“If your only goal is to become rich, you will never achieve it.” – John D. Rockefeller
Why do we want to be rich? Is it because we want a nice house or a fast car? Is it because we want to live a life of luxury and have influence? Prestige? Love? Contribution? Power?
The answer to all of these is no, these are not the real reasons why anyone desires wealth. You may be thinking, “Now hold on, that is exactly why I would want wealth!” However, if you think about it carefully, the desire to be rich comes down to only one thing: how we think it will make us feel.
Perhaps you want to be rich so you don’t have to stress over bills or providing for the future. Maybe you long for riches so you can feel a sense of relief at not having to worry about money. Others may hope that money will attract people to them so they won’t feel lonely or so they can feel safe.
Someone else might want a large house and a fancy car because it makes them feel respected, or valued, or envied. Behind every desire lies a feeling, and the desire for financial wealth is no different.
This is why many people become wealthy, yet remain unhappy and unsatisfied. Money did not make them feel the way they expected.
It is extremely important to distinguish between feeling rich and actually having so much money that most people would characterize you as rich. We have all seen people with enormous amounts of money who are emotionally and spiritually bankrupt. And we have met those with little to no money who clearly feel that they are truly wealthy. Money can help, but it is not the source of true feelings of wealth.
It is obvious that money can bring some advantages in life. But, how would you like the ability to feel rich at any moment? I am going to show you how to feel rich instantly. And I am going to prove to you that, in fact, you are extremely rich.
Perhaps you don’t seek riches, and I can appreciate that. However, I think everyone could benefit from feeling rich. Feeling rich is the feeling of having more than enough, of having abundance. Look around our world and you will see that abundance brings out the best in the human spirit.
Where there is lack (the opposite of abundance) there will be competition, crime and struggle over resources. Lack does not bring out the best in people, but abundance does. When you know that you have enough, you don’t need to take from anyone else. Better yet, you can give.
We can all benefit from a world where more and more people feel rich.
When you feel rich, something very valuable accompanies this feeling: gratitude. In fact, gratitude and feeling wealthy are two ways to express the same idea: having more than enough. Filling yourself up with gratitude is the surest way to live a joyful and abundant life.
Proof That You Are Rich Already
Allow me to provide you with clear, concrete proof that you are actually rich already.
First, you have the ability to read in English. Most people alive cannot do that. And the majority of people throughout history have not been able to read. You can read a language that, more than any other in history, can be used in so many different countries and for so many different purposes. There is an enormous amount of wealth in English, in the form of writings, waiting for you to learn.
You, unlike the vast majority of those in history, have access to the internet. If knowledge is power, than you have more power than 99% humans who ever lived. You have endless opportunity to advance your mind.
You have eyes to read this. If you are listening to this you have ears to hear it. Not everyone does.
Did you buy anything at a store recently? You live in an age where you can do that. You do not have to go out and hunt or grow all of your food. You do not have to spend days stalking prey and killing it with an arrow or a stick.
Think about all of the materials used to create this computer or phone. Consider all the minerals mined and materials developed, distributed and arranged to form this machine. You did not have to learn how to construct this machine, you did not need to learn about electricity, circuits, programming and algorithms. Yet, you benefit from generations of geniuses who devoted countless years to developing what you enjoy today.
The salt that you use in your food, did you go down to the salt mines yourself and haul it up on your back? How about your clothing? Did you grow the cotton or manufacture the polyester and operate the machinery to form it into what is now clothing you?
Think about your heart. Think about how you didn’t have to do anything to earn it. You didn’t have to buy it or trade for it. It was a gift. Your lungs were too. Your whole body was free.
You are the product of millions of years of evolution and trial and error. You are the most advanced species alive today and, perhaps in all of history.
Contemplate all of the breathtaking beauty in nature.
Can you walk? Not everyone can. Do you have fingers and toes? Do you have a roof over your head? Did you eat today? Not everybody will have food today.
I could go on and on for hours providing proof that you are in fact exceedingly wealthy. And feel free to continue to think about all of the reasons that you are truly rich.
Now, how does that feel? Doesn’t it feel great to focus on what you have? That feeling is called gratitude. And if you want to feel wealthy throughout your years of life, think and live with gratitude.
After all, what is wealth but a feeling that you have more than you need?
Of course, not everyone on this planet is wealthy, yet if you are reading this, you most certainly are. And there is nothing wrong with wanting to expand your wealth. It is good to grow and progress and I don’t mean to tell you to just simply sit around all day feeling grateful and doing nothing at all.
However, if you maintain a feeling of gratitude in your heart, as much as possible throughout the day, you will live your life feeling those feelings that people work so tirelessly to achieve (and often never do).
Why pursue money in the hopes it will make you feel rich? Feel rich now, yet make money so you can use it to further expand your joy and the joy of others.
So, you may ask at this point, “How can I make myself feel grateful at any time?” The first way is what I just showed you: simply list off all of the things that you have in life. Simply, contemplate all you have to be grateful for.
Of course, you will also be able to find proof that you are not rich (every single person in the world could), yet why make yourself feel poor? Why focus on lack? It will do nothing but hurt you and those around you.
Focus on your riches. Pay attention to all the reasons why you are fortunate. Find as much as you can to be thankful for and you will fill yourself with feelings of gratitude and abundance. And the more you do it, the more your brain will automatically think thoughts of gratitude.
Another Way to Feel Rich Instantly
Another way to feel rich instantly is to use the power of your imagination. There is no reason that you cannot create in your mind visions of beauty, love and abundance. In your imagination, you can literally create anything you can think of. And, more importantly, you can feel what you imagine.
You can build up in your mind that which you desire: a beautiful house, a sunset on the beach, the ideal partner, yourself as a wise old person, riding through the forest on a horse, your perfect job.
You may protest that your imagination isn’t real. However, think about your dreams. While dreaming, it feels just as real as any waking experience. Often times, it is so real that we feel jarred and disoriented upon emerging from a dream.
Look at a child, so deeply submerged in their imagination that you need to yell or shake them to get their attention. Yet, while they are imagining so clearly, are they not smiling the same smile as if they were fully aware of the world around them? The feeling is the same, the joy is the same, and the excitement is the same.
Your imagination is an unbelievable gift. Every invention and human creation that we enjoy in our lives today was originally formed in imagination. Don’t squander it. Use it and enjoy it.
If you want to feel grateful, simply close your eyes and imagine anything you can conceive of that gives you the feeling of gratitude. If you feel it, it is real.
One More Way to Feel Rich
As I mentioned in a previous post on positive thinking, there is a very simple and effective sentence you can say anytime you want to evoke feelings of gratitude. Simply say the following, out loud, a few times:
“Thank you for everything. I have no complaint whatsoever.”
It doesn’t matter to whom or to what you are addressing, simply say it out loud and allow yourself to feel the meaning of the words. Look around you as you say it and notice all the beauty surrounding you.
If you want to feel rich, at any time, always remember the lesson that many rich and poor people have shown us over and over: it is not money that makes us feel rich. Feelings of abundance, wealth and gratitude come from within you. It comes from your thoughts. It comes from your attitude.