When I was in law school, I used to say, “I want to be the richest woman in my law school graduating class.” I pronounced it so much that the guy I was dating, on the last day of school gave me a little hardbound book about money inscribed with my own quote.

It’s funny that women are often shy about talking about money and finances. The reality is though, we’re paid less and have to hustle more to make sure we reach the goals we’ve set for ourselves. And, as Wattles says in The Science of Getting Rich:

No man can rise to his greatest possible height in talent or soul development unless he has plenty of money; for to unfold the soul and to develop talent he must have many things to use, and he cannot have these things unless he has money to buy them with.

Wallace D. Wattles, The Science of Getting Rich, Chapter 1.

In other words, if it’s not your goal to be rich, you still have other goals that will most likely require money. Therefore, I’m going to list three tips to help you say, “I want to be rich!”

1. Replace Old Tapes from your Childhood

This was a big one for me in undergrad. I heard, way more than once, “You’re such a cheap date!” I’d relay that to my mother who finally pinpointed that growing up, whenever we went to the movies, or a baseball game, the fair, or any other event, we were never allowed to buy the “expensive” popcorn, the overpriced hot dog, the ridiculously large pink cotton candy that competed with the size of my head.

So that carried over to my dating life. Do I want a soda with dinner? “No, I’ll just have a water with lemon.” Do I want the steak? Yes, but I’ll get a salad. Do you want me to buy you a foam hand? No, it’s a waste of money (and it doesn’t go with my outfit).

So it’s a bit of poverty mindset. Hearing the words, “We can’t afford it” and “That’s too expensive,” really imprints on our little minds. Plus, when I went to apply for financial aid for my Freshman year of college I found out it was all a lie. We weren’t poor at all, and I qualified for nothing. In fact, my parent’s income outpaced the neighborhood average by three times.

This was my mother’s fear of not having enough. She saved and saved. And it paid off in many ways and created financially responsible people out of me and my brother. We don’t carry debt. Debt was the 4-letter word it should be. But it did cause me to have to relearn some things about allowing others to give to me, to allow myself to feel special and deserving. To “splurge” occasionally on movie popcorn (I still sneak in the milk duds) and a Dodger dog, and not have an aneurysm when my husband orders soda.

2. Get an Education

Okay ladies, I would love to sell you whatever they’re selling on YouTube about making $80,000/month online, and while some of those stories are [kind of] true, many tell you numbers before exiting out their hard costs, much less their other soft costs. And the income is meaningless if it leaves their hot little hands as fast as it comes in.

The most direct route to wealth, one that doesn’t require you to perform in the top 2% of online earners or MLM marketers, is to get a solid education in a field that is marketable and has a decent average starting salary with growth potential. I started my career out of undergrad as a secondary education English teacher. 10th graders to be exact. I wanted to take one year to see if (i) I liked teaching and (ii) I got married. I liked teaching and I turned down a proposal. But that’s not why I didn’t continue teaching and went to my Plan B instead.

My decision to leave teaching happened one day, standing in the front of my classroom. I had just taken the cheerleading squad I coached to Regionals and they took first place.

There was a grant that the principle asked us one morning if any of us were going to apply. It was a $4,000 grant from a local bank called the “Best Idea” and the theme was “Life After High School.” So that same day I went to class and brainstormed with my first three periods what they’d want to learn in a class geared to “Life After High School.” They moaned that they had applied before for a similar grant and it never goes, “To the rich school” (rich kid problems). But we pushed through and came up with a written proposal and a few kids volunteered to do the presentation.

We won. Timpview High School won that year. In passing a teacher said to me, “Do you just win everything you touch?”

But that day, standing in class, I thought, this is as high as the ceiling goes. The one above my head. I knew I was headed to law school. Now, law school wasn’t the end all for me, but it definitely opened a lot of doors and opportunities. Financially, teaching isn’t necessarily a bad decision. Cash flow may be less, but (i) consistency and (ii) time work in a teacher’s favor. Consistency and time can be a far better bullet than wild cash flow that feels as if it will always be there (hint: it won’t).

No matter what you decide to do, an education gives you the confidence to say, “I want to be rich!” An education helps hone your mind to be a perpetual learner. An education in and of itself will not make you rich. Especially if you pick a dumb major. (By dumb I mean unmarketable, not having a skill set that people will pay you for.)

3. Write it Down A Lot

Because we are creatures of habit, including habitual pathways of thought, we need to do things that retrain our subconscious that is controlling a lot of our behaviors and ways of interacting with the world.

The way to undo sabotaging outlooks is by writing down new things we want to program in our mind. There are a few ways to do this.

• Get a set of index cards and write 50 affirmations that you read every morning and night. Ideally they start with the word, “I am” or another present tense uplifting statement. A great resource is the book called, Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway by Susan Jeffers.
• Do 7-7-7 affirmations. This is best achieved by making a personal affirmation recording on your iphone. Write out seven affirmations and then record each one seven consecutive times (repeated seven times), with a seven-second pause between each repetition. Why seven? The seven seconds between every affirmation enables our subconscious mind to formulate the image of our affirmation without any conscious thinking. Simply stated, it serves as a “turbo-charger” to your programming. – Matt Oschsli
• 90 Day Affirmations. Write full paragraphs of around all the things you’d like to accomplish in the next 90 days as if they’ve already happened. Get very detailed in your description including things like how you feel, what you’re wearing, smells, and what you’ve accomplished. Turn the energy up high when reading your paragraphs aloud or in your head.
• 10 Goals List Method. Write 10 goals or dreams that cover every area of your life every day. Start with 5 things you’re currently grateful for. This is a big Rachel Hollis tip. I’ve heard this from someone else who said don’t read what you wrote before and see how your 10 goals evolve.

I’ve done all of these methods. They’ve all been effective as long as I’m consistent over time. The first one worked fast just because I had never done anything like it before and it really lifted my whole demeanor–reading great things about myself each morning. I haven’t decided on a favorite method. I just know that the most important thing to do is write. Write down dreams, wild dreams and write down concrete goals and strategies and systems. Tell yourself good things. “I am rich!” “I have plenty.” “Opportunities abound.” “Good things are coming!” “I am lovable.” Be nice to yourself. If you wouldn’t say it to a friend, don’t say it to yourself.

Okay then, I’d love to hear what worked for you! Write me an email on our contact page and I’ll write you back. Tell me some of your favorite affirmations, which technique you used, and the result. I’d love to center one of the podcasts around what is working for you!

xo, tricia