Robert T. Kiyosaki is quoted as saying: “Money is only an idea. If you want more money, simply change your thinking.”

Who is Robert T. Kiyosaki?
From Wikipedia - Robert Toru Kiyosaki (born April 8, 1947) is an investor, businessman, self-help author and motivational speaker. Kiyosaki is best known for his Rich Dad, Poor Dad series of motivational books and other material. He has written 18 books which combined have sold over 26 million copies.

But what exactly does Kiyosaki mean by “if you want more money simply change your thinking”?

Since I was wrangling with that question myself I did some poking around and discovered that Kiyosaki was referring to the difference between the way the rich think about money and the way the poor think about money and how this translates to having more money for the rich and less money for the poor. He claims, “It’s what’s in your head that determines what’s in your hand.”

Nothing in your hands? It might be because you follow the thinking patterns of the poor. But how do you identify those thinking patterns that keep your pockets empty, your bank account balance at zero and you slaving every day for a small pay check that provides just enough money for you to put some extra cash in someone else’s pocket and increase someone else’s bank account balance?

I found this very interesting chart on the website doctorkhalsa.com. It is said to summarize some of the different ways that rich and middl-class parents think and communicate with their children around topics of money. You can access the accompanying article by clicking here

You might think to yourself, well I don’t have children so this doesn’t apply to me; but remember, you were a child once so you would now be an adult child of someone who communicated thoughts and demonstrated attitudes to you that are now playing out in your adult life. Your lack of money is a consequence of not having developed the right attitudes and cultivated the right habits and ideas about money in your childhood. You grew up poor, you’re still poor; and if you have children, they’ll probably also become poor adults because you’ve passed on the attitudes and ideas about money to them that were passed on to you. But as with all things controlled by thought, you can learn new habits and embrace new ideas in order to redirect the course of your financial life.

One way in which I would start would be to begin reprogramming myself not to think of money as just being something to be spent to obtain things I want whether or not I need them.