As you mentioned, increasing your personal expenses, and typically your personal debt to do that, isn't the correct investment. As you alluded to, we have to get the right mindset.

The house you purchased and live in isn't an asset, unless you use it to generate income (like an AirBnB), it is a liability, because you have to pay to keep it up, pay taxes, pay for insurance, and maybe a mortgage. Yes, you do need someplace to live, but still the mindset is that unless it generates income, it is NOT an asset, it's a liability.

On the other hand, purchasing a house for a rental property where you can make more than your expenses (cash flow), is an asset, even with the expenses of a mortgage, taxes, etc.

Robert Kiyosaki has a Cashflow game (not the most recent, but still the game) on his Rich Dad site here for free for anyone wanting to give it a try. You can even invite other players to play along (and include a Discord chat connection to talk).