Who is the most common bad guy in movies?

If you answered gangsters – you’re wrong. The most common bad guy and mastermind behind the killing and subjugation of all peoples in movies are wealthy businesspeople.

You know the scene. The hero looks up at an imperiously tall office building and then makes their way to the topmost floor to confront the mastermind – the real “rot” and source of discord in the movie – someone reclining in an expensive office chair, wearing an impeccable suit, an amazing city view behind them, and with a tiny gun in their top drawer. Doesn’t this sound familiar?

The reason I bring this up today is to ask you, what are your subconscious beliefs?

It is an incredibly important question to ask because the truth is, 

Everyone must believe that what they are doing is morally just in order to achieve it. A jewel thief plans a heist and we find out it’s not so that she can become “the best jewel thief in the world”, but because an even greater criminal is holding her daughter hostage. In Robin Hood’s eyes, he was a clever, honourable man who stole from the “greedy rich” to give to the “deserving poor”. It is a very common movie trope that the amassing of great wealth makes you automatically greedy, and you must give that money away to achieve redemption. In Robin’s eyes, he is a hero. If he believed his actions made him as “greedy” as the people he stole from – he wouldn’t do it. 

These are images and stories that you have been digesting for most of your life. The purpose of showing these examples is not to have you thinking about robbing a museum or donning some green tights but to demonstrate how incredibly important it is that your beliefs about wealth and how one accumulates wealth is in accordance with the actions that you are taking.

You could be dedicating long hours to your career advancement right now. Or you may have started a business to develop another stream of income outside of your ‘day’ job. However, those projects will never develop as much fruit as they can for you if you believe that being a wealthy businessperson is a dirty, dishonourable thing. It won’t work – your body and mind will not allow you to achieve it. It will protect you. You will find ways to constantly give away your wealth until you are back at your comfort zone – “hard-working but not wealthy”. Because you believe that significant wealth can only come if you take advantage of others or are in some way dishonest. But this is not the truth.

So, how do you check if you have an underlying belief that becoming rich is a dirty thing? A simple way is to look at your language, and how you celebrate or break down those with massive wealth. Are people “filthy” rich? If someone is a multi-millionaire – do you suspect that they have accepted or given bribes to get there? If you see a smiling Trinbagonian in the newspapers, talking about the multi-millions they have amassed in their lifetime, do you mutter to yourself “das drug money right there”? Ask yourself and check your brain’s response within the instant of mentally reading this question: “is there such a thing as an honest and honourable rich businessperson?”

When looking at yourself and your habits, if you’ve ever received significant money that you did not have to necessarily “toil” for – like a cash gift, an inheritance, lotto or play-whe winnings, investment returns etc – have you shared the wealth until it’s pretty much all given away? Perhaps have you figuratively shoved it under a carpet by leaving it under-utilised in an account? Look back at your answers to these questions and see what your subconscious beliefs are.

You see, these beliefs could make or break your attempts at amassing the wealth that you deserve. The truth is, making money is not just a “put your head down and work” game – it also takes inner work. Reshaping your beliefs and actions as it pertains to wealth so that you could end generational poverty cycles, and usher in a new path for you and your loved ones to follow.