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Which one is bigger? You or your problem! If later is the case, then you might be having a struggling life. Getting rich is not a stroll in the park. It is a journey that is full of twists, turns, detours, and obstacles. The road to wealth is filled with traps and pitfalls, and that’s precisely why most people don’t take it. They don’t want the hassles, the headaches, and the responsibilities. In short, they don’t want problems.
Therein lies one of the biggest differences between rich people and poor people. Rich and successful people are bigger than their problems, while poor and unsuccessful people are smaller than their problems.
Poor people will do almost anything to avoid problems. They see a challenge and they run. The irony is that in their quest to make sure they don’t have problems, they have the biggest problem of all…they’re broke and miserable. The secret to success, my friends, is not to try to avoid or get rid of or shrink from your problems; the secret is to grow yourself so that you are bigger than your problems.
Your Scale to Solve Problem
On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the lowest, imagine you are a person with a level 2 strength of character and attitude looking at a level 5 problem. Would this problem appear to be big or little? From a level 2 perspective, a level 5 problem would seem like a big problem.
Now imagine you’ve grown yourself and become a level 8 person. Would the same level 5 problem be a big problem or a little problem? Magically, the identical problem is now a little problem.
Finally, imagine you’ve really worked hard on yourself and become a level 10 person. Now, is this same level 5 problem a big problem or a little problem? The answer is that it’s no problem. It doesn’t even register in your brain as a problem. There’s no negative energy around it. It’s just a normal occurrence to handle, like brushing your teeth or getting dressed.
Note that whether you are rich or poor, playing big or playing small, problems do not go away. If you’re breathing, you will always have so-called problems and obstacles in your life. Let me make this short and sweet. The size of the problem is never the issue—what matters is size of you!
This may be painful, but if you’re ready to move to the next level of success, you’re going to have to become conscious of what’s really going on in your life. Ready? Here goes.
If you have a big problem in your life, all that means is that you are being a small person! Don’t be fooled by appearances. Your outer world is merely a reflection of your inner world. If you want to make a permanent change, stop focusing on the size of your problems and start focusing on the size of you!
Your Wealth Container
The bigger the problems you can handle, the bigger the business you can handle; the bigger the responsibility you can handle, the more employees you can handle; the more customers you can handle, the more money you can handle, and ultimately, the more wealth you can handle.
Again, your wealth can only grow to the extent that you do! The objective is to grow yourself to a place where you can overcome any problems or obstacles that get in the way of your creating wealth and keeping it once you have it.
Earning money is one thing and keeping it is an altogether different world. As we grow our earnings, so do our expenditures. Net rise is marginally increased with respect to our original condition. Think of yourself as your container for wealth. If your container is small and your money is big, what’s going to happen? You will lose it. Your container will overflow and the excess money will spill out all over the place. You simply cannot have more money than the container. Therefore you must grow to be a big container so you cannot only hold more wealth but also attract more wealth. The universe abhors a vacuum and if you have a very large money container, it will rush in to fill the space.
Your Focus – Problem or Solution?
Rich people don’t focus on the problems; they focus on their goals. Again, the mind generally focuses on one predominant thing at a time. Meaning that either you are whining about the problem or you are working on the solution. Rich and successful people are solution-oriented; they spend their time and energy strategizing and planning the answers to challenges that come up and creating systems to make certain that the problem doesn’t occur again. Rich people do not back away from problems, do not avoid problems, and do not complain about problems.
Poor and unsuccessful people are problem-oriented. They spend their time and energy bitching and complaining and seldom come up with anything creative to solve the problem, let alone make sure it doesn’t happen again.
Be a Problem Solver
In this world, if you are a problem solver then there is a very good probability that you are making good money. Your richness is directly proportional to the level of the problem. If you are solving small problems, your bank balance will be small. But if you are solving big problems, then the value of your assets will also be big.
Think of solving the hunger problem of one locality through restaurants or solving the environmental pollution problem by making electric vehicles. Don’t you think later is having high potential for earning?
The bottom line is that if you become a master at handling problems and overcoming any obstacle, what can stop you from success? The answer is nothing! And if nothing can stop you, you become unstoppable! And if you become unstoppable, what choices do you have in your life? The answer is all choices. If you are unstoppable, anything and everything is available to you. You simply choose it and it’s yours! How’s that for freedom? (excerpt from ‘Secrets of the Millionaire Mind’ by Harv Eker).
“If your only tool is a hammer then every problem looks like a nail.” – Abraham Maslow