There is a phrase in the English language that is keeping you poor. There is a particular phrase that a lot of people teach their children because they use this phrase a lot, and it is stopping your progress in its tracks.
Now, this phrase, as soon as I tell you what it is, is probably going to be very triggering because you have probably used this phrase a lot. As soon as I say this phrase, you might say, “How in the world is that keeping me poor!” I know. That’s what I thought when I first heard this as well. Then I learned the truth behind that phrase, and I learned how to turn it around.
The phrase is, “I can’t afford it.”
“Wait a second, Eric, we use that phrase in order to limit our spending and to make sure we follow a budget!” Good for you. If you want to be poor or middle-class your entire life, go for it, keep using that phrase.
The reason why that phrase is killing your progress, your financial progress and other forms of progress is because it puts a glass ceiling on your earning potential.
Now, I’m gonna get even more triggering right now, and I’m going to go spiritual for a second. People that know me know that I’m a practicing Christian, I’m a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and I believe in a God that has said, “With me, nothing is impossible.”
When people use the phrase, “I can’t afford it,” what they are actually saying is, “it is not possible for me to find, earn, or be blessed with the resources to do whatever it is I’m thinking of doing.” Therefore, they are literally cutting God out of the equation. Yep, I went there.
I’ve had some mentoring clients that I’ve told this to, and I’ve actually gotten very intense with some of my clients, and I said, “Oh, you don’t believe in God, do you?” and they go, “What are you talking about! You and I go to the same church.” And I say, “Oh, well I believe in a God that says, ‘with me nothing is impossible’. You just told me that something was impossible. Therefore, we must not believe in the same God.” And he goes, “What? How dare you!”
But it’s true though, when you use that phrase, “I can’t afford it,” you are putting a glass ceiling on you. It says, “This is the amount of money, resources, or whatever it is that I am capable and willing to create. Therefore, I’ve got to spend less than that.”
Wealthy people don’t use that phrase, and it’s not because we have more money. It’s simply because, as Tony Robbins says, “It’s never a lack of resources, it’s always a lack of resourcefulness.”
Now consider that for a moment, if some crazy emergency happened, and a loved one had to be rushed to the hospital, would you tell the doctors not to perform life-saving operation? Would you say, “No, sorry, I can’t really afford that operation right now.” No, of course not! I know I use that analogy a lot, but it makes the principle clear: It’s never a lack of resources, it’s a lack of resourcefulness.
When people use that phrase, they are literally putting a limit on themselves, and they are telling their brain, “Brain, we don’t have to come up with anything new. We don’t have to create anything new, we don’t have to add any more value to the human race, and so let’s be lazy.”
Remember, money comes from adding value to the lives of other people. Now, consider that for a moment, if you have a job, the person who employs you is paying you because you are adding value, at least I hope so, to whatever company that you work for. You are contributing to that environment, therefore you are adding value to the lives of the clients that do business with that company.
If you are an entrepreneur, people will come to you because you are adding value to other people’s lives. For example, people come to our company, one of the services we provide is holistic healthcare.
People come to us because we are able to get them out of physical, mental and emotional pain. We are able to help them feel a lot better and heal a lot faster. That is providing value for people, and so people then give us money in exchange for those services.
Now, can you imagine if we said, “Oh, we can’t afford that, therefore we’re not going to add any more value to anybody else’s life.” Can you imagine how just saying that it feels so selfish?
Yes, I’m going to be very bold right now and I’m going to say that saying, “I can’t afford it,” is one of the most selfish phrases that you can possibly think of because you’re not thinking of anybody else but yourself.
When you use that phrase, you are just thinking about yourself. You are not thinking about adding value to other people’s lives. You are not thinking about bettering other people. You are not thinking about the person who might be selling you that product or service how that transaction might improve their life, no. It’s a very selfish phrase.
Instead of saying, “I can’t afford it,” turn it around to “How can I afford it?” Again, I’m gonna use this example again, somebody is rushed to the hospital, and what do you do? You’d say, “We’ll figure out a way to make this work. Do whatever medical treatment you need, just save that person’s life!”
Of course you would because you value that person’s life more than you value money. Right? This is getting very self-less. You are thinking of yourself less, and you are thinking about that other person. In that circumstance, you are actually being very resourceful.
This is what entrepreneurs have to do, and this is what people that raise their income do. It’s becoming very resourceful, finding ways to then add more value to other people’s lives, and then be able to afford whatever it is that you’re thinking of doing.
Pro tip: if you’re tempted to use that phrase as an excuse, if your decision really is a no, simply say, “No thank you,” “I choose not to,” or “That is not the best decision for me right now.” Whatever you say, either make it a “No thank you,” a, “Yes please,” or a, “How can I afford that?”
I know I’ve gone off on kind of a rant today, but sorry, I’m allergic to that phrase because it is such a selfish, limiting phrase. Stop using it. Cut that phrase out of your vocabulary. Stop being so selfish my friend.
Turn it around to, “How can I afford it.” Start thinking about adding more value to the lives of other people. Stop putting that glass ceiling on you, and watch your results go up. Love you!
Recent Comments