I recently realized that one of the reasons I’m not yet wealthy is that I have never wanted to be. Not that God doesn’t want to bless me, not that Nigeria is hard, just that I never opened myself up to wealth.
Do you really want to be wealthy? This sounds like a question to which most people would answer yes. Without thinking about the question, I would answer yes too.
Only upon recent introspection did I realize that my relationship with money was not exactly healthy.
It just didn’t feel right to want lots of money. It felt unspiritual, like serving mammon. And it took me a long time to recognize that this was what I believed. Oh, I knew Bible verses like “Let Jehovah be magnified who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant”, “I am Jehovah your God who gives you the power to make wealth”, and I even saw how extravagantly God blessed His people, from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to Solomon, David and Jabez.
Yet, I could never bring myself to desire wealth because it just felt wrong.
The result of this, as you may have guessed if you understand the power of the subconscious mind, is that I passed opportunities over repeatedly. Even when I took the opportunities that fell into my lap, I shortchanged myself constantly.
Last year, I met a group of very successful people, including millionaires who were willing to mentor me. The more open they were to teach me about creating wealth, the more I dragged my feet, and that’s when I realized something was terribly wrong with my money mindset. They were ready to teach me wealth principles and ethics, and I just wasn’t open to it.
One day, one of them asked me how I intended to fund all the plans for the charity that I had shared with her, and I said I planned to collect donations from people. That’s right; instead of creating wealth I preferred to go around soliciting contributions.
I wouldn’t admit it at the time, but I didn’t really want to be wealthy. It was something of an unspiritual goal for me. Deep down, I wasn’t okay with wanting money.
Only when I faced this truth, could I finally start to purge myself of the erroneous notions that held me back. As my money mindset changed, my life started to change. And the best thing about my journey to becoming a millionaire is the woman I’m having to become. Wealth begins in the mind, and you can’t be a 500k woman with a 50k mindset.
Beyond identifying how to make money by honing my other skills and talents in a way that allows me to offer value for money, I have identified people who have walked my chosen path to wealth (everyone has a different path) and I am now open to learning from them and allowing them to help me.
I am now reviewing opportunities I passed over in the past, understanding exactly why and how I passed them over, and strategizing on reopening communication lines so as to salvage any of them I can. I am also assimilating the importance of relationships and networks when it comes to building and sustaining wealth.
By setting realistic financial goals and targets, I can now make sure my efforts are commensurate with where I want to go.
Most importantly, I am at peace with wanting wealth. I no longer baulk at affirming my prosperity and abundance. I understand that money not only brings projects, dreams and visions to life, but the lack of it is a huge distraction from the actual business of living. Money isn’t really that interesting; why not take control and have it sorted out, so you have the freedom to focus on the things that truly are?
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