The Attitudes of the Wealthy Series: 28-30

As you know, one of the most important keys to creating wealth is the right attitude. That is why I decided to share with you in a series of articles the Attitudes of the Wealthy. This is the tenth article of that series.

Attitudes of the Wealthy #28: Opportunities versus Obstacles

First in this series today we will talk about how the wealthy focus on opportunities versus obstacles.

What I am realizing as I write this series of attitudes of the wealthy, and I reflect on my own journey from broke to wealthy, many of these attitudes I adopted are intertwined.

In the first email of the series I spoke about how the wealthy are willing to ask for help, and they turn to experts for guidance. They do not expect to know everything themselves. And this ties into the topic of the previous attitude about control versus hope.

Another example is looking at the Big Picture first and the Details second. I can see how I focused on the opportunity from buying multi-unit real estate instead of the obstacles of not having enough money, which is the topic for today.

At the same time I realized I have some control issues, and that plays into both where I invest, and how willing I am to delegate certain tasks to others. Hopefully you can see how there are both complements and contradictions to some attitudes. Nothing is all black and white; everything has shades of gray. (But not 50 shades!)

Living in Los Angeles I could see we had a growing rental market. Regardless of the regulations or obstacles to starting a business here, people want to live here. Yes, it is tough if you are poor. Yes, there can be overwhelming regulations to operate multi-unit rental housing, but the benefits and opportunities outweigh the obstacles.

The opportunity of investing in rental real estate was to see properties increase in value and for rental income to increase. The obstacle was that I had no money to invest after two divorces and a business failure. The opportunity was to pay myself first and not attempt to do everything myself.

Attitudes of the Wealthy #29: Delegate or Outsource

Next, we will talk about how the wealthy delegate and outsource certain functions of their life and/or work.

In an earlier email of the series I said that the wealthy do not have a lack of time because they set priorities. And I mentioned when they have several things that need to be done in a limited amount of time, they will delegate certain tasks to an assistant, or hire someone who may be more skilled at the task. The wealthy pick the task with the highest return on their time.

Here is the paragraph from earlier in this series – Attitude #26: Time versus Priorities):

And, I think I discussed in the wealthy attitude series of emails that someone else can go to the post office and bank for you. Who says you are the one who has to go?

You may have thought, “He didn’t write about the attitude of delegation.” Well, it looks like you are right; I didn’t write about that until today. So, here is that conversation and why someone else should do some of the things that you might be doing.

You might be able to learn how to use Infusionsoft or 1ShoppingCart, or Lead Pages, or anyone of the myriad of programs that can support an online business. You could learn graphic design for PowerPoint, or typeset a book. But where is your highest and most profitable use of your time?

If you coach a client and earn $100 per hour, or you manage real estate and that earns you $200 per hour, or you practice law and bill out at $400 per hour, should you transcribe your own notes? Would you pay someone $100 per hour to transcribe your notes? That would be a tremendous waste of money when you can hire a quality transcription service for $35 per hour.

Would you pay someone $100-400 per hour to take packages to the post office or operate Infusionsoft when you can pay someone $25-35 per hour to do that for you?

If you are doing those tasks, then you are using your time ineffectively. It makes more sense for you to make a sales call, book a coaching client, or install orthodontia than to spend that same amount of time going to the post office. You can even outsource your marketing by hiring virtual assistants for as little as $5-10 per hour to do that for you.

This is how the wealthy think. This is the attitude that they operate by to increase their wealth. They do what they do best. They use their time to work on the tasks that make the most money, or the tasks that an assistant cannot do.

Now, if you are looking to scale your business you need to train others to do the functions that you will no longer do. Or you can hire someone more competent than you to do the training. These new employees could handle your accounting, sales calls, coaching calls, computer repair, email creation, book appointments or set up radio interviews.

It is your business. You get to choose what you will do and what you can delegate or outsource.

What are the first three tasks you would delegate to someone else? (And it can even be who would clean your house or cook your food.)

Attitudes of the Wealthy #30: The Power of a Decision

To wrap up this article in the series we will talk about how the wealthy understand the power of a decision.

Recently I had the pleasure to tour the southern part of the United States with my wife. While in Nashville, TN, we met with my wife’s nephew, Jeremy, and his wife, Melissa. Both of them are doctors, but they came from far different backgrounds. This email is about a decision that Melissa made when she was a teenager.

Melissa was raised in Kentucky and her family was poor. When I mean poor, I mean dirt poor. She had two siblings, multiple step-siblings, and only one nice dress that she could wear to church each week. All the other children could see it was the same dress each week. And as kids do, they made fun of how poor this family was. I am sure you can imagine the hurt.

They lived in the countryside and too far away from the city to have city services like trash pick-up. So they had two choices, pay a small fee to dump trash in the landfill or burn it. She refers to her step-dad as the “trash burning red neck.” He would wait until the school bus dropped Melissa off at home in the afternoon to burn the trash. This way all the other kids could see how poor they were.

This was her mom’s third husband and not exactly a nice man. Besides the embarrassing trash burning, in one instance Melissa found this beautiful multi-colored lizard. When she showed it to her step-dad, he crushed it with his foot.

At age two and a half she and one sister were sent to live with her grandparents. For a couple of years, until age five, Melissa was influenced by a family that could show a better future. When she was sent back to her mom she became consciously aware of her poverty and did not want that for her life.

Melissa noticed that when her mom graduated as a nurse the rich people were doctors. It was then at age 13 that Melissa decided to become a doctor and was encouraged by her mom. As you might expect, this decision was not encouraged by other members of her red-neck family. The rest of her own family made fun of her because she had goals. They told her she would end up just like the rest of the family; poor and pregnant.

Instead, Melissa made a plan to reach her goals. At age 14 she started to work at Taco Bell. Before she turned 16 she was the manager. She purchased her own car and two years later moved into her own apartment. She applied to college and worked to support herself. She took one year off to work as an emergency room technician to save more money for medical school.

In the required essay when she applied to medical school she wrote about why she should be admitted and included information on her past and the decision she made at age 13. She was accepted and graduated as a doctor with a specialty in obstetrics and gynecology (OB-GYN).

Melissa met her husband when they were both medical students. They now have two children, a lovely home in Nashville, and two excellent incomes.

The wealthy understand there is power in a decision. Melissa made a decision at age 13 to become a doctor. I made a decision when I was broke at age 50. With only 15 years left before most people retire, I had to get busy and create a secure future. For me the plan was to invest in multi-unit rental properties and get the bulk of the funding from other people.

You can make a powerful decision at any point in your life and alter your future. Any struggle you have comes from not making a decision.

What decision have you avoided that you are willing to make now?

To your prosperity,

Rennie