Money, ‘A Means to an End’

What happens when we are bombarded daily by media images of people who drive fancy cars and live in big mansions, holiday in Barbados and travel first class, drink fancy cocktails and send their kids to private schools overseas? What happens is that these shallow chronicles of consumption skew our relationship with money to a point where many people see money as a badge to display.

 

Money comes in lots of different ways. Some of the jet-setters may have inherited their wealth, robbed a bank or belong to the noveau riche class, and some are actually hardworking entrepreneurs who have invested years, effort and resources on an idea until it became a business success. The latter, which hopefully the majority look up to, have had their challenges, including the failures and sacrifices that come with the entrepreneur’s path; it’s called blood, sweat and tears!

 

There are very few successful business people who did not have to work hard and who hit gold on their first attempt. Even some of the world’s most renowned entrepreneurs, like Richard Branson and Mark Shuttleworth, will tell you that the first thing they tried bombed spectacularly but they kept at it, refining their approach and sometimes even leaving behind their first career choice to try something new.

Money that comes easily is difficult to appreciate; remember the saying and song: “Easy come, easy go”? The truth is, money doesn’t buy happiness, success does. Though success is often accompanied by wealth, it is not the money that makes us happy, it’s getting it; it’s the pursuit that is often tied to a vision that makes having money such a pleasure.

 

There is evidence aplenty if you Google past lottery winners. The tales of woe far outnumber the tales of happiness. Filling in lucky numbers on a form does not equate with working hard for your success, and the emotional baggage that accompanies these sudden wins makes that clear.

 

When we get extra cash, such as employment bonuses, the question should not be how to spend it, but rather how to save it or invest it. Many see money as something that lets us buy things, things to validate us as important or successful people and things we probably don’t need. Things don’t make you happy, but what does is to use money as a tool to liberate you from debt and to make things happen, to create a better future, not just for yourself but for your family and for your community.

 

The first thing to do when you get money is to think about how you can get it to work for you and liberate you from working hard for it. It may take a dollar at a time but believe me, a dollar at a time is a dollar closer to comfortable retirement, a dollar closer to paying off your debt and a dollar closer to financial freedom.