As I go around the country's chain of cooperatives teaching members financial literacy, I am frequently confronted with the question as to whether one must go through the pain of saving or denying themselves a good life today in order to be rich. This question of course could have many answers but on this occasion, I will focus on the subject of liberties and their limits, in so far as it is concerned with wealth creation process.
But first let me draw your attention to real life situation that affected Napoleon Hill, way back in his early adulthood. In chapter one of Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill recorded the real life story of his son, Blair, who was born without ears (without any normal hearing organs at all). Even though the doctor told Hill that his son would neither hear nor speak, Blair grew up to do both almost normally. Hill refused to accept this affliction and lived the contrary. He believed, and I quote: “Nature could send me a child without ears, but Nature could not induce me to accept the reality of this affliction. In my own mind I knew that my child would hear and speak.” And it came to pass. Hill did not allow his mind to accept the physical limitation as an adequate reason to stop his baby from ever hearing or talking, so he kept on treating his baby as though he had complete ears.
The Apostle Paul, in his sermons to the Corinthians was faced with a similar question as Napoleon Hill, this time around whether it was right for a Christian, to eat of the meat offered to idols (1 Cor 10:23), He offered a piece of advise I still consider the most appropriate. He responded in (10:23), that “everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial” and in 10:27;p“but if unbeliever invites you to a meal, and you want to go, eat whatever is placed before you without raising questions of the conscience. But if anyone says to you, this has been offered in sacrifice, then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience sake”
The issue raised in both the case of Napoleon and that of Apostle Paul is an issue we grapple with every day – the extent to which our minds make or break us. Our minds lead us into whatever actions we undertake, once and then do repeatedly to become behaviors, therefore once, we have accepted something in our conscience, we are no longer in control.
The object of money is not the issue we are dealing with in the question raised here, rather it is what we our minds commission money to do when we do have some money. The ways of the poor are different from the ways of the wealthy, but both involve use of money, and both are guided by the mind. The desire to spend as much of your income today to enjoy your life create a user habit, and concurrently denies you the seed to invest and an investor habit, needed for a higher consumption in future. The two minds carrying these different positions lead us to do different lines of thoughts and actions there to, and achieve different results. Like Paul said, you have the freedom to handle your money the way you want, but not all the ways you handle the money will be beneficial. There is no right or wrong way, what is important is the effect your choices lead you to.
The other side to this issue of liberties is raised by Apostle Paul (1 Cor 10:32) that we should consider the impact of what we do on others. He said that whatever we do, we “should not cause anyone to tumble.” This is particularly important to parents and anybody whose actions is bound to influence other weaker people - by way of justification. By engaging in a high life type of spending, even if we have adequate source of additional investment income, we may cause others to fail to invest by indirect influence, believing that money is best spent now.
It is not a matter of right or wrong action that is the question here, there are many right things that may not be beneficial. For example, saving without investing may be right but not beneficial. To succeed, you need concurrently learn to invest, initially, in small amounts to acquire experience in identifying and taking risks profitably.
Patrick Wameyo, Financial Literacy Educator and Entrepreneurship Coach. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.