Why The Middle Class Is No More Than A Mere Trap pedro-campos.com/blog-middle-class-trap/ pedrocampos
May 29, 2018
Let me start by sharing with you a bit of my story‌ I grew up in a lower middle class family. It wasn’t that we were starving or had to get government assistance, we lived comfortably. No matter the economic conditions my dad would give me and my brother a gift every year for Christmas and birthdays. But, nobody in my household ever talked about being known, successful or wealthy. The business my parents had, was shut down at some point and my dad denied his obsession to serve others and create prosperity and went on to build prosperity for someone else, in an industry we knew nothing about and hated. My mom was scared at every second of every day about money. Trying to save quarters and dimes, spending an entire afternoon driving from supermarket to supermarket finding the best deals on groceries and bragging about it. It made sense to her. Wasting her precious time to save a few bucks. My dad was a great hard working man, an immigrant in the neighboring country and would only get home on the weekends because of work. He always gave his best to provide for our family, no matter the circumstances. He was a lottery addict hoping to strike rich one day, which never happened. Discussions about money were constant when my dad was at home. No wonder why that happened, my mom was a saver, my dad a spender. I knew deep down he always wanted to be successful, but never told anyone neither had the tools and the information to do it.
The Ah-Ha Moment Growing up, I was influenced to get a good job, save my money for a rainy day, settle down 1/5
and have a happy and comfortable life. After wasting my time in college chasing what many considered the “dream” and leaving the military I realized this middle class thing was a scam. The truth is that I wasn’t happy, I hated to be like everybody else, waiting for the weekend to come, only to get a hangover, wait for Monday, wake up feeling miserable and do it all over again. I started to remember the days I would say my friends at school and my mom that one day I would be a successful entrepreneur. My now broke friends would laugh while my mom, although supporting, never fully believed. I became more and more aware that I wasn’t born to be average and made my mission to chase the men I was born to be and wake up others in the process. This middle class thinking never made sense to me. After having my ah-ha moment, I became fascinated with the idea of exploring why so many people with potential had settled down in a life that is no more than a mere trap. I started to study patterns, listening to big hitters, people who were way above me. I all made sense after discovering the truth and today I`ll share with you why you should run for your life from the middle class trap.
Your Broken Programming Let me just clarify something before we dive into this… when I talk about middle class, I`m referring not to a group of people but a mindset. The middle class mindset. It has nothing to do with where you live or even your net worth, you can make a million dollars a year and still be middle class in your thinking. Today, I`m gonna blow your mind with brutal honesty. I might get some haters out of this article… but hey, who cares! If you find yourself halfway through disgusted, feeling like you just want to punch my face, think about why you feel that way. I`m gonna show you why you should run for your life from this average thinking trap. And if you`ve already escaped, congratulations! Allow me to start this discussion by asking you a question… How do you make sense of having just enough to get by? That`s what so many people around the world are trying to do. Saving their way into an average life. Do you ever get excited to watch an average movie, thinking about building an average business or having an average relationship with your spouse? Of course not. But there`s more of average on this planet than you and I can handle. The middle class is a fancy word to describe average. These are hundreds of millions of brainwashed people settling for mediocrity rather than chasing their potential, influenced by the media, parents, schools and politicians. Many of them have the potential to create extraordinary lives and even change the world, the only thing stopping them is their broken programming. The programming is composed of several playlists: 2/5
get you a retirement account money is the root of all evil there`s never enough to go around be grateful you have more than most settle down Johnny boy get you a good job we love you just the way you are be seen not heard don`t stand out don`t toot your own horn success isn`t everything can`t you just be satisfied? money is not that important be careful, don`t take risks get an education save for a rainy day a penny saved is a penny earned Is this familiar to you? Great, keep reading! Being average is not a condition. Nobody chooses to live a life of struggles, spending 5 years in college to get a degree they won`t even use, getting stuck in jobs they hate or being worried about every penny at every moment. This doesn`t happen because you`re stupid or lazy, it`s just that you have the wrong data. The middle class mindset is based on comparisons, scarcity and selfishness. Yeah, I said it. How can you be generous with others when you can`t even take care of yourself, you live to pay bills, have a couple of barbecues on the weekends and take 2 weeks off every year? Come on, it doesn`t make any sense. You complain about the news, but that`s part of your favorite channels after work. Crazy, isn`t it? Watching negativity and turning to the next reality show to make sense of your current situation… Yeah, because that`s the reason why people like reality shows. “Oh, look at them, my life isn`t that bad after all” – they say! It is bad, dude, it`s ugly. As long as you’re denying your potential, shutting down your dreams and settling for mediocrity, it is bad and it gets even worse… You`re told to buy a house, you know, because it`s an investment, as they say, get a 30 or 40-year mortgage and be stuck in one location for the rest of your life. What if there are better opportunities in a few years outside of your area? What if you don`t like where you live anymore, after 10 years of being there? Great marketing initiative by the banks to lend you money.
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Besides the fact that you`re stuck in an address, you`re trading your time for money in a corporate position, long commutes, working hard to get that next promotion and waiting anxiously for the big pay raise, only to find out that earned income is the most heavily taxed and say to yourself that you don`t understand investments. So the more you earn, the more the “tax man” keeps. That`s why this is often called the rat race. But, you know that the issue is not being taxed… hell, most people don`t even know how much they pay in taxes.
Trying To Make Sense Of Insanity The tendency is to increase expenses in the same proportion as income. You make more money and you just can resist showing off with the new car you paid cash, by the way, because someone on the news told you that all debt is bad. Then what, you`re broke again and continue to work even harder to buy the next material thing. Your friends and family tell you it`s ok to have just enough to live comfortably and convince you that life is about getting an education, a good job, climbing the corporate ladder and growing old to eventually one day retire with a nest egg to finally enjoy life… that is, if you make it there! “Life is to be enjoyed” – they say. “Success isn`t everything, you know!” The fact is that the same friends that give you advice, only support you unconditionally if you don`t change too much. I`m sure you know the crabs in the bucket analogy. Be aware that the ones that criticize your willingness to be different and create something better will attempt to get you out of the deal, trying to make sense of their current situation. Remember, they`re not talking about you, they`re talking to themselves.
It All Starts With A Decision I`m here to tell you that you don`t need anyone to give you permission to get out of this trap and create massive success for yourself and your family. Being different is not easy but living just to get by is even harder. In your attempt to break out from the average trap and create a better life, you`ll get haters, people telling you that you`re thinking too big, that you won`t make it, family members that will not support you, even though you`re trying to help them. Let me ask you a deeper question now… how do you want to be remembered when you`re gone? Just another soul walking on earth or someone that actually made an impact on the lives of others! The middle class trap is like riding on the average track. Unfortunately, this is a sad way to live… nobody will even remember someone that lived just to get by. And it doesn`t pay off either. 4/5
Look, only the obsessed survive in today`s world. The little thinking, average mentality people will be crushed in one way or another and I don`t want you to be there. You deserve to get to know the person you were meant to be. I truly hope to wake you up with this article, most of it is stuff you don`t want to hear, but nobody earns respect from someone by just telling them how well they`re doing. Make the commitment today to stand out, to live your best life, to say “enough is enough,” to live to your potential… and hey, get you a bunch of haters asking you how you did it. Be great,
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