The Psychology of Making Money

The single greatest skill that separates broke people from wealthy people is not intelligence or luck. Okay? It is

mastering the psychology of money. I

went from being 100 pounds overweight, broke, arrested six times to building companies worth hundreds of billions of dollars. And it is not because I'm

dollars. And it is not because I'm special. I am no different from you. Is

special. I am no different from you. Is

because I stopped letting my broke mindset run my actual life. So if you want to build real wealth, you need to break free from these six limiting beliefs that are keeping you broke. The

first limiting belief or system of beliefs that is keeping you poor is what I call the money script. Every financial

decision that you make, what job you take, how much you charge, how guilty you feel spending a certain amount of money, is all controlled by this subconscious script that you probably didn't even write yourself. And this is

actual science. There's research by

actual science. There's research by financial psychologists that talk about the four types of money scripts that predict financial behavior. And these

scripts are actually formed in childhood before you're even conscious enough to understand what money is. As I go through each of these, I want you to think about which one you unconsciously follow yourself. I will tell you what I

follow yourself. I will tell you what I am at the end or at least how I grew up.

Okay, the first one is a money avoider.

These people believe that money is bad and that they don't deserve it. Okay,

they will sabotage their own success.

They often work in helping professions that have very low pay and they feel guilty about wanting to have money. So

if you grew up hearing people say rich people are greedy, money is the root of all evil, that's probably the script that you have in your head. Now on the other hand, we also have money worshippers. Okay? So if you're a money

worshippers. Okay? So if you're a money worshipper, you believe that money will solve all your problems and bring you happiness. Okay? So a money worshipper,

happiness. Okay? So a money worshipper, they chase money obsessively, but they never feel like they have enough. They

hoard. They prioritize work over relationships, always believing that a certain amount of more money is going to bring them happiness. Oh, I just haven't made enough yet. I need to make a

million dollars. Now it's 10 million.

million dollars. Now it's 10 million.

Now it's a hundred million in order to be happy. Now there's the money status

be happy. Now there's the money status script. People who suffer from the money

script. People who suffer from the money status script tie their self-worth to their net worth. They overspend because they want to keep up appearances, hide their finances even from like spouses if

it's not what they think it should be, and they feel anxious when other people are wealthier than them. So it's like the typical keeping up the Joneses. It's

like you're looking in the the yard of your neighbor and you're like, "Dude, I need to have a better yard than him."

Research shows that this script is actually linked to lower well-being and increased unhappiness. Now, why is that?

increased unhappiness. Now, why is that?

Because you're constantly comparing yourself. Right? The last one is money

yourself. Right? The last one is money vigilant people. Okay, these are people

vigilant people. Okay, these are people who are chronic savers who live below their means, but they experience constant anxiety about their financial future. They're usually secretive about

future. They're usually secretive about money. They never feel secure even when

money. They never feel secure even when they have plenty. So, I want you to think about of those four, you might be a mix of a couple of them, but think about the one that you identify with the most. Think about how it affected you

most. Think about how it affected you growing up. So, when I went through

growing up. So, when I went through these, I was like, I definitely identify the most with money vigilant, which probably sounds weird cuz you're looking at me and you're like, I see jewelry and I see makeup and hair and all. I'm going

to be really honest with you guys. I

spend nothing compared to how much money I have. to the degree that when I had

I have. to the degree that when I had $100 million net worth, I didn't even want to spend over a couple million dollars on the house. In fact, I rented for three years at that point in my life and didn't even own a home. And that is

because it's the constant anxiety of like never feeling secure even when you have plenty. So, Alex actually knows

have plenty. So, Alex actually knows this about me, which is a terrible habit. But when I feel like I'm not

habit. But when I feel like I'm not making as much money or less profit for a couple months, even though it affects nothing about my personal life, cuz I don't even take money from my business, I just start to spend less money. I

don't look at things. I don't buy stuff.

I tell people, I'm like, "Don't buy that. What are we doing?" I tell my

that. What are we doing?" I tell my whole assistant team, I'm like, "Ah, we don't need that. No, let's cut here.

Let's go through our our finances and cut stuff that we don't need." I

realized it was a pattern that I had in my past that I was bringing into my current day life that wasn't serving me.

