Saturday, September 18, 2010

My One Page Manifesto

I often ask myself—why do I work so hard for other people when I can work just for myself. Why can I just build my own business and thrive from my own money? Many people tell me that that’s the right way to get rich.



Some even told me that you need to study how rich people do it. I remember David Bach. He said that the more he studies the lives of the rich and wealthy, the more he gets convinced that many people are actually not rich. And it’s so simple really. Jack Canfield, who teaches the Law of Probabilities say that the more books you read, the higher the chances of you discovering solutions to your personal problems. Fact is, George Clason read so many books and found that money is plentiful for those who understand the simple laws which govern its acquisition.


Felix Dennis said the secret in having lots of money is simply being confident that you’ll get it. You need to be tenacious. You need to be ahead of your game always. You need to condition your mind that you can be successful, you can be rich and you can get whatever you want. It’s all in the mind, says Steve Forbes. It’s the real source of wealth.


And then what?


Ask yourself—what if you do get lots of money and attained tremendous wealth and fame, what then? What’s the next step? For Eli Broad, money is just a means to do well. With money, Clason said, many things are possible. Those who just think that possessing lots of money is enough and nothing more, they belong to the pitiably wretched class, says Andrew Carnegie. And really, says Paul Clitheroe, you are defined with how you spend your money, not how you get it.


A man is defined by how he spends his wealth. If he spends it for the poor, he is actually richer than a billionaire who does nothing of his money but buys stocks or keeps it in a bank. If he spends it and makes lots of people happy, then, he is as rich as the Saudi shah that keeps those oil mines. Is the rich world aware of how four billion of the six billion live? If we were aware, we would want to help out, we'd want to get involved, says Bill Gates.


Fact is, for so many people, getting people happy and allowing people to get rich themselves is the most important compliment. Even Henry Thoreau once said that the richest man is those whose pleasures are the cheapest. When you reach a point when you suddenly ask yourself what the hell am I going to do with all this money, you’ll suddenly tell yourself it’s time to unlearn getting rich and start learning how to give. That’s what Ted Turner learned.


So, I ask myself--why do I work for other people? Simple. I want other people to be happy. I want to have relevance. I want to be of value.


Think about it. If you work for a school, you actually help other people carve a career for themselves and make them rich. If you work in a food company, think of how many people smile whenever they eat those foods. And if you in a bank, think of how many futures you help save.


This, I believe, is the secret to wealth. Wealth is not measured by the amount you spend. It is how you spend them and how you get them, that’s important.

1 comment:

  1. PAT:

    I have been rich.I have been poor.I rather be rich.

    You can't help others when you are also poor.

    EQ

    ReplyDelete

Thank you very much for reading my blog. You inspired me. But if you intend to put your name "anonymous", better not comment at all. Thanks!