We are living in days of ‘the instant of things’ –this means everyone is looking for everything they want and desire right now if not yesterday.
At the center of this love of the finer things in life is money. It is the engine that makes the world go around. The catch is that money does not come as easily as many people think or want.
This introduces an important concept in economics called ‘the principle of delayed gratification’. This implies that for you to get to enjoy the finer things of life, then there will be sacrifices to make earlier in your life.
For most people, they achieve financial stability at later days in their life. Many more people never get to achieve a breakthrough in their finances for their entire life. The challenge is how each one of us can attain the big levels of money that can oil the finer things we want and desire in our lives.
Ultimately, the journey towards financial freedom is a long and winding one. Here I share some thoughts on why each one of us must develop shock absorbers to win money and wealth games:
- Winners never quit – the reality of money is that there will be days you will be broke, heart broken and in doubt of your own goals and assumptions. Those who eventually make it to the top have mastered the art of outliving such times or seasons in their live. Whatever it is, just keep moving;
- Money is a consequence of risks – every economic activity that brings money is by nature made of risks. Therefore, there cannever be good money if there is no risk taking. We say in finance ‘the higher the risk, the higher the returns’;
- You must use money to make more money – money comes from work, investments or trading activities among others. Money multiplies by spending –it has to keep going round and round. Automatically, that means there will be moments you will make the wrong moves and lose money in the process. Since you cannot avoid it completely, the rule of the thumb is to minimize unnecessary money losses, buying none value adding things and chasing after approval from other people;
- There is good money and bad money – there are times you will make wrong choices in the process of making money. Again, the rule of the thump here is to avoid using good money to chase after bad money. The moment you realise you have made a wrong money move, accept and take your losses with grace and courage. It is part of the game;
- Wealth is a sum total of little money here and there, one day at a time – if you will only make money over time, then you must be willing to do the small things that eventually create momentum towards a lot of money.
My concluding thought is that while there will be difficult moments in your money journey; it is a good thing to learn to endure, but still enjoy life with your money as you move along. After all, your life does not wait until you make money to start living. Your life is already evolving as you struggle with making money.