15 Paradoxes of Being RICH

We named these “paradoxes of being rich”, because there wasn’t really anything else to call them and you’ll get why we did this as we move deeper into the list. It’s not everyday that you get to see the world from a dramatically different point of view that you usually do.

The rich experience life differently, not just through the comfort that comes with wealth, but in the way they move through it.

Being rich comes with different lenses most people never get to witness or are even aware of.

Here are 15 Paradoxes of being rich!

1

The Less you Work, the Richer you Feel

For the rich, time is the only thing they can’t buy; that’s why at the very top of the pyramid the ultimate luxury is having spare time. What’s the point of being wealthy if you don’t get to enjoy the wealth right?

That’s why every rich person out there is leveraging their wealth to buy more time. This is one of those incredible powerful concepts that that the average person never considers.

People will literally waste 40 minutes in traffic driving further to that one supermarket to save 5$ on their grocery shopping or a couple of cents on gas.

Rich people do exactly the opposite: THEY BUY BACK TIME!

They either pay others who are willing to trade their time or use the money to cut down on how long things take. That’s where the helicopter ride to the airport & the private jet comes in. It’s not to show others how cool you are but to get things done as quickly as possible.

Once you get rich, you should immediately figure out ways to buy more time for yourself, because that’s what will make you FEEL rich!

2

The Richer You are the Less Taxes you Pay

We had to throw this in, otherwise you would’ve spammed the hell out of our comment section. But let’s take a step back and honestly look at the situation. Yes, there are ways to minimize the percentage of income tax you pay, geared toward benefiting the wealthy, but that’s not the end of the story. Unless you won the lottery, stole it or inherited your money, the only way to get rich is by providing value in the marketplace. You create a business, you hire people, these people now have an income and can feed their families. Ideally, you could start your own business and pay as little tax as the rich do… but you know starting a business isn’t that easy.. You need the right idea, you need to work hard, face risk, innovate, adapt and there’s still a good chance of failure and all the money you’ve invested going down the drain. There needs to be a reward for winning this race. Also, the reason some people end up paying less taxes than others, is because they take the time and learn how to do it legally.

3

Unless you Behave Contrary to What Made your Fortune, People Don’t Think you’re Rich

We find this one hilarious, mostly because the average person has no idea what getting rich is all about. They always think of ferraris and yachts, but to be honest, it’s mostly kids who think that way and adults that never understood how money works. Anybody who built his own fortune knows how important is financial discipline. Someone might be half way into their journey to true RICHES and by your standards they’ve already made it, why don’t they just start spending?! Poor people associate success with the idea of Flexing on everybody else with your expensive liabilities. Rich people do the exact opposite, they secure their future first and use the interest to pay for luxuries. Maybe it’s time you stopped buying into the marketing hype of all these brands. Truth be told, you don’t need a supreme jacket, the new maxed out iphone 11 in midnight green, or a Rolex watch. You want these items because they’re being marketed to you, these brands tell you how much cooler people will think you are if you have them, but in reality they’re taking money out of your middle class pocket. We love luxury products, but be sure to understand that luxury comes at a cost.

4

The Richer you are, The More in Debt you are

For years we’ve been telling people that they need to get out of debt and start being smart financially, so we understand your shock when we say something like this. But you see.. It’s the truth. Rich people get rich, because they use debt to accelerate their financial growth. On the other hand, poor people get abused through debt and will never make it out. There’s this incredible phenomenon out there called LEVERAGE! Basically, leverage allows you to get rich using other people’s money. Here’s how that happens. Let’s say two people each have $25,000 Your average joe, takes the money and goes out and buys a car. You take the $25,000 and use it as a downpayment for a duplex or triplex depending where you live in the world that’s worth $100,000. The remaining $75,000 coming from a bank (aka other people’s money). The property gets rented out and every month the rent paid by the tenants covers the mortgage and the running costs of the home. Let’s skip ahead 15 years. The car Joe bought is not a piece of junk, barely worth anything. – it’s a 15 year old car, let’s say he can still sell it for $1000 as scrap. Meanwhile. Your investment is completely paid off by the tenants. But something great happened in these 15 years while the property became yours completely at the expense of the renters: The value of the property doubled because some hipsters are moving in next door. Your 25,000 is now worth $200,000. And that my friend… is how rich people get rich. Take the 200 grand and go again, this time use it as a downpayment for a million dollar property. Yes, you’re going in debt for 800,000 dollars because it makes sense financially. Rich people use debt continuously, but have other people pay for it.

5

The Richer you are, the More Money you Can Turn Down

You might not have thought about this until now, but being rich actually allows you to turn down a lot more money. Assuming you got rich the smart way, that means you’re pretty valuable to the marketplace and your skill set is in quite a high demand. The moment you prove yourself, that’s when big offers start coming in. If you did it right, you should have the luxury to pick and choose the projects that most interest you. Money is no longer the deciding factor. Too many people get caught up in what is called: The golden handcuffs phenomenon. You’re basically chained to doing something you hate because the money’s so good. Your goal is to build enough wealth that nobody can tie you down using money. When we were starting our journey, we came across this book, that many of you are probably familiar with called: The monk who sold his ferrari, by Robin Sharma. It’s already a cultural classic and for good reason.

