Today I start with a quote from Theodore Roosevelt in 1899: ‘It is far better to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the grey twilight that knows not victory, nor defeat.’
I always get asked which is the easiest business or investment to make money quickly. This is one of the most confusing questions to be asked!
The thing is, if I knew of any place where money can easily be found, what business do I have telling you? Isn’t it common sense that if such a place existed, I will just take myself there first, take the much that can satisfy my greed before I tell anybody else?
Trust me; never listen to any advice from anyone who tells you there is money in such and such a place, business or investment yet they themselves have not gone into it. You can never go wrong with this! No one will ever lead you to find money that they themselves do not have.
By nature, human beings are wired to be greedy when it comes to money. I make mine first before I lead others to access the source. If it is business, no one wants competition; if it is a good investment, I take it up before I pass it on to others unless I am completely broke to take it up.
The rules of money often work very differently from most of our other human relations. It is also a very personal journey that often works very differently for different people. For instance, it is not automatic that if I venture into a business and I make money, if you come into a similar business you’ll also make money.
Equally true, it does not mean if I ventured into a business or investment and failed/lost money you will also fail if you join the same business. Often, money moves uniquely for each person. I share 5 reasons why this is true:
- Your money is first and foremost your personal responsibility and no one else’s – when all is said and done, you will have to decide and work for your own money. No one will ever do that job for you. In the same way, no one can eat and go to the toilets for you, and so are the money needs and desires – if you wait for others to look for money or opportunities for you, the outcome is definite –you will die poor;
- This attitude contravenes the basic law of money on decisiveness and commitment –expecting someone else to tell you what to do with your money or where to find opportunities is escapism from your personal responsibility with your money. It also means you are unwilling to commit to the challenges that surely face anyone who desires good money;
- It symbolizes a lack of willingness to make sacrifices – keeping money and growing it into wealth will definitely come with certain sacrifices. If money is indeed a measure of value, then you must give up something of value to earn it. These sacrifices may include either trading off opportunities or giving up even certain comforts for future gains;
- It is a manifestation of a means to look for shortcuts – when all is said and done, sustainable money and wealth are not made through shortcuts. Shortcuts can only get you to so much and even then, whatever comes easily goes easily. It is a fulfilment of the saying ‘that which comes by the winds goes by the winds’;
- Failing to appreciate money is a reward for value created – looking for money is a waste of time, what you need to focus on is creating value that people can pay for. It could be important skills you possess, a product or service you can trade-off in the market. Looking for money as an end in itself alienates from the real money itself.