What are your beliefs about money? What were your parents’ beliefs growing up? We’ve all been conditioned with various limiting beliefs around wealth, what we need to do to attain it, and whether we’re deserving of having it. On the road to prosperity, we have to unpack a lot of untruths about money.
I firmly believe that we all have the power to change our circumstances for the better, but sometimes we fail even if we have the best of intentions. It’s not because we’re lazy. It’s not because we’re not smart enough. It’s not even because of our environment, although that does play a big part in what we think and what opportunities we have.
The more I talk to financial giants like Grant Cardone, the more I realize that education—or miseducation—is behind our failure to get our heads above water. It’s why so many of us struggle with money and deal with constant anxiety around having it and losing it.
Grant says that what we’re taught about money, even if it was well-intentioned, isn’t always helpful. We should question what we learn, not because we need to throw out everything we’ve ever been taught, but because we need to be open to new perspectives. They could be the key to surpassing our limitations.
Who Is Grant Cardone?
Grant Cardone is the billionaire CEO of Cardone Enterprises and Cardone Capital, an international speaker, entrepreneur, author of The 10X Rule, and creator of 21 best-selling business programs. He owns and operates seven privately held companies and a $3.6 billion portfolio of multifamily properties. He was named the #1 Marketer by Forbes Magazine and is the founder of the 10X Growth Movement and the 10X Growth Conference.
Grant teaches people to transcend worn-out money myths, overcome limiting beliefs, and never settle for mediocrity. He emphasizes taking control of your money and your life, removing luck from your wealth generation strategy, and striving for true financial freedom. Grant believes that it’s our right to lead happy, wealthy, successful lives.
Whether he’s teaching sales skills, coaching clients in mindset mastery, or revealing his best-held secrets in his books, Grant delivers high-value content and information to help people avoid costly mistakes and level up their business and prosperity strategy.
How Limiting Beliefs Create a Scarcity Mentality
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Money is the root of all evil.” How do you think a belief like that will impact your ability to make money? Whether it’s on a conscious or unconscious level, it can create resistance or fear around wealth. The same goes for beliefs like, “Money doesn’t buy happiness,” or, “You have to work hard and make sacrifices to make money.” One implies that money isn’t actually important, and the other equates it with an unpleasant and painful experience.
Grant Cardone knows about limiting beliefs all too well. He grew up with an acute awareness of debt and scarcity that lingers to this day. There’s no doubt that Grant has done massive amounts of his own inner work to release himself from limiting beliefs around wealth. As a result, he’s one of the most financially successful people I’ve ever known. But the work never stops. He says that to this day, he still looks at every receipt to see how much things cost, even though he can easily afford what he’s buying.
“I was always scared of money. … I was terrified of it. [Today,] I still look at the bill for everything. If something costs something, I wanna know how much it was. [I’ll always think] ‘How much is it?’ I’m gonna ask that question … whether it matters or not. It doesn’t matter where I get in my life. I don’t think I’m ever gonna be free of ‘How much was that?’ … I want to know how much it was, because when I grew up, you had to know what things cost.” – Grant Cardone
Grant isn’t alone in having this experience — not by a long shot. So many people do have wealth, but no matter how much they have, they’re still easily triggered into worrying they could lose it. Their conditioned response is never to let their guard down around finances. They’re so used to stressing about money that they can’t relax — they’re waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“Very few of us ever, ever [get] influence or power. Once you get it, you’re like, ‘Hey, what do I do with this? … Am I [going] to do the right things with it?’ And so I think people withhold [money from] themselves because … we’re not educated about money. We don’t know where it comes from. We have a lot of misinformation about it. Our parents terrified us. [They told us,] ‘Money doesn’t grow in trees. Save your money.’ … Our parents told us because they were encumbered with the same kind of [beliefs] around money: ‘I don’t know how to get it. I don’t know how to keep it.’” – Grant Cardone
Grant believes that people are prone to hoarding because of these limiting beliefs. He even brought up a family member who would work hard, save, and bury money in the backyard! While having money saved for a rainy day can be a lifesaver, being fearful and hoarding money isn’t healthy. Not only is it not enjoyable, but it’s not necessary. Likewise, while we should be careful with how we spend, we need to make that sense of caution work for us. We need to be able to control it.
“Because he worked so hard, [my dad] was so like, ‘Oh I finally got it. I finally made it. Now I gotta protect it.’ He got stuck in the second piece, keeping it. … [Hoarding is driven by emotion]. It’s not a rational thing. … [And even today], it’s tough for me to buy blue jeans that aren’t on sale. I’m like, ‘This is stupid, man.’ … [It’s] really stupid that I even worry about it. I think you should worry about it. … But there needs to be [a way to] turn that switch off.” – Grant Cardone
Grant pointed out that while most people believe overspending is the biggest problem Americans have, many have the opposite problem in this country. A fear-based mentality drives people not only to work long hours but to stockpile resources. So instead of investing money in assets that can bring in passive income and grow over time, people sit on what they have just in case there’s an emergency.
Remember friends, fear and stress are corrosive to our well-being, our happiness, and our ability to achieve greatness. We need to maintain a balance between having a healthy sense of frugality and realism with an openness to taking risks. We’ll never become exceptional if we play it safe all the time.
