The only excuse for still being in poverty is if you are stuck in a third world country, in some little agricultural village miles from anywhere, you have no education, the only trade available is selling the potatoes you grow, the government is a military dictatorship, and your country is one of the 20th poorest countries in the world. MAYBE, just maybe, you could justifiably grumble about your lot. 

Apart from that, what is YOUR excuse?

The very fact you are reading these words means that (a) you are
familiar with the English language; (b)you are connected to the internet. In case you did not know it, these are HUGE advantages;
massive, unfair advantages over the VAST majority of the world's
population. With just these two advantages alone, you could be
well on your way to generating all the wealth - financially, emotionally and spiritually - that you could ever desire. All it needs is for you to THINK CREATIVELY.

George Bernard Shaw is quoted as saying that to be poor is a sin.
Apart from the circumstances in the first paragraph of this article, he is most certainly correct. There is no excuse for it. Did you know that some of America's multimillionaires arrived in the country in refugee boats, with a only a handful of coins in their pockets, and totally unable to even speak English? Yet, within a decade or so, they had made more money than the vast majority of Americans, whose families had been in the country for generations.

So, what is your excuse, exactly?...

The key difference and advantage that such refugees have is EXPECTATION. They expect America to be a land of opportunity, where those who work hard can succeed. Strangely enough, their
perception eventually becomes their reality. Contrast this with the millions of benefit seekers expecting a hand out, and blaming the government, society or their spouse for their problems. Some of these people are third generation welfare recipients. It's actually been handed down from parents to children.

No matter how dire your circumstances, if you can think of someone who suffered the same or worse, and went on to succeed, then you can do so too. If wealth was a question of race, then only certain races would become wealthy. If it was caused by environment, then only people of a certain environment could get rich. If it was a matter of intelligence, then only intelligent university graduates could become successful.

The fact that you can find exceptions to all of these "rules" - and lots of them - proves that getting wealthy has nothing to do with any of these factors. If it did, you could draw up some sort of psychological, sociological, or racial profile. The truth of the matter is that no such profile is possible. There are mentally sub-normal millionaires. There are black multimillionaires. There are people who were born into poverty who are now billionaires. Yes, there are even people in wheelchairs who made their millions from there. Paralyzed.

So, what is your excuse?...

The fact of the matter is that between your ears resides the key to creating wealth in your life. It's your power to think, and to do so creatively. It's your power to develop self-esteem, unstoppable self-confidence, learn all you need to learn, be prepared to take risks and suffer failure after failure until you succeed, and your ability to persist after everybody else would have given up, that marks your capacity for success in ANYTHING, not just in creating wealth.

This is the brutal truth and this is why most people fall short of what they are capable of. They are not prepared to do all of the above. Then, out come the excuses: "I'm black", "I'm a woman", "My parents did this or that...", "I was born in a small town", "I have no time", and so on.

However, all these excuses are just to make you feel more comfortable with yourself, so that you do not have to accept the bitter truth. You WERE, and ARE, capable of much more, but you are just not prepared, either through laziness of lack of guts, to put yourself on the line, look ridiculous to your friends and family, and PERSIST until what you desire comes your way.

There is a whole science of success, and it has been documented like never before; in books, on audio tape, on video and in live seminars. All of this is available to you. You can learn it, apply it, and get the results. Instead, many lament they lack the money or the time. They try to get it all for free online, and refuse to invest in themselves in terms of the vital education that could make all the difference.

If you have the money to purchase yourself those little luxuries in life - be it cigarettes, alcohol, cable TV, rentable movies, the latest games console, or whatever is your personal favorite - stop saying you don't have the money. If you can afford a vacation, and spend more time planning that than you do the rest of your life, then don't say you lack the money or the time.

It's simply a matter of priorities, and of what you consider important in life. 

Creating wealth requires foremost the capacity to think, and to do so creatively. Napoleon Hill's classic book is called "Think & Grow Rich", and there is a very good reason for that. 

Thinking is the hardest job in the world, which is why most people would rather die than do it. Here are just a few ideas. You could write an e-book and sell it online. You could invent something. If you lack specific expertise, you could form a partnership with people who have the knowledge you need. You could provide a vitally needed service in your local area. 

There are so many things you could do to break out of the poverty trap, if you are in it, or simply earn more money if you are already reasonably comfortable. However, it requires you to THINK outside the box. It requires you to forget relying on your salary, and allowing that to dictate how you live. That should be only ONE source of income. You should learn to develop many others. Then, one fine day, you can drop the salaried job because you simply do not need it anymore. You would only continue with it if that job represents what you love to do with your life.

This is NOT too hard for you to achieve. The fact that you are reading this, and hence understand English and have internet connection, already means you have tremendous advantages in creating your personal fortune. If you search yourself carefully, you will also discover MANY other resources besides just these two. Use them. Get the information you need from the many books, tapes and courses available, become DETERMINED to change your circumstances, learn to think creatively and apply that thinking, and GO FOR IT.