[adsman]

Nice thread,

A few things have been mentioned, fear of failure being one. I think that this is blown all out of proportion. Most people don't have a fear of failure, they have a fear of success. Think of all those sayings that I'm sure that a lot of you have heard from childhood;

"Money doesn't grow on trees"

"People who have a lot of money must have done something bad to get there."

"What, do you think I'm made of money?"

"You have to work hard to get money."

I could go on. Most of us are conditioned to think this way and we can't break out of it. So when somebody like the OP comes along with a good investment idea, we just can't make that step because it conflicts with everything that we believed when we were growing up. This is what is known as having a "rich mindset". Children of the rich don't hear this nonsense and thus almost never have a problem in generating wealth.

I'm going through this stuff first hand now. For the last year I've been working on opening my own business this summer. In the last few months I've had setback after setback. The doubt is there. What if this doesn't work? It would be so easy to just slip back into my old way of thinking and go back to scraping enough money together each year to support my lifestyle.

You have to put your head down and get through the setbacks. Making change is never easy, we fight against it the whole way, especially with a subject as convoluted and touchy as wealth. The other poster is spot on. Surround yourself with people with the mindset that you want to emulate. I've lost a few friends this way but in the long run I don't regret it.