Who wants to be a Millionaire?

Millionaires, I’ve known plenty of them. They’ll tell you making money is easy. But here’s a little secret; the 10 habits of highly effective people are also often the 10 habits of people who end up bankrupt. What’s the difference? It’s their subconscious. Millionaires have no internal conflict with being financially successful, that’s why it feels easy for them.

Most of my career has involved money. In the early 90s I was studying theatre production at NIDA. The first thing I ever did on a computer way back in 1994 was create a spreadsheet to manage the budget of a theatre production. My early learning about money was that there’s never enough, and be careful it doesn’t run out before the curtain goes up. Despite the brilliance of my spreadsheet and budgeting, the writer’s insistence that the main character use the C word onstage in a snooty suburb of Sydney meant the production was only notable for its absence of an audience. Needless to say, no-one became a millionaire from that production.

In my 30’s I had a major change of career and became a stockbroker. I began seeing money from an entirely different angle. Money was the only scoreboard and the winners and losers were very clear. What I found interesting was different people could buy (or short, I’ll keep this simple) the same stock on the same day and have entirely different outcomes.

The most memorable example of this was when three clients bought the same stock at the same time, at the same price. In the end, one made a 100% profit, another broke even, and one lost everything.

Wait what? (To quote my teenagers). How was the outcome for each so different? Because their subconscious belief system defined their outcome.

As a stockbroker my job was to assist my clients earn profit from their investments, basically to make them money. To do this effectively, trust was an important factor. On this particular morning when I advised my three clients to buy the same stock at $5.50, they all jumped at the opportunity. Within a few weeks the stock hit $12, I called advising each of them to sell. (Names have been changed for privacy).

Bob was the only one to make money. When I said “It’s hit $12 it’s time to sell, take the profit and move on”, he did. I briefly explained the risk profile had changed (the stock had gone up way too quickly and it was in a high-risk industry). He trusted my advice and sold immediately. This guy was primed to make money because his conscious mind lined up perfectly with his subconscious belief system. I’m doing this to make money, I deserve to make money, I make money based on Michael’s advice. He was perfectly aligned to take my advice and move on. Money flows easily into his life, he accumulates it and it grows. Josh wanted to make money. Josh worked hard and was trying to make more. Buying the stock was a quick decision for him. Yet when it came to selling, he drilled me, “Why should I sell now when I could wait and maybe get more?” I explained repeatedly my reasons for selling now and against my advice he did nothing. Two days later the price crashed. Josh ended up selling for what he bought it for, he was lucky to break-even. Even though he’d followed the same process as Bob, his internal belief systems caused him to override his original plan of following my advice. Consciously Josh wanted to make money, the chance to make money was right in front of him, but he sabotaged himself and failed.

Simon was actually a really good friend. He bought at $5.50 and sold at $12 as per my advice. I saw Simon a few days after the price crashed, I thought he’d be happy I’d made him $20k and he’d only had to pay me mates rates, however he didn’t have the smile I expected. He admitted his greed had got the better of him and he’d bought the stock back the same day we sold it through his online broking platform. Simon watched the price go all the way down to a few cents. He lost his entire initial investment and the profit. Simon sabotaged himself, he got the exact opposite of the result he sought all because his subconscious programs contradicted his conscious intentions.

The Subconscious was at play

What can we learn from these three guys? The situation was exactly the same for each player, they had the same intention to make money, they had the same opportunity to invest, they had the same profit opportunity, but their internal belief systems created three very different outcomes.

Bob was subconsciously and consciously hard wired to do what was required to make money.

Josh and Simon shared the conscious intent and desire of Bob but in both cases their sub conscious, the part that sabotages us, the part that trips us up, wasn’t on board. Their sub conscious was full of programs like ‘I can’t trust help’, ‘I always miss out’, ‘there’s never enough’, ‘I’m not smart enough to be rich so I have to overthink things’.

Subconscious programming is one of the reasons 70% of lotto winners go broke within five years of winning (true stat – Google it). Your subconscious will cause you to sabotage any scenario it doesn’t believe is safe or true for you.

If your subconscious belief system isn’t programmed for financial success, then you will struggle to ever get your head above water. Sabotaging beliefs I’ve worked with people to clear include statements like;

“I don’t deserve to be wealthy”

“Rich people are selfish and nasty (and I don’t want to be selfish and nasty)”

“Money is the root of all evil”

“I can’t be trusted with money”

“It’s bad to have more than you need”

These are often beliefs that have come from childhood experiences and attitudes people have learnt from their parents.

Your subconscious is not logical or rational, it cannot think like your conscious mind can. It just plays out its programming and will sabotage anything coming into your life it doesn’t believe is safe or true. Of course, we also have to take action. There’s an old joke, it isn’t even funny. Dave goes to church every Tuesday to pray, ‘God please let me win lotto. He goes religiously, every week. One day Dave finishes his prayer, and the church is filled with a booming voice, “Dave, for my sake, meet me halfway and buy a bloody lottery ticket!”

I know rich people who can’t help but make money, it’s quite something to watch. But they always take actions that might lead to them making money. They respect money, they respect fair exchange and understand that money is merely the score card of exchange. They do the boring things others wish they did; budgeting, keeping track, spending less than they earn, knowing where their money goes. AND their subconscious beliefs support their actions. This is what true manifestation means. Having conscious action and subconscious belief aligned. Having one without the other doesn’t work. Have both and life will flow in your favour.

Does your subconscious belief system line up with your conscious desire?

There’s a simple test, think about your life:

Do you have what you want?

Do you have the financial prosperity you desire?

Whether that’s owning your own home, earning as much as you’d like, or being able to afford that holiday? If you don’t, then your subconscious and conscious minds are probably in conflict. It’s time to change it. It doesn’t matter if you’re a millionaire, what really matters is feeling safe, secure and having the life for you and your loved ones you want and deserve. If you don’t have it, or aren’t solidly on the path to having it, then now is the time to make the changes you need to get on that path.

We can teach you how to identify and change your sabotaging subconscious limiting beliefs.

In The Belief Switch Program we have a module specifically dedicated to beliefs around money, abundance and success.

Make this year the year to create the life that you want. Enrol at https://www.beliefswitch.com/