Believing you deserve to be wealthy is among the strongest psychological methods to spice up your wealth. With trillions of {dollars} circulating on this planet, it’s important to ask your self: Why not me too?
Take into consideration the knuckleheads you grew up with—individuals no smarter or tougher working than you—who by some means ended up making huge fortunes. The distinction? They took calculated dangers and gave themselves permission to strive. Keep in mind who they’re and say it once more: Why not me too?
The phrases you say to your self carry actual energy. All of the self-doubt—I am not adequate, not sensible sufficient, not likable sufficient, not related sufficient—sabotages your potential. Your physique can’t distinguish between actual and imagined limitations. Fill your thoughts with negativity, and also you’ll defeat your self earlier than you even start.
Anybody who performs aggressive sports activities, launches a enterprise, or takes on any high-stakes problem understands the significance of mindset. Your beliefs will both act as a tailwind or a headwind to your success.
The Greatest Psychological Trick I Use To Construct Extra Wealth
Right here’s the psychological trick that has motivated me to maintain grinding—even after retiring in 2012 with $3 million. I might have twiddled my thumbs and executed nothing. Particularly as my wealth grew with the bull market, I had each purpose to sit back. However as a substitute, I selected to:
Many readers thought I used to be loopy, particularly throughout my Uber driving section. Newer readers merely thought I used to be mendacity. What sort of bozo drives strangers round at 6 a.m. for $18/hour when he could possibly be sleeping in, letting passive earnings work for him?
However I loved it—getting out of the home early, chatting with strangers. It felt like enjoying the lottery with every new passenger. Was I going to get a stunning one who would share with me their hopes or goals? Or would I get a hungover grump who vomits in my automotive? So enjoyable!
Working For Close to Minimal Wage Retains You Grounded
Driving for Uber was humbling. It compelled me to relive the embarrassment I felt as an adolescent working at McDonald’s when classmates walked in and noticed me behind the register. As an alternative of claiming hello, I’d slip to the again to make apple pies in order that they wouldn’t see me.
Trying again, I’ve at all times felt ashamed of that second. At 15, I ought to’ve been proud I used to be incomes cash to purchase what I wished, not simply asking my mother and father for an allowance. So years later, after I picked up an outdated finance shopper of mine as an Uber driver, I confronted these lingering emotions head-on. I took him the place he wanted to go, and in doing so, discovered a way of closure I didn’t know I wanted.
Deep down, I knew $3 million wasn’t sufficient to remain unemployed eternally—particularly if I wished to lift a household and stay in costly locations like San Francisco or Honolulu. So I informed myself an extra phrase that fueled my drive:
“Everyone I do know is richer than me. Why can’t I be wealthy too?”
The Further Phrase Made All of the Pyschological Distinction
Mathematically, I do know not everyone seems to be richer than me otherwise you. However I’ve discovered that combining these two phrases—“Everyone I do know is richer than me” and “Why cannot I be wealthy too?”—creates the final word combo for perception and motivation.
Consider these phrases as counterforces that work collectively to propel you ahead in your wealth-building journey.
“Everyone I do know is richer than me” can set off a way of inferiority. That sting? It lights a hearth. It motivates you to take motion, to catch up, to shut the hole. On the identical time, the phrase retains you grounded. It reminds you that there’s at all times somebody doing higher—so keep humble.
And humility is essential.
Humility prevents you from complicated luck with ability. With out it, you would possibly begin believing you are an investing genius—when in actual fact, you have been simply using a bull market. You would possibly even get cocky, purchase shares on margin, and lose all the things.
With out humility, you would possibly assume you’re an distinctive worker or an excellent entrepreneur—when actually, you have been born into wealth with connections that cleared your path lengthy earlier than you began strolling.
So sure, the phrase will be highly effective, however watch out. Don’t let it crush your hope or paralyze you into inaction.
That’s the place the second phrase is available in: “Why cannot I be wealthy too?”
That is the one which lifts you up. It affirms your self-worth. It reinforces the assumption that for those who work onerous, take sensible dangers, and dwell with intention, you can also obtain monetary success.
As a considerate, sort, and pushed particular person, you deserve good issues. So let this phrase remind you that constructing wealth is inevitable for somebody such as you.
Most Folks Truly Imagine They Are Poorer Than They Actually Are
The great thing about the phrase “Everyone I do know is richer than me” is that you just in all probability already imagine this unconsciously.
Actually, there’s educational analysis to help this sense. An economics article revealed by MIT titled “Richer (and Holier) Than Thou?” reveals that most individuals misperceive their place within the earnings distribution—they have an inclination to imagine they’re poorer than they really are.
If survey contributors have been unbiased, their perceived and precise earnings rank would align intently alongside a straight line. However because the chart within the article reveals, most individuals place themselves decrease than the place they honestly are. We’re all center class, whether or not we really are or not.
Hooray for widespread underestimation!
Provided that most individuals imagine they’re poorer than they really are, all they need to do is consciously repeat this narrative—both out loud or of their heads—to assist make it really feel actual. When paired with the phrase “Why can’t I be wealthy too?”, this mindset can activate their motivation muscle and spark motion.
Attempt it day-after-day for a month and watch your self rework!
It is Straightforward To Persuade Your self Of Something
Since graduating from The Faculty of William & Mary, I’ve solely lived in two cities: New York Metropolis and San Francisco. In consequence, I’ve no downside feeling poorer than others. These two cities have the highest focus of millionaires, centi-millionaires, and billionaires in America.
