Psychology of Building Generational Wealth

There are two basic attitudes that determine what someone can or cannot achieve. The first attitude is that our talents are fixed. With this attitude, if math, for instance, does not at first seem to come naturally one decides that he is not good at math and hence will tend to avoid activities that entail calculation. Like the obese child who sits on the bench at recess while his classmates run and play their sports. Behavior tends to amplify over time. In Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Stanford University Professor Carol Dweck called this mindset a “Self Limiting Behavior”. At the other end of the Spectrum think about what Steve Jobs did for Apple and what Jack Welch did for G.E. Every great company requires a strong structure capable of continuous execution.

The second attitude is the one that leads to success; it is simply the mindset that if something does not come easily it simply means that one must focus more effort on the task. “Repetition is the mother of learning” and attitudes as Eric Erikson (developmental psychologist) taught us are learned behaviors. You see, once a person sets his mind to achieving a task that individual will overcome the difficulty and ultimately prevail. For Dr.Victor Frankl (Auschwitz survivor and author of Man’s Search for Meaning), overcoming hardship meant holding onto the dignity and goodness in men even as he witnesses the horrific actions of evil and the prospect of his imminent death at the hands of Nazi Germany. This is the growth mindset and the key to unlocking limitless success in our lives. But to accomplish such a feat it is also necessary that we let go. As Dr.Frankl had to unclench his grasp of the last worldly possessions, his academic papers smuggled into Auschwitz, so must we learn to let go of our self-limiting beliefs. We must learn to reinterpret our circumstances to include the possibilities to which we wish to aspire. We must believe it to achieve it.

It pays to take the time to think about the habitual attitudes that shape our lives. The start of personal development is shaped in childhood within the environment we are raised. A negative environment can be difficult to overcome. Once the child who has an eating disorder (a negative coping mechanism) for example has grown into an eight-hundred-pound adult, the path back to health and physical freedom is certainly long and arduous. And having the positive attitude that one can grow does not mean that one must take the desired journey alone. In fact, it is essential that we ask for help and keep asking for help (in spite of whatever resistance we might encounter) until we get what we need. One must be able to connect with and trust in others forming lasting relationships. The most successful people are the ones who continually engage others for help to achieve their goals. Henry Ford enlisted the help of engineers as did the pioneers of the transcontinental railroad. No one disrupts a market alone. There is no shame is asking for help so long as we are striving to help ourselves.

This is exactly what an entrepreneur does. He designs (or adopts) a model that will create and deliver value to others. But to actually implement his action plan, which is to create and deliver that value, oftentimes requires more work than the entrepreneur can possibly do himself. So, what he does is he convinces other people (usually people who have installed limitations in their own lives, but not always) to share his vision and come to work with him. The best entrepreneur’s create wealth not just for themselves, but also for key stakeholders who help to create concrete versions of his or her vision. What is most advantageous about this winning psychology is that it is socially beneficial for those of us who live in the free world in that we are permitted to pursue our big goals while compensating our employees with a fair portion of the value that we all capture together.

All of this occurs essentially from the substance and power of the entrepreneur’s growth mindset. A quality that is given to us by our Creator. Those who defy limitations tend through the law of attraction to realize their dreams, while those who fix their attitudes within a given boundary at least in the sense of earning potential remain relatively static. My own Franchise concept, Happy Window Cleaning, is not the easiest path one might take to achieve wealth. If home services were easy, people wouldn’t hire work done for them. Less than 5% of cleaning companies achieve sales greater than 200K annually, but of those who do generate financial sufficiency the majority have done so with the guidance of a franchise system such as the Happy Window Cleaning franchise headquartered in Grand Rapids Michigan.

This is not to say that entrepreneurship is the only path to success and that continuous growth is not possible by taking a career path. There are many professionals who possess a growth mindset and forge within their organization ever-increasing and handsome compensation for their remarkable contributions. A growth mindset is not about titles, stock in a company, or tax brackets; it is really about owning responsibility for your own life. Building generational wealth is only possible when one finds and works with other people to achieve a common mission. It is about properly stewarding the gifts the good Lord gave us by bringing something of value to the lives of others.