And so something I tried to start doing the last few times that's happened where I've just felt that urge to spend less money. I go spend more money. It's

money. I go spend more money. It's

probably a worse behavior, but it's telling my brain like, listen, you're going to listen to me. This is

irrational. I'm not going to listen to you. And so I will spend money even when

you. And so I will spend money even when I have that impulse not to to teach myself it's okay because the evidence shows it is. And whatever's happening in my brain has nothing to do with what's

happening on the outside. So here's what I want you to do. I want you to think about the phrases that you heard growing up. Maybe it's, you know, one, money

up. Maybe it's, you know, one, money doesn't grow on trees, be grateful for what you have, rich people are greedy.

Okay? Those things are not lessons.

They're other people's thoughts that you took on. And so once they get written

took on. And so once they get written into your subconscious, then they start dictating everything about your life.

What jobs you take, how much money you charge, what you believe you deserve, how much money you spend, when you should be anxious versus excited about spending money. So, here's how we want

spending money. So, here's how we want to rewire our brains to think about money differently. Write down your

money differently. Write down your earliest memory about money. What did

your parents say about it? How did they behave with it? That's probably your money script. And once you see it, you

money script. And once you see it, you can rewrite it. And so your new script, for example, could be money is a tool that lets me create freedom and help more people. Once you change that

more people. Once you change that internal script, your external results will start to update. It takes a lot of the emotion out of it. And once you associate positive feelings with that new narrative, you start to actually see

that your behaviors align with it more.

The next limiting belief keeping you poor is what we call a wealth ceiling.

Here's the truth about it. you will

sabotage. Say it's a $200,000 opportunity if you still see yourself as somebody who only pursues a $50,000 opportunity. Now, why is that? The

opportunity. Now, why is that? The

amount of money that you have is capped by how you see yourself. Just like the partner yet you have, just like the job that you have, just like the house that you live in, the research on this is very clear. Your self-concept acts as a

very clear. Your self-concept acts as a thermostat. If you see yourself as

thermostat. If you see yourself as somebody who earns $100,000, you'll unconsciously strive to maintain that level, right? And you will not pursue a

level, right? And you will not pursue a level above it. That's the really important piece. Now, if you make

important piece. Now, if you make $150,000, you'll probably spend an additional $50,000. If you make $80,000,

additional $50,000. If you make $80,000, you'll stress and work until you're back at the $100,000. See what I'm saying?

So, for me, for years, I was I'm scrappy. I'm surviving. I'm getting by.

scrappy. I'm surviving. I'm getting by.

And I remember because I got stuck when I was in my first job making around $85,000 a year. It was like I created this identity around it. I knew

logically that I could make more, but one I remember the moment I started making more, I started to compete and then all my money started going to competition fees. The second piece is

competition fees. The second piece is that I remember so many times when I knew I was about to start making more.

It's like I would almost sabotage myself by getting wound up in it. I was like, "Oh my god, what if I up? What if I mess up? What if I don't actually make more?"

up? What if I don't actually make more?"

And I didn't realize at the time that that was like me regulating my internal temperature. And so if your identity is

temperature. And so if your identity is I'm somebody who struggles with money, you find ways to keep struggling. But if

it's I'm someone who creates and manages my wealth and can make more money if I choose to, then you're going to find a way to live that out. So here's how you change this. Okay? I want you to write

change this. Okay? I want you to write this down. I'm the kind of person who.

this down. I'm the kind of person who.

And then finish the sentence honestly.

Whatever your current financial identity is. I overspend. I underspend. I save

is. I overspend. I underspend. I save

too much. I save nothing. Then I want you to put a a line down that piece of paper. On the other side, write, I'm the

paper. On the other side, write, I'm the kind of person who builds and manages wealth with ease. You don't need to feel like that person yet. You don't need to act like them just yet. I just want you to actually write it down and not be

repulsed by what you see on the piece of paper. I'm serious. Every time you now

paper. I'm serious. Every time you now make a decision for money, I want you to pull up that piece of paper. That's all

