Breaking Free From A Poverty Mindset
Wealth creation is not magic, luck, or solely dependant on having a particular last name. Wealth is created. And it all starts with breaking free from a poverty mindset. Otherwise, you will continue to struggle to gain wealth.
There are proven principles and processes that if followed, will lead to wealth. Not everyone will experience the same degree of wealth, but it will put you on the road to success. The only catch is that breaking free from a poverty mindset (step one) is probably one of the hardest things you will ever do. The following steps will get you started. Ultimately though, it is up to you to decide that you are ready to challenge your old perspectives about money and embrace a new money mindset.
Snapshot
Learn to identify and counteract ‘poor’ thinking
Believe that wealth is not evil and that God does want to bless you
Recognize your value and refuse to settle for less
Identify and counteract ‘poor’ thinking
Breaking free from a poverty mindset starts by learning to identify and actively counteract ‘poor’ thinking in your life.
If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.
Tony Robbins
As we discussed in our article, Thinking Like Rich People, “being poor is different than being broke. Poor is a mentality but being broke is a fixable financial situation. To become rich you must stop thinking like poor people and start thinking like rich people regardless of your current financial state.” The article goes on to discuss 17 principles that distinguish rich vs poor mindsets. Once you start looking, you will find even more examples of poor thinking but those 17 examples are a great place to start.
After you start recognizing poor thinking, you need to actively counteract it. There are many ways to do this but here are a few important ones.
Eliminate poor-mouthing from your vocabulary
Limit your exposure to poor-minded influences
Surround yourself with people who challenge you to grow
Educate yourself on the topics of business and finance through books, podcasts, workshops, online classes, etc.
Wealth is not evil…
If you subconsciously believe something is wrong, you will naturally shy away from it. Thus, if deep down in your heart you feel like wealth is evil or ‘filthy’ then you will subconsciously shrink from wealth-building thoughts and opportunities.
In short, God created the guiding principles of wealth-building and put all the resources needed to accomplish it in the world. It is true that some abuse the system and take advantage of others to get ahead. But just because you run across a few bad apples doesn’t mean that apple farming is a bad idea across the board.
If you would like to dig deeper into this, read the article “Do the Rich Deserve Their Wealth” for more insights.
…and God does want to bless you
The reality is, if you bless His kingdom as God blesses you with wealth, your riches have a purpose. God desires to bless His people when they are committed to being a funnel to finance His work.
But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.
Deuteronomy 8:18
The covenant that is reverenced here is His covenant with Abraham. Specifically, he and his seed would be blessed to be a blessing. We know that the primary blessing was spiritual (the coming of Jesus the Messiah) but the other component was natural.
The fact of the matter is, if the Gospel is going to be spread to the world, it will require more church buildings, church cards, missionaries sent, Bibles printed, etc. All of those things require money. Thus, God’s plan is to bless His people so that they, in turn, are equipped to finance the work of furthering the Gospel. For more thoughts on this check out our blog post “God’s Plan For Money.”
Recognize your value and refuse to settle for less
Poor people think they are worth less than they are. They feel that someone else can do it better, someone else is smarter, or someone else is better suited to take on the opportunity. They use that as an excuse to avoid breaking out of their comfort zone and settle for being average.
When your finances and vocational efforts are aligned with Biblical principles and focused on helping further the kingdom mission; God has a vested interest in your personal prosperity. However, you must be open to receiving the blessing! Otherwise, it will never come to you.
There are two main reasons that people struggle with recognizing their value. The first is that it requires them to stretch beyond their current abilities. Many people lose the battle here but you can determine right now that you will not settle for mediocracy. You are on a mission to be a blessing to the kingdom and others… and the more abundant your finances are the better equipped you are to fulfill that mission.
The second reason people fail to push past this hurdle is lack of faith. You have to believe with all your heart that God has your back. You may be afraid that you are going to ‘step out in faith’ and then fall flat on your face. The fact is, you are not alone. We all feel that fear at times. Having said that, you can, and you MUST take a leap of faith to break free from poverty and the mindsets that have limited your success.
Conclusion
Breaking free from a poverty mindset isn’t for the faint of heart. It requires pushing past your comfort zone and stretching beyond your past limitations. But it is worth all the effort! Because once you have finally escaped it, you can truly start your wealth-building journey.
The next step is to bring yourself into alignment with the flow of blessing. Not sure what the flow of blessing is or how to get in it? Check out our post “Living In The Flow Of Blessing” to learn more about the principles of blessing. Also, an excellent book to check out is “The Book on Making Money.”
Thank you for investing your time to read this article! If you would like to explore more content like this check out our podcast and our other blog posts. For book recommendations and other entrepreneurial resources check out our business resources page here.
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