Raise your standards! by Joe Turney

One thing I learned for certain from living through a radical transformation in my life is that your lifestyle will always equal your current personal standard.

When I broke out of the bondage of debt and broke thinking I began to see that wealthier people all had higher standards than I did. What I found to be perfectly acceptable they would not even consider. At first I thought that this was just an attitude of some type and that they just didn’t appreciate the simpler things in life. But what I found out was that the reason they were wealthy to begin with is that they FIRST had high standards. It was not that they became wealthy and then would not accept mediocre living; the truth was that they would not accept mediocre living and then became wealthy. I also learned that if they were to lower their standards and start accepting less, they would be broke again within a matter of years.

Most people will not openly admit it, but whatever their financial status currently is or whatever house they currently live in is absolutely what their personal standard is. You cannot change the house you are living in or the balance in your bank account until you change your personal standards.

Let me give you an example. Most of you have a color television set in your home. I can say very confidently that this is a part of your personal standard that you hold for yourself and your family. The reason I can say this so confidently is that if the color television you currently have were to break down tomorrow and would no longer turn on within one month you would have a new one in it’s place! Why? Because one of the standards you have for your home is that it MUST contain a color television.

Believe it or not, if having $5000 in the bank at all times were truly your standard for yourself then it would always be there. Whatever you MUST have in your life, you will have it. If your thoughts are that you “Should” save more money then you’re not even ready to start trying yet. You’ll just SHOULD all over yourself. Until it is a true MUST in your life you will never be able to reach and maintain your goal.

Take a look around your life right now. What kind of lifestyle do you currently have? Is it what you truly want? I don’t know if it’s what you want or not but I can tell you for certain that it is what you will accept.

You are not programmed to be able to live in unacceptable circumstances. If tomorrow you woke up and there were roaches all throughout your home you would immediately take action to get them out. That is because roaches are not acceptable to you. Having thousands of dollars in personal debt is, but roaches are not! You cannot live in a place you find unacceptable! You will either change your environment or lower your standard. There is no other option.

If you are a non-smoker and you suddenly find yourself in a crowd of smoking people, you will leave the area. That is because clean air is part of your personal standard. Also, if you find yourself in a room full of negative talking and thinking people and you do not leave the room then positive thinking is not yet a part of your personal standard. How many millionaires do you know that would settle for imitation jewelry? There aren’t very many.

Nothing is so simple that you can point to one thing that separates millionaires from average people. However, I have found without exception that wealthy people have and hold higher standards for themselves than average people. In fact, when interviewed, the number one trait that shows up in these people is high personal standards.

Until you raise your standards at a deep internal level then nothing is going to change in your life. Remember, the reason you have debt in your life is because you find it acceptable.