What do you REALLY want from life?

I’m talking about your big goals. The ones that are so big you’re embarrassed to talk about them.  The ones where you think if you ever said out loud how much money you want to earn or what kind of lifestyle you want that people would be shocked.

We can often be rubbish at talking about money.  We don’t want to be seen as greedy.  And historically there has been something very disapproved of about people saying that they want to be rich.

I know that the amount of money I want to earn each year is well above the national average wage and that’s exactly as it should be.  My goals are my goals and although I am 100% committed to them, yes they are gigantic and yes there is still some hesitancy about talking about them online.

I think that a lot of us have a really negative perception of what it is like to be a rich person, based on people we know or maybe even films that we have watched.

This is an interesting journal prompt.  Grab a pen and paper now and write down all the rich people are statements you can think of.

Go.

What did you write?

• Rich people are mean
• Rich people are selfish
• Rich people are ……..

Did you write anything positive?

So if you have these negative feelings about what rich people are then why do you want to be one?

This is where you need a change in perception.  Having huge goals, wanting to be rich - none of this is bad.

You need to reframe in you head what it means to be rich and then take action.

So if you started to believe that

• Rich people are generous
• Rich people give to charity
• Rich people employee people and so create jobs
• Rich people are able to help other people

Does that make it easier to admit that you want to be rich?

I had a client once who wanted to make 1 million in a year.  But she was so embarrassed to say that out loud.  We worked out that in order to do that she had to help 2000 women set up their own business.  Suddenly that was a goal that she was not afraid to shout from the rooftops.

Never mind that helping 2000 women set up their own business would make her the 1 million she wanted.  She wasn’t able to stand up and feel as though she could get her family, friends and customers excited for her goal of making that much money - but the goal of changing 2000 lives?  That’s different.

How could you reframe your goal to make it more socially acceptable?

Or are you one of the rare people who is able to stand up and shout about their money goal without shame?  If so that’s brilliant and I wish there were more people like you around.  (I also secretly wish I was a bit more like you as well!)

There is nothing to be ashamed of in wanting to be rich.  If you want to help poor people then the first thing you need to do is to not be one of them.  Stand up and be counted, make the money that you want and then go and change the world with it.

That’s what money is there for!

Related: Helene Hadsell's business lessons