Popular Misconception #1 on Earning $ and Creating Wealth

The following article was written in 1985, however most of it sounds like it was written yesterday. Not much has changed in twenty-five years. Reprinted from Born to be Rich.

All of us have ideas and theories about work. We often accept a lot of half-baked notions from our parents, teachers, associates, the media and the government. Most often, we are told half-truths or total fallacies which seriously harm us.

Believing a misconception is far worse than not believing anything. These misconceptions can quickly become a part of that which we carry around inside of us and eventually become an integral part of our thinking process.

When we begin making lifetime decisions based on misconceptions, our lives can very quickly become confused. Yet many of us place these misconceptions into play every day, never knowing that there might be another answer.

Only a few of the widely held and dogmatically practiced misconceptions are discussed in this chapter. As you read each misconception, try to envision a person you know who practices it. You may have to admit that you have some misconceptions of your own.

Now that these shams have been brought to your attention, concentrate on the manner in which they have affected your life. Perhaps the release of any of these will help to unlock the door to wealth for you.

No.1 -- Working Hard Assures Your Success

You certainly will not achieve anything without working diligently but it is also entirely possible that you could work very hard and become a complete failure.

Very often working hard will result in getting fired or losing a promotion. Other forces are at work here. If you wish to become president of the company, you might be smarter to marry the boss's daughter rather than put in long hours.

When I was attending college, a roommate of mine was being interviewed for the school newspaper. The reporter asked my roommate what he planned to do when he graduated. My roommate replied that he was going into the hardware business.

"Where would you obtain capital? Where would you locate the business?" I asked.

He seemed to evade my questions and finally admitted his dad owned a wholesale hardware distributing business with an inventory of over a million dollars. He was going to work for his dad.

Five Millionares tell their Secrets

A televised talk show recently featured five self-made millionaires who freely discussed how they made their fortunes. The final guest was a billionaire, Bunker Hunt, who sheepishly took his seat with the other millionaires.

While the others were very vocal about their accomplishments, Bunker remained like a clam. After several minutes of prodding from the talk show host, Bunker finally admitted he wouldn't have the foggiest notion about how to earn a million dollars from scratch since his wealth was inherited! The guests were supposed to be slef-made millionares and someone had made an error!

Buckets-of-Sweat Syndrome

In George Orwell's Animal Farm, the buckets-of-sweat syndrome was encouraged for the animal workers, particularly the horse. The leaders convinced the horse that he should work many long, grueling hours and promised him great rewards for his efforts. In the final chapter, the horse became ill one day and was promptly escorted to the glue factory.

Hard work will often spell the difference between success and failure, but we often overstate its value. Other factors, like having a sense of purpose, achieving goals and working smarter are all equally as important.

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Create Wealth by caring about others.

This article from Born to be Rich