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CONDITIONING
A New Conversation

As you begin the Wealth Cycle Process you will see that your action gets caught up by your belief system. The
conversation goes something like this:
“I’m going to be wealthy,” says your conscious mind.
“You?” says your subconscious. “No, you’re not, you big liar.”
At least that’s what my brain used to do.
Your beliefs operate on two levels: the conscious, intellectual level and the subconscious, preconditioned level.
It’s important to understand that any limit to your thinking exists only in the paradigms ingrained in you, not in your
potential or your ability to create a big vision. I encourage you to establish a vision that’s unencumbered by your
paradigms. You created your current financial situation based on your beliefs. As you change your financial
situation, this will reprogram your brain to a new, progressive set of beliefs. Unlike processes that suggest you
should think your way into thinking, the Be Do sequence, we believe that you should reprogram your brain the
way it was programmed in the first place, by letting it learn from your behavior, a Do Be sequence. It took you
years to be conditioned the way you are, and that conditioning did not come from lectures and thought exercises; it
came from behavior and practices. And behavior will turn your brain around. In the Wealth Cycle Process you will
act the way you hope to be, and let your brain catch up later.
As I mentioned, I grew up on a farm in Nebraska. My family had always worked hard for their money, and as a
result, I always equated working hard with making money, with no idea that my beliefs could not have been further
from truth. As I educated myself on human behavior and financial strategies, I learned that it’s actually the people
who make their money work hard for them, rather than the people who work hard for their money, who end up with
more of it. Since creating my millionaire-making program, I’ve learned that I was not alone. There are many people
who shared this same myth.
Much like our views about many things—people, relationships, food, and health to name a few—our beliefs
came from our parents, our teachers, and other adults in our lives. And it goes back even further, beyond them, back
to the circumstances through which they lived, or what they learned from their parents, what their parents learned
from their parents, and so on. These beliefs are ingrained, and because they’re usually subconscious, the cycles are
continuous—until someone breaks them. You can break the cycle. Beliefs about money are many and varied, but in
my research, I’ve discovered that there are a few that predominate.

MONEY IS SCARCE. Several of us have parents or grandparents who lived through the Great Depression, an
era that rooted an entire generation in a scarcity mindset. These people passed onto their children the idea that
money was in short supply and that when it did surface, spending had to be limited and saving was imperative.
If any of the following ever crossed your mind—”A penny saved is a penny earned,” “Don’t dip into savings,”
or “We can’t afford it”—then you have this perspective and rainy days loom ominously. Money doesn’t grow
on trees. These threats create a fearful relationship with money.
MONEY IS EVIL, DIRTY, OR BAD. Several of us have parents or grandparents who believe that the road to
bad places is lined with green. They’ve only ever seen the drawbacks of the rat race, the downside of the
money chase, and the audacity and indulgence of those with too much money. Some even believe that wealthy
people are bad people. Novels and films often highlight the idea that it’s the crooked ones who make the
money. The meek shall inherit the earth. Such prophecies create a hands-off relationship with money.
MONEY COMES MONTHLY. The most common way to make a living is to be employed, either with a
company or as a skilled professional, with a weekly wage or an annual salary. Historically, this provided the
safe, sure thing required by heads of households. Yet, that level of risk was usually balanced with an equal
level of reward—low and low. For most, even those who do very well, working for a company or as a skilled
professional is a constrained opportunity. Except for the outrageous exceptions, the average CEO of the
average company making six figures a year will still experience only a small increase in salary during his or
her lifetime. Slow and steady wins the race . Such fables create a cautious relationship to money.