I want you to do right now. And the

thing is is that the moment that your self-image expands because you're constantly reading that, reminding yourself of it, writing a new sentence to put in your brain, your income is going to follow that. The next limiting

belief people have is thinking that they should buy liabilities instead of assets. Maybe just not even knowing the

assets. Maybe just not even knowing the difference. You were programmed to

difference. You were programmed to consume, not to build things. And that's

why a lot of people stay broke. Okay,

Robert Kiosaki, he wrote Rich Dad Poor Dad. One of the first books I read on

Dad. One of the first books I read on money, he put it very simply. He said,

"The rich buy assets, the middle class buys liabilities thinking they are assets." Wealth is actually fairly

assets." Wealth is actually fairly simple. There are two categories:

simple. There are two categories: assets, liabilities. An asset puts money

assets, liabilities. An asset puts money in your pocket. A liability takes money out of your pocket. And a lot of people spend their entire lives buying liabilities and wondering why they can't

get ahead. They ask, "Can I afford

get ahead. They ask, "Can I afford this?" Instead of, "Will this pay me

this?" Instead of, "Will this pay me back? What's my return on this?" Now,

back? What's my return on this?" Now,

how do you know the difference between an asset and liability? I'll break it down in the most common cases that you probably can relate to. Your car,

liability, okay, loses value immediately. Has insurance, which is

immediately. Has insurance, which is Gas, maintenance, happens to it all the time. your house you live in.

Liability. I know this is very controversial, but it's true. You have a mortgage, property tax, insurance, repairs. It doesn't generate income. The

repairs. It doesn't generate income. The

next one, a course that teaches you a skill, asset. Now, how does that an

skill, asset. Now, how does that an asset? Because it pays you back through

asset? Because it pays you back through increased income because you've invested in your skills. A rental property. An

asset. It generates monthly income. A

designer handbag, sadly, a liability.

Okay. Loses value over time. Doesn't,

you know, generate any income. I've had

that discussion with Alex before.

equipment for your business. That is an asset if it helps you generate more revenue. It's a liability if you don't

revenue. It's a liability if you don't use it and just sits there. So, when I started filtering all my purchases through that, is this an asset or a liability? My wealth compounded because

liability? My wealth compounded because I realized I was like, my money, if I don't put into either of these things actually is just a liability. Money

sitting in the bank, it's just deteriorating over time. So, my money actually can become a liability if I don't do something with it. And that's

when I really started learning how to invest in things that create money, in skills that create money, in learning that creates money, and in assets for my business that create money. Here's how

you can start spending on what matters.

Okay? I want you to look at the last 10 purchases that you made. And then next to each one, simply write asset or liability and be honest with yourself.

And then all I want you to do is just commit the next time that you buy something to just ask yourself, is this a liability or an asset? Does it put money in my pocket eventually, or does

it take money out of my pocket? The next

limiting belief is one of the hardest ones to break. I know this because I still find myself breaking it on a continuous basis in the weirdest ways, but that is the scarcity mindset. Okay,

this sounds crazy, but having a scarcity mindset actually can make you dumber.

Here's the truth. You either operate from scarcity or abundance. And I don't want you to feel bad here because as humans, we are supposed to operate from scarcity. Which one you choose to lean

scarcity. Which one you choose to lean towards and train yourself into will determine how much money you make. The

scarcity brain really just says there's never enough. I need to protect what I

never enough. I need to protect what I have. I need more. You know, if that

have. I need more. You know, if that person has more, it means less for me.

Think about what that meant like a thousand years ago. It meant like somebody else has all the berries. And

you're like, I need more berries because I need berries to feed my children and my pack. And like you're trying to get

my pack. And like you're trying to get their berries because you're like, oh, you can't. There's only a certain number

you can't. There's only a certain number of berries and I need to make sure I get them and not you cuz what if my family dies? That's how your brain's working,

dies? That's how your brain's working, except it's working and thinking those thoughts about something that is not finite. It's something that's infinite.

finite. It's something that's infinite.

There is money being made every day.

Scarcity actually changes your brain the more that you give into it. When you

perceive resources as scarce that are not like money, your cognitive bandwidth shrinks, okay? You make worse decisions.

shrinks, okay? You make worse decisions.

You can't plan longterm and you only focus on immediate value. So, we need to reprogram these thoughts. People with a scarcity mindset, they hoard money. They

don't invest their money, right? Right?

They're only thinking short-term, got to survive, right? And they see every

survive, right? And they see every opportunity as a threat. If you can tap into training yourself to have an abundant mindset, everything will change for you. Okay? Abundance mindsets. They

for you. Okay? Abundance mindsets. They

say there's always more to create. I can

afford to invest. I can afford to give some berries to my neighbor. I can take calculated risks because there are opportunities everywhere. And it is not

opportunities everywhere. And it is not a finite resource. It is seeing the world and all the things it has to offer as an infinite pie rather than a finite one. So for me, for example, when I

one. So for me, for example, when I operated from scarcity, I was terrified to spend money on things that made my life better, made me better, made my business better because I felt like what

if what if I never make money again?

