In earlier articles, I have discussed some simple and practical rules to attract money and grow your wealth. In this article, I will share about 5 sure addictions that have destroyed people’s wealth throughout history. They are worth avoiding like a plague for they sure can destroy yours too.
On average, every healthy person is naturally endowed with the ability to make money. God/nature has also endowed everyone who can make money with the ability to make simple choices that will enable them to retain and grow wealth.
The world we live in is predicated on the principles of abundance and never about scarcity. Do you ever wonder how God/nature provides for all living creatures may it be on land, underwater, or even those that live on the air, without fail 24/7 year in and year out?
In fact, where certain species have become extinct it has had nothing to do with their natural predispositions. They became extinct largely because of human activities -may they be plants or animals. Only the human species ‘eats’ in a destructive manner due to her greed.
My philosophy remains true and simple –there is plenty for all of us. If you shall inherit the blessed wealth prescribed across all holy books from the creator of the universe, then though shall attract and accumulate as much as you desire without infringing on the rights and freedoms of others.
Now that you know how to attract and grow money, but to retain it you MUST understand and guard yourself against the destroyers of money (tighten your belt for some may rock your perceived comforts). The good thing is, each and every one of us has the natural endowment and a deeply embedded inert ability to overcome them and enjoy the good life that money can afford.
There is absolutely no glory in living a mediocre life in the false sense of ‘money is not everything’. My philosophy is predicated on the principles of ‘money is good’, it is people who commit evil in the name of money who are a disgrace to society –it’s not the money.
So here are the 5 enemies of money:
- The unguarded desire for debt/loans – while there is nothing wrong with leveraging (using debt to increase your earning capacity), foolish borrowing and addiction to debts will surely cripple your ability to attract and grow money. Too much debt destroys your mental power and brings shame and a strong sense of inability to make money. The basic pre-condition to attract money is that you must pay and honor all your obligations. It’s my considered opinion that you must never commit more than 1/3 of your income to debt repayments.
- Second, only use debt on investments that create more value than the interest + principal in the medium or long term. For example, if you borrow a million to buy a plot that is priced at 1 million –the price/cost of that plot to you is not the million you pay the seller, it is the 1 million borrowed + interest of the loan. Third, never take a ‘stupid’ loan –for instance, borrowing to go on holiday, do a wedding or buy household consumables. These are simply ‘stupid’ loans and will surely destroy you financially!
- Addiction to alcohol – while there is a lot of evidence in psychology that this ‘frosty’ drink stimulates the genius in men (seen how they speak the queen’s language when on it?), addiction and becoming a slave to the ‘drink’ is a sure bet to ruin yourself financially. It is a paradox to learn that many of the creative works of literature, art, music, poetry, etc, were written/done by men who were drunkards, but most of them were later ruined financially despite the money that come with their creative works. There are recent cases of this too. Imagine how many professors, doctors, engineers, lawyers, pilots, and the likes we never had and are suffering in our streets because their school fees disappeared in the bottle?
- Drug and substance abuse –I separate this with (2) above because it’s not quite clear if they stimulate the genie in men….but they certainly destroy their bodies and ruin their finances. Even parents not addicted themselves have been ruined financially by their children who become addicted to drugs. Lives, businesses, great careers, and opportunities have gone into the smoke courtesy of this.
- Betting, casinos & gaming – if you have been following my articles thus far and still imagine that betting & gaming is a strategy for money and wealth, then you surely cannot be helped. While we know people (and indeed history is full of such people) who have won huge bets, lotteries, and the like, there is no single economic evidence of anybody who made their money and wealth with such wins.
- There is overwhelming evidence that indicates that without fail, the majority of the big winners almost always ended up worse off than they were before the win. And that’s why you see in recent times people who win donate all their wins and continue with their normal lives. If there is anybody who makes money here –it is the business owners behind those ventures/companies, not you the bet addict. If you are reading this and you are into betting & gaming, just get the ‘hell outa there’ and get yourself a life and a living with the mind graciously granted to you by your maker.
- Addiction to sex –this is a bit controversial – Napoleon Hill (of Think & Grow Rich) studied about 2500 men in America over a period of 25 years (out of which 500 of them are the men who made America). Of all these 500 men who made money beyond the wildest dream imaginable, they made it between their 40s and 60s. Interestingly, they all confessed they were inspired by some woman somewhere (either wife or girlfriend or to please/make a point to a girl who’d rejected them at a certain stage in their life).
- On average, most men make and retain money from their 40s after they have settled down in life. If you master how to direct this energy into productive causes –it can turn the genius in you and transmute for you an untold amount of money and wealth (on average, most of the greatest innovations that we enjoy today and the majority of the greatest leaders the world has ever known, they were/are created by men of known high testosterone levels).
- Psychology has it that of all human emotions, sexual emotion is the greatest of all. It is not only capable of stimulating the genius in men but also connecting them with the things of the spiritual realms (seen how brothers become creative when courting somebody from the fairer sex?).
However, when transmuted into its physical form (i.e. engaging in the act randomly and without control) it would certainly destroy your finances. Presidents, captains of industry, great sportsmen, and endorsements worthy of billions have gone into the smoke in a twinkling of an eye due to a sex scandal. Ever heard of ‘planting his wild oats’? It has its origins from this….!
As I conclude, while all of us are predisposed to all these enemies of wealth, it only requires a little courage and will to navigate around them. They emanate from choices and decisions that are within your control. God/nature has also provided opportunities and confines within which you could enjoy most of these without destroying your money and wealth –it is personal greed that pushes men and women to their own financial ruin and destruction.
Wueh. I was here! I left smarter than I came!