"Discovering Your Secret Wealth"

by Robert Stuberg

Do you really want to be wealthy?

Now most people will quickly respond "Yes!" to this question without giving it much consideration,but it does merit some careful thought. As you know, there is a cost to everything we do. Andachieving any significant goal always requires that we invest something of ourselves in the form ofhard work and commitment. So you say you want to be wealthy, but what are you willing to sacrificeto reach your destination? And how will you know when you are there?

I'll tell you right now that you can become as wealthy as you want. I know that's a pretty boldstatement, but I'll say it again. You can become as wealthy as you want. It won't happen overnightor without effort, but it can happen! Just like every other aspect of your life, wealth is achoice, not a twist of fate. You have the same resources available to you that every other wealthyperson has used to build his or her fortune. Remember, it doesn't take a lot of money to make a lotof money, but it does take wealth to create wealth. This is a secret worth remembering: It takeswealth, not necessarily money, to create wealth.

What does this mean? Allow me to digress for a moment and discuss the meanings of wealth.

Wealth simply means an abundance of something. Usually, when people use that word -- and usuallywhen I use the word -- it refers to an abundance of money. But it can also mean an abundance ofanything else we hold dear. Love, time, health . . . these are all forms of wealth that are just asimportant as the financial kind. In fact, without these other kinds of wealth, getting rich is acold and empty process, usually spurred by greed.

Certainly it's important to learn how to expand your monetary wealth along with the other kinds ofwealth that are important to you. But what's interesting is that by drawing on other forms ofwealth, we can get rich that much faster, and it will be a far more responsible and rewardingprocess.

You see, each of us holds an immense fortune inside of us that can be channeled to create monetarywealth in our lives. I call this our "secret wealth," because most people don't understand the vastpotential they have to become as wealthy as they want to be.

What is our "secret wealth"? It's our time, talents, dreams, desires, and beliefs. Our secretwealth is our love and passion and vision for the world. Our secret wealth is the things that makeus truly happy. And our secret wealth is our individual mindset about becoming wealthy. We canunlock this wealth merely by first identifying it, then focusing it. That is, first figure out whatit is about you that makes you unique and special, then decide how these things can lead to yourbecoming wealthy.

Someone once determined that if we divided all of the money in the world equally between every man,woman, and child, we'd each have more than a million dollars. And I can tell you that most peoplewould like to claim their share of that! Well, I'll tell you a secret. The way to true riches hasalways been through focusing our secret wealth. Using their secret wealth, paupers have becomepresidents, and people who started life in the worst and most squalid of conditions have becomesome of the richest and most famous people in the world.

Using your secret wealth effectively is a sure signal that financial wealth will follow. And thebest thing is, you don't need any special intelligence or education. I once had a talk with myfriend Sarah, who actually does have a very good education: two Master's degrees from prestigiousuniversities. At one point in the conversation, she lamented that her car was dying and her currentfinancial situation wouldn't allow her to buy another one. "The worst part is," she said, "I keepseeing all those people driving around in BMWs and Lexuses. I know I'm smarter than they are, sowhy am I not driving a luxury car?"

The answer I had for her was simple: They had tapped into their secret wealth, while she had not.And that's the ultimate advantage. They may not be as educated, and they probably even work muchless than my friend, who put in over 60 hours per week, and yet they have far more money.

Well, this revelation intrigued Sarah, who had never been very interested in my financial advicebefore. Immediately, we began brainstorming what her secret wealth might be. While she worked as aliaison between nonprofit organizations, it was a job she fell into in a roundabout way. She wasfairly happy with her job and actually made a decent salary, but she wasn't very interested in thespecifics of her day-to-day activities.

Interestingly enough, her true interest lay in the entertainment field. She had long toyed with theidea of becoming a comedian in her spare time, and she had a long-standing passion for Europeancabaret. By the time we said goodbye, she was already focusing her mind on how she might put hersecret wealth to work for her. And the next time we talked, she was happy to report her success!

Keeping her interests in mind, she approached her boss with an idea for a fundraiser with a cabarettheme, and in her enthusiasm, she was actually able to get a big-name comedian to commit to theproject as the emcee. When she was given the go-ahead to proceed, the evening was a smashingsuccess, and the emcee even gave her some tips for breaking into show business. The next week, herboss offered to create a higher-paying position for her in which she could plan further suchevents. The week after that, she started participating in open microphone nights at comedy clubs.Now, two years later, she is actually being paid to entertain audiences in her spare time. Themoney is rolling in, and she's even driving one of those luxury cars she wanted so much! And it'sfunny how people's perceptions change. The last time we talked, Sarah told me that she's realizedthat a luxury car is just a car after all! Her real happiness comes from using her secret wealth toreally prosper.

So what is your secret wealth? Do you know? Do you want to know? Tapping into your secret wealth isnot a minor matter. Expressing those parts of you in the world may involve a number of big changesin your life. But financial wealth, if you don't have it, will never come without change. If thatweren't true, if we didn't have to change our habits to become wealthy, then we'd all be wealthy!

Certainly, it's very possible to accumulate a great deal of money by making only minor changes inyour lifestyle. But what if you got really serious about creating a fortune for yourself and yourfamily? What if you become totally focused on building a legacy of contribution in world? What ifyou focused on money enough to become financially independent? And most importantly, what if youcreated this new financial wealth by simply utilizing the secret wealth you already possess?

Imagine, then, the power of making bigger changes, of using your secret wealth to create even moremoney. You'll get richer faster, and the best part of all is that, when you're getting wealthy byexpressing your inner passions in the world, you will be happy by default! In fact, the money yougain will be secondary to the joy living your life has become and the satisfaction that you aredoing something that is personally fulfilling.