10 Ways to Realize You’re Richer Than You Think

by Marelisa

Stop telling yourself that you don’t have the money to pursue your goals.

How often have you told yourself that you would pursue your goals, if you had the money to do so? When you tell yourself that you don’t have the money that you need to do what you want, your actions will support this. That is, you’ll act in ways that will prevent you from achieving your dreams.

Accept that telling yourself that you don’t have enough money is an excuse that you’re using for not making the effort that is needed in order to achieve what you want. It’s similar to the excuse of saying that you don’t have enough time. As you’ll discover by reading this post, you have more than you think you do. The mental energy that you’re using to convince yourself that you’re not rich enough is energy that you could be using to work on your goals.

Below you’ll find 10 ways to realize you’re richer than you think.

1. You Have More Than You Think

In order to come to the full realization that you’re richer than you think, take inventory of everything you own. You may be surprised by what you come across.

I recently had an experience that perfectly illustrates this point. Right after Christmas I decided to take inventory of the books that I own. First, I realized that I had over one hundred books that I was definitely never going to read or refer to again.

I debated over what to do with these books, and I decided to place an ad in a Panamanian website that’s similar to Craigslist and see if I could sell them. Within a week of placing the ad on the site I had sold the books for $300.

That is, I exchanged what to me was basically clutter occupying space in my apartment for a good chunk of change. I then placed that money in my “Dreams Jar”.

Second, I realized that I own Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”. Why is this important? Because I had just been having the following conversation in my head:

“I really want to read ‘War and Peace’. I’m not going to be able to find it anywhere in Panama, and I’m going to have to order it from Amazon and pay a hefty shipping fee.”

And all the while the book was sitting right there on my bookshelf. By taking stock of what you own you’ll achieve the following:

You may realize that you already have several things that you need to achieve your goals (even if some of those things need to be re-purposed).
You may realize you can make money off of things you own—by selling it, renting it, or teaching others how to use it–and then use that money to get started on your dreams.

One way to realize how rich you are is to take stock of everything that you have.

2. Change Your Mindset

In my post “Five Mindsets That Will Transform Your Life” I wrote about the Wealth Mindset. People with this mindset understand that being rich isn’t necessarily about having lots of money in the bank. Instead, it’s about the following:

Being very clear on what you want.
Knowing that you have the ability to create value for others that will allow you to make the money that you need to pay for what you want.
Working hard to deliver that value.
Taking the money that you make by delivering value and using it to buy what you want.

As long as you have that mindset you’re rich, even if your bank account doesn’t currently reflect this fact.

3. Add Free Stuff to Your Bounty

There’s a lot of free stuff out there. And, if it’s free, it’s yours for the taking. This means that you can count all of the free stuff out there as part of your riches. Here are three ways in which I’ve recently made myself richer with free things:

Acquire New Skills

Last week as I was making the list of 197 Ways to Improve Your Life in One-Hour-A-Day, I decided that I was going to start working on my computer skills for one-hour-a-day.

Specifically, I decided to take a MOOC offered by Harvard University called Introduction to Computer Science CS50. Just think about that: I’m taking one of the most popular courses offered by the world’s number one university, for free.

Exercise, Beauty, and Nature

As soon as I’m done writing the rough draft for this blog post, I’m going out for a run. As I’ve said before on this blog, there’s a gorgeous running path right in front of my building that runs parallel to the sea for several miles.

As I run along this path not only am I getting exercise out in nature, but I also get to see the ships lined up to traverse the Panama Canal. And running outside is free!

Knowledge and Education

A while back I decided that I wanted to read “The Death of Artemio Cruz” by Carlos Fuentes. I went to a small library near my house to look for it, but they didn’t have it.

I then proceeded to convince the librarian that Fuentes’ book is one of the great works of Latin American literature, and that it would be a great addition to the library. A couple of weeks later I was notified that the library had bought the book. I checked it out and read it for free.

There’s free stuff everywhere, and all of that free stuff is part of your bounty.

4. Find Out How Much Your Goal Really Costs

How many times have you said something like the following to yourself: “I wish I could do X, but it’s too expensive”? The truth is that a lot of things don’t cost as much as you think they do.

If you’re currently telling yourself that there’s something that you want that’s out of your price range, sit down and find out how much it really costs. You may just discover that you can afford it after all. Or, at least, that you can afford a stripped down version of it.

