how to be rich

Today I am going to write something about being rich in a wealthy sense. I am one of those people with "rich" imagination, and I often find myself wondering and pondering in that direction. Here is what I come up with on those journeys.

Most of the people I know ask themselves this obvious question - how to become rich? While this is certainly something to ponder about and an often brought out topic around any table, I think this is the wrong question to ask. The real question should be how to be rich? Bare with me.

Let's face it, if you want to get rich there is literally nothing stopping you other then your own will to do so. Books have been written on the matter, everyone talks about it and it's true. Being rich is easy just like riding a bicycle, and hundreds of thousands of millioners in the world prove it. On average they are not much smarter then the rest of the population, if having brains is what you thought takes to be rich. No, they are only more persistent and more willing to be rich then others (I wrote more about the topic in Quest for Financial Freedom and Personal Financial Statement).

If you still haven't decided to become rich, the power of imagination can easily give you the moment. You can imagine you are the richest person in the world. Richer than Bill Gates or the Sultan of Brunei. You have so much money you do not know what to do with it. And while dreaming about it, the joy usually lasts very short. Usually it very quickly becomes a feeling that I can best describe as sadness. A state of emotional emptiness because all your wishes, all your dreams, all the exotic houses and beautiful yachts now belong to you. There is nothing that motivates you to go further.

And this happens to a lot of really rich guys. What this turns to is often not very pretty. There is a brilliant saying that goes like this: "Idle hands are a devil's playground". You know what rich people usually do and why rest of the world usually do not like them.

The problem is most of the rich people do not know how to be rich. And what being rich is really about. A God's gift of money that should be used for changing the world for a better place. A lot of rich people fail to realize this.

World poverty map, showing percentage of country population where people live for under a $1 a day

I often see scenes in life that make my heart weep. Museums with priceless history inside, rotting, the employers receiving minimum wage while giving their whole hearts and lives in. And the city's mayor for a few years earns millions. One percentage of the money would help the museum shine, and make the world a better place. But no. This is rarely seen, if at all. Young competent people selling eggs in front of a store on freezing winter, because they are unemployed and need to feed their families. I often think that man could plant trees on miles of territory in proper hands, yet he fell down to selling eggs for couple of cents of profit.

Who can teach the rich how to be rich? Who will? I do not know. I am not sure the present rich can be changed. And this is the conclusion I always make. We, you and I need to become rich before it is too late for this world. We need to use the riches to enrichen the world not only ourselves. The wealth should be used to bring joy to us but others as well, equally important.