Knowledge Alone Won’t Build Wealth: Work on Your Mindset

My daughter recently introduced me to Affirmation Club, upbeat house music with affirmations that reassure people that you are enough, you deserve wealth, and you attract abundance, among others.  

These lyrics in particular stuck with me: “I don’t chase, I attract … I love money, and money loves me. Financial freedom running to me. I get paid to exist, just be. Everything flows so effortlessly. I am happy, I am wealthy … I am magnetic, can’t you see? Everything comes naturally.” And while these are likely AI-generated tunes, they still have a benefit to help people overcome limiting money beliefs. 

I love these affirmations because all the knowledge and tactics in the world can’t help somebody whose mindset is destroying their wealth. That’s why I developed a tool called the Belief Circle.  

Everything that sabotages somebody from achieving financial success starts in their mind. That’s why I tell people to imagine the Belief Circle as a picture of your brain—because it shows you where your financial patterns live, and why “more knowledge” isn’t always the answer. 

In fact, I learned this the hard way. I went back to the barrio thinking financial literacy was the answer to changing people from going from being poor to having financial success—and then I realized it wasn’t about financial literacy. It wasn’t about more knowledge. Right now, we have too much knowledge, and the wealth gap keeps getting bigger and bigger. It’s the mindset. 

What is the Belief Circle? 

The Belief Circle gives language to the realities that show up in every client’s financial life: 

Your intuition. This is what your gut instinct. This is the thing that tells you something is off, or whether a decision is right or wrong. Many times, we don’t listen to our intuition and that’s when we get into trouble.  

The stuff you make up. This is what you make up in the moment. You don’t know, but you might claim to know something. I often joke that men are really great at making stuff up—giving confident answers that aren’t grounded in truth. In finances, that shows up as assumptions, guesses, and stories: “I’ll never get ahead anyway.” “People like me don’t build wealth.” “Estate planning is only for rich people.” “Insurance is a scam.” Those are often not facts. They’re stories. 

Some things you know for a fact you know—like brushing your teeth, tying your shoes, making a certain dish in the kitchen. Then there’s what you know but don’t want to know. That’s denial. You know the cake has a lot of calories, but while you’re eating it, you don’t want to know that it has a lot of calories. 

Then there’s what you know but don’t know how to do. You know something is real, but you don’t know how to fix it. Like when my Volvo started making a funny noise and breaking down on me. I knew it was the transmission, but I didn’t know how to fix it. I needed somebody else to help me do what I couldn’t do on my own. 

And then there’s the biggest part—the don’t know that you don’t even know. For years, I had screens on a house with holes in them, and I kept thinking, “Somebody should invent that… create a business where they come to your house and fix the screens.” Then one day I’m at a stoplight and I see a truck next to me that says, “Your screens need fixing. We’ll come to your house and fix them.” I didn’t know that. I didn’t even know. 

For most people, finances are filled with that last category. They may not even have an idea of what it is to talk to someone about an estate plan or insurance or investments. They don’t even know. They don’t know they don’t know yet. And that’s where coaching comes in—because coaching is about moving what’s hidden into what’s visible. 

This is how I recommend you use the Belief Circle:  

Step 1: Set the frame of your brain map. Imagine that the Belief Circle is a picture of how the mind works. There’s the part that represents what you already know. There’s the part that’s “what you know but don’t want to know”—that denial slice. There’s “what you know but you don’t know” yet—things you recognize are real but don’t know how to do them. And then there’s the big part: “the don’t know that you don’t even know.” 

This matters because when you’re stuck, it’s not because you’re lazy, but because you’re living in the wrong part of the circle—either denial, or blind spots, or fear of what you don’t know. 

Step 2: Sort what’s true vs. what’s avoided. Name two categories first—because it’s easy and it creates momentum. 

First: “What do you know for a fact that you know?” These are your known truths. Then: “What do you know but don’t want to know?” This is where you are experiencing denial. It’s the part where the truth is sitting right there, but you keep pushing it away. 

Denial is just avoidance. You know, you just don’t want to know. 

Step 3: Separate “I know” from “I don’t know how”. Next, move to “what you know but don’t know.” This is where most people live when they say, “I know what I should be doing, but I’m not doing it.” You know you should save. You know you have too much debt. You know you need to protect your family. But you don’t know how to execute or follow through. 

This is where you get specific. For example, you may not even know why it’s important to have an estate plan—or what can happen if you don’t implement or execute or create an estate plan. The goal is to move from, “Now I know… but I don’t know how,” because once you can name that, you can work with a professional to guide you through it.  

Step 4: Surface blind spots and stop the stories. Now you go to the biggest section: “the don’t know that you don’t even know.” This is where so many wealth gaps live—because people can’t ask for what they don’t know exists. 

This is also where intuition and “making stuff up” shows up. You need to be really honest so you can bring those stories into the light and test them—so the you stop living in “I don’t even know” and starts living in “Now I see it.” 

Step 5: Move one item forward. This is the whole point. Pick one “unknown” item and move it forward. If you don’t know what an estate plan does, do some research. If you don’t know how to do it, find the right professional, understand the steps, create a plan, and follow through. 

When you take this step, you start making progress toward your ideal life.  

Final Words of Wisdom 

The Belief Circle looks simple, but I’ve used it for decades, and I’ve people transform their thinking from “Something is wrong with me,” and start seeing that they’re just operating from deep-rooted negative mindsets and blind spots—and all of that can be coached. 

That’s why those affirmations matter more than people realize, because tactics are great, but we need to improve our mindset to really get ahead.  

So start where you are. Tell the truth about what you know, what you don’t know, and get a professional to help you navigate what you don’t know you don’t know. Get honest about what you avoid. And let your coach—or your own process—help you bring the hidden parts of the circle into the light. That’s how you build your financial life con corazon.