6

Building & Maintaining Wealth is Boring

Most people learn about the rich and wealthy from movies and tv shows. There’s always drama, a close deadline, gotta close the deal, betrayals are taking place and a bunch of other nonsense. Your road to wealth isn’t by no means a straight and easy journey to make, but to be honest it’s fairly boring. The main 2 ingredients are: discipline & financial maturity. You need to be disciplined enough to put in the work every day towards growing your income and the financial maturity of not screwing it up, once you do get the money. It usually involves years of day-in and day-out work, reading and coming up with ideas, struggling to keep people around long enough so you make progress. Building wealth is boring. You work hard and you eventually buy your first asset. Then you keep working until you can eventually buy a second. That’s how wealth is built. If your goal is to build sustainable wealth, it will take decades until you’re in a position where you feel secure. But what’s the alternative? Time will pass either way… why waste these decades and end up with little to nothing when you could be building right?!

7

All your Old Friends are on a Different Time Schedule than you because They Have to Work

Let’s say you make the leap, you’re not wealthy. Unless you have completely severed ties with your past, you probably still have several friends from your old days. The paradox is, that you thought once you make it, you’ll get to enjoy it. But you see, we, as individuals, find pleasure in human connection, in spending time with people we enjoy being around, but your old friends didn’t have the same upswing as you did. This leads to a weird place where you end up feeling lonely. They all have to work and are rarely available to hang out. Even if the time comes when all planets align, you’re still forced to do the same things you used to, because they can’t keep up with your financial possibilities, so you end up being the one who compromises. I know what you’re thinking: if I’m rich why don’t I just pay for everything?! Well, speaking from experience, this works only the first few times. People feel bad when others pay for them, especially if their really close friends. It’s about a person’s self esteem. This is why rich people end up spending more time with other rich folks than with old acquaintances, not only do your schedule fit and are open to the same kind of pricier experiences, but you also connect from a struggle perspective, you’ve been through the same kind of struggle to get to where you are today. Being rich is a lot like a Gatsby party, there’s a lot of people around, but even surrounded by all of them, you’re still lonely.

8

The Richer you are, The More you can’t Afford to do Some things

The main 3 reasons why this happens are: Your time is now really expensive – anything that can be outsourced will be outsourced, even if you maybe enjoyed doing it You become a target – in situations where most people would just brush it off and walk away, you’re constantly scared that people are gonna sue for financial gain Your wealth requires your attention – although the dream might be to sail around the world, there is no such thing as completely passive wealth. You will have to be present, you will have to put out fires, especially if you’re in the first half of your wealth journey. You see, there’s a balance that happens organically between you owning your wealth, and your wealth owning you. Tread carefully, because before you know it, you might find yourself happier when you had less. Resource: The Story behind the $1bn ‘Vineyard’ Real Estate that Even Brad Pitt Couldn’t Afford

9

Being Rich Means you Now Have More Options to F* Up your life

From substances to people, with money comes a lot more options. The average person still screws up his life pretty bad when the world isn’t trying to screw him over. They still cheat with their work colleagues, they still get addicted despite struggling financially and more. When you have money, everything amplifies. You can now afford to feed any addiction you might have. People who were out-of-your-league now are throwing themselves at you, and it’s hard to think that you will not make the Jordan Belfort Trade when Margo Robbie is coming onto you in a real life Wolf of Wall Street scenario. To put gas on the fire.. Statistically speaking, you had a 0% chance to die in a helicopter accident when you were poor, but now, that number is no longer 0. Not to mention that you have enemies who are actively deploying their resources towards ruining your life, for their own personal gain.

10

The Richer you are, The More you Have to Lose and It’s Stressing the Hell Out of You

Here’s the deal: becoming rich requires sacrifice, time and effort. Nobody once it to be in vain. That’s why there’s always this gloomy feeling of fear of losing it all floating over you and it’s eating you alive unless you figure out how to control it. You’re now responsible for the lives of hundreds of people who are directly influenced by your business choices and tens of thousands indirectly who benefit from the wages your employees have. Never underestimate the stress that comes along with building anything worthwhile. Suddenly, there are stakes for every action you take and you end up putting a lot more pressure on yourself than you used to. Most rich people counter this with physical and mental exercises. For physical, it’s pretty straightforward, hit the gym or do anything that gets your body moving. For mental strengths, meditation is by far the most effective tool we discovered. We’ve been using it to reduce stress and focus our actions for years. Rich people use a different type of meditation than monks or religious people and we found it to be one of those incredibly valuable skills that once you acquire, it sticks with you for the rest of your life and you constantly get a positive return on it. Mental toughness is what allows you to deal with all these paradoxes of becoming rich and not let them consume you!

