The secret to wealth

Did you know that you can be as wealthy as the richest person alive? Right now, if you choose. Wealth is more than money and property. Wealth is what you don't need.
The less you need, the wealthier you are. The opposite of wealthy is what? Needy! So there are two ways to be wealthy. One is to accumulate more and more, to meet your ever increasing needs. This can be tricky, because usually as the means increase, so do the needs, even faster. The other way is to simply let go of your needs. And you can do that anytime you choose.
Ask yourself, what do you really NEED? Do you NEED 150 channels on your TV? Do you NEED a new car every two years? Do you NEED another drink or cigarette?
We're not really talking about money and material things here. We're talking about attitude. Money is a fine tool, one of the best. And material things can add beauty and richness to life. Work for them, treasure them, enjoy them, use them to enrich your life, without needing them.
Let go of your need to possess and you are free to enjoy the limitless abundance of life.

What would other people think?
How many things do you do, and how many things do you not do, just because you're worried about what other people would think? Other people's opinions of you, and your opinions of them, cause a great amount of completely unnecessary negative thinking. Not to mention a lot of silly activity. Of course you would like to make a good impression on people. So you do your best to be polite, honest and respectful. Beyond that it's useless to concern yourself with what others think of you, because they will probably think it in spite of anything you do. And what does it matter anyway?
Refuse to be imprisoned by the opinions of others. After all, what harm can someone's opinion do to you? What power does it have over you? Only the power that you give to it. Decide to live with the freedom of your own thoughts. Be confident of your own value and worth, and that you're doing the right thing. When you believe in yourself and in what you're doing, it won't matter what other people think. And while you're at it, remember not to waste your own time by placing judgments on others.
We're all different, thankfully. What a drab world it would be if we weren't. And we all think differently. Do what you will, with the best of intentions, a steadfastness of purpose, and let others think what they may.

Learn and grow
We've all made mistakes. We've all done things that we've been ashamed of. Life is a learning experience, and mistakes are the most effective teachers. Living successfully is not about avoiding mistakes, it is about learning from them. Making a mistake once is, in the long run, a blessing for what it teaches. Making the same mistake again and again -- now that's what you want to avoid.
To not learn from your mistakes is usually worse than to make them in the first place. And the learning starts with accepting responsibility for your errors. Laying the blame on others will serve no useful purpose.
From the moment you're born, life is a learning and growing experience. Today you are more intelligent than you were yesterday. Today you are more mature than yesterday. Today you are more caring, more loving, more effective than ever before. You have grown and you continue to grow every day. The poor judgment you exercised yesterday is in the past, and you are the wiser for it.
Take comfort and delight in the new person you are always becoming. Go forward knowing that you are worthy and capable of every success.

Hope
Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper. -- Francis Bacon We must live WITH hope, yet we cannot live BY hope. It is fine to hope for the best. That, however, is not enough. We cannot merely hope, we must take action.
It is sad how many things are tolerated in the hope that they will improve. Hoping for the best won't do anything. Working and taking action, with hope in your heart, will bring about results. That's a powerful combination. Hope works in your favor only as long as it is accompanied by action and commitment.
Hope cannot replace action. Do what needs to be done, hope or no hope. Hope for the best, and do everything in your power to make it happen. Yes, there is hope. Things will get better -- when you make them better.
Start each day with hope, and then get busy working. Let your hope inspire you, rather than console you. Hope for the best, and then do whatever it takes. Hope depends on you.

Failure
The surest recipe for failure, is to avoid failure. If you cannot accept the prospect that you might fail, then you will most certainly fail. To avoid failure, is to avoid even the possibility of success. Accomplishment requires effort and commitment. And it requires risk. Accomplishment requires that you make decisions, set priorities, make choices, and take action. Those things are all very risky. They can lead to failure just as surely as to success.
Yet what is failure? It is merely another step toward success. When you don't get the results you want, at least you've learned how not to act. So, is failure really so bad?
Without failure there would be no success. Make the effort. Expect the best, and accept that it may be necessary to adjust your approach to improve your results.
Be willing to fail as you take action, and you're on the road to success.

Are you willing to change?
Your life right now is the result of the things you have done up until this point in time. If you want your life to be different, you will need to make changes. Wishing for a better life won't make it so. In order for "things" to change, you must be willing to change. That means getting out of your comfort zone. It means facing your fears. It means you may need to change your career, your friends, the food you eat, the clothes you wear, where you live, your daily schedule.
You are remarkably adaptable. If you've made it this far, you have already gone through many major changes in all aspects of your life. From being an infant to a toddler to a child to a teen to an adult, the first few years of your life were filled with constant change. You are certainly up to the task.
Almost always, the fear of change, the fear of the unknown, is worse than the change itself. Once you understand this, then you realize that it is easier to change than to resist change.
There are things you need to do, changes you need to make. Go ahead with them. Don't waste your energy fearing them or resisting them. Dive right in and do what needs to be done. Change is a constant part of life. When you fear it, it will happen anyway, out of your control. When you embrace change, it will enable you to reach your goals.