FP Article 26 (To sign up for a FREE 6-lesson eCourse on Defeating Credit Card Debt, please click here.)

How to Escape the Poverty Trap

by Rajen Devadason

More to the point: Are you willing to exercise both your mind and your soul to rewire the way you look at the world and at money?

Doing so is necessary because even in the richest nations on Earth, the overwhelming majority of citizens never live much beyond one or two paycheques from total fiscal meltdown. That is a particularly dangerous way to live because even though the global economy generally expands from one year to the next, the distribution of wealth across our planet is becoming increasingly unbalanced. The cliché is true: The rich are getting richer. So, keep reading if you would like insights on how to escape the poverty trap. 
 

In case you didn't know, Lew Wallace - the man whose quote opened this piece - was a Major General in the American Civil War. He later served at the court martial of those implicated in Abe Lincoln's assassination, and later still served as governor of New Mexico. But Wallace is best known as the author of the towering masterpiece Ben-Hur: A tale of the Christ. More people have watched the third and most famous movie by that name starring Charlton Heston than have ever read the book. If you get the chance you should do both!

What I find interesting in the context of our subject today of figuring out how to prosper financially in the midst of a sea of counter examples comprising family members and friends who live from hand-to-mouth is the power of a negative example. Let me explain:

Wallace never considered himself a religious man. But one day he found himself seated on a train listening with rapt attention to an eloquent agnostic named Robert Ingersoll. Colonel Ingersoll spoke for two solid hours against God, Jesus Christ, and heaven itself!

Ironically, instead of being turned away from God, Wallace decided that he wanted to deal with his admitted ignorance of such matters. So he set himself the task of truly learning about the issues at hand. Wallace later wrote: "It only remains to say that I did as resolved, with results - first the book Ben-Hur, and second, a conviction amounting to absolute belief in God and the Divinity of Christ."

In case you're wondering, I share those convictions. But right now the pertinent point I want to make is that it is possible to be exposed to one set of doctrines and end up convinced of the validity of a diametrically opposite viewpoint.

Certainly in the realm of financial planning, that is the case. Human appetites are insatiable; almost as soon as we acclimate to one level of lifestyle do we begin aspiring to the next!

From the perspective of staying hungry and ambitious, that trait is great.

Unfortunately in our consumer-driven society, which subjects us to thousands of possible ways to spend money - often even before we've earned it... through the 'magical' properties of credit cards and other forms of expensive consumer finance - craving something and then succumbing to the temptation to possess it before we have 'earned the right' to own it is a recipe for failure.

In case you're wondering, 'earning the right' to own something means being wise, patient and smart enough to focus first on building up our store of personal financial resources to genuinely afford the stuff we want.

Succeeding in this regard requires two things:

1. The correct mindset; and

2. The correct information.

There is very little I can do to inculcate the correct mindset in you. You will need to decide for yourself whether succeeding financially, which in this age of escalating prices almost certainly translates into one day becoming a millionaire or better yet a multi-millionaire, is something you crave with every fibre of your being. If you don't harbour this accomplishment as a major life goal, then all the reading in the world is unlikely to change things for you. But if you do harbour such a powerful desire, then all you need do is acquire the right information to act as the Master Key to open the lock of the Door to Your Dreams!

Some of that information can be found right here at this site, but much of it will come from your own long-term search for financial success.

To start, I suggest you do three things to stake the odds of success in your favour:

1. Get serious with goals;

2. Get serious with reading about money; and

3. Get serious about emulating the success attributes of existing millionaires.

If you will do all three, chances are good that you will escape the poverty trap within one or two decades.

If you wish to get serious with goals, then do learn about goal-setting.

If you want guidance on what to read, I think I can help there as well.

And if you are serious about emulating the success traits of those who have already made it financially, then the following seven points from the outstanding book The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko will help you.

In their book - which I urge you buy a copy of at your nearest bookstore, and then read and study - Stanley and Danko list 7 common denominators of those who successfully build wealth:

1. They live well below their means.

2. They allocate their time, energy, and money efficiently, in ways conducive to building wealth.

3. They believe that financial independence is more important than displaying high social status.

4. Their parents did not provide economic outpatient care.

5. Their adult children are economically self-sufficient.

6. They are proficient in targeting market opportunities.

7. They chose the right occupation.

If you are 100% committed to escaping the poverty trap, then you will reread that list of 7 factors and identify one or two that you can work on immediately within your own life. (I particularly like factor number 3.)

In closing, I suggest you reread this article slowly from top to bottom. This time take careful notes of ideas and also explore the embedded links I've mentioned above, and again here, concerning goal-setting and reading that might help you deal with areas in your own life that are crying out for radical improvement... today and for many consecutive tomorrows to come.

If you will do all that work - and make no mistake, it will involve some hard work and a great deal of discipline - then I believe you'll be able to eventually escape the poverty trap. And so, in the words of Star Trek's Spock, I wish for you to:

Live long and prosper!

© Rajen Devadason