WHY ARE WE SO SCARED OF MONEY?
What are your beliefs about money? What were your parents’ beliefs growing up? We’ve all been conditioned with various limiting beliefs around wealth, what we need to do to attain it, and whether we’re deserving of having it. On the road to prosperity, we have to unpack a lot of untruths about money.
I firmly believe that we all have the power to change our circumstances for the better, but sometimes we fail even if we have the best of intentions. It’s not because we’re lazy. It’s not because we’re not smart enough. It’s not even because of our environment, although that does play a big part in what we think and what opportunities we have.
The more I talk to financial giants like Grant Cardone, the more I realize that education—or miseducation—is behind our failure to get our heads above water. It’s why so many of us struggle with money and deal with constant anxiety around having it and losing it.
Grant says that what we’re taught about money, even if it was well-intentioned, isn’t always helpful. We should question what we learn, not because we need to throw out everything we’ve ever been taught, but because we need to be open to new perspectives. They could be the key to surpassing our limitations.
Who Is Grant Cardone?
Grant Cardone is the billionaire CEO of Cardone Enterprises and Cardone Capital, an international speaker, entrepreneur, author of The 10X Rule, and creator of 21 best-selling business programs. He owns and operates seven privately held companies and a $3.6 billion portfolio of multifamily properties. He was named the #1 Marketer by Forbes Magazine and is the founder of the 10X Growth Movement and the 10X Growth Conference.
Grant teaches people to transcend worn-out money myths, overcome limiting beliefs, and never settle for mediocrity. He emphasizes taking control of your money and your life, removing luck from your wealth generation strategy, and striving for true financial freedom. Grant believes that it’s our right to lead happy, wealthy, successful lives.
Whether he’s teaching sales skills, coaching clients in mindset mastery, or revealing his best-held secrets in his books, Grant delivers high-value content and information to help people avoid costly mistakes and level up their business and prosperity strategy.
How Limiting Beliefs Create a Scarcity Mentality
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Money is the root of all evil.” How do you think a belief like that will impact your ability to make money? Whether it’s on a conscious or unconscious level, it can create resistance or fear around wealth. The same goes for beliefs like, “Money doesn’t buy happiness,” or, “You have to work hard and make sacrifices to make money.” One implies that money isn’t actually important, and the other equates it with an unpleasant and painful experience.
Grant Cardone knows about limiting beliefs all too well. He grew up with an acute awareness of debt and scarcity that lingers to this day. There’s no doubt that Grant has done massive amounts of his own inner work to release himself from limiting beliefs around wealth. As a result, he’s one of the most financially successful people I’ve ever known. But the work never stops. He says that to this day, he still looks at every receipt to see how much things cost, even though he can easily afford what he’s buying.
“I was always scared of money. … I was terrified of it. [Today,] I still look at the bill for everything. If something costs something, I wanna know how much it was. [I’ll always think] ‘How much is it?’ I’m gonna ask that question … whether it matters or not. It doesn’t matter where I get in my life. I don’t think I’m ever gonna be free of ‘How much was that?’ … I want to know how much it was, because when I grew up, you had to know what things cost.” – Grant Cardone
Grant isn’t alone in having this experience — not by a long shot. So many people do have wealth, but no matter how much they have, they’re still easily triggered into worrying they could lose it. Their conditioned response is never to let their guard down around finances. They’re so used to stressing about money that they can’t relax — they’re waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“Very few of us ever, ever [get] influence or power. Once you get it, you’re like, ‘Hey, what do I do with this? … Am I [going] to do the right things with it?’ And so I think people withhold [money from] themselves because … we’re not educated about money. We don’t know where it comes from. We have a lot of misinformation about it. Our parents terrified us. [They told us,] ‘Money doesn’t grow in trees. Save your money.’ … Our parents told us because they were encumbered with the same kind of [beliefs] around money: ‘I don’t know how to get it. I don’t know how to keep it.’” – Grant Cardone
Grant believes that people are prone to hoarding because of these limiting beliefs. He even brought up a family member who would work hard, save, and bury money in the backyard! While having money saved for a rainy day can be a lifesaver, being fearful and hoarding money isn’t healthy. Not only is it not enjoyable, but it’s not necessary. Likewise, while we should be careful with how we spend, we need to make that sense of caution work for us. We need to be able to control it.
“Because he worked so hard, [my dad] was so like, ‘Oh I finally got it. I finally made it. Now I gotta protect it.’ He got stuck in the second piece, keeping it. … [Hoarding is driven by emotion]. It’s not a rational thing. … [And even today], it’s tough for me to buy blue jeans that aren’t on sale. I’m like, ‘This is stupid, man.’ … [It’s] really stupid that I even worry about it. I think you should worry about it. … But there needs to be [a way to] turn that switch off.” – Grant Cardone
Grant pointed out that while most people believe overspending is the biggest problem Americans have, many have the opposite problem in this country. A fear-based mentality drives people not only to work long hours but to stockpile resources. So instead of investing money in assets that can bring in passive income and grow over time, people sit on what they have just in case there’s an emergency.
Remember friends, fear and stress are corrosive to our well-being, our happiness, and our ability to achieve greatness. We need to maintain a balance between having a healthy sense of frugality and realism with an openness to taking risks. We’ll never become exceptional if we play it safe all the time.
How to Shift Your Approach to Money
Let’s take a common limiting money belief: Time equals money. It goes along with ideas like, “I never have enough time (and money)” and, “You have to work hard to make money.” These beliefs are deeply ingrained in our culture. They’re so ingrained that Grant — a money master — bought into them for most of his career.
