Enhance Your Financial Intelligence: Smart Money, Smart Future by Angelia Griffith - HTML preview
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An Introduction to Financial Intelligence
The Meaning of the Word "Insanity"
Without a doubt, the most of us, if not all of us, yearn for and yearn for something greater. Everything that we want, whether it be a larger car, a better house, or the purchase of nice things for the family, is a part of us. We continue to have high hopes for more, but in order to get something that you do not possess, you will need to engage in an activity that you have never done before.
Simply put, this indicates that:
The practice of performing the same action over and over again while anticipating different outcomes!
It is not possible for an employee to remain in the same position for an indefinite period of time and hold out hope that a miracle will occur and that their employer would suddenly give them a raise. It is a stroke of good fortune that your organization is not in the process of downsizing. Even if you go to a different company, this will only be a short-term solution to an issue that will last for a long time.
There is no question that you are able to take on a second or even a third job; however, do you have sufficient time and energy in each day to maintain it?
In a nutshell, exchanging one's time for monetary compensation is not a financially prudent decision over the long term. You continue to put in more hours in order to increase your chances of winning the rat race, but at the end of the day, you are still a rat standing in the mill!
A rise in your wages will only result in you being placed in a higher tax bracket. Despite the fact that your salaries are growing, your costs on your house and automobile are also growing. How are you going to make an investment in yourself when you are spending all of your time working for a corporation, working for the government to pay taxes, and working for the bank to pay off your house and car? What if you become ill and are unable to report to work tomorrow? Is it possible that the government will look after your family?
It is exceedingly unlikely that this is the case.
Isn't it about time that you were a little more serious about your financial situation?
Just what is money?
You see, there are a lot of different conceptions of what people think money is.
Some people consider it to be a sort of measurement.
Yes, but what exactly is the measurement of? Affluence? People used to determine their level of wealth based on the number of cows, sheep, and horses they owned in the past. But in today's world, do people count your cows and horses as a measure of wealth? Let's talk about slaves. Was there ever a period when employees were thought to be a highly desirable commodity? Do slaves have any value in today's society? Will the dollar money that you have stashed away in the bank be able to shield you in the event that the nation experiences a recession? No, the dollar note is not a suitable unit of measurement for wealth.
According to some, it is a sort of power.
Money can, in fact, offer you power; nevertheless, if you were to be stranded on a desert island for the rest of your life with a trillion dollars, would that money mean practically nothing to you? As a result, money is not an exact measurement of power; rather, it is greatly dependent on how and wisely you utilize it (hint!). If someone offered you water and a helicopter to fly out of there, you would trade all of your money in a single second.
A great number of people hold the opinion that it is the origin of all evil, and a number of other people accept this belief without much questioning.
It is not true that money is the source of all evil; if this were the case, then why do you think churches continue to accept monetary donations and charitable contributions? There is no evil in the world except for the love of money. It is important to keep in mind that money is a wonderful servant but a dreadful master. Your time and your life are both subject to the influence of money if you are willing to give up your life in exchange for a dollar.
Furthermore, if you do not possess adequate financial intelligence, the absence of financial resources can give rise to a multitude of negative mentalities and behaviors, such as cheating, stealing, criminal activity, breakups, freeloaders, cheapskates, and a number of other undesirable behaviors.
Nevertheless, what exactly is money?
Money is an idea that is supported by self-assurance.
In traditional times, merchants were the ones who naturally produced money as a means of replacing the dubious barter system. However, in modern times, money is literally invented by those who are affluent and fortunate.
When it comes to buying other people's time, entrepreneurs are willing to part with their own bank accounts. The time of other people, such as employees and people who are self-employed, becomes an asset for their employer, and the employers in turn have access to this invaluable resource, which allows them to continue earning more income for themselves.
Another thing to keep in mind is that as long as you are working for money, you will be a slave to it! Eighty to ninety percent of the world's population is currently being detained against their will.
What we fail to recognize is that there is a portion of our soul that cannot be purchased at any price, regardless of how much money we spend. Do you think you would be willing to cut off your little finger if your boss offered you the equivalent of your pay for the next 24 months? To both of us, we are aware that we are worth more than that. We can't help but feel like our eyeballs are going to jump out of our eye sockets when we learn of examples of people selling their body parts for cash in certain countries.
On the other side, there are times when we willingly part with a portion of ourselves in exchange for monetary gain, much like a donkey and a carrot.
Prior to the Change, Awareness
Do not misunderstand me; I am not advocating for working at a job; in fact, I was employed at a job prior to venturing into the world of internet entrepreneurship.
Now, let's face it: our requirements are increasing at a rate that has never been seen before in any time period in human history. Costs go rising, while salaries remain the same. As a result of their decades of hard work, the baby boomer generation is more numerous than ever before, yet they have virtually little pension to show for their efforts.
And there is no way to know how many individuals truly despise the unhealthy and chaotic lifestyle that consists of getting up early, dealing with stress for the majority of the day, being stuck in traffic, spending more money and time traveling, getting very little rest, and repeating the vicious cycle over and over again.
Certainly does not present a flattering picture of one's financial situation and lifestyle, does it?
Recognizing the issue at hand is the initial step in the process of change. If you want to make any changes in your life, you need to realize that awareness before change, often known as ABC for short, is vital. This will allow you to begin taking control of your financial life and subsequently escape the rat race.
For us to be able to know where we are headed, we need to have the awareness to know what condition we are currently in. To begin, I would like to ask you to partake in a brief activity as we are about to close out this chapter:
Time and Money
In general, there are four categories of people who exist in the world:
(1) Who ran out of both time and money.
The majority of workers are included in this category. You are not permitted to go shopping on a Tuesday afternoon or to fire your boss anytime you chose to do so. The majority of workers are unable to even put money away in their pensions to endure for three years!
(2) Who have a lot of money but no time.
Professionals, people who are self-employed, and owners of small businesses are all included in this category. Although they have a little better financial situation than the employee due to the fact that they make more, they have to work even harder than employees in order to keep up with the decreasing profit margins, the competition, and the process of providing service to their clients.
(3) Who Have time but not have money.
There are a lot of people that have a lot of time but no money, such as farmers, villagers, college dropouts, or bums. It's possible that ignorance is bliss, but if you don't have a reliable source of income, how long can you expect to survive in the days ahead?
(4) Who have a lot of money and a lot of time.
The proprietors of large businesses, landlords, and investors fall into this category with their businesses. Imagine a situation in which you do not have to work for money but rather have money that works for you by investing it and producing profits so that you may use your money to produce more money.
A Quick Test:
1. Which of the four categories do you now consider yourself to be in?
2. Which of the four categories would you like to be in the future?