What comes first… Money or Mindset?

I recently asked this on Facebook, met with a rather “torn” response:

There is a “right” answer…

MINDSET!

Those who said money are wrong, and with the following words I’ll explain why

But that comes soon… first, let’s face the reality of real life.

Because money is what makes the world go round, and the truth is for most people (most places) money proceeds mindset. This is never more apparent than in the entrepreneurial world.

• You start a business to live the life nobody else can …
• You build something so you can feel significant …
• You craft a company so you can live by your rules …

Fame, fortune, authority… it mingles together to blind you from what you really want, so you base your decisions (at work and at home) on the amount of dollars you bring into your bank account.

Because with money you can buy… “stuff”:

• Happiness, how about it…
• Purpose, possibly…
• Meaning, maybe…

And look, you’re not wrong because the reality is money does make the world go round. Money is great, and you can leverage money for more freedom, more wealth and an overall healthier and happier work life balance.

BUT …

This isn’t what happens when money comes before a success mindset, and I know this because everyone I speak to who’s much further ahead in the game than me says the same thing… if I could back I’d do it differently.

Like everyone else, the millionaires and billionaires of the world started with good intention but found themselves lost in the pursuit of success, fame and… money.

Not because they necessarily wanted any of it, but because we’re lead to believe we do.

It’s society’s way of creating a hierarchy and placing you somewhere inside it.

If you drive a Mercedes and work in a corner office, you’re toward the top.

If you don’t… you’re not (and never will be).

And this is why Money first does not work, because it blinds you with ignorant bliss.

• You hustle harder and harder because those who work hard win (but at what cost) …
• You live in “Feast or Famine’ because you have to hustle for each success (the cost so high) …
• You’re stuck in the “Hamster Wheel” – going around and around, through feelings and motions …

Is this why you left your job to work on your own? When you’re seventy-years-old and looking back on your life, is this the work life balance you wish to see? If you could speak to a younger version of yourself, would you say it’s all worth it?

Personally, I want nothing to do with this.

Life is far too short to live by such rules and ruin your mind and body as you do.

But this is what money-first brings. Whereas a strong, success mindset lays the foundations for true success (a version of success that means something to you), not just for today… but deep into tomorrow..

If you’re reading this I can only presume you have grand plans for the future. You stand in the shower and can picture it, maybe interviewing a future version of yourself as you sit atop the pile having “made it”.

Yet I also imagine you’re working too hard… 

… and not getting enough from it!

Maybe you never have enough time, and you always feel like you’re playing catch up. You say things like: 

“once I reach six-figure it will be easier,” or 

“I’ll build my team next year,” or 

“I just have to keep hustling a little longer, because soon I can let go and [fill in blank].”

This is what happens when money comes before mindset.

This is the current state of an entrepreneurial mindset of millennials

But by building a seven-figure, success mindset before you make your first million, you set yourself up to:

• Earn exponentially more money even though you increasingly work less…
• Create a legacy that grows beyond you, rather than a business that relies on you…
• Fast track your personal growth by making less mistakes, thus having more time to enjoy LIFE…

I’m not saying this is easy. Focussing on money is a lot easier than committing to your growth mindset, but money locks you to today and keeps you imprisoned inside that hamster wheel.

And the thing with a hamster wheel is… it never changes. 

It just goes around and around, so what you see today is what you will see tomorrow, next year and forever into the future.

It took me a while to “figure” this out, but while interviewing the 150+ successful people i did for The Successful Mistake, I took notice after hearing the same thing over and over…

“Matthew, if I could go back and do it differently, I would!”

They would tell me how today they work less than ever but earn more and more each month.

They would say how they drove toward a version of success they “thought” they wanted, and then once they reached it realized they didn’t. 

They had money and authority, sure… but all they wanted to do was blow it all up and start again.

If I only heard stories like this once or twice, maybe I would think money before mindset makes sense.

But I didn’t. I heard these stories all the fucking time!

How can you improve your mindset?

If you’re still reading this you’ve already invested four minutes into this. 

I ask you to follow through and commit to the end, because if you do I’ll show you the three stages to building a seven-figure, success mindset (even if you haven’t made your first million).

In fact… I hope you haven’t made your first million yet.

It’s easier to change course with less tied around your neck, which is what money does unless you truly know how to value it.

And the only way to do that is to develop a success mindset that lays the foundations for so much more.

STAGE #1: AWAKENING

You only know what you know.

You know more today than you did a year ago, and this time next year you’ll know more still.

