Why do we all Want to be Rich?

Chris Herd
4 min readJan 19, 2017

To be rich you first have to have the answer to these two questions:

What constitutes being rich?

Why do you want to be rich?

Almost universally it is a ubiquitous goal of the living to become financially ‘rich’ but what does that even mean?

How much money would qualify you in your mind as being rich?

Until you have a predefined level which when you cross you instantly become rich you will never reach your goal. The first problem about a holistic desire to be rich is whether you know you are when you reach that point or whether when you do it then isn’t enough.

Richness and wealth is comparative. If your desire is to be richer than you are now that is fine, you can implement a plan which increases your wages or make investments which increase returns. If you have a shifting desire whereby you simply want to be richer than you were yesterday you will never be nourished by your pursuit of wealth.

Another issue with an existential desire to become rich is the diminishing returns after a salary of $70,000. The problem is that after that point your lifestyle inflates to accommodate your increased wages yet your disposable income remains relatively fixed, around $20,000 per anum. As you progress through the stages of wealth your standards of living change as do the expectation of the social class you are now associated. Instead of being able to get buy with the purchases you want to make you must make those that are expected of you in order to ensure you don’t become an outcast.

Yet none of the above matters at all without purpose. If you don’t know why it becomes impossible to know how. If you have a reason you have purpose. Knowing the things you want to afford enables you to determine the level of wealth you must reach. If your desire to be wealthy is to enable you to purchase a specific house you can calculate the salary and savings you would need to achieve that. If you want to own a yacht this to is quantitive and you know how much money you must accrue in order to afford it. If instead you want to be rich for rich sake no matter how much money you amass you will never be happy.

Will amassing piles of money sustain your hunger to be rich? If so to become rich all you must do is convince yourself to save. Hoarding money ruthlessly will enable you to become rich but it necessarily must detrimentally affect your standard of living. Improving wealth is the simplest matter of economics, spend less than you earn. Invest sensibly and your money begins to work for you and grow exponentially. You will become rich but to remain rich you must never spend it.

To become rich you must add value. What unique insight or skills do you bring to the table that other people do not? What do you love to do? If you have a unique skillset or intelligence of a certain subject you possess the capability to disrupt existing industry. To make money you must alter the current paradigm, doing the same things the same ways will never result in tremendous wealth. To become rich you need to help or positively impact the lifes of a large amount of people.

If you have none of the above how will you acquire them? If you have a relentless determination to achieve your hopes and dreams that is the most powerful motivator in achievement. If you are willing to work harder than your competitors you will push through all barriers where they fall down. Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. Success = Talent x Effort². If you are willing to work harder than other people you will eventually catch them then streak ahead.

To be rich you need to be obsessed. Normal people cannot compete with obsession. Find a business you can be obsessed about and obsess about it. You need to be willing to spend your last breath unmercifully pursuing profitability. If you are obsessed you can sell and selling will be what’s most important. You need to sell yourself, your idea and then your product. If you can’t convince people to buy what you are selling you will never be rich. Why would anyone part with their hard earned cash? How can you help them, what can you do somebody else cannot?

Ultimately being rich is a state of mind, if you’re not happy it won’t matter how rich you become. If you’re not happy before become rich you won’t become any happier, and that’s always worth considering before committing yourself to an idea.

Richness as a path to happiness is folly, both must be arrived at individually.

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Chris Herd

CEO / Founder / Coach @FirstbaseHQ Empowering people to work in their lives not live at work ✌️✌