Many years ago, I remember asking my mentor this question.
"What is the difference between a wealthy person, and a poor one?"
Mindset. He continued on reading his book.
When I hear my mentor's response, my immediate feeling is... "how can having a different mind set makes the difference between being rich and poor?" Scratching my head.
His response was confusing to me at the time, when I look at it now, I couldn't agree more.
Being the not-so-smart mentee, I ask my mentor: "I am confused, can you tell me why?"
My mentor then put down his five hundred pages book on investing, and asked me a question.
"If my friend have a Ferrari he needs to sell urgently, and the price is only $100k, which is only 20% of the market price for the Ferrari, what would you do?"
Wow, that's a great deal! 80% off! I wish I have that kind of money, and If I do have $100k, I would definitely buy it. I responded. Knowing my mentor, he is going to lecture me, I asked him a question to defend myself:
"What would you do?"
He looked me in the eye and said: "In the case I don't have the $100k needed for this purchase, I would look for someone who is interested in the car, and sell the car to the 3rd person for $200k. In the process, I would make $100k for myself, help my friend sell his car, and help the 3rd person find a Ferrari at a great price."
Win, Win, and Win! each person in the exchange has benefited from the transaction... I was so amazed how my mentor can come up with an idea that costs him nothing, and benefits all parties involved.
When I was presented with the problem, my immediate response was that I don't have the money. However, my mentor would use his wisdom, and come up with ingenious solutions.
My mentor, saw how amazed I was, continued to give me more of his lecture...
"You see James? It is not the lack of resources that defines the rich and the poor, it is the lack of resourcefulness."
You are poor because your mind is stagnant, it doesn't turn, and it also doesn't grow. When you face a problem, you said you can't afford it. Instead of saying you can't afford it, maybe you should say "how can you afford it?"
Being the coolest mentor he is, he sad back down on his chair and started reading again without waiting for my response.
When we're presented with a problem in life, we often responded by saying we can't do this, we can't do that, it is impossible.
Perhaps, instead of saying it's impossible, we can say how can I make it possible?
When we face a problem, and we tell ourselves: "I can't do it." It is called a passive mindset. It is inactive, lazy, and no growth.
On the other hand, when we face a problem, we tell ourselves: "How can I do it?" It is called a growth mindset. It is active, creative, and progressive.
To most people, it is much easier to say "I can't do it." because it takes no effort. It involves no thinking, creativity, or work. The path of least resistance. The easy and paved road.
Just because we think this way, our mind doesn't grow, our progress is little, and we lack creativity.
We stick to our nine to five job, we take the safest path, we can't afford the Ferrari, and we don't have $100k.
Ultimately, we stay poor...
For your reference only...
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