When I began my journey in Network Marketing, one of the first books recommended to me was the “Cash Flow Quadrant” by Robert Kiyosaki. As I read the book I became exposed to an entirely new way of looking at my finances. I soon realized that my understanding of money had created my circumstances. You see I was physically exhausted, financially upside down and in a marriage that was failing. Failing because of a difference in values and many of our disagreements had to do with how we managed our finances.
I had turned to network marketing because I was desperate for change. In other words I believed the pain of creating a change had to be less than the pain of my present circumstances. I was tired. Tired of being angry, frustrated and confused. My burning question was how could have 7 years of post secondary education, be at the top of my game in my profession, hired for my ability to create results, yet I was over $50,000 upside down in credit card debt, with a lean on my house. I had worked hard yet nothing I did seemed to work.
So here I am, reading the “Cash Flow Quadrant” and Kiyosaki asks the question “What is wealth?” To me it seemed simple; wealth was the result of working hard and saving lots of money. It was having the house, insurance, two cars, vacations, travel, and money put aside for retirement. The only problem was I had more month left at the end of my money.
“The number of days you can survive without physically working and still maintain your standard of living.”
Robert Kiyosaki’s answer floored me. He said wealth was, “The number of days you can survive without physically working and still maintain your standard of living.” Making money without physically working…are you kidding me! I wanted to know who those people were. They weren’t average people like me. In my mind these people were musicians with hit records, best selling authors, and actors, it sure wasn’t me. What was revealed as I continued to read changed my financial future.
Kiyosaki explained that when you have job you are basically trading time for dollars. In other words
someone else had determined your worth and told you they would provide you with 40 hours of employment every week. As a result your income is an equation. Your determined worth, multiplied by the hours offered. The sad fact is that your income could not surpass that equation unless you convinced someone to pay you more or to give you more hours. For me both were impossible. I had reached the glass sealing in my profession and I could not possibly work more hours. Kiyosaki went on to say that as long as your income was tied to time, you would never be free or wealthy.
How long could YOU survive?
So let me ask you a very sobering question. If you had to stop work tomorrow or lost your job, how long could YOU survive? How long would your savings carry you? When I asked myself this same question years ago, I cried. I had very little savings, literally no wealth, and no security.
Since reading this book and many others I have learned that creating wealth has little to do with the skills
of my profession. It had little to do with my ability to work hard, and it had even less to do with the dollar value someone chose to pay me for my time. I have come to realize that we all have the talent, skills, and creativity to create wealth, however most of us are too busy being the fuel for someone else’s dream.
Wealth starts with our perceived worth. The value we place on our accumulated years of experience compounded by our unique gifts, talents, and creativity. It is to understand that very few employers could actually pay us what we are worth. Our access to wealth is created by our ability to create a team, delegate and learn the power of leverage. In order to create wealth, as well as time and money freedom, we each are required to understand the power that comes when we learn to leverage the time, buying power, productivity, and creativity of others.
True wealth is available when we each harness 1% of hundreds and even thousands of people efforts rather 100% of our own. It is to create circumstances where people, systems and money are working in your absence.
Make 2015 the year you stop chasing money and begin your journey to creating wealth. As you come to the end of this article share your thoughts with me and other readers. Let’s leverage our collective knowledge, insight and experience.
Know that you are Special, know that you are Brilliant… and the world is waiting for your unique gift.
Suzan Hart is an inspirational speaker, master trainer and author. Knowing that your inner game creates your outer game Suzan’s mindset mastery, teaches hard working, results driven black men and women, to be un-apologetically recognized for their value, financially rewarded for their brilliance, and celebrated for the fullest expression of themselves. Suzan Hart went from physically exhausted and financially upside down to becoming a Black Woman Millionaire. Suzan Hart is president of HartZone Inc and the founder of the F!T is the New $eXy movement. Learn more and claim your free gift at http://www.hartzone.com.