The Money Mindset

Most people would like to be wealthy, right?  I mean, some people are not willing to do the work necessary to get wealthy.  Others do not value money enough to change their lives to get it.  But I think even those folks would agree that if you just handed them the money they would need to be wealthy, they would take it.  Most people would rather be wealthy than not wealthy.

In a recent newsletter, Michael Masterson talked about three ways you can get rich.  Masterson is a multimillionaire (which he is only too happy to tell anyone who will listen) and is the head of Early to Rise (ETR), a publishing company that specializes in publications on wealth creation, investment, business building and health.  ETR is part of the very successful Agora Publishing family of companies.

In the interest of full disclosure, let me say up front that I don’t care much for Masterson or ETR.  Part of it has to do with Masterson’s tone and the overall vibe I get from the company.  They seem less than 100% honest and Masterson himself often seems aloof, uncaring, and even condescending to me.  Also, I had a personal experience with ETR that soured me on the whole company.

Several years ago, I was interested in earning a living through Internet marketing.  Problem was, I didn’t know much about it.  I searched around and found several CD courses I could buy to learn the trade, but it was tough figuring out which one to buy.  Then I came across the ETR Internet Marketing Bootcamp.  The sales literature promised that if I attended the bootcamp, specialists would work with me to craft my own Internet business strategy.  I liked the idea that it was hands-on.  I’d be working directly with another human being who was already experienced in Internet marketing and the plan we came up with would be customized according to my interests and needs.  The program was expensive ($2,500 – $3,000 IIRC), but I convinced myself that the personal attention would make it worthwhile.

The bootcamp sucked.  It was nothing more than three days of Internet marketers taking the stage trying to sell me their latest and greatest product.  The Internet marketers were not in attendance to share their secrets with us.  They were there to sell their ”get rich quick” programs.  And ETR didn’t invite these marketers to the bootcamp to share their secrets.  They invited them there so that they (ETR) could earn a percentage of the marketers’ sales.  And I paid for the priviledge.

My customized Internet business plan turned out to be a binder with a bunch of boiler plate documents telling me how the Internet worked.  The plan they provided consisted of “fill-in the blank” suggestions that were taken directly off a questionnaire I filled out prior to the bootcamp.  It was a waste of money.

At the welcome reception, I met Mary Ellen Tribby, the former publisher of ETR.  She told me about what a great company ETR was and how I was in for a fantastic three days of information and inspiration.  I related this story to one of the ETR employees at dinner that night.  He had had a few drinks before dinner and was feeling loose.  When I told him about my conversation with Mary Ellen he said, “You know what, Lou?  Mary Ellen did exactly what our whole company does.  We make money by telling people what they want to hear.”

The highlight of the bootcamp was supposed to be a talk given by Michael Masterson himself.  I had to admit, I had never heard of Masterson before the bootcamp, but they made such a big deal out of him that I figured he must be someone pretty important.

Masterson was introduced as a self-made multimillionaire (he was talked about that way so often I thought it might actually be part of his name) and the genius behind ETR.  Masterson took the stage and I was underwhelmed.  He gave a rambling talk, but really didn’t say much.  I learned that he enjoyed fine cigars, expensive wines, and fast sportscars.  I also got the impression that he had had a few too many cocktails the night before, but of course I was just guessing.  The point was that he talked a lot and didn’t say anything.

That’s my rather long-winded caveat.  However, let me also say that I do belive Masterson is very wealthy.  In addition to running ETR, he is an author who has sold a ton of books.  I also believe that ETR is a very successful company.  I don’t care for them on a personasl level, but I think they know what they are talking about when they actually talk about something substantive.  So back to Masterson’s newsletter and the three ways he says people can become wealthy.

The three ways to get wealthy, according to Michael Masterson are:

• Scrimping and Saving — Guaranteed to work if you start young enough and put enough money away into an interest bearing account or instrument.  Involves sacrifice and a lot of time.  This is the method millionaires featured in the book The Millionaire Next Door used to become wealthy.
• Hoping and Praying — Examples would include winning the lottery, finding a Picasso cheap at a garage sale, getting a large inheritance, etc.  This method often takes no work and very little time.  It is also very unlikely to ever to happen to you.
• Earning and Investing — This is the method used by the great industrialists.  It takes a lot of hard work, but not necessarily a lot of sacrifice.  It takes time (Masterson suggests one to seven years), but not as long as scrimping and saving.  It’s not a sure thing, but it’s much more likely that you’ll become wealthy by earning and investing than it is through hoping and praying.

Masterson’s three examples got me thinking about something else I read recently.  Peter Shallard wrote a guest post recently on Jonathan Field’s blog.  In it, he laid out the case for taking money off the top of your priorty list and replacing it with freedom and impact.  According to Shallard:

“Just focusing on making dollars doesn’t work. Every successful entrepreneur will confirm that success happens by adding value. In other words, by having some kind of positive impact on your customers.

By asking “How’m I gonna make money?” people try to side-step the requirement to create impact by adding value. We can see various attempts at this shortcut all around us, in the spammers and other con-artists who litter the internet.

Few of them make money legally and none of them last. Why? Because impact is a mandatory requirement for successful business.

You simply can’t sustainably maintain a business without creating an impact – even if it’s a small or accidental one.”

I’m not suggesting that Masterson would necessarily disagree with Shallard’s point.  But the fact remains that Masterson’s methodology requires a focus on money.  Regardless of which of Masterson’s three methods you choose to follow, you will necessarily have to focus on money. 

After spending the past ten years of my life chasing money and having money as my main focus, I can tell you that it doesn’t work.  Instead, find something you love; something you have a passion for; something that will allow you to have an impact on the world, and pursue that.  Whatever that is, chase that; make it the focus of your efforts, and you are much more likely to come away with money and satisfaction, rather than strictly chasing money and coming home empty-handed.