I have cause for celebration this week: Penguin have approved my seventh book. It will be my second on personal wealth, following ‘Is Your Thinking Keeping You Poor?,’ and it is tentatively titled ‘Poverty Proof - 50 Ways to Train your Brain for Wealth.’

The book will hit the shelves in 2019. 

Meanwhile, I’d like to share a single concept from it with you, because it relates to career-building and expert positioning. 

The chapter asks whether it is possible to become wealthy working as an employee, and arrives at the answer, ‘Yes, with one proviso.’ 

The proviso is how you view your career. You see, most people view a career as a ‘support system for a lifestyle.’ Under this paradigm, their monthly salary will first go to paying bills, and the remainder will be spent on lifestyle. 

By contrast, if you are one of the very few people who view a career as a ‘wealth-generating vehicle,’ then you will behave very differently. You will work out how much to save each month, and faithfully save it, prior to making decisions about entertainment-spending. 

It’s a simple shift in perspective that radically impacts upon behaviour, and completely alters the outcome of a ten-year trajectory. 

Let’s conduct a similar perspective exercise in our quest to become industry experts: 

You perform a certain amount and quality of work each month. What’s the point? Is it aimed at subsidising a lifestyle? Or is it aimed at a larger goal, such as becoming the biggest name in the industry? This orientation will dramatically change what you do and how you do it every month. 

Orient yourself for greatness from the get go, and it will change your behaviour. Change your behaviour, and you might ultimately become the greatest in your game. 

Douglas Kruger is a professional speaker and author of several bestselling business books, published by Penguin. He is a 'Hall of Fame' speaker. See him in action, or book him as the motivational speaker for your next event, at www.douglaskruger.com.