Just last week, I read intriguing stories that have since refused to vacate my memory. Stories of poor millionaires; of poor people who received windfalls in monetary measures and in no time, were back to poverty again – abject poverty. Most captivating was that of a 70 year old who squandered 7 million in record three months! During his hay days, he parted ways with his wife and children because they were no longer of his ‘class’. He even bought a car (before he could learn how to drive) which lasted a couple of months with a few accidents here and there. Today, the poor fellow hops from relative to relative begging for shelter and food. He is still awake with hope that another windfall will come his way. Such stories are many and they bring seismic thoughts on the subject of poverty.
Interesting about life is the fact that most people equate poverty to lack of money. This pushes them to seek for ways to get money quickly just to afford an escape from the scourge of poverty. Everyone is trying their hand in betting and pyramid schemes in search of a windfall that could possibly help them change the tag on their desk from ‘POOR’ to ‘RICH’. Poverty, is bad, real bad and that cannot be in contest. Given chance, we all would take the shortest escape route out of poverty. But then, if money is the escape route out of poverty, how come most instant millionaires do not last? You probably have read of wealthy people who started off with less than what you earn every month, yet you still cannot reconcile while you are now worlds apart; you cannot figure out why you haven’t done much with all that you have earned.
Poor or rich is a mindset. Everyone has the ability to become either of the two based on their mindsets. Availability or otherwise of money is just a symptom of one being rich or poor respectively. This implies therefore, that most people struggle to treat the symptom instead of the ‘disease’. If the root cause of a disease is not addressed, it matters less the number of times one tries to suppress the symptoms; the disease will still persist. No matter how many betting jackpots you win, you will bounce back unless you adjust the root, your mind. Normally, your actions and visible status paint your mental pictures; actions are preceded by thoughts. What we see in you is the physical manifestation of your mind, the overflow of your thoughts. Even the Good book confirms that ‘as a man thinketh so he is.’
You are deemed to have jumped the gun when you get instant money before the respective mind alignment. Your actions in such a case, will ride on the existing mind, the poverty mind. This explains why people go on rampage buying everything they have been missing in life, hiding behind the guise of ‘You-Only-Live-Once’ and ‘Life Is Too Short’ only for the money to get depleted before they completely ‘compensate’ themselves for having been poor for long. Then, they come to terms with the fact that life is longer than they thought!
Usually, the rich and the poor diverge at the point of choices. Whereas the rich choose to defer the urge for instant gratification, the poor choose to succumb to it. Whereas the rich choose to take personal responsibility for their actions, the poor choose to resign to state and society responsibility. They keep blaming the state and society for their poverty. When they get money, poor people make bad financial choices and before long, they are back at it again. All these choices and others can be changed; they are all one positive thought away. Most poor people do not want to change these choices because they are comfortable with the status quo and unprepared to disrupt it.
Could be that you once thought that getting a promotion would solve your financial puzzle, only for the puzzle to get more complex. Could be you are wondering why some rich people get poor (in your perception) yet bounce back to being rich again. Could be you have resigned to the fallacy of richness being hereditary. Could be you believe that you are a victim of poverty and have gone ahead to blame your parents for setting a weak financial foundation for the family. Could be you have blamed your spouse for your poverty and you even concluded that he/she brought a curse to your life. You could still be having these feelings and experiences today.
Where is your part in all these? You have a responsibility to create good mental pictures whose physical manifestation will please you. Start believing in your innate potential of being anything you commit your mind to. Start by becoming rich from within; tune your mind in the growth direction and follow the same with deliberate actions and poverty will be buried in the sea of forgetfulness. Surround yourself with people, books, articles and forums that help you visualize greatness as a possibility and within your reach. Do not be busy seeking for shortcut remedies to symptoms; purpose to address the root cause – the poverty mindset. Begin to unlearn and to denounce the poverty ideologies that have taken you hostage for long and begin to learn, to embrace and to befriend an abundance-inclined mind. Be willing and actually disrupt the comfort of your thoughts and align them to face the direction of abundance, because that is where you belong. With your potential, YOU CAN DO BETTER!
Roy Okonji
Motivational Speaker and Author.
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