Money, Savings and Hard-work, are not Enough

Money, Hard-work and Savings are not it!

Money, hardwork and savings are not it, the not is what changes the paradigm. Many people listening to me speak about this, usually wonder if this is not a mistake. They think, if only they can work harder make more money and then save more money then they are doing well. The way things work for you and you become free is not a function of the money, nor of the hard work neither of the savings.

What exactly is it a function of? Pay attention! How much you make does not determine your freedom, I know people who have made multiple millions who are not free, I  know people who have made 250 million Naira who are not free, I know people who have from less than 10,000 Naira become free and I know people who have made 1 billion who are still not free. What makes you free is not how much money you make, how hard you worked or how much you saved. I know many hardworking poor people, I’m sure you are also surrounded as well by people who have these realities but are not free. Everyone rises and falls to the level of their financial intelligence, what determines your financial freedom is the intelligence you apply to the money it’s the intelligence you apply to the hard work, it’s the intelligence you apply to the savings. Hence, it is not hard work nor money nor savings, it is financial intelligence! He that gets gear before he gets wit, is but a short time the master of it. If you get money before intelligence, it’s only for a short period of time.

Financial intelligence is the wisdom with which you manage your resources when your goal is financial freedom. Financial intelligence determines the focus of your money, your hard work and your savings. Financial intelligence is what defines the difference. People will spend based on their level of intelligence, I usually joke about my son, he is growing up and I’m sure that very soon he will have more intelligence financially and even to spare on other things. As at the time of writing this however he is 4 years old he will be 5 on October 1. If I gave my son 1 million naira today, I can be sure that he will buy caprisone, bobo, Ben 10 anything e.t.c, he will spend at the level of his intelligence. If I give him 10 million  he will buy more of the same things.

There are some of the people reading this today, who if their financial dreams came to pass and they got an avalanche of resources and funds will misbehave and spend on things that are totally out of the track of making them financially free. What matters then is not how much the money is, or hard they have worked. Their finances will rise and fall to their level of financial intelligence.

Invest financial intelligence. You can develop yourself to gain financial intelligence by two things, by reading books and by having mentors and following people who have demonstrated financial intelligence. You can develop your financial intelligence by interacting with the knowledge and experience of others. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. Experience is indeed an great teacher, personal experience a costly teacher, but like a wise person said, even though personal experience is a costly teacher, a fool will learn from no other.

Many times as I drive on the street, I observe my surroundings and I see school children being carried to school by a jeep that looks the shadow of itself. These poor children think that they are going to school in a jeep, that their father has a jeep, they don’t understand that the jeep had seen better days and all its glory faded. Sights like these are usually a testament to the fact that the person who owned the car once had money, but possibly took a loan from the future to buy his dream car. He rode his dream car in his present 20 years ago and today he is qualified to walk on foot. I tell people what makes you stay and sustain is not how much came into your hand in the past, it is the intelligence with which you applied it. Money is like a guest, when it comes visiting, if you treat it well it will stay, if you treat it very well it will stay for long, if you treat it really, really well it can get married to you and then you can live happily ever after, but if you misbehave with the finances you have, you do not deal with it with wisdom, you don’t deal with it with intelligence, it’s a guest, one day it will pack its luggage and carefully take its leave.

So please note this it is not how much you earn that is important, it is not how hard you work that is important, it’s not the savings that you have that is important, it’s the intelligence with which you deal with what you have earned. Intelligence is key. Deliberately develop financial intelligence, read books! If you are serious about any topic in this life, you need to have read books on that topic, equal to your age. That is your demonstration of seriousness on any particular topic. Are you serious about your financial future, go reading! Very importantly you need to understand that it’s not hard work, it’s not money it’s not savings, it’s financial intelligence!