If Becoming Wealthy Is Simple, Why Don’t More People Do It?

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I used to see wealth-building as this very mysterious thing that only certain people were equipped to do. But the process is actually quite simple. In this post, I talk about how there are really only six main principles of wealth-building. And as I’ve learned how simple it is, I’ve started asking myself, why don’t more people do it? Why do so few people become wealthy?

When I consider the answer to this question, I’ve come up with five reasons.

5 Reasons More People Don’t Become Wealthy

1. Lack of discipline.

   It takes discipline to become wealthy. A big part of becoming wealthy is living below your means. That means you don’t spend everything you make. You have to have the discipline to set aside some of your income every month when you might be tempted to spend all of it. You have to have the discipline to monitor how much money you’re bringing in and how much money is going out.
   
   You have to have the discipline to pay your credit card bill on time—the statement balance, not the current balance. You have to keep track of receipts, payments, subscriptions, and all sorts of things, rather than just paying for stuff and wondering where all your money is going.
   
   Wealthy people are long-term thinkers. They’re willing to make sacrifices now so that they can accumulate wealth they can use later. They’re willing to live in a smaller house, eat out less often, forgo designer clothes and fancy cars, all so that they can build their wealth and allow it time to grow. Not everyone knows how to tap into that discipline. But to become wealthy, it’s necessary.

2. Lack of motivation.

   Not everyone is motivated to do what’s required to become wealthy. Let’s take a look at the example of passive income, or income that comes to you without you having to actively work for it. While passive income is a tool people can use to become wealthy, it doesn’t usually start coming in passively. Some upfront work is often required. This is the case for something like selling an online course.
   
   Before the income from that course can come to you passively, you have to do research to find out if there’s a market for your course. Then you have to create the course, which takes time. And then you have to find the best marketing strategy for it. And only when you have a system in place to make sales for you automatically can you enjoy the passive income that comes from selling your course.
   
   And even when it comes to passive income from things like stocks, you still have to be motivated enough to do research on the best way to invest and the best stocks for you to pick. Not everyone is motivated to do this kind of research. Not everyone is motivated to find other income sources so they’re not only reliant on one.
   
   Increasing your income sources can help you build your wealth because, the more money you make, the more you have to save and invest. But if you’re not motivated to create these other income sources for yourself, you might be hindering yourself from building wealth—or at least, building it as quickly as you could.
   
   It’s true that you can build wealth on even a modest income if you manage your money well. But even then, you have to be motivated to learn how to manage your money well and then you have to have the discipline to actually do it (see #1).

3. Lack of awareness.

   Sometimes a simple lack of awareness can keep people from becoming wealthy. They may not be aware of their current financial situation, for instance. They may not be aware of exactly how much income they’re bringing in each month or of how much they’re spending. They may not be aware that if they cut out some unnecessary expenses and save or invest that money instead, that would help their efforts to build wealth.
   
   When it comes to passive income (see #2), they might not be aware of all the options that are out there. Stocks and real estate are two of the more common forms of passive income, but you can also receive it from sales of things like ebooks, online courses, digital products, and all sorts of things that don’t require your active involvement (or much of it) once they’ve been created.
   
   If you’re only aware of a few options for you to build your wealth, you may not want to do it because you don’t feel those options are aligned with you, your lifestyle, or your personality. But if you increase your awareness by exploring various options for passive or alternate sources of income, you might be able to find ones that suit you just fine and help you on your wealth-building journey.
   
   People may also not be aware of just how simple it is to build wealth. They may think they have to have a huge salary to increase their net worth. They may not know that if they make just a few simple tweaks to their lifestyle or finances, they might put themselves on the road to becoming wealthy. Indifference to money and finances may contribute to this lack of awareness, which we’ll address more in #4.

4. Indifference.

   Some people may not care enough about money to do what’s required to become wealthy. They just don’t see money as being very important. I used to be one of those people, so I don’t judge them. But I do realize how paying attention to money can be helpful for becoming wealthy.
   
   If you’re indifferent to money, it could be for any number of reasons. One could be that you consider yourself a deep person and you don’t consider the subject of money to be very deep. You might prefer subjects like history, philosophy, and psychology.
   
   In that case, I invite you to reflect on the deep side of money. It can be helpful to understand, first, that learning about money is the same as learning about any other subject. If you bring your curiosity to it, you might just come to find it fascinating.
   
   Second, it can be helpful to think of financial goals as measures of progress or personal growth. It’s not that you’re aiming for specific numbers or to be in a specific financial situation just for the sake of enhancing your finances—although that is a great byproduct. But you’re doing it because of who you have to become on the journey to get there.
   
   To build wealth, you’ll have to do things you’ve never done before. You’ll have to learn new things, take risks, push yourself outside your comfort zone, and essentially become a new person. Money then just becomes a measure of when you’ve reached a certain personal development goal, but the journey is what matters. And if you’re at all interested in personal development, having to change and grow to reach a certain financial milestone might be a great motivator.

5. A negative money mindset.

   To become wealthy, you have to have a mindset that’s conducive to becoming wealthy. Not everyone has this mindset. Many people were raised around people with a negative money mindset, or at least one that didn’t allow them to tap into their ability to create financial abundance for themselves. And so this is the mindset they inherited and are now operating under.
   
   A negative money mindset will usually show up in negative beliefs about money, like these: “You have to work hard to earn money” and “Wanting money is bad/greedy/selfish.” The thing about beliefs is, they’re not facts. They’re just thoughts that we treat as though they were facts, and we live our lives according to them. This is why mindset is so important when it comes to building wealth.
   
   If you have a positive money mindset, it means you have a positive view of money. And you understand that it’s totally fine to want more of it. Having more money means you get to enjoy a better quality of life. It means you have more freedom and choices. And it means you have even more money to share with others.
   
   And let’s not forget that viewing money in a positive way will likely encourage you to do things like learn more about it, how it works, and how to invite more of it into your life—ideally without having to work too hard for it. (But as I mentioned in #2, some hard work may be required—at least initially.)
   
   By the way, if you’re curious to know what your current money mindset is, you can check out this post.

Final Thoughts

If you’ve ever aspired to become wealthy but haven’t started taking the steps to get you there, you might relate to one or more of these reasons. But if you really want to become wealthy, you’ll have to start to care about money, which may involve shifting your money mindset and becoming aware of all the options you have for increasing your net worth.

This can, in turn, help you find the discipline and motivation necessary to do what it takes to welcome financial abundance into your life.

~ Ashley C.

Note: The advice presented here is for informational purposes only. If you’re in need of professional financial advice, please see a qualified professional.