As people, we get so caught up in being right. At any given time, we assume the “truths” in our head are true. But then, as time goes on… these “truths” alter, evolve and downright change.

There was a time I made fun of vegetarians because I thought eating meat was “right”.

Yet today I’m a vegetarian… one of those people old-me ridiculed.

Who will I be in ten years?

Who will you be, five years from now?

In this moment, you know what you know. This is fine. 

But in time this will change, meaning what you deem true today may not be in the future.

Realizing this (and embracing it)… changed my life.

It’s not that I’m right today, or that old-me was wrong. It’s simply knowing what you know at any moment, and appreciating that you have the power to grow, evolve and downright change.

The barrier between you and the next level is almost always YOU.

Not because you’re an idiot or that you don’t care. Simply because right now you know what you know, and you must know something else to get to the next level.

This is what prevents you from scaling from 5 ⇒ 6 ⇒ 7 Figures…

It’s rarely about talent or luck or other people.

It’s almost always down to you and the way you:

• Think…
• React…
• Feel…
• ACT!

This is why creating a powerful mindset before money works, because a success mindset prepares you for this — not just to happen once, but over-and-over until your end of days. 

It’s a constant cycle of dubunking what you know and committing to what comes next.

So right now… as you read these words… embrace that you’re neither right nor wrong.

You simply know what you know, and this is fine. In time you’ll know something different, and if you’re constantly conscious of this process you will forever add new, positive beliefs to your arsenal.

You will grow for the better, rather than get held back by your blind bliss.

But until you accept this, that’s exactly what happens.

You remain blind!

• You cling to those “truths” that you’re convinced are real. 
• You hold on to beliefs that you formed as a young child. 
• You react with habits that have comforted you since you were a kid.

Wake up. Open your eyes. This is your first step to a success mindset.

Dive deep and think about:

• What you believe to be true, that in actual fact is just you making it so…
• What negative habits consume you on a daily basis, that do not serve you…
• What beliefs you have formed over the years that may hold you back today…

Once you do you’re ready for …

STAGE #2: EPIPHANY

Once you question what you do, who you are and WHY you are… your enter stage two.

This is your EPIPHANY!

This is where awareness turns into action, and when your journey truly begins. 

If stage one is where you buy your round-the-world ticket, this is where you go to the airport, get on the plane and sit silent as you realize what you’ve actually done.

Nervous.. Excited… all the feelings in the world!

But you don’t do this through force. 

You don’t do it by persecuting who you were, all because you were blind to what you now see.

What would it achieve? After all, you only knew what you knew, as you do today.

One day you will look back at this new version of you and realize how uninformed you were.

There’s no value in beating yourself up, so the only thing you can is to LOVE… YOU!

Ishita Gupta once told me, “self love is where you merge who you were to who you want to be.”

Be kind to who you were, are and soon… 

Kindness and self-love like this is how you connect these dots.

So as you sit on that figurative plane about to embark on your worldwide adventure, collect your thoughts and make note of where you are today.

• What do you like?
• What don’t you like?
• What’s your current situation?

From here you can craft your vision.

• Where do you want to be?
• Who do you want to become?
• What does all “this” mean to you?

Call it what you want: your definition of success, your vision or mission, your life’s purpose…

No matter the name, the point is to create a destination; a place you wish to stride toward and commit to. 

Over time, this vision will no doubt evolve as you continue to know what you know, debunk it and repeat.

This is fine. Craft your vision anyways, because once you do you create A GAP!

The gap between where you are ⇒ and where you want to be.

Your job during this second stage is to close this gap.

Not by doing more, but by Focussing on LESS so you can Focus MORE.

• What 20% brings 80% of your results?
• What’s your unfair advantage?
• What is it that you’re great at?
• How do you develop personal growth?
• What is your biggest weakness?

The power of less is huge.

When I learned Imogen was to enter my world, and that I would be a father for the second time… it created intense, immense focus within me.

I had to rid my life of as much “stuff” as possible, because I knew time would soon be more precious.

• No room for “maybe” projects…
• No bandwidth for things that “may work”…
• No energy for “like” or “okay”…

It had to be LOVE… 

HELL YES… 

100%!!

You don’t need a baby to force this. You can commit to less whenever you choose, and it’s during your epiphany that you must. 

Your success mindset depends on it. 

It cannot exist if you spread yourself too thin. 

It doesn’t work if you try to become good at everything.

It needs you to be exceptional at something…

STAGE #3: TRANSCENDENCE

This is the stage where the real magic happens.

