6 Key Traits #1: Independent Thinker
6 Key Traits of the Financially Independent
#1: Independent Thinker
I have always been amazed at the willingness of most people to let others do their thinking for them. Thinking is an extremely easy activity; it requires almost no exertion at all. So why is it that the overwhelming majority of people only ever entertain thoughts that have been placed in their heads by other people? Why do so many people abdicate the responsibility for original thought to others?
Failing to think for themselves exposes people to having their mind controlled by somebody else. Advertisers, government and the media can manipulate the opinions of the masses to achieve whatever purpose is on their agenda. Evidence of this is readily apparent during election campaigns. Pollsters publish trends of the voting intentions of representative samples of the population.
Polls are often sponsored by vested interests and the results can be influenced by how the poll questions are constructed. Once the results of a poll are published, voters’ intentions can and often do follow the trend of the perceived majority.
Another example is the “climate change crisis”. The media has informed us that the world’s climate is changing – and humankind is responsible. Furthermore, we are told that anybody who questions the existence, or cause, of this crisis is a “denier”, a potentially dangerous subversive. So the majority of people accept what they are told for two reasons. First, “everybody else” believes it, so it must be true. Second, unbelievers will be ostracized.
So is it true? The answer to that question is irrelevant to this post. The point is that most people accept both the existence and cause of the “crisis” without thinking it through for themselves. They have blind faith in what they are told by the media. They have allowed their thoughts on the matter to be implanted by others.
Now, let us extend that idea to the pursuit of financial independence. The majority of people in the industrialized western world are “poor” and a very tiny minority are wealthy. If we ignore those whose wealth was inherited, or obtained fortuitously, the remainder of the “rich” obtained their wealth by conscious effort. Do rich people think the same thoughts as poor people? Obviously not. Let me introduce the idea of “contrarian thinking”.
The majority of the world’s population is, relatively speaking, poor. So when it comes to financial decisions, the majority are wrong more often than they are right. If you choose to follow the financial practices of the majority, you will be poor. The rich man does not care what the majority thinks. He thinks for himself and will act upon his own decisions.
A contrarian thinker may observe what the majority is doing, but his first inclination is to consider doing the exact opposite.
So, a prerequisite for aspiring to financial independence is to first acquire the trait of independent thinking. Ignore what the great unwashed masses believe. The vast majority of them didn’t think things through for themselves; they believe what somebody else wants them to believe.
Incidentally, always remember that most people don’t think for themselves and try to work that to your own advantage. If “everybody” believes the sky is going to fall on their heads tomorrow, sell them a shelter!
