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What's The Difference Between Money And Everything Else?
What is financial security? What does it take to feel comfortable with your bank balance? Is it a certain amount or is it a mindset. This article helps demystify money by comparing it with a log of wood or pork bellies. If we compared money with these, how would we feel about it?
Copyright (c) 2007 WealthBeing
When we first developed our wealth education business, we were surprised that our clientele included many high net worth individuals. Despite having significant bank balances, these people had real issues around money which were similar to those with significantly less money.
We would often hear phrases like:
-“I don’t want to do this work, but I need the money.”
-“With the economy the way it is, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to retire.”
-“I have to worry - otherwise I might lose it all!”
-“I’m not sure what’s happening to the housing market, better keep working”
For these people, having a high-income or a huge bank balance had little or no impact on feeling secure about money. To understand what lead to financial security, imagine this scenario:
The night is chilly. Your partner asks you to put some more wood on the fire, but when you look in the woodpile it’s almost empty. What do you do next?
If you’re like most people, you drag yourself outside to chop some more wood or drive to the nearest petrol station to buy some more. In fact, you get extra so the next time you want to build a fire you don’t have to go back out unless you want to.
Now, imagine this scenario:
You live wherever it is that you live. Your partner asks you if there’s enough money to go on vacation this year, but when you look in the bank account it’s almost empty. What do you do next?
Well, if you’re like most people, you panic. You either make up excuses as to why you can’t go on vacation or lay down the law about why vacations are overrated and a waste of money. Secretly, you feel like a failure and resent your partner for bringing it up at all in the first place (even though you desperately need a holiday as well). Perhaps you vow to yourself to work harder, or find a better paying job or less demanding partner.
What’s the difference between the two scenarios?
In the first, you recognize that wood is just a commodity - something you need from time to time for a specific purpose and is easy enough to get more of with a little bit of effort.
In the second, you are acting as if money is in some way magical - something you always need more of and would make your problems magically disappear if only you could somehow get enough of it.
What if you looked at money as a commodity also - something you need for a specific purpose or to meet a particular need, and something that is easy enough to get more of with a little effort?
If money was just a commodity, you wouldn’t panic when you were running low - you’d simply go out and get more of it whenever you had something you wanted to buy. You might even get plenty of extra so the next time you want to buy something or go somewhere you don’t have to go back out unless you want to.
And here we can discover the secret of financial security:
- Financial security does not come from the amount of money you currently have - it comes from your belief in your ability to get more of it whenever you want
The fact is, money and wood (and metal and pork bellies) ARE just commodities. The difference is that you buy wood with money and you ‘buy’ or earn money with service.
So putting it all together, we have the secret to a lifetime of financial security:
- Master the art of serving others and you will secure your financial future