MoneySchool Lesson 7

Who knows how I find these things. It's one of the great mysteries of the internet. Somehow I stumbled upon the Money Under 30 website. I signed up for their newsletter and received free "MoneySchool" lessons in my inbox. I know enough about affiliate marketing to know they are making money off of their free advice whenever I click on something, but I've picked up a few tidbits here and there.

I found and fell in love with mint. It's an app that lets you keep all your money stuff in one place. It's great for tracking your spending and budgeting and just really being aware of your finances. I love money. I love being frugal. I love spending. I think I'm already pretty savvy about money, but I also love to learn new things, and would never want to think I know it all.

Lesson 7 is about habits that millionaires have that the rest of us don't. Who knows where they get this stuff. The author, David Weliver, doesn't exactly site his sources. But it inspired me at any rate, and I just wanted to share what I learned.

1. Millionaires read at least one nonfiction book a month. 

Oh my god! That's me! Where's my million!?

I love learning new things. I was so disappointed when I stopped going to school to focus on raising my children. I know it was the right decision. I also know I am happiest when I am learning new things. Lately I've been learning about raising children. I like the way Weliver describes it as "investing in yourself." I've heard how a college education is an investment in your future, and just always accepted it as fact without really thinking about what that actually means. I think your brain is your biggest commodity. I want to be a lifelong learner, and if that's a mark of a wealthy person- well, that just the icing on the cake.

2. Millionaires talk about ideas, not problems. 

This is a new one for me. It's like I was searching in the dark with a flashlight and someone just pointed a huge spotlight at the answer. I've been slightly obsessed with the idea of negotiating lately. I love the idea of no-lose solutions. I've always had a winner/loser mentality. Someone wins. Someone loses. I love to win. Sometimes I feel like I'm always losing. Sometimes I feel like a victim. Sometimes I win and it makes me feel crappy because someone lost for me to win. "Millionaires talk about ideas, not problems" was the missing piece of the puzzle for me. Sometimes I ruminate on a problem. I stew on how awful it is and how miserable I am. I usually arrive at the problem solving stage where I start thinking of solutions, but sometimes it takes me a long time to get there. I would like to remember in the future to skip all the wallowing. I want to acknowledge the thing I don't want and then immediately skip to thinking about what I do want. I learned some of that in the book Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting. 

"Life was meant to be, 

"Don't like that, 

do like that."   

I have to acknowledge the thing I don't like. Don't likes are a part of life. They will happen. But what do I like? What would be the perfect solution or end scene of this problem? I'd like to spend more of my time thinking on that part.

I think that was another reason I didn't like the book Boys Adrift. It offered a reason for all the problems, but had very little focus on solutions.

3. Millionaires live outside the comfort zone.

Eh. That's a hard one for me. I'm comfortable in my comfort zone.

When I quit school it was to take care of my children. I felt like they were running amok and floating adrift. I decided the thing I needed to focus on in my life was my children and our relationship. This was surprisingly uncomfortable for me. I'm not good at relationships. It doesn't matter that they are my children. Talking about feelings is hard. Fighting and arguing and working things out is hard. Showing an interest in a subject you don't care about is hard. Dealing with other people's emotions is really really hard. I'm doing it. Some days are harder than others. Some days I'm too emotional to be rational. 

My oldest and I went paintballing for the first time last week. It was scary. It was uncomfortable. It was amazing. As we were leaving the field in the middle of nowhere, I was so psyched! It was exhilarating! We conquered our fear and it was amazing! What should we do next? Bungee jumping? Skydiving? Getting out of my comfort zone rewarded me with the best high, and great memories of my son and I having fun together laughing and talking. That's worth more than a million dollars.