Plenty of experts tell us that we need to act rich in order to get rich. I believe that, because I sure don’t know how to get a part without first knowing how to play the role. But how one can act rich when one is struggling to survive in today’s awful economy and/or drowning in debt?

You do this by playing a mind game with yourself. The basic idea is to let go of the emotional charge that your financial condition and debt has over you. Are you stressed or worried? Those emotions (remember that emotion = energy in motion) are radiating out from you and are actually attracting more of the same old problems.

On a biological level, emotions are chemical molecules that flow through your bloodstream to every cell in your body. These molecules attach themselves to opiate receptors found in every cell in your body. These are the same receptors that get affected by addictive drugs. Feel a certain way long enough and you will literally become addicted to those feelings. If you’re worried and stressed all the time, you’ll eventually become addicted to that worry and stress. Even worse, the chemicals formed by negative emotions are toxic and could literally shorten your life in large enough doses.

Second, people pick up on emotions. During any face-to-face communication, the spoken word transmits 5% of the message. Your voice tone (pitch, rhythm, etc.) transmit 35%. The remaining 60% is totally nonverbal; it consists of your body language, gestures, and other “vibes” that you display whether you want to or not… and these signals are unmistakable to any observer. Have you ever interviewed anyone for a job? If so, then you’ve seen people who are desperate… and that desperation comes through loud and clear no matter how chipper and upbeat the person tries to act. How much more or less likely would you be to hire the desperate person? Any worry, anxiety, desperation, etc. you feel will be detected by people around you. There is just no way to hide it or cover it up.

Acting rich has nothing to do with spending money and everything to do with releasing your negative emotions. It’s that simple. All negative emotions stem from fear. So, whatever bad emotions you may have about your situation translate into your being afraid of where you are and/or what could happen to you. What exactly are you scared of? If these bad things happen and your fears come true, then you will lose control of the situation and/or lose the acceptance of people around you. Losing control might be in the form of collection calls, bankruptcy, etc. and losing acceptance could be not keeping up with the Joneses or a dinged credit score. To recap, all negative emotions come down to fear and the only things to fear are loss of control or loss of acceptance.

Acting rich is as simple as losing the need for control and losing the need for acceptance. It also means accepting responsibility, both for your current situation and for your future. You must also own your full responsibility for both whatever is happening to you today and whatever will happen to you in the future. You did this to yourself; nothing and no one did this for you or to you. If you want to know who is responsible (able to respond) to everything that’s wrong (and right) in your life, the answer is no further than your nearest mirror.

So here you are, fully accepting of responsibility, having let go of the need to control and be accepted. And you’re still in the same situation. What now?

Now you learn to manage what you do have. It’s like learning to fly a plane. Nobody starts off flying big jets. Instead, you learn to fly simple little propeller planes and eventually work yourself up to the big time. Don’t have a lot of money? Learn to manage what little you do have and to get the most from every single cent. I don’t care how little you make, take the top 10% of that and sock it away somewhere where you can never touch it. Everyone else can fend for themselves. What if you don’t have enough to go around? Oh well. Take care of yourself first. Here’s the interesting part: If you do pay yourself the first 10% in the form of long-term savings or investment, then there will probably be enough left over to take care of everyone else!

It’s much easier to earn more money if you’re caring for yourself first because you’re more invested in the outcome and have more to gain. The paradox here is that you may feel like you’re doing the right thing by throwing all of your money at your debt but you’re actually killing the golden goose… yourself by doing that. Literally. Contact your creditors and work out reduced interest rates/settlements/etc. This recession is a golden time to negotiate a great deal for getting out of your debt for less. You may want to talk to a financial planner, read some books, or take some course on money management. Do whatever you need to do to make sure that you are managing your precious resources as efficiently as possible. As soon as you master managing your current amount of money, you’ll be able to manage more… and more… and more. This road ends in one place: with you being rich!

The next thing to do is come to terms with the fact that your days on this Earth are numbered. I hope you don’t die for a long time but die you will. So… what really matters to you? If there is no afterlife then every second that passes is a second gone forever and a second less you have left to live. If there is an afterlife, then the principle of karma says that whatever you do in this life will prepare you for whatever comes next. Either way, you have exactly zero time to waste.

This brings up a simple question: In your last few moments of this life as you look back from your deathbed powerless to do a thing… as you draw your last breath… what do you want to have taken, given, seen, learned, been, experienced, etc? What will it take for you to be able to die in peace? I think you’d agree that the last words anyone should die with are “if only!” This translates into a very simple test: Anything you do is either contributing to or detracting from your desired life’s vision and life’s mission. Everybody has a mission and you are no exception. If you are not living in accordance with that mission, then no wonder your financial situation stinks.

