We are already officially into the second month of the year as the days fly away. This past weekend I have been reflecting on the sophisticated simplicity of men known to have pretty deep pockets.
At some point, I have wondered how it feels like to wake up one morning knowing that you have a net worth of say 165 million shillings, aka a dollar millionaire. Suppose we stretch this further to say a billion shillings?
I know this is a lot of cash, but there are folks with this kind of money and wealth. Think of the dollar billionaires – how does a normal day look like for them? What do they eat? What do they wear? How does it feel to serve them at your shop, coffee bar, on a commercial flight, or at the supermarket?
How many of us can pick these men of true means from the streets if they were to walk by? Contrast this with the folks we see in the streets flaunting all manner of toys or homes, mostly bought on loans or windfall cash gains.
It is then that it occurred to me how deceptive a full river filled to the banks. Despite the powerful undercurrents deep within it, it calmly holds on to its banks, sometimes showing no signs of movement, yet still flowing at full speed and power. It is only when you encounter it at its downfalls that you can discern the amount of power and force within it.
As the year 2024 races towards its climax, am persuaded to challenge each one of us to learn from this alluring mystery of rivers. Ultimately, they never depart from their course, and the fuller the river is, the more quiet it becomes. But streams that carry only run-offs after a short downpour are noisy and threatening.
Here are some lessons that we can pick from the behavior of a full river that can help us immensely with our money and wealth goals in 2024:
- Full rivers are never noisy because there are no voids or vacuums within them – in simple terms, the more you grow in money and wealth, the better you understand money and the economic power that comes with it. All basic comforts that money can afford become within your reach and thus eliminate many human voids that we are tempted to do to attract attention from others;
- The ultimate price for money and wealth is the sophisticated simplicity that it affords you – despite the economic power that it brings to you, accumulating honest and just money and wealth gives you enough confidence in your abilities. Thus, you have no points to prove to anyone -you get to a level where life is full of possibilities with much easier ways to earn and keep more;
- Simplicity does not equal cheap nor does affordable mean equal for everyone – the majority of the richest people under the sun live frugal lives, only buying what they need, enjoying things not bought with money, and giving to worthy courses that make a difference in another person’s life -this is the ultimate measure of sophistication;
- In their deceptive quietness, men and women of means can keep off detractors and only coalesce around peers of equal minds – many dreams are killed by shouting them to jealous friends, family members, colleagues, or the community. People who do not understand the visions you hold nor have been to the places or levels of money that you aspire for cannot lead through a road they do not understand or experience. That is why you are encouraged to select your friends carefully and grow your social capital diligently;
- The property monied understand the depth and force within them despite their calm demeanor in public spaces – they are sure of what they are capable of doing and achieving and thus require no opinions or affirmations of lesser mortals than they;
- As a bonus point, when you have had your way with money, then you understand fully well its limitations. There are God-given precious gifts that can never be bought anywhere – that is why often truly wealthy men and women will treasure those small gifts in life like empathy, kindness, love, and the need to belong to a community that advances humanity. It is in this that they find the greatest fulfillment having gone the full cycle.