11

You Still Desire More Money, but the Will to Pursue it isn’t There Anymore

If you build wealth yourself, then you know there’s a burning desire within yourself to achieve more, to overcome, to build even bigger. The main reason why most successful people make it, is because they are hungry. They want to escape their current condition and because of this hunger they’re willing to push through sacrifice and get on the other side. If you’re reading this, you know damn well what hunger we speak of, because you probably feel it within yourself right now. You see, once you push through the first one and you make it on the other side to safety, that hunger diminished in strength; you’re good now; you don’t need to put in the same 16 hour days. You still want more, because you are not where you really wanted to be, but you’re no longer as hungry as you used to. We mentioned this in our ultimate guide: 15 Steps to Getting Rich Guide which you can check out by clicking on the link below! In it we talk about the trap in the middle. It’s this point in your journey where most people just decide to cost off, off of these first few achievements. They no longer have the drive and never make it big. Who knows, maybe you’re different!

12

The Richer you are, the More you Realize how Poor you Really are Compared to Really Rich People

There’s always someone with a bigger boat, with a better view, with more homes and better lawyers – unless you’re Jeff Bezos or one of those nigerian princes that are reaching out via email. One of the paradoxes of wealth is that your definition of what it means to be rich changes alongside your wealth! Basically, rich means, richer than yourself by a factor of at least 5. If you’re earning $100,000 per year, than someone bringing it 500,000 seem like really rich to you. If you have $1 million in the bank you’re basically in the middle class and struggling with debt. But having 5 might put your situation at ease. Until you speak with the person who has 5 that’s looking up to the 25 million person, thinking the same thing as you. By this formula, no matter how high your fortune is, you still won’t see yourself as REALLY RICH, because it’s constantly changing. We factored the wealth by 5, because it’s a clear representation of what’s beyond your reality. Even if you double your wealth and then double it again, you’re still falling short of this person who’s already this far ahead. Those of you who are planning your goals know how difficult it is to double your numbers and this will serve you well.

13

Happiness Ceiling: How Money Changes the Way We Perceive the World

This is one of those secrets only rich people know, because they’re the only one who can afford to experience it. We call it the happiness ceiling and it will dramatically change the way you look at things. Dan Bilzerian actually talked about experiencing this in his own life and we couldn’t agree more. Let me give you an example: Let’s say you’re a teenager driving an old rusty car and we gifted you a brand new Mercedes Benz. Your happiness goes from let’s say a 4 -> all the way up to a 10. You now have a brand new Mercedes and it feels amazing. The thing is, happiness or satisfaction doesn’t go any higher than 10. Now, let’s say we gift you a ferrari now and you’re going crazy with excitement. Your happiness is now at 10 because of the ferrari. By comparison, the Mercedes feels like a 7 or 8 and your first car is maybe a 1 or a 2 on the happiness scale. Once you drive the ferrari, going back to a mercedes feels like a downgrade This happens with comfort, with food, with experiences. These premium experiences that you sought after, now become your cruising altitude. Once you fly business class you won’t feel like flying coach ever again. Once you eat really good food, that cornershop shawarma place no longer gets a standing ovation. This applies to everything that money can buy. Once you max out the happiness ceiling in your life, it’s all downhill from there. That’s why it’s best to spread this growth throughout your life so there’s constantly more room to grow into.

14

By Fulfilling your Dreams, you are Actively Running Out of Dreams to Pursue

Can you believe that this is a real problem some people have?! Yep, you are running out of things to do. Most people wish for the same things: see your favorite band play live, travel to a particular destination, meet your favorite celebrity, help a needing family. Add all of them up and you realize there’s all within an arm’s reach. That’s why most rich people seem bored out of their minds. You no longer get the same rush from doing these things. After the first couple of times flying to the other side of the world, it gets exhausting. This is why rich people end up paying those exorbitant prices for those hamptons homes. They just need a quick escape, that conveniently located outside of the busy manhattan. You throw these parties, where almost the same people show up just to keep the social wheel turning, because there’s nothing else to do.

15

You’ll Never Experience the Rush of Becoming Rich, Twice

Truth be told, most people will never experience it at all, but you see… you’re not like most people are you? This might not seem like a lot, but everyone remembers the first moment they really felt rich and it’s amazing. If you experienced it, you know what we’re talking about. If you haven’t yet, then you’ll definitely know when it hits you. There’s this interesting phenomenon when it comes to wealth where you’re no longer feeling richer, you just have more and more money. It used to be that the term “High Net Worth Individual” would be associated with someone who’s a millionaire, but that’s no longer the case. As of writing this article, you need roughly 15 to 20 million to feel like you’re actually rich. Above that, it’s just more money, your lifestyle isn’t that much different. Yes, instead of owning a big yacht you rent one for the summer and you chart on private jets instead of having your own, but these are all small things in the greater lifestyle of the rich and wealthy. Cherish the moment you realize you’ve crossed over into the rich class, no matter what the amount of money is in your geography.