Debunking the 8 Common Lies About Building Wealth and Getting Rich Quick
Building wealth and achieving financial independence is a dream many people share. However, the journey to financial freedom is often clouded by myths and misconceptions that can derail our progress. In this blog post, I will debunk eight common lies about building wealth and getting rich quickly, using insights from my recent YouTube video which you can watch below.
Lie #1: Becoming Rich Will Make You Happy
Many people believe that getting rich quickly will automatically lead to happiness. However, being happy is an inner journey, not an outer one. If you don’t address the underlying problems in your life that money can’t solve, those issues will persist even when you have wealth.
What do I mean by superficial needs being met? You can buy love and admiration, but it will never be genuine. This often leads to grandiose insecurity and the unhealthy wielding of power to serve self-interests. Take, for example, rappers who flaunt their wealth and women as a way to seek validation and acceptance. This often stems from deep-seated insecurities and results in difficulty forming stable relationships and trusting friendships.
The goal should be to achieve financial security to extend comfort into other areas of your life. It's crucial to define what financial security looks like for you personally, outside of societal influences and propaganda.
Lie #2: You Need to Have a Lot of Money (or a High-Paying Job) to Build Wealth
One of the biggest misconceptions is that a high income automatically translates to wealth.
While earning a substantial salary can certainly help, it’s not the sole determinant of wealth. Many high-income earners live paycheck to paycheck because they don’t manage their money wisely. Wealth is more about how you manage and grow your money, rather than how much you earn.
I used to believe that a high income was the key to wealth. But after diving deep into financial education and reading books like "Rich Dad Poor Dad," I realized that building wealth is more about making smart financial decisions and investing wisely. For instance, you could have a high-earning doctor who struggles with debt because of poor money management but then an average school teacher with a modest salary who builds a comfortable nest egg through disciplined saving and investing.
What’s most important is that you decide what being rich even means to you. What does that look like in your life? Once you figure this out and determine the number required, you'll need to start investing. This is the only way to truly build wealth and buy back time.
Lie #3: All Debt is Bad
It's a common belief that all debt is bad, but this isn't entirely true. Sometimes debt can be leveraged to increase your buying power and secure future income from assets. For instance, taking out a loan to start a business, pursuing a degree, or purchasing a home can be good uses of debt.
However, there's a risk involved. If you don't get a job after school, can't afford your mortgage, or if your business fails, you're stuck with the debt. Therefore, it's crucial to limit your need to acquire debt as much as possible or find ways to have someone else cover the debt for you. For example, you could invest in a rental property where tenants pay your mortgage or rent out your car when you're not using it to earn extra income.
In my experience, I have leveraged my debt to grow my business to $10,000 months by investing in different courses and business coaching programs that gave me a boost in scaling my business, so that everything paid off in the end.
Lie #4: Buying a Home is the Only Way
Ramit Sethi has become a leading and controversial financial expert because he was at the time the rare person who advocated against purchasing a home as an investment. He often emphasizes that you don’t HAVE to purchase a home to build wealth. Sometimes, it could be the worst financial decision you make, as the expenses and interest incurred over the years might outweigh the appreciation you would accumulate.
For example, most people focus on the appreciation of their homes as a valuable reason to invest (and rightfully so!). Who would want to put their money into something that didn’t? Like a car? Anyways… let’s say you earn over $500,000 in equity over 20 years. Congratulations! However, did you stop to think about how much interest you’ve paid on that house over the 20 years, not to mention the amount of renovations and repairs that come with owning a home? Probably not.
It’s important to crunch the numbers because often we look at all the shiny aspects of making certain investments but fail to look at the guck below the surface.
Owning a home may not be the best investment if interest and other expenses add up to or surpass the amount you would earn in appreciation over the years. So instead of focusing all your eggs on one basket, there are multiple other ways to invest that you should explore i.e. stocks, crypto, art, antiques, and collectibles, foreign exchange.
