The Mechanics of Money

Money. It's something all of us want, but so few of us have. Even when the economy is good the money struggle is our ever-constant companion.

Money makes our society go round. To simply exist in our world takes money. We need it to eat, have a roof over our head, get around in the city and for practically anything else we might want to do. Almost everything costs something.

But money seems hard to come by. We are always lusting after more and wondering where ours went. We spend more than we make and we owe more than we can afford to pay. Making it is tough, but nothing is easier than making it disappear.

Why is it so common to be broke, in debt, financially strained, stressed and wondering how to get by? Why is it so common to live paycheque to paycheque, waiting for that tax return, borrowing from the bank and racking up that credit card... I mean ALL those credit cards. Investment seems like a foreign word. "What's that?" you may wonder. In a world ruled by money, why does it seem so easy to lose the money game?

The answer is simple: no one ever taught us how to play. No one ever taught us the rules, showed us the ropes and told us how to win. Instead, our society keeps us prisoners of a game we cannot possible win because we have no idea how to play. Those who know the rules and the tricks win, while the rest of us slave away, simply trying to make ends meet. Being wealthy is such an accomplishment because our society does an incredible job of conditioning us to spend, spend, spend and to depend, depend, depend on credit. From every direction we are incited to buy, buy, buy and borrow, borrow, borrow. Our society is designed to keep us poor and make corporations rich.

When we went to school we never took "Money 101." We never learned money management at all. We live in a society ruled by money but we don't know anything about how to make it, manage it or use it. All we know how to do is lose it. We were supposed to learn it all from our parents or somehow figure it out on our own, and if not, too bad for us! And then we expect to live the American Dream.

For most people, there is only one way to make money: get a job. But the wealthy know that you don't make money with a job... you get by with a job. The wealthy know that there are countless ways to make money, and they find them: investing, buying and selling, building businesses, creating products, joint ventures and the list goes on. The wealthy know that to profit, they need to provide value to other members of society. The poor think they need to make my by providing value to an employer.

In a capitalist economy a job might be the most obvious way to make money, but it's not necessarily the easiest. It's not the most effective and it's certainly not the most profitable. To learn to really make money, build a successful business, invest or buy and sell real estate, traditional education doesn't help. You have to dip your foot into an underground of private courses, books or coaching. Banks with billions of dollars urge us to take that credit card or line of credit as they put heaps of money into advertising and promotion. But it's the one-man show who wins us over for training to invest in real estate, profit through internet marketing or any of the myriad ways to make money in this world. Most people know all about the banks and nothing about all those one-man shows.

Capitalism promises equal opportunity for all but we don't live in a capitalist society; we live in a pseudo-capitalist society. From the outset we are disadvantaged since we are conditioned to believe we need to go to school and get a job to make money. We are taught that the most important things in life are security and a regular paycheque. Never once did a teacher suggest to me that one day I would grow up and be a mind coach and entrepreneur. I was taught to believe in the limitations of the world and that I should be realistic and aim to be an accountant or a lawyer or a teacher. Aptitude tests never suggested I could be a Guy Laliberté, Bill Gates, Jack Canfield or Tony Robbins. No teacher ever told me that I could grow up and build companies or invest in real-estate or market products on the internet. What I heard was "Learn your math and get good grades or you won't get a job." "I didn't want a job," I remember thinking.

Those things that really make our society go round - innovation, the entrepreneurial mindset and creativity - were not supported in school. Our society thrives on risk taking, but we leave entrepreneurship to chance. Instead we are programmed to consume and borrow. To spend but not to make.

So here's how it works for most people. You aren't making much, but you just had to have that nice place, so your rent costs half of your monthly salary. You had to have the nice car too and so there's really not much left over at the end of the month. You eat out daily because you just don't have the time to cook. And when you are broke you still buy that $5 latté because you need your coffee, don't you? You have no savings, no investments and of course, you have to have the newest phone and gadget. Charge it, finance it or borrow the cash... whatever it takes to have whatever you want now. So you always just scrape by.

Our money habits are ruled by the need for instantaneous gratification instead of a sense that is not so common. We forget about long term goals and in fact, most people don't even set goals when it comes to money. Except winning the lottery of course.

When it comes to money, most people are worried, stressed, anxious and afraid. We are broke, in debt and overwhelmed, and we are bewildered when the economy slumps. But the wealthy know that fear, doubt and worry are not the keys to wealth.

The path to money making begins with a decision. The decision to learn the rules of the money game. Then we can play and play to win.