested in what they think the money will actually provide them.
It’s not hard to find out. Most people are not present to it themselves but just ask questions and listen. Get into their world. See how the world occurs to them and what they have their attention on.
What I have discovered is most people want to:
- Create more time to be with their family, or
- To chase their dreams not someone else’s.
- To be seen as successful by people that are important to them.
- To make a contribution.
It doesn’t matter what it is, but if I can figure it out, then when I talk to that person, I talk about what is really motivating them.
They feel heard and understood and I can feel like I am making a real contribution to their life, because I am.
This is one of the best ways I have found to make a difference in people’s life. Once I got this, I not only related to money and wealth differently, I was able to make a difference for others.
These are some of my takeaways about what I have learned about wealth so far that I had no idea was there. I can’t wait to see what else I can discover. I am also interested in any insights you have and what you have learned as well on your storage adventures, or whatever adventures you are taking.
“`