What if it stops coming? What if

something changes? Especially in the first few years of business, I want to say the first three, it was really hard for me to get out of that habit. And

then the shift actually really happened when I realized money is almost infinite nowadays, okay, but is renewable.

Skills relationships opportunities those things compound. And so the more that I invest into myself and the more and I invest in my business and the more and I invest in my life, the more I get back 10fold. And I realized that I

back 10fold. And I realized that I needed to train myself out of that habit. So I'll tell you the first thing

habit. So I'll tell you the first thing I did. I hired a coach that was $40,000

I did. I hired a coach that was $40,000 a month when we were literally making $50,000 a month, right? And my scarcity brain was like, "Oh my god, you just started making this money. Like you're

going to go broke. What if it stops tomorrow?" My abundant brain was like,

tomorrow?" My abundant brain was like, "Well, you made 10,000 a month, then 30,000 a month. Now 40. Like next month you're probably going to make a h 100red." and this skill is going to help

100red." and this skill is going to help you make even more. And so I said, you know what? I have to just ignore that

know what? I have to just ignore that voice. I'm not going to listen to it. I

voice. I'm not going to listen to it. I

can have those thoughts. I don't need to listen to them and follow their directions. I can go with this one

directions. I can go with this one instead. And the cool thing is that that

instead. And the cool thing is that that coach that I hired that was $40,000 a month was the reason I was able to scale one of my companies to the degree I did, which then I was able to sell the company for tens of millions of dollars.

I'm sure you're thinking, "Okay, but how do you build an abundant mindset?" Okay,

here's what I want you to do. One is

just become aware of when you make decisions from fear versus from possibility. Okay? When you think I

possibility. Okay? When you think I can't afford this, I want you to reframe it. How could I afford this? Simplest

it. How could I afford this? Simplest

thing you can do. The moment you stop asking yourself, how do I protect what I have? And you start asking yourself, how

have? And you start asking yourself, how do I create more of what I have? That's

when you start asking, I would say, like higher level intelligence questions, and you stop sabotaging your finances. And

that's the thing I realized for myself.

I was like, "Oh, I talk to myself like I'm poor even when I was had a lot of money to be honest." And it wasn't until I realized that that I was like really able to step into that next realm where I was like, "I'm giving into like the

survival mechanism that exists in all of us humans rather than retraining myself into this abundance mindset. The next

step we have is loss aversion. Okay, I

want to define this for y'all. Loss

aversion is why you keep losing investments, avoiding risk, and basically staying stuck where you are."

Because if you want to break this limiting belief, I want you to listen closely to what I'm about to explain.

There was a winning research by it was like Daniel Conman and some guy named Amos. Okay? And it showed that the pain

Amos. Okay? And it showed that the pain of losing $100 is psychologically twice as powerful as the pleasure of gaining

$100. Losing feels twice as bad as

$100. Losing feels twice as bad as winning feels. This is why as humans, we

winning feels. This is why as humans, we hold losing stocks, you know, hoping that they're going to recover instead of just cutting our losses. We stay in dead-end jobs. We stay in bad

dead-end jobs. We stay in bad relationships. We don't negotiate

relationships. We don't negotiate salaries. We avoid investing because the

salaries. We avoid investing because the fear of loss outweighs the potential gain. So for me, for example, I stayed

gain. So for me, for example, I stayed in a terrible job for probably 2 years longer than I should have because I felt like if I ended it, I was losing. But

the funny thing is like staying in that job cost me way more. It was like money, mental energy, mental health, who knows how many years off my life because the fear of loss was bigger than the logic

of leaving. Your brain is designed to

of leaving. Your brain is designed to protect what you have, not to pursue what you could have. And that is why most people never actually take risks to build wealth. And then they say, "Oh,

build wealth. And then they say, "Oh, there's something wrong with me. I feel

like what if I lose?" I'm like, "There's nothing wrong with you. You're a human.