“From 25 to 51 years old, I spent my most valuable asset — time — to get money. [I was] terrified … every second of every day. That’s really [what was] driving me. I [was] terrified. … So [I was like] ‘[I’m going out to get money]. I won’t spend any of it because … I don’t know how to get more. I’m worried. I can’t keep getting more.’ So then I’d get the money and then I’d rush off and spend my most valuable asset — time — again to bring it to the bank.” – Grant Cardone
Like most of us, Grant bought into the illusion that you need to put in more hours and energy in order to create or even deserve wealth. This is part of a scarcity mentality, in which you feel that there’s a limited amount of resources and that you need to deserve it to get them. Also, since resources are limited, you should carefully guard all that you’ve gained before it slips through your fingers.
Grant now teaches a different way. He said that we don’t need more savings in the bank — we need more cash flow. When we know that we can create cash flow, we know that we’ll be able to handle dips and low points in our financial lives.
“I wouldn’t keep money around. I wouldn’t save for a rainy day. I wouldn’t have an emergency account. … Because you don’t need it. … What you need is you need to hustle. You need other people’s money. You need to go knock on another door [and] make another contact. You don’t need reserves of money. What you need is cash flow.” – Grant Cardone
If you’re a business owner, you can create cash flow through sales and marketing. Be relentless in the pursuit of new leads and learn the best ways to convert them into high-paying customers and clients. Learn everything you can about impactful sales and marketing — more than anything else, sales and marketing are what keep you operating!
Of course, the other way to create cash flow is through smart investments. You should be creating passive income by investing in real assets, which are physical assets whose worth is tied to their intrinsic value. Gold and property are examples of real assets. This is in opposition to financial assets, which get their value from something intangible. An example of intangible value is a copyright or patent.
Investing in real assets has the potential to help you avoid trading time for money in the future. For example, Grant never spends any of his earned income. He invests everything he earns and instead uses passive money as spending money. While you may not believe this is possible for you, don’t limit yourself.
Why You Need to Invest In Yourself
The most important real asset of all is you. You don’t need to become an expert in bitcoin or real estate to invest in you. You’re the expert on you, and you should know what classes, mentors, and training will maximize your return on investment.
“I would invest everything you can in you. It’s tax-deductible, and you never lose it.” – Grant Cardone
Which classes, workshops, or coaching sessions do you need to help you level up? Which professional development training could you look into? Maybe you want to invest in your mental health by working with a therapist. That’s going to keep you balanced so you can work smarter, not harder, and actually enjoy what you’re earning.
On the other hand, you might want to carefully preserve your physical health by hiring a personal trainer or nutritionist. What you eat affects how you think, and you want to enhance your mind and your quality of life.
Maybe you’re feeling great mentally and physically, but you’re not super passionate about your life purpose. Congratulations — you’re on the path to greatness. You’re not just going through the motions, but you’ll need a guide for that.
“If [someone] told me [they] had to borrow a thousand dollars to go to one of your classes to become great, and it had any potential at all … of putting you on the road to greatness, I’d be like, ‘Dude, go give Amex or Visa $1,000 right now. I don’t even care what the rate is.’ Because [there’s] infinite return. Infinite beats 18%.” – Grant Cardone
When you invest in yourself, you’re investing in something that no one can take away. It’s just a matter of preserving your knowledge and taking care of your well-being.
You can also invest in yourself by investing in your business. If you don’t have one, you can still adopt an attitude of autonomy by putting resources towards your personal brand, even if you’ve got an office job.
“Invest in your business, whatever your business is, or your department. I didn’t own a company, but I did invest in my department. Even though I worked for a company, I had a secretary. I didn’t have the company pay for my secretary. I paid for that. I wanted her to work for me.” – Grant Cardone
As you can see, creating wealth is all about mindset. You might question why Grant would pay for his own secretary when he didn’t need to. That might appear to be the opposite of wealth creation. Shouldn’t you save money where you can? The thing is, that feeds into the scarcity mentality. If you do have the opportunity to do so, don’t automatically opt for the lowest bargain you can. Think long-term. Think about your autonomy and your independence. Think about how you want to live. Don’t just save for a rainy day — create conditions that will enable you to tap into wealth when you need to.
Why You Should Listen to This Grant Cardone Podcast Episode Right Now…
Guys, I learned so much from my amazing friend Grant Cardone! I hope he’s inspired you to shift how you view wealth creation and start creating a life of freedom for yourself. Believe me, it’s worth making the effort.
I truly believe that if you invest in yourself, you’ll be well on your way to achieving greatness. You can learn from Grant himself by investing in personal coaching, studying at Cardone University, or keeping an eye out for takeaways from his sold-out conference 10X Growth Con! Follow him on Instagram at @grantcardone and on Twitter at @GrantCardone. He’s constantly putting out so many amazing resources, so follow him to keep up to date on everything he’s offering.
Friends, join me on Episode 1,129 to learn about money mindset mastery and investing in yourself. It’ll change your life!
To Greatness,
Some Questions I Ask:
- Do you believe that money only comes to you when you’re ready?
- What are your top 3 investments?
- What would you say to people that feel like they need to have savings and other money safety nets?
- What is the difference between passive income and residual income?
- What is housing gonna be like in the next 5-10 years?
- What would need to happen for you to double your profits from 4 billion to 8 billion?
In this episode, you will learn:
- The biggest reasons people are afraid of money.
- The 3 things you should know about money.
- Why Grant really believes in the power of investing in yourself.
- How to start thinking about investing and buying assets.
- Plus much more…
Show Notes:
- His real estate investing firm – https://cardonecapital.com/
Transcript of this Episode
Music Credits:
MUSIC CREDIT
Kaibu by Killercats
Stitcher
Pandora
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