Financial Freedom: Avoid Scams and Pursue True Wealth

Today we are going to shed a little light on what may seem like a bizarre inequity in fields of pursuit.Scenario #1You want to be a dentist. You spend many years and a lot of money studying the ins and outs of dentistry. You study the anatomy of the jaw and surrounding areas, learn a large variety of procedures and become proficient in anesthesia, extraction, and possibly even specialties such as veneer application.In your dentistry arsenal would be all the latest techniques and the most effective tools of the trade, so that you could graduate to be the best and safest dentist possible. Once your training was complete, out into the world you'd go, fully qualified and confident. You would likely pursue ongoing education in your field as the years passed as well, in order to ensure you are always 'up to scratch.' Your expectation would be that the financial compensation for being an excellent dentist would be well worth the initial investment of time and money you made.Scenario #2You want to be wealthy. The phrase 'financial freedom' calls to you like sirens to a sailor, and you wonder if the promise is just as false. You were never taught anything about how money works, and you find the whole topic overwhelming and full of jargon you don't understand. You either let someone else handle all your money or you don't trust anyone enough to let them help you - after all, the financial world is full of scammers just out to take yours!Just when you begin to think you may be able to make financial headway, you discover you carry around a web of limiting and conflicting beliefs about money. At every turn, you run into mental blocks in your attempt to gain financial ground: you have no skill with money, or you don't make enough, or you think wealth is just 'not in your cards.' Does this second scenario sound overly negative, or sadly true?The answer is both: this is pretty close to home for millions of people. It is one reason why there are indeed so many scam artists and commission-based salespeople out there: precisely because most of us are ingorant about how money works, and we easily fall prey to claims of quick money 'secrets' and claims of special insider high returns, etc..The truth of how the financial world really works is just the opposite: if you were an insider, you'd already know it. You'd already be working with people you trust, and the high yielding investment opportunities presented to you would make sense. You would easily be able to discern the good from the bad and invest accordingly, adding with confidence to your wealth, and improving your financial intelligence along with your bottom line.There are no schools or courses on how to achieve financial independence, or how to approach our finances with an eye for opportunity and the knowledge to discern the good from the bad. The business and finance courses taught in post-secondary schools are geared toward traditional banking and finance knowledge, and while they are a good start, any graduate can tell you that 'real world' experience is what counts. Even then, many millions of bank and financial corporation employees go through life without ever learning the ropes enough to become wealthy, or even financially independent.All of the things we know about money end up a jumbled mess: advice from banking commercials, words of 'wisdom' from our parents or teachers (usually not so wise), and other random beliefs implanted in us from random sources which may not have had our best interests in mind, or may not have had the financial background to impart sage advice.So how can you REALLY learn what it takes to become wealthy? Isn't life too short to learn by trial and error? Learning from someone who's 'been there, done that' seems to be a desirable path, but perhaps you don't know anyone wealthy, or you do and you resent them so much you can't even see your way to learning from them.I believe we have done ourselves, and our children, a great disservice in not making financial education a part of our school curriculum. What is the point of learning about things which don't apply at all to 'real' life, and not learning how to handle money, which is a key component of thriving in our society?The answer to the above question of what it really takes is that we can ALL achieve financial freedom: with a combination of valuable financial education - from both books and courses to priceless mentorship from those who've done it - and the transformation of our beliefs from limiting to empowering, anyone can overcome any financial past. There are myriad resources you can use to begin your journey to financial freedom, and you'll find a wealth of advice on places like BreathingProsperity.com and many others. Your first step is to step into learning mode and out of disempowerment and worry mode. What you do FROM NOW ON is what counts!