"What if I'm wrong?"
One secret of wealthy people that I share in the book Systematic Wealth is that they often -- sometimes obsessively -- ask themselves, "What if I'm wrong?"
As a result, they tend to be modest yet self-assured.
Warren Buffett, for instance, constantly seeks to "correct" himself and his thinking. George Soros, the billionaire investor, also admits he finds it easy to recognize his mistakes.
In contrast, most people (and I'm the first to be guilty as charged!) tend toward the opposite. We tend to believe, most of the time, that we are correct in our thinking.
We absolutely do not doubt the validity of our way of thinking. We may say we are "open-minded", but the truth is, once new information enters our mind, our subconscious (which is driven by our life experiences, our values, our rules and our states of mind) will swiftly reject or ignore those ideas that do not fit with our current understanding of the world or that do not fit our traditional thinking patterns.
Yet, if we are correct about our thinking, especially in economic and financial matters, how come we still have to work for somebody else five days a week? And how come we do not see the end in sight? That is, we foresee having to work for somebody else for the next few decades. Few people indeed have a clear career exit strategy.
This drama of financial entrapment is intensified even more when you read Edward de Bono, who laments that we, in the West, have been brought up to think argumentatively. In other words, we argue and seek to be "right" rather than to create value. We spend our time trying to prove the other party or person wrong, more than we spend time learning about business and economics so we can actually build our value and our wealth.
It seems obvious to me now that unless a person changes his thinking, he/she can simply NOT become successful and rich. Jim Rohn indeed writes that "your wealth is not a function of the economy, but of your philosophy."
As a result, they tend to be modest yet self-assured.
Warren Buffett, for instance, constantly seeks to "correct" himself and his thinking. George Soros, the billionaire investor, also admits he finds it easy to recognize his mistakes.
In contrast, most people (and I'm the first to be guilty as charged!) tend toward the opposite. We tend to believe, most of the time, that we are correct in our thinking.
We absolutely do not doubt the validity of our way of thinking. We may say we are "open-minded", but the truth is, once new information enters our mind, our subconscious (which is driven by our life experiences, our values, our rules and our states of mind) will swiftly reject or ignore those ideas that do not fit with our current understanding of the world or that do not fit our traditional thinking patterns.
Yet, if we are correct about our thinking, especially in economic and financial matters, how come we still have to work for somebody else five days a week? And how come we do not see the end in sight? That is, we foresee having to work for somebody else for the next few decades. Few people indeed have a clear career exit strategy.
This drama of financial entrapment is intensified even more when you read Edward de Bono, who laments that we, in the West, have been brought up to think argumentatively. In other words, we argue and seek to be "right" rather than to create value. We spend our time trying to prove the other party or person wrong, more than we spend time learning about business and economics so we can actually build our value and our wealth.
It seems obvious to me now that unless a person changes his thinking, he/she can simply NOT become successful and rich. Jim Rohn indeed writes that "your wealth is not a function of the economy, but of your philosophy."
posted by Super Peter at 12:27 AM
<< Home