I don't know how many times I have to say this. Like, we're all wired this

say this. Like, we're all wired this way. I'm wired this way. You're wired

way. I'm wired this way. You're wired

this way. If I can do it, you could do it. Promise." Okay. So, here's how you

it. Promise." Okay. So, here's how you break that cycle. You need to reframe every loss as tuition. If you lost $50,000 on a business venture, abundance is going to say, "You paid $50,000 for

an education that will make you millions." When I changed that frame for

millions." When I changed that frame for myself, the loss stopped controlling me.

In fact, recently I had a business decision and there was, you know, about a $3 million delta between what somebody was saying something was and somebody else was saying something was. And I

ended up just going and agreeing with this person because I said I think this is the right way forward and I think that I actually should have defined terms earlier in the relationship to make it more clear and I hadn't done that. And so, you know, when I was

that. And so, you know, when I was telling the story about this, it was just a week ago. I said, "Yeah, I paid $3 million to learn this lesson." And

you know what? I would pay $3 million again to learn that lesson. The last

limiting belief might be the most important one to break. And this is what we call the time trap. Most people spend their entire lives trying to save money and that is what keeps them from making money. Ironically, they forget that

money. Ironically, they forget that money multiplies. But time doesn't

money multiplies. But time doesn't multiply. Okay? And that is why you want

multiply. Okay? And that is why you want to save time instead of saving money. So

here's what I mean. If you make $100 an hour doing anything worth less than $100 an hour is costing you money. So, if you spent 2 hours cleaning your house,

instead of hiring someone $50, you didn't save $50, you lost $150 because 2 hours at $100 minus the 50 you didn't pay. Wealthy people understand this.

pay. Wealthy people understand this.

They buy time. They hire assistants, meal prep services, housekeepers, not because they're lazy, but because their time is worth more. They put it elsewhere. Guess what? I didn't just do

elsewhere. Guess what? I didn't just do this now when I had a lot of money. I

did this when I first had barely any money. The first thing I hired was an

money. The first thing I hired was an assistant. When I was barely had enough

assistant. When I was barely had enough money to hire six people for my team, I hired an assistant because I said, "You know what? This is what rich people do.

know what? This is what rich people do.

They hire people to get their time back.

And if I have to like take care of this and that in the house, then like I'm not going to be making money." And it was the best decision I ever made. Whereas

poor and middle class, they tend to sell time, right? They're trading hours for

time, right? They're trading hours for dollars and do everything themselves to save money and then wonder why they're not getting ahead. And so when I started filtering every decision through, does

this buy me time or cost me time, everything changed. I stopped doing the

everything changed. I stopped doing the $10 an hour tasks, hired help, automated things, and I focused really on the work that was, you know, say $1,000 an hour.

And you can calculate how much money you make per hour by asking yourself how much money do I make in a year? And

divide it by how many hours a year there are. That's it. So like right now, I

are. That's it. So like right now, I know how much I make per hours. So then

I'll ask myself, I even have it on one of my ASA cards for people. I'll say,

"Is this worth, you know, $50,000 for Lelaya to do this if it's going to take an hour?" Now, here's the thing. If

an hour?" Now, here's the thing. If

you're able to do this, you will make more money in less time, which then you reinvest into more leverage. And then

that leverage creates freedom for you because things that you have leverage on, they take less of your time and create money. They're how you get free,

create money. They're how you get free, right? So, how do you get out of that

right? So, how do you get out of that trap? Calculate your hourly rate. Your

trap? Calculate your hourly rate. Your

annual income, divide it by 2,000 work hours. Then, audit your time. Ask

hours. Then, audit your time. Ask

yourself, how many things am I doing that are not worth this? My favorite

thing that somebody will do in one of my companies is they'll come to me and tell me that they're doing tasks that are not worth how much I'm paying them. My

favorite thing in the world. I had

someone do it recently. They said, "Look how many hours I'm spending on admin tasks." And they had actually gone

tasks." And they had actually gone through their calendar for the last 4 weeks and they calculated it and I was horrified by how much time. And I

immediately hired them assistant and they started literally 3 days ago.

That's all because anybody who thinks in terms of getting a good return, I'm going to hire that person for somebody else as well. So here's my challenge for you. I want you to pick just one of the

you. I want you to pick just one of the shifts from this video and I want you to say, "This is the one where I think I'm going to get the most gains. I'm going

to start practicing it this week." And

if you like this video, don't forget to check out my next one and subscribe.