Are you an underdog when it comes to creating wealth? Most likely you are. I sure am. AI tells us the underdog is someone who is expected to lose because of their distinct disadvantage. AI is pretty smart, but I have to say, I think AI is off base on this one. I think it is good to be a financial underdog and I am going to spend a bit of time making that case and why the underdog actually has the advantage!
Here's some truth. Most people in America come from moderate to low income families. Those families generally have moderate to low net worth. At first glance, that would appear to be a disadvantage vs. someone born into an upper income, high net worth family. I don't think it is. Thanks to capitalism, some luck, discipline, hard work, the right education, and some patience, we can do some amazing things.
What kind of amazing things? You can grow up poor in America and end up wealthy in one generation. There are very few places in the world that can be done. We are very lucky to be born into a system that provides us that opportunity. Note, I said opportunity, not guarantee. The reality is, most people who grow up poor or close to it, stay that way their entire life. Why is that?
If the underdog buys into the message that they are a victim, they will go nowhere in life. They will end up blaming others vs. getting to work on themselves. If they believe it is not possible to move upward in life, they won't. For whatever reason, they have been brainwashed into believing they are stuck in some Socialist system where the poor are destined to stay poor their entire life. Hogwash!
So, the first thing the underdog needs is hope and then a belief in themselves and how successful they can be in a capitalistic society. Once that is in place, then comes the education piece. They feed themselves as much education on the topic of personal finance and self development as they possibly can. They focus on learning from the right people. We MUST find the right teachers.
This book, The Millionaire Next Door, written by Thomas Stanley studied millionaires. He identified that around 80% of millionaires were first generation millionaires. They made it; it wasn't handed to them by mommy and daddy. This was a revelation to Stanley and many others. It is still the case today, don't let anyone tell you different. Opportunities abound in this great country. It is up to US to seize upon them.
With the right education from the right people, the underdog sees a path to a better future. This is where luck may play a part. When the underdog starts going down that path, help can come out of nowhere from people who see your efforts to do better. The guides assist you as confidence is built with each step, sometimes falling down. Watch this. Morgan House is a wonderful guide.
Of course, the underdog knows it will not be smooth or easy. They have learned from their upbringing that it will be a struggle. Life is suffering. They will suffer well. They will learn and grow through the difficult times as they get back on that path to a better future again and again and again. With each setback, growth builds within. The underdog gets stronger and stronger along their journey toward a better life.
The underdog knows you don't create financial freedom in a year or two. It takes years and probably decades. That is the price the underdog must pay to leave one world and enter another. This not only builds success, it builds courage. The underdog knows they must do what scares them. They know real prosperity comes from doing the difficult, not the easy. They keep moving forward, doing what is hard.
With time, the right education from the right people, a little luck, and plenty of fortitude, Financial Freedom arrives. What once was a dream, is now a reality. The underdog realizes the journey was their ultimate reward. They learned a great deal about the world and themselves along the way. Financial Freedom just showed up one day. It was simply an inevitable response to all the work they had put in over time.
Is that it? Of course not. The underdog knows that others helped him/her along the way, and it is now time to pay that debt forward. The underdog knows their ultimate reward is how many people they can help see the path, get on the path, and stay on the path. The reward is intrinsic and it is a powerful one as they see one person after another change the direction of their lives. They have completed the circle.
Here is why it pays to be the underdog. We grow the most through our struggles and those struggles are part of our journey from minimal wealth to more than enough. As we become stronger, we become bigger than we ever imagined. The young person growing up in a wealthy family may never experience that level of success because they did not have those kind of struggles along the way. It pays to be an underdog!
Where do we go from here? If you are at the beginning of your journey, read The Path to Prosperity. Reading it more than once should help you bring forward the rules of the road leading to a better life. If you have reached Financial Freedom, don't forget to share those important lessons you have learned with others. We all need a little help along the way until we are strong enough to do it ourselves and help others.
I will leave you with this. Henry Ford grew up on a farm with his basic needs met, but not much else. Thomas Edison grew up in a similar situation, maybe a bit worse. Steve Jobs was adopted into a low income family. Oprah Winfrey grew up in extreme poverty in Mississippi. Elon Muskmoved to Canada with little to nothing when he was 17. Kevin Hartsurvived the Philadelphia ghetto. Long live the underdog!