Although this is also the stage that sends you back to the beginning; to awake once more as you realize what you came up with in stage one and two has changed.

Again… you only know what you know.

Right now you can come up with visions and ideas, a dream of what you would like life to be. But when you edge closer toward it — maybe even reach it — who knows how you’ll feel. 

As my friend and mentor Scott Oldford posted recently: by the time you have the money for the things you want. You won’t want the things.

Not just money… this applies to everything.

What you can see today may or may not be what you NEED to see. This is fine. 

If you reach this stage and change course, evolve some more or tweak what you started… allow it.

Let go. 

LET GO of what you think needs to happen.

I am a man who likes to know what’s coming. I like to plan and script and schedule. I can all I wish, but only to an extent. A point always comes when I must let go and let what needs to happen… happen.

This is true Transcendence; this is where your success mindset takes form.

You see new things. 

You experience new things. 

You yearn for new things.

Maybe you reconnect with an “old” version of yourself, or a new being all together.

I have no idea. The point is… neither do you.

Not now as you read and consume these words.

You need to get out there and LIVE it!

When you do, and you reach the stage of transcendence… Double Down on what works.

Revisit your 80/20 and the skills that set you apart.

Dedicate more time and energy to them, and commit even more to the cause. 

Go deeper. 

Niche further.

Don’t settle for being exceptional at something…

… become the ONLY solution to this one thing! 

But this is hard.

You need to be brave here.

If you’re not you may ruin what you started.

Becoming woke is easy.

Going on the journey isn’t hard.

Yet reaching this stage and realising that not only is this not the end, but rather a new beginning…

… to reach here and double down, LET GO of those fears, beliefs and “truths”…

It is SO fucking hard!

But so fucking necessary. Because this is how you craft a success mindset ready for anything. Money locks you into what you already know, ensuring you learn very little in the future.

• The car…
• The house…
• The lifestyle…
• The business…

You make more and live “the” life, but never feel happy or content. The reason is that you aren’t content with a car, house or business. Life means so much more than this, and the characteristics of entrepreneurship provides you the platform to achieve EVERYTHING!

You can have it all!

It’s all there, within your reach. 

Yet so many people focus on making money and building something big, assuming they’ll figure out the “grander” aspects of life out later.

Why wait?

Why not now?

Those who do wait often do make the big bucks and build the big business, but then, one day watch it burn to the ground — sometimes they’re the one golding the match.

That guy Scott I mentioned earlier… he did this.

Built something big and good, but blew it all up because it made him feel so helplessly unhappy.

He wished he could go back and do it different. He couldn’t. None of us can. 

But like Scott, you can draw a line in the sand if you choose — and finally, completely… commit to YOU!

This is why your Success Mindset ⇒ money is the answer.

This is not about what does it mean to have a growth mindset or fixed mindset; whether you’re driven by scarcity or abundance…

This plays a role, sure. As does the rest of the science behind what makes a success mindset.

But the only real point to any of this is to step back, breathe and become conscious of the foundations you can build for you, your business and your family. 

To finally commit to becoming the best version of YOU.

• Not money.
• Not fame.
• Not [fill in blank].

All this (and more) comes once you fulfil YOUR version of success. 

All this (and more) comes once you begin the journey and LET GO!

The path toward a 7-figure, success mindset WILL twist and turn. The ups and downs are daily, and surprises come thick and fast. The road beyond a 7-figure, success mindset is just as intense.

But this is fine. You’re ready for it; you expect it!

Your success mindset prepares you for anything, whereas money simply prepares you for making (and yearning for) more money. So when someone asks you what comes first…

Money or Mindset?

The answer is simple. MINDSET!

EVERY. 

SINGLE. 

TIME!

You won’t only make your first million and continue climbing the mountain, but you’ll make the “RIGHT” million with a business (and life) that fuels you each day.

Your success mindset awaits, but you and only you can take the first step.

It begins with Stage #1: Your Awakening!

You ready to become woke?

You ready to open those eyes?

You ready to let go and break free?

Good.

I have no course for you or miracle cure.

But I do have a book that follows a somewhat lost millennial entrepreneur who goes through these three stages. It’s unlike any book you’ve read before, and it’s one I hope inspires you to wake the “f” up!

… follow the breadcrumbs to your success mindset here ⇒

hi, i’m turndog and I wrote this article … i am a writer, ghostwriter, anti-hustler & a guy on a mission to ensure you too escape the hustle — come be part of the [no hustle] movement