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Money: What Does It Mean To You?
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“Money is a guarantee that we may have what we want in the future. Though we need nothing at the moment it insures the possibility of satisfying a new desire when it arises.” - Aristotle
How much money do you think you need to consider yourself successful? How many people ask themselves that question at any point in their lives?
It is said that money cannot buy happiness, but it can certainly make someone’s life a lot easier especially when the bills are due at the end of the month and your bank balance is heaving under the weight of those bills!
Aristotle was probably right when he said we don’t need the money instantly, but the possibility of having it, and having lots of it, is what drives people to play that elusive thing called the lottery.
Money is a necessary commodity. However, in the search for it, people have allowed their social circumstances and wants to overtake their moral compass. We live in a society that judges success by the house you own, the car you drive and how much money you appear to have.
Your social status is determined by how many material goods you have acquired, the bling lifestyle.
“Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver.” - Ayn Rand, RussianAmerican, Novelist-Philosopher.
People believe that if they have money, their lives will be different. It’s the possibility of what could be that makes people view money in the light they do. For most, it offers the opportunity to escape the 9-5 life, be more entrepreneurial, to live the dream!
Research has shown that those, who are considered rich, made their money from being able to offer value to people. The more valuable the product, service and convenience to the masses, the richer you become, until another person comes along who offers an additional alternative value.
Amazon, for example, offers people what they need delivered to them at their convenience. Similarly, Uber and Airbnb became market disruptors because they recognised a need and set out to plug that gap offering convenient real-time service at a reasonable cost.
“It’s good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it’s good, too, to check up once in a while and make sure that you haven’t lost the things that money can’t buy.”- George Lorimer, American journalist, author and publisher.
Some very rich people in this and the last century have committed suicide despite their immense wealth. This highlights that having all the money in the world does not guarantee happiness and satisfaction. Money is only good according to what you do with it.
A series of studies have been carried out where people were given a certain amount of money: one group was asked to spend it on themselves; the others were told to spend it on someone in need.
“Your social status is determined by how many material goods you have acquired, the bling lifestyle.”
The results of the studies revealed that those who spent the money on themselves experienced short-term satisfaction but those who spent on others who were in need, found that their happiness level increased.
Money is an amplifier, a catalyst; it can either bring out the best in you or the worse. The key is that you should manage your money, and not allow money to manage you.
I like to look as money as an enabler, meaning that making and having it should not be the definitive...
... Being able to use money as a resource to help yourself and others, and by making a difference (no matter how small) in the lives of others and the world, will leave a lasting impression that no-one can take away - a legacy!
Article by Serena Fordham, Founder and MD of HER Business Revolution, Glow Virtual Assistants and Mums Empowerment Movement CIC.
www.herbusinessrevolution.biz www.glowva.co.uk www.mumsempowermentmovement.co.uk
