How To Break The EMPLOYEE MINDSET and Build Wealth

How to Break Out of the EMPLOYEE MINDSET and Build Wealth

The employee mindset is something that we all get trained into as we grow up.

Most people wait for payday to come once a month.

Whose idea was it that you should earn an income once a month, rather than your income coming in a few times a month or even daily? 🤔

As an employee, you wait for someone to direct you, guide you, tell you, this is the piece of work you need to do and these are your areas of responsibility, and so on.

I am not here to bash employees, because most people are employees and will remain so.

For most of my working life, I've been an employee and I enjoyed my time as an employee, even though there were many challenges that I had faced.

I've realised that being an employee, there is a mindset that a lot of people have that's holding them back from their future potential or where they might be able to get to if they adopted a slightly different mindset.

Breaking the employee mindset with these 5 steps is key to growing your money and creating a path to Financial Freedom.

How to Break the Employee Mindset and Build Wealth

I thought about today's post for two reasons.

i) Employee Mindset – Being Disciplined

The first one is that a few days ago, it became three years since I moved from working in corporate to being self-employed.

It was a personal choice to start to do what I do today, creating content for The Humble Penny and Financial Joy Academy.

I've realised that in those three years, I've become a radically different person 😀.

My outlook is different, the way I approach things and the way I make decisions.

I did a Live recently on our Instagram and someone said to me: “Ken, you appear to be so disciplined.”

And I thought that was interesting and a lot of that has come from letting go of my previous employee mindset.

Employee Mindset – Location Independence

The second reason I thought about making today's post is because I spoke to a friend of mine.

Marielle and I were having a chat, and she told me, “Ken, do you know what, I'm a bit tired of living in the UK at the moment, I want to just move out, I'm going to head over to the USA.”

So she moved to the USA for a short period of time and didn't really like it, so she came back to the UK.

During another conversation, she said, “You know what, I'm going to try and move to Ghana and consider other warm countries to live in.”

Now if had she been tied to one location in her job, had she only had that typical employee mindset, she'll be restricted and not be able to go anywhere else.

So it made me realise letting go of that core employee mindset that we're all trained into, really then opens up the world.

The world feels a lot bigger, the opportunity set feels so much bigger, and you feel so much more empowered to do a lot more with your life.

Step 1. Limiting Beliefs

The first thing I'd say when I look at this whole idea of breaking the employee mindset is to identify your limiting beliefs.

What are some of the limiting beliefs holding you back as an employee? 🤔. In many cases, stopping you from exploring beyond what you might be doing today.

Do you have a fear of failure?

You might be stuck in a bit of a rut at the moment at work and thinking, I've got much more potential, I might want to start my own side hustle or business.

Or I might even want to become an entrepreneur and explore different opportunities within my work environment.

A lot of people have limiting beliefs that hold them back and make them believe they're not good enough for something.

One of those limiting beliefs could be thinking that you don't have the skills or what it takes.

For example, starting a business might be considered too risky and that might be your limiting belief.

A way to turn that limiting belief on its head and reframe it is for you to realise that you've got transferable skills from your job right now.

Those are very useful skills and can be applied in other areas.

Your skills can be applied to:

• Your passions,
• Something new that gives you joy,
• Using your talent and ability to create an opportunity.

A limiting belief for you could be your gender or ethnicity. You might say I am a woman, a man, black or an ethnic minority and I don't feel that I have what it takes.

I used to have some of these limiting beliefs.

When I was going into the world of personal finance, I didn't see many people who looked like me.

Someone I could point to and say “I want to listen to him, because he looks like me, or I can relate to his cultural background or his journey.”

There was nobody like that back in 2017.

I had to gradually overcome that limiting belief by seeking evidence around me for the type of outcome that I wanted in my life.

Step 2. Develop a Growth Mindset

A growth mindset is the belief that you can develop your abilities and improve over time, through hard work and dedication.

• How are you pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone at work?
• Are you pushing yourself to learn more or acquire new skills?
• Using your existing skills in a completely different way?

One thing that helped me a lot from this growth mindset perspective, is putting myself in communities where other people who had the mindset I wanted existed.

In my case, it was a community of entrepreneurs.

I wanted to spend time with people who are having an impact online.

This helped me to see how they:

• Thought about things and solved problems,
• Approached complex situations,
• Made money.

So putting yourself in those environments, and joining specific groups, is a gradual way for you to develop your growth mindset 😀.

Also, exposing yourself to books, in my office I am surrounded by books.

I read lots of books on different topics, things that just help me to expand my imagination.

And doing that expands my mindset from a growth perspective.

Recommended: Learn more and join our community

Step 3. Take Calculated Risks

When I worked as an employee, the mindset I had there was I did enough of what I needed to do to just get by, or to get paid.