Remember that wealth has nothing to do with money. Wealth is a state of spirit, not of bank account. If you were born to study obscure native tribes in far-flung lands and that’s what you do in life then you will be rich beyond measure even if your bank account is a little lean. Get the huge bank account and fancy stuff without living your life’s purpose and you’ll be even more miserable than you are right now (or, more accurately, you’ll feel whatever negative emotions you currently feel, only far more strongly).

What this all boils down to is:

- Learn to manage what you do have.
- Pay yourself first
- Find out exactly(!) what matters to you in this life and embrace that with all you have.
- Let go of and forget about all else.

This is what it means to act rich. Act rich and I dare say you’ll find yourself becoming wealthy.

The easiest way to learn how to be rich is to learn from rich people, people who have big bank accounts and big hearts. Someone like that is truly wealthy and also truly believes that a rising tide lifts all boats. Compared to Jim Britt (who leads the MOXXOR WORKS Team), I have everything going for me: college degree, self-employment experience, and some money to invest. Jim is a high school dropout who started with nothing. Guess who is the self-made multimillionaire today? Hint: It’s not me!

The simple truth is that what you know about money today just isn’t serving you… because you aren’t rich. So throw it all out! Replace this old knowledge with fresh information gleaned from people who have been where you want go and who are doing what you want to do. The people who are the most interested in teaching you are the best ones to learn from because they genuinely care about your success. Jim, Louis Volpe, Sid Smith and I founded the MOXXOR WORKS Team to do just that.

I am taking the exact steps I recommend to you as co-founder of the MOXXOR WOKRS Team… and my future looks brighter than it has in a very long time! Yes I would love for it to all happen today… but I have to keep reminding myself to let go and let things flow as they will. I am reminded of the words a pastor spoke one Sunday: Every day, the Creator (however you define that concept) is trying to give each of us a blessing. The problem is that we place so many expectations and demands that the blessing arrives either mangled beyond recognition or not at all. Every single good or bad thing that happens to us in life is a blessing… provided we remember to look for the silver lining no matter what. It doesn’t matter if what happens is you going broke, a death in the family, disease, anything. You can interpret everything as a blessing and learning opportunity and be thankful for it… or not.

Let go!

Let go of your need to control and your need for acceptance. As I said, both of those stem from fear and fear is the source of all negative emotions. Fear really does snuff out your inner light, as you’ll learn when you read The Field by Lynne McTaggart (this book is a must read). The need to control stems from the fear of drifting along in the current and being swept out to sea. The need for acceptance comes from the fear of ostracism, which is the worst thing short of death that can befall a social animal like a human. Consider moments when you have truly surrendered… when, for example, you stood before someone and said, “I love you” with total openness. In that moment you surrendered control and had no idea if your love would be accepted or not. You bared yourself beyond naked and exposed your innermost self. That took strength! That opened you up to receive a blessing far, far greater than any kind of expectation or fear ever could.

Recall how you felt in those moments, and learn to observe your feelings moment by moment. When you catch yourself feeling a certain way, ask, “Does this move me closer to, or further away from, that feeling of total fearless surrender? The your current feeling is taking you where you want to go then let yourself FEEL it with every fiber of your being! If not, then find a way to channel that moving energy into a positive place. You can do this. It just takes practice. You can channel your emotions however you see fit. Reward yourself when you do well, and forgive and be extra good to yourself when you don’t. You’ll get there.

Your fear protects you against real or perceived dangers. The distinction between “real” and “perceived” is blurry at best because everything is perceived. Thus, you faced danger and your fear developed to protect you. In other words, your fear helped keep you alive. Love your fear! It has done its job to perfection and you are living proof. Treat your fear with love just like a delicious meal that eventually ends, leaving you with all of the benefits of a full tummy, happy memories, and resources for the future that you would never dream of feeling bad about. You ate the meal of fear, you’re finished, and you can leave the table fulfilled and ready to move on. Acting rich really is that easy.

Anthony Hernandez

Anthony Hernandez is a Certified Guerrilla Marketing Business Association Coach and author of Guerrilla Marketing Success Secrets with over 20 years of successful self-employment experience. He is proud to be a co-founding member of the MOXXOR WORKS Team. Visit the MOXXOR WORKS Team Web site to learn more about the MOXXOR WORKS Team and our home-based opportunity.