Invest in yourself in the deepest sense of investment. Of course, save what you can. Of course, buy smart. But above all, micro-manage! Indeed, there are times when living as if you have all existing resources at your disposal without paying for them in some way is foolish.
“Make money to pay for it, but pay yourself first” isn’t just a rusty, stupid homily-filled idiom. It’s a George Samuel Clason-type truth that says it all. As market entrepreneur James Jerome Hill said, “If you don’t have the habit of saving, how can you ever earn or manage wealth?”
My answer: You can’t. Impressing others without looking at yourself first is the ultimate silly behavior and reality. Indeed, the real garden path impresses everyone and really has nothing to survive and thrive on yourself. Being responsible to yourself includes a rational selfishness that helps you survive in reality, not the fantasy of “needing” to impress others or make others believe you are successful. Persistent disciplined and measured saving actually leads to the truest of riches, not just gaining instant abundance from the lottery without understanding and depending entirely on luck and “providence”.
As Robert Kiyosaki said of his rich dad and poor dad: All the titles and stuff in the world are just fooling you. Common sense wealth earned is the best way to go. Making impressions is weakness, but genuinely being what you impress from the heart, constantly and genuinely improving, is strength. Indeed, experience and understanding are worth more than titles.
There was this story about the Ivy League doctorate cheating of epidemic proportions in the United States of America on the “60 Minutes” news program on television, which means college kids in our country use knowledge from other countries to cheat, maintain appearances of knowledge and competitive position. I mention this because it illustrates a point I make about a real investment in the reality of life: even if you get away with cheating, the mirror doesn’t lie almost like Oscar Wilde and his image of Dorian Gray getting uglier as the crimes and lies are committed. by the character of Dorian Gray. Reality is always there, even if we avoid it outwardly. The fantasy is really to get away with cheating. Honesty and real work (didn’t say “hard” or “easy”) is the way to go with any investment. Otherwise, what’s the point? The counterpoint is in the mirror in which you look at yourself.
Comments are closed.