 Although, many individuals like to believe that money changes people's lifestyle and personality, it does not do much. The truth is that upon obtaining wealth, the positive and negative qualities in people become more pronounced. Thus, if you want to sustain your wealth, there are several lessons that you ought to learn. In this video, I will share with you 9 brutal lessons you need to learn before getting rich. 1. Be wealthy only to the extent that your money can work for you. Contradictorily, to the assumption of a lot of people, being rich is not just about earning so much money. If something drastic happens to your business, would you be able to stand up on your feet again? What if you lose your job? Do you have something to fall back on? It does not matter how wealthy you are, if you do not have a strategy to swim through unforeseen tragedies, you are not rich. For this reason, American author and founder of the rat race game, Robert Kiyosaki, said the reach don't work for money, they make money work for them. If you want to sustain your wealth, you must seek ways to reach your money can multiply, even when you are asleep. 2. Experience is always more important than items. When many people think of being wealthy, they focus on buying cars, mansions, accessories and other materials, with little or no thought on traveling and seeing the world from a different angle. Nevertheless, studies have shown and revealed that experiences make us happy than tangible things. Learning this lesson early enough will do you a whole lot of good. It might be challenging to overcome the ego boost owning an exquisite car or attractive pieces of jewelry may bring to you. Still, the fact is that these insubstantial items do not last. They soon become outdated. On the other hand, spending money on experiences will give you memories that will be with you forever and an awareness that cannot be gotten from just reading books. 3. Staying humble. One of the most significant reasons behind the From Grace to Grass story is pride. The fact is that not everyone responds to wealth in the same way. While some people who amass wealth and remain humble, never forgetting who they are and from where they came, many others allow their head to get to swollen. Sadly, arrogance sooner or later leads to a mighty fall. Learning to overcome the urge for external validation before you become wealthy is challenging. However, it is a lesson that will yield enormous dividends. If you do not learn to be humble, you might be tempted to flaunt your wealth and in the process fall into traps such as spending on unnecessary things, stepping on people's toes and other unpleasant actions. American journalist Ernest Hemingway once asserted that there is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man. True nobility is being superior to your former self. 4. You don't have to buy everything you want. Being able to differentiate between your wants and your needs is pivotal to your financial growth and sustenance. Before becoming wealthy, you should understand that the fact that you want something does not mean you should get it. Also, because you have the money to purchase an item, now does not make it entirely possible for you to afford it. For instance, if you can satisfy your desire for a big house at the moment, it is wise to consider whether you will be able to keep up with maintaining the home later in the future or if it is going to be another depreciating asset or even a liability to you. No matter how rich you are, it is more profitable to first identify your priorities and spend on your needs. Indeed, there are times when you ought to take yourself on a treat. Still, treating yourself should be done with wisdom. 5. The best investment you can ever make is on yourself. When it comes to invest in time, money and resources, many individuals are of the habit of placing themselves at the bottom of the list. They spend much on other people and other activities, yet so little on themselves. But then, what can you invest in that will give you high returns for as long as you want? You. The investment made on self is a fulfilling and long-lasting kind. If you wish not just to be effluent but also to remain prosperous, you ought to focus on reaching your body, mind and competency. In terms of routine checkups, personal development, taking extra courses, etc. You can only earn as much as you are mentally and physically productive and you can only save and invest for the future as much as you can make. American author Stephen Covey once said, Self-improvement is tender, it's holy ground and there is no greater investment. 6. Money is just a means to the end. If you take a look around the world, you will observe that most people have the same ambition to become wealthy. So they spend their whole life trying to become rich. Russian-American writer and philosopher Ayn Rand once referred to money as just a tool. In the words of American and Israeli teacher Talben Shahr, money beyond the bare minimum necessary, for food and shelter is nothing more than a means to an end. But so often we confuse means with ends and sacrifice happiness for money. When you realize that money is just a means, you will be able to use it effectively to reach the end, which is to fulfill your higher calling and make life easier for yourself and those who do not have money yet. 7. Focus on how much you save. While it is all fun and courageous to assume otherwise, often you have very little control over the rate of our investment returns. Even if you spend hours studying financial data each day, there is only a minimal difference that you can make on your investment yielding. However, you have full power over what you save and invest. Thus, building your savings as fast as you can means getting a higher amount of money. When you focus on keeping more, you are indirectly seeking ways to spend less and make more money. It will be best if you learn that you have little or no control over your investment returns, but you have high power over your savings. This knowledge propels you to take actions that will make you attain wealth faster and increase your potential to remain wealthy. 8. Having goals is incredibly necessary. In every aspect of life, finance inclusive, having a goal is incredibly important. Many people make plans and map out financial goals when they are still struggling to amass wealth. Still, immediately they achieve that objective, they forgo goal-setting. This action is unhealthy and may cause them to go back to being poor again. You have to learn that no matter how much wealth you get, setting financial goals is not to be taken lightly. Although a budget is a part of a fiscal goal, it is not all there is in a financial goal. Financial goal involves assets you would love to acquire, debt to incur and debts to pay off, and even the net worth you want to attain within a short period. Allen Woolwend, a CPA and certified financial planner, once defined people with financial goals as the golden ones, who look ahead and have some concept about what they are looking to do with their money, and who put a plan into motion and establish some good habits. 9. The 80-20 rule. The 80-20 practice is also called the Pareto principle. It states that for every event, mostly 80% of the effect comes from 20% of the causes. Over time, this rule has been made to suit various aspects of life. In business, it says that 80% of sales come from 20% of clients. In finance, the general principle asserts that 20% of your financial decisions result in 80% of your financial state. As an individual, it is paramount for you to learn and apply this law. Even after becoming wealthy, you will need this rule in terms of investment. According to David Wilver, founder of MoneyUnder30.com, he postulated an 80-20 rule as it affects investment which states, 20% of the effort you spend on deciding where to invest will yield 80% of your returns. You can save that extra 80% of effort by ignoring the market. An application of this rule will amount to radical financial improvement. Whether your financial dream is, whether it is a mass in excess wealth or having just enough money, achieving it requires at least some basic monetary knowledge.