When life is going well, it's easy to convince yourself that you have no interest in creating financial wealth. After all, you have a job that provides enough money to cover the bills and still have a little left over to put in savings. What more do you need?
Anyway, maybe you've even been raised to believe that the pursuit of wealth is selfish. Or, if you hang around enough people who believe in God, you've likely heard someone misquote the Bible as saying, "Money is the root of all evil."
Of course, the bible doesn't really say that. It says, "The LOVE of money is the root of all evil." (1 Timothy 6:10). While this article is not intended to be a review of what religion says about making money, I have put a couple of quotes in it for those who follow the Bible or some other religious text. You can find similar quotes in almost any religious text. What this article is intended to do is to dispel these money making myths.
Love of money is evil and it can destroy marriages, ruin families, and make your life miserable. If your life becomes nothing but a focus on getting wealthy to the point you are replacing the love of people with the love of money, then money is evil. People are the ONLY good reason to have money. Not for what possessions you can buy with it.
Money in itself is just a thing, another possession. It's what you do with it, or how you treat it that determines whether it's good or bad. You must learn to be content with whatever amount of money you now have, but that doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't work on building wealth.
In general, money will only make you more of what you already are. It's an amplifier. If you're a giving and caring person, more money will allow you to amplify your giving and caring. If you're currently greedy or selfish, having more money will just make you more greedy and selfish. If you now frivolously spend every dime you make, even if you somehow manage to become wealthy you won't keep your wealth.
If you follow the Bible, Luke 16:10 says it like this: "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much."
That's why it's so important to get your life in order before you become wealthy. You need to work on your financial mental programming before you work on financial gain. Your mind needs to be trained to think like wealthy people think so you'll act like wealthy people act.
You also need to learn how to share what you have with those who are in need. "For if you give, you will get! Your gift will return to you in full and overflowing measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more and running over. Whatever measure you use to give--large or small--will be used to measure what is given back to you." (Luke 6:38) That's the Bible's way of saying that if you use wealth wisely, more wealth will be provided to you. If money were evil, that wouldn't be the case would it?
But even before you work on training your mind for wealth, you have to believe that making large amounts of money can be a good thing or you won't do what's required to make it.
If you are one those who are not convinced that having wealth is a good thing, ask yourself how you would feel if a family member, maybe a parent or your child, became severely ill. Would you want to see them get the best medical care available regardless of the expense? Wouldn't you feel helpless if you didn't have the money to help them get the best medical attention?
Or what if you have aging parents who need financial assistance. So many people these days are retiring without a sufficient nest egg built up and they are forced to live in poverty on a meager income from some government assistance program. Would you want to see your parents live this way?
Or what if you had a friend or family member who was in a financial predicament? Wouldn't you feel good if you could help him or her out? Or have you ever wished you had the financial resources to help out a total stranger you've seen on the news whose house burned down and their kids needed clothes and other essential items?
Or maybe you would like to provide meals for the needy, or help less fortunate kids, or fund the development of an addition to your church.
The charitable uses for money are endless. But only those who have money can use it to benefit others. While the poor can give small amounts to charitable causes, it's wealthy people who have the greatest impact on the world.
But don't forget yourself in this picture. Even if you're happy now, you can't predict what will happen in the future to change that. Your current source of income isn't guaranteed. You could get laid off (it's happened to me several times), or you could be injured and no longer be able to work.
By taking time to focus on making money now, you're essentially taking out an insurance policy in case something happens to you later in life.
Large amounts of money take time to make. It's difficult to build wealth when you really need it. So by choosing to pursue financial wealth now, you're insuring yourself against future unknowns.
While charity or or insurance against unknowns are choices you can use wealth for, you'll also have more choices in every area of your life.
Would you be doing the work you're now doing if you were wealthy? Or would you be doing what you're passionate about. Incidentally, doing what you love to do is one of the best ways to become wealthy in the first place.
But besides picking the career of your choice, you'll be able to provide your children with the best educational opportunities, take your parents on that vacation around the world that you always dreamed of, spend more time with out of town family or friends, seize opportunities that will advance you and your families' lives, and the list goes on and on.
So even though you may be living a comfortable existence now and not feel like you really need to strive to build financial wealth, wouldn't you really rather live the life of your dreams instead? Wouldn't you like to know you have insurance against unknowns? Wouldn't you like to have the financial resources to help other people? Once you learn the right way to use it, money is definitely a good thing.
Tim Bruxvoort is an ecommerce entrepreneur who operates a full-time ecommerce business called http://www.IntercomsOnline.com He also is a partner in a small business marketing consulting business that helps small business owners improve their marketing and their profits. For more information go to http://www.fastbusinessprofits.com
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