Calculated risks put you in the driving seat of ownership.

When working for an employer, you are on their balance sheet, making mistakes on their money and budget.

However, when you take a calculated risk on your money, you've assessed the return you might get from it and the potential for failure, and so on.

Taking that calculated risk on your own money helps you to develop a different mindset, which is much superior to the typical employee mindset.

For example, start a side hustle and practice doing something else that diversifies your income.

In your place of work take steps to create value, beyond just doing what's necessary as per your contract to earn your income.

Develop the hunter instinct

I saw this with salespeople who were paid a base salary in addition to a commission.

They had a hunter instinct in that they were always out there, trying to create new opportunities or close deals.

So what you want in order to break free from the employee mindset is to ask yourself, how can I do a bit more of what a salesperson does?

You can do this without becoming a salesperson.

It's about becoming an intrapreneur, looking for opportunities and creating them in your place of work.

Step 4. Seek Feedback and Learn From Failures

A lot of people see seeking feedback as something that they're afraid of.

People think that when they seek feedback, it will hurt their feelings.

In fact, to break free from that employee mindset, seeking feedback should be seen as an asset that will help you to improve.

Feedback is an opportunity to grow by learning how you can improve in different ways.

Another way of seeking feedback is in the failures you might experience when it comes to running a side hustle.

A lot of people start stuff, it doesn't work out and then they give up, when in fact, you should see that thing you started as a way of learning.

There is no failure, everything's about learning.

See the experience of trying things out, or even failing, as a way for you to seek feedback.

Another way you can do this is to volunteer for leadership roles at work or even to seek additional responsibilities.

Again, this is a way of putting yourself in a place of responsibility.

I remember using the expression “Get your feet wet” or “Put your feet to the fire.”

Meaning you should not hide behind, instead put yourself in front.

This is what happens in the world of entrepreneurship. You are the person who has to create the opportunity, to go out there to network and build relationships.

So by taking on those bits of responsibility, you are breaking free from that core, employee mindset.

Step 5. Network and Build Relationships

Networking is everything. 

Every day I wake up, I'm thinking about what relationships I can build.

• Where can I network?
• What opportunities can I create?

Networking and relationship building has to come from a place of love.

You have to care about the people you are trying to build relationships with and go above and beyond.

It's not just about trying to get something from people, it's about how you can sow into their lives.

Start by appreciating that you bring a great deal of value into the world.

So never feel that you do not bring a lot to the table.

Someone said to me during a live on our Instagram, that they felt intimidated when they went to do networking.

That intimidation comes from a place of lack of self-awareness because the more you are clear on who you are and what you bring to the world, the more you can approach anybody.

I feel that I can speak to anyone, whether they're a prime minister, president, manager or even somebody I just met on a bus, for example.

I can speak to them from a place of comfort because I understand who I am and what value I bring to the world.

I'd say with networking, focus on understanding who you are, first, that core self-awareness is important.

• What value do you bring to the potential business relationship?
• Then how can you sow into their lives and how can they sow into yours?

Practically, the way to do this is to join private members' clubs, and online communities where there are people who have a similar mindset.

So it could be focused on topics like entrepreneurship, personal finance, etc.

There are lots of communities online, find one where you feel people have a similar mindset. We have a community called Financial Joy Academy, feel free to check it out.

Go and do the research yourself and find the places you want to hang out.

I can tell you that if you make the effort to get yourself into spaces where you're networking, you will find yourself growing as an individual.

When you combine that with taking risks you will develop a growth mindset.

By challenging your limiting beliefs you find ultimately that over time, and it will take some time, you will eventually break free from that mindset that an employee typically has.

I.e. where they are waiting to be handed everything, given orders, waiting for the paycheck and so on.

Instead, you be that person creating your own opportunities.

Conclusion

I delivered this message straight from my heart.

As I said from the beginning, I'm not writing this post to tell you not to be an employee.

What I wanted to do was challenge the mindset you have.

Even if you carried on as an employee, you can take these steps to shift your mindset and create opportunities in different spheres 😊.

Realising your future potential and escaping the employee mindset will help you create a more guaranteed path to Financial Freedom.

What To Read Next Next About the EMPLOYEE MINDSET and Build Wealth

• How To Start a Business: 10-Step Guide
• Growth Mindset: How to Start Your Day With Purpose
• 6 Millionaire Habits That Changed My Life

What To Watch Next Next About the EMPLOYEE MINDSET and Build Wealth 

Do you recognise signs of the employee mindset in yourself? Which of these 5 steps will you take to break that mindset? Jump in the comments and let us know.

Do please share this post if you found it useful, and remember, in all things be thankful and Seek Joy.