If the ‘instant wealth’ brigade are to be believed, riches fall into the lap of anyone following their advice – or more likely their $99.95 programme (currently at 50% discount). I have a sneaky suspicion there are far more people promising instant riches than actually reap the offered rewards.

If you are asking yourself the question ‘How To Get Rich?’, either quickly or at a more leisurely pace, I guess you consider yourself to be something less than rich right now?

So at the risk of you not going on to read the rest of the article (after all you’ve maybe read hundreds of such articles) I’ll give you my fool-proof, 100% guaranteed way of getting rich quick right here at the start.

No tricks. No gimmicks. Available to all at no cost whatsoever.

To get rich immediately just change your definition of ‘rich’.

“Hang on a minute!” you may respond, “You said there would be no tricks. Sounds like a trick to me!”

You could be right.

Or it could be those who think I’m playing the trick, are actually being tricked by themselves, or by someone else.

Who Defined Rich?

Where did your definition of ‘rich’ come from?

Your parents? School? The media? Yourself?

Parents usually want the best for their children and raise them to be equipped to enter the world as adults who can stand on their own feet and look after themselves. That will include, for many, helping their children set their goals high and learn the skills and attitudes they might need to succeed. Maybe that includes passing on a view about what ‘rich’ means?

Schools are increasingly influenced by teaching kids what they need to enter the workplace. Maybe that involves making sure our children learn a particular definition of rich?

The media generally has an interest in us buying more from their sponsors and advertisers so there’s no surprise they overload us with images and messages about what rich means. Perhaps they even define ‘rich’ for many of us?

And unless you happen to be the wealthiest person on the planet (welcome to my site!) then there is at least one person with more than you. Maybe your neighbour? Your boss? The person who drives past every morning in their deluxe sports car? It’s easy to compare where we are in life with others and conclude that by comparison they are rich and we are not.

There’s really no trickery here other than by those who’ve tried to convince you you’re not rich now – so you need to work damn hard for them or buy their products in order to become so.

Why not start out afresh and define ‘rich’ however you choose? And if you really want to be rich right now just choose your definition so you are. Easy!

How Rich Are You?

I checked out a dictionary and this was one of the many definitions of rich:

Abundantly supplied with resources, means or funds.

‘Abundant’ is a relative term and if I have nothing at all then a small amount is an abundance. And ‘resources, means or funds’ is really very wide in scope!

Try this:

1.   Take a blank sheet of paper and a pen (a pencil or anything that will write will do as well).

2.   Head up the page ‘Resources, means and funds’.

3.   List all the resources, means and funds at your disposal, defining them as broadly as possible. You don’t need to own them all, as long as you have the use of them in some way. Make sure you write down both external and internal resources which might include, for example, your personal skills and qualities. When you think your list is complete, go back to it and try to double the number of items.

I’ve no idea what’s on your list or how long it is. If you’re not impressed by the length of the list you’ve written then I encourage you to keep thinking and adding to your list until you are impressed by its length. If you’re really struggling to do that, ask for some help from someone close to you – just make sure the person you choose has a ‘cup-half-full’ approach to life!

If you still don’t get the point then consider this.

How much food, water, air have you consumed over the course of your life? What about all the other resources? Imagine a table in front of you piled with everything you have ever consumed during your life so far. My guess is you’ll have a hard time disagreeing this is something of an abundance.

I believe getting rich is not the challenge we’re led to believe – each and every person on the planet is already rich in some way.

Appreciating it is the bigger challenge.

You Are Alive

It is not my intention to belittle poverty which is clearly a widespread and terrible thing. There are more people on the planet than there should be struggling daily to get the basic things they need to survive.

I am assuming, though, if you’re reading this you are not on the verge of starvation and you have everything you need right now in this moment. You may, of course, die tomorrow, but until then you have what you need for your basic survival. I guess even a bit more than the basics as you’re probably reading this somewhere on a computer connected to the internet.

Is there anything else you need right now?

What I think has happened is that many people have confused the drive to constantly improve their standard of life with the idea of ‘getting rich’. They’ve bought the idea that being rich is all about having lots of money and/or material possessions.

Having money to spend on stuff can definitely help improve our standard of life but when we focus only on that particular strategy we can easily forget all the other ways we can do it. Learning, deepening the relationships with those close to us, meeting new people, self expression, creating, simplifying, exercising, dieting are just a few things that come to mind.

But maybe more importantly, when we strive for the things we don’t have it’s easy to forget to appreciate the things we do have.