Your Guide To Books

Wallace D Wattles’ classic work The Science of Getting Rich had quite an effect on me immediately after my very first reading. I can only describe what happened as a kind of attitude change, but that transformation, I believe, is absolutely crucial for anyone interested in how to become wealthy. So in changing my attitude, I realised that I had indeed made the first move toward becoming rich.

The book begins with a thorough examination into the actual causes of wealth; and demolishes some very commonly-held beliefs and opinions along the way. He spells out why becoming rich does not actually relate to the sort of advantages traditionally believed by many to be the causes - things like status, intelligence, connections and so on. His structured argument on the causes of wealth is a truly impressive opening.

After dealing with the matter of what things are not the causes of wealth, he goes on to make a strong case for his main proposition that the real cause of wealth is the way things are done; and not what is being done. Doing things in the right way, he says, is what is responsible for the generation of riches.

Wattles’ proposition is that anyone who can learn how to do things in a particular way - what he called the ‘certain way’ - can become wealthy. It is an amazing statement, but it is also the natural conclusion to be reached if his analysis of the causes of wealth is correct. However, he also suggests that you need to be operating a business of some kind.

He says that you need to give every person with whom you deal more in use-value than you take in cash-value. Theres a key principle right there, of course, concerning over-delivering, but it strikes me that the spirit of the language is naturally directed toward people who trade in some way i.e. those in business for themselves.

Personally, I think it is self-evident that you need to have your own business to become rich. If you work for someone else, your income will rise to a level dictated by the market for your talent or skills - and thats it. You may earn slightly more than your market worth, but thats absolutely it, you can never, therefore, become rich by pursuing such a course.

By contrast, your earnings are unlimited when you are working for yourself. After all, nobody is going to come along and tell you that you are not allowed to earn more than your current income. You can give yourself a raise anytime you want by becoming more effective in your business; and there has never been a better time to start because of the opportunities available right now on the internet.

The Science of Getting Rich was written, in my opinion, for the age of the internet. Of course, Wattles didn’t do that deliberately, but still, his teachings translate very well to the world of the web. There really is nothing standing in the way of the average person applying this thinking and changing their lives for good.