For inspiration, I typically drive or jog via the wealthiest elements of San Francisco to marvel on the $50+ million mansions. Each proprietor both based an organization, was a CEO, or had mother and father who did. Their wealth is sort of unfathomable.
I ended up studying about how they constructed their fortunes and tried to include a few of their finest practices into my very own habits and entrepreneurial efforts. One factor turned clear: the one factor we are able to totally management is our work ethic.
Many of those founders and CEOs labored 16-hour days for years, sacrificing all the things to appreciate their imaginative and prescient. They might chuckle on the concept of people that work 40 hours per week and complain why they can not get forward. It was extremely motivating.
And but, in the event that they stepped outdoors their properties for a stroll, they have been similar to the remainder of us. They breathed the identical air, obtained soaked by the identical rain, and needed to look each methods earlier than crossing the road. They nonetheless had to make use of the toilet (hopefuly with a Toto Washlet). Their youngsters nonetheless threw tantrums and examined their persistence.
That’s after I noticed the “Why not me too?” in motion.
Examples of Self-Perception in Completely different Kinds
The “Everyone is richer than me. Why can’t I be wealthy too?” psychological trick applies throughout many areas of life. Listed below are some private examples of how this mindset has helped me push ahead, even when doorways have been closed.
1) Overcoming Rejection From Tech Firms In 2012
After being rejected or ignored by each single tech firm I utilized to in 2012—a part of the method to qualify for unemployment advantages—I requested myself, “Why don’t I deserve a job at considered one of these firms too? I am simply as sensible and hardworking.” However as a substitute of constant to use as soon as my unemployment advantages ran out, I made a decision to take pleasure in retirement and purchase their inventory as a substitute.
I turned rejection into alternative by making the individuals who ignored me work for me as a substitute. 13 years later, my investments in firms like Google, Apple, Meta, Tesla, and Netflix have carried out extraordinarily nicely. And the truth that I didn’t need to grind away at these tech corporations to earn a stable return makes the result really feel much more particular.
As well as, these rejections motivated me to construct the perfect private website I probably might one which has change into an unbelievable supply of pleasure and function in my post-work life.
2) Getting Concerned in AI in 2024
After reaching out to a number of personal AI firms in 2023 and 2024, I spotted I had no actual shot of getting employed. Anthropic even implied I used to be too outdated! Nonetheless, I informed myself once more, “Why don’t I deserve a seat on an AI rocketship too?”
To keep away from getting left behind, I partnered with Fundrise and invested $153,000 into their enterprise product in July 2024, which holds stakes in personal AI corporations—together with Anthropic, OpenAI, Databricks, and Anduril. Now, personal AI workers work for me too. I want I had invested extra, however that was nearly all of the money I might muster up on the time.
My hope is that in 10 years, I am going to really feel the identical approach about my present personal AI investments as I do concerning the public tech shares I purchased again in 2012. The fact is, at 47, I not wish to commerce my time for cash so I am pleased being a AI reject.
3) Making A Nationwide Greatest Vendor Record
As soon as I discovered that ~350,000 historically revealed books come out annually—and one other ~1.7 million are self-published—I spotted making Millionaire Milestones a nationwide bestseller was an extended shot. With solely 150 spots on the USA At present Bestseller record throughout all genres, my odds have been about 0.04%, or 1 in 2,500. With out working for a serious publication or monetary group, I used to be at an enormous drawback.
However once more, I informed myself, “Why not me too? I made the WSJ Bestseller record with Purchase This Not That.” To try to beat the chances, I wrote dozens of articles and newsletters, went on podcasts, got here up with a 1X1 consulting promotion, despatched out tons of of signed bookplates, and am internet hosting a fireplace chat on Could 21 for many who decide up a tough copy of MM beforehand.
Lo and behold, when the USA At present Nationwide Bestseller record got here out on Could 14, 2025, Millionaire Milestones: Easy Steps To Seven Figures didn’t simply squeak in—it landed at fortunate #21 and within the high 10 for non-fiction! That is nuts for a stay-at-home dad who is not always on the market within the public eye. Thanks all to your help!
Do not Get Dejected—Get Motivated As an alternative
I perceive that coming to a private finance website like Monetary Samurai and studying articles like The Common Internet Price For The Above Common Particular person would possibly really feel discouraging for those who’re not but near the benchmarks. I additionally get that studying about households with $20 million web worths would possibly make you wish to throw your arms up and quit.
However I problem you to get impressed as a substitute.
Numerous individuals—similar to you—are constructing way more wealth than they ever thought potential. Certain, luck typically performs a job in reaching outsized wealth. However most of those people began similar to you: college students from middle-class households attending public faculties, questioning what their future would possibly maintain.
All of us come from completely different backgrounds. A few of us are minorities who’ve needed to push via discrimination and unconscious biases simply to get an opportunity. Others dwell with disabilities or well being points that make it tougher to see, course of, or work together with the world. And a few come from damaged properties with little or no monetary help, but nonetheless work like hell to interrupt via.
We adapt. We leverage expertise. We push ahead and hold going. Even when we don’t hit a stretch monetary aim by a sure age, we’ll nonetheless find yourself constructing way more wealth than if we had by no means tried in any respect.
So say it out loud: “Everyone I do know is richer than me. Why can’t I be wealthy too?”
Let that query gas your drive. Could fortune shine in your future.
What psychological methods or phrases do you utilize to construct extra wealth for your self and your loved ones? How necessary do you assume having a constructive cash mindset is in reaching monetary independence? And why will we cling to limiting beliefs when there’s a lot abundance on this planet ready to be claimed?
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