The root of all evil. Money has acquired a somewhat negative reputation over the last couple of years. More specifically, the pursuit of wealth has. And understandably so. Preying on the wants and desires of the masses, billionaires and powerful aristocrats manipulate and deceive, trying to increase their net worth by any means necessary. Money as the main purpose of a man’s life is wrong, and these billionaires, controlling the vast majority of the world’s wealth, use and abuse their influence and power to control people’s thoughts and actions, guiding them towards more consumerism, more sedentarism, and thus, amassing even more wealth and power. If your sole or main goal is to be as rich as possible, you’ll end up doing whatever it takes to achieve it. This is exactly what the people at the very top of the financial hierarchy have done and continue to do. I believe this is the reason why money has become evil in people’s eyes. They see the wealthiest people in the world and see manipulative, unmasculine and weak men, and thus correlate the pursuit of money with the unmasculine and immoral traits that these men exhibit. It’s understandable. If the top 10 richest men in the world are all deceiving douchebags, the natural conclusion that any sensible mind would come to is that there’s an undeniable correlation between money and being a deceiving douchebag. I don’t believe this is the case.
I choose to believe that having lots of money only amplifies who you are at the deepest of levels. Money allows you to do more. It frees you to be yourself more. It allows you to reach more people. Either negatively or positively. Money is neutral. What you do with money isn’t. But it’s up to you. Even though the examples of rich people that we have at our disposal tend not to be the most inspiring ones, as a man, you should aim to earn more money. I would set a limit to the amount of money that you should aim for but that depends on you. I’d simply say, you should try to earn the amount of money that would allow you to live comfortably without having to worry about your financial situation constantly. Maybe for you that means ten mansions and a yacht, maybe it means being able to be able to provide comfort and security for your children and grandchildren, or maybe it simply means having enough to live a peaceful, quiet, simple life in the countryside with your family. Every dream is valid.
However, unless your dream is to live in a cardboard box by the side of the freeway, you need money to achieve it. Pursuing money is a noble thing to do, because whether you like it or not, the things that you want will most times require a) money to purchase them, or b) time to experience them, which you won’t have if you are constantly having to work in order to eat and pay your rent. Being wealthy allows for many good things to happen: if your financial situation is comfortable, you will be able to spend more time with your family, you would be able to reach more people with your message if you wanted to, you would be able to experience the wonders of life more freely and on a much larger scale.
Your thoughts shape your world. This is not some mystical, debatable principle. It’s common sense. What you think about is what you pay attention to, the goals you set are the ones that you pursue, the beliefs that you have determine your conscious and unconscious actions, and your actions determine the results that you get. You see? The principle of thought as a force of creation in the physical world is not some made up concept, it’s quite simply a direct progression of cause and effect.
Thoughts -> Beliefs -> Actions -> Results
You could even argue that this progression is circular, as the results you get also end up determining your thoughts. The point here is the following: your thoughts MATTER. Your beliefs MATTER. Your mentality MATTERS. This is extremely important, because your mind is the fountainhead from which the shape of your entire life flows down.
The predominant culture in modern society is that of social justice, equality and resentment. Whereas our grandparents used to see the pursuit of wealth as a moral endeavor, one that would allow them to better provide for their children, young men today see that some people have nothing and conclude that this is because other people have a lot. They perceive the world to be one of losers and winners, but not as a consequence of natural ability and hard work, but as a result of a loosely defined “patriarchy” and social system that inherently oppresses some and benefits others. As a result, these young men equate anyone that is wealthy and lives a good life with “privilege”, oppression, arrogance, selfishness, and even lack of empathy. It’s not hard to see why most men then choose to live a life of scarcity, being unwilling to receive the abuse directed towards those that make something out of themselves. And don’t get me wrong, most of the world’s richest men are weak, dishonest people. But correlation doesn’t equal causation. It’s possible to be rich and moral, rich and strong. The point is, our culture equates wealth with negative concepts, disincentivizing young people from trying to improve their financial situation in the first place. Even if that isn’t you, even if you still want to become a wealthy man, it is highly likely that out of constant exposure to it, this poisonous culture has been embedded within you in some capacity. This limiting belief of wealth as a force of corruption and as a source of evil is, in my opinion, the most common reason why young men have become financially irresponsible, and altogether disinterested or scared of pursuing wealth as a priority.
If you are convinced that money is evil, unless you want to be evil yourself, you will not pursue it. Even if you consciously believe the opposite, and even if it may seem as if though you’re trying to amass wealth, if your subconscious has any doubt that being wealthy is a good thing, you will end up sabotaging your efforts and not improving your financial situation at all. You will not be wealthy until you completely eliminate that limiting belief.
Maybe you have that belief because your parents struggled financially, maybe you were scammed by someone seeking their own financial gain, maybe you’re rightly concerned with the extreme capitalism and materialism that still persist in modern society. No matter the reason, you can always choose to change your beliefs. You can open your eyes to other possibilities and decide to see wealth as a good thing. Because it is. Being wealthy allows you to give back more. It makes you a better provider. You can better care for your family. You can travel and see beautiful places. You can be free of the financial struggles and stresses that plague most people’s minds. You can give your children a better upbringing. Money can be put to very good use. It is completely up to you.
Step one of improving your financial situation is precisely that: eliminating the limiting belief that the pursuit of money is immoral, wrong, or an expression of materialism and superficiality. Change the way you see money and you will change your relationship with it.
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