For example, a lot of people think that starting a business or traveling is too expensive for them to even consider. At the same time, there are countless people starting businesses and traveling on a shoestring budget.

The next time that you want to do something, ask yourself these two questions:

How much does it really cost to do this?
How can I do this on the cheap?

Realize that you’re richer than you think by acknowledging that a lot of things really aren’t as expensive as you think they are.

5. Reassess Your Potential

In my post “Seven Essential Ways to Build Wealth”, I write that when you see people who have the things that you wish you had, you should ask yourself: “Why not me?” That is, instead of telling yourself that you could never have those things, realize that you do have the potential to have those things.

Look at the following: 1 in 20 households in the United States have assets of over one million dollars. That statitic should tell you the following:

You don’t need to be a genius to have a million-dollar net worth.
You don’t need to have star-quality talents to have a million-dollar net worth.
Although hard work is necessary, you don’t need to work yourself to the bone to have a million-dollar net worth.

Could you pursue your goals with one million dollars? You almost certainly can. And if 1 out of 20 households in the US has that kind of money, then why not you?

Realize that you’re richer than you think you are by accepting that even if you’re not there yet, you have the potential to be there in the not-so-distant future.

6. Redefine “Being Rich”

What does “being rich” really mean to you? Look at the following:

Would you rather have $25,000,000 or be healthy?
Would you rather have $25,000,000 or have a fulfilling relationship with your spouse and children?
Would you rather have $25,000,000 or have peace of mind?

You have two options:

You can define “being rich” in a way that will prevent you from ever getting there.
Or, you can define it in a way that lets you say, “I’m already rich”, or “I’m on my way”.

Realize that you are richer than you think by redefining what it means to be rich.

7. Evaluate Your Spending

Contrary to what a lot of people think, rich people don’t throw money around. In fact, they do exactly the opposite. They’re very careful about how they spend their money (in large part, that’s how they got rich in the first place).

Right now you’re probably wasting money on all sorts of frivolous expenses you could easily do without. And the money that you’re spending mindlessly is money that you could be setting aside to achieve your goals.

Create a budget and stick to it and you’ll probably discover that you’re richer than you thought you were.

8. Rethink the Value of a Dollar

You probably think that a dollar won’t go very far. However, by setting aside $1 a day you can do all of the following:

Donate the money — become a philanthropist.
Buy the best business books you can find on Amazon and get a high quality business education on your own.
Invest the money in a DRIP –DRIPS, or dividend reinvestment plans, allow you to invest small amounts of money into dividend-paying stock by purchasing directly from the company.
Start putting money in a dream jar, even it’s just $1 a day.

Take out a dollar bill, hold it in your hand, and allow yourself to feel rich by thinking of all the things you can do with that dollar.

9. Stop Comparing Yourself to Those Who Have More Than You Do

I’ve already written about the importance of not comparing yourself to others. Yet another reason to stop comparing yourself to others is because it will never allow you to feel rich. After all, there will always be people who have more than you do.

Look at the following:

You just bought yourself a new car and you feel great. Then, someone pulls up next to you at the traffic light in a Lamborghini. You compare your car to theirs, and now you feel lousy.
You’re sitting in a plane flying to your dream destination, and you’re full of excitement. Then, you happen to glance over toward the first class cabin and you start wishing that you had all that leg room, and that you were being served champagne. You conclude that this isn’t your dream trip after all.

If you’re constantly comparing yourself to people who have more than you do, then of course you’re going to feel like you’re coming up short. In order to realize that you’re richer than you think, stop comparing yourself to others.

10. Help Others

One of the best ways to realize just how rich you are is by helping those who are not as fortunate as you are. Look at the following:

The moment in which you buy a meal for someone who’s hungry, you realize how much you really have.
When you buy a Christmas gift for a child whose parents are going through difficult economic times, you grasp just how much abundance there is in your life.
By helping an entrepreneur in a developing country through Kiva, you are saying to yourself: “I have so much, I can afford to give some of my riches to help others”.

Realize how rich you really are by helping others.

Conclusion

I hope that after reading this post you’ve realized just how much you really have. Live your best life by dropping the excuse that you don’t have the money to go after what you really want. You are richer than you think.