For instance, I've diversified my investments to include not just real estate but also stocks and cryptocurrency, which has allowed me to balance risk and reward while building my wealth.
Lie #5: Some People Are Just Good With Money, I’m Not
Being good with money sometimes is a matter of privilege, but mainly a matter of skill. Even privileged people lose it all because they are not knowledgeable on how to manage their finances, leading to missed opportunities or poor decisions that are hard to recover from.
This is why I always say to be mindful of your beliefs. Is the story you are telling yourself about money true? Are you not good, or have you just not applied yourself diligently to become better at said task or discipline? Be honest.
The moral of the story: Educate and empower yourself. Nobody is born good at anything. In the book "Bounce” by Matthew Syed, it is explained how most geniuses we admire in the world are so smart because they studied and practiced their craft for long hours. That’s it.
Nobody is born a genius, but everybody can be.
Lie #6: Rich People All Look the Same and Want the Same Things
You don’t have to have certain "it" things or experiences to be rich.
Being rich is defined by your net worth (income minus liabilities), not by the type of car you drive, the home you live in, or the clothes you wear. Society creates illusions that we are pressured to live up to, but why get caught up in the toxic cycle of standards when what is accepted is constantly changing? It will eventually burn you out on all levels - mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
If you create your own understanding of what wealth looks like, you won’t fall prey to the instability that the media tries to sell you, and you are more likely to become even wealthier. For example, Mark Zuckerberg wears basic clothing and, even if expensive, doesn’t appear flashy. Some people have immense wealth but dress modestly or look poor, and you would never know they carry a large amount of wealth on them.
Like that Lil Wayne song goes… “real G’s move in silence like Lasgana”.
Lie #7: Invest in Stocks to Get Rich Quick
Investment should be seen as a long-term strategy first before a short-term one. It is risk-averse and smart to do so, and anyone can start investing with minimal amounts. The earlier you start, the more time your money has to grow.
Many of the millionaires and billionaires that we see today, did not come from wealth and if anything were poor or middle-class like the rest of us. According to Forbes, 70% of America’s current 400 richest people made their fortunes entirely from scratch. We somehow like to believe that most rich people had things handed down to them, but often the case they had to work for it.
That is why any goal worth having, which is usually hard to achieve, most likely takes time. Love, health, and money—all things people want—take years of self-discovery and refinement to achieve. In my journey, I've learned that patient, consistent investing yields better results than seeking quick gains. My long-term strategy of having a balanced portfolio and investments in index funds has steadily grown, proving the value of a patient approach.
Lie #8: Hard Work Breeds Success
Hard work creates opportunities for success, but smart work gets you there in less time and with more ease. Many people work hard but still don’t have the tools or knowledge to leverage their income and opportunities for greater success.
We also tend to forget about factors outside of our wealth-building journey that can have a negative OR positive impact on our ability to mindfully build wealth. Your environment and social circles can enrich your experience or mentally bring you down. When making important decisions for your future when you are in an optimal state of mind and balanced state of emotion, you are more likely to make better decisions.
So what I’m saying is… ditch that f-boy you’ve been in a situationship with, pick up a new hobby, or move to your dream city. Don’t underestimate these other areas of your life.
Also, learn how to stack, instead of recycle income-generating opportunities. By focusing on efficiency and leveraging existing and evolving technology (like AI), I've been able to maximize my productivity along with financial gains. For instance, automating my savings and investments ensures consistent growth without requiring constant attention, allowing me to focus on other wealth-building activities.
Conclusion
Building wealth and achieving financial independence is possible for anyone willing to put in the effort and educate themselves. By debunking these common lies, we can pave the way for a more informed and empowered approach to wealth building. Remember, financial success is a journey that requires patience, dedication, and a willingness to learn.
If you found these insights helpful, watch the full YouTube video HERE for a more detailed explanation and real-life examples from my journey. Don’t forget to share this article with your network, as well as your thoughts in the comments below!
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