THREE MONEY LESSONS TO LEARN AND GIVE YOUR CHILDREN

I strongly believe that our parents have given their best in whatever they offer us; although their best is not necessarily good, everything can be improved upon anyway. Further is that a startling statistic says if 100 people are in a room where the money being earned is N1,000,000, 95 of them are all sharing N10,000-N20,000. 4 of them are sharing N100,000. One person is earning N880,000. Must be amusing to you, too. Right? That is exactly how money goes in the economy. Ever asked yourself why? Because people do not know the secret of earning money. If you go on your street and you ask people one after the other what the secret of earning money enough for financial freedom is, I doubt you are going to find one person out of hundred who really knows. The rest are going to tell you fables and make you even more confused than you set out. Try it and see.

Yet, you want money. Right? At least you have need of money for a number of things. If you have the idea that money is the root of all evil, you may want to reconsider first. Nowhere is it written that money is the root of all evil. The love of money, the idolatry of it or of anything at all, is the root of all evil. To desire money without a purpose. To desire money without the motivation to earn it directly or indirectly by creating value. Those are the root of all evil, the first being lack of courage and the second being greed. But once you get past this and understand that money is the answer of all things, then we can carry on.

If you were a parent, would you teach your children the same financial lessons you were taught as a child? Have you been in a situation where you were told something was true and you believed it all childhood life only to get to teenage or adulthood and find out you have been fooled? How does it seem, like you have been in the wrong all the while? You then evaluate the results you could have had with your life if you had understood the truth since childhood. They are dramatically different: better health, maybe. Maybe smoother relationships, or more peace of mind. Why did I ask that? Look at the money you earn right now. Is it good enough? Consider that an average person on earth can earn more than $300,000/year if performing at their potentials, and everyone can be rich like the old city of Babylon without hampering another’s progress. Now, check that with what you are earning right now. Huge gap? The point is not that you should earn $300,000/year. For some of us, it is $ millions; for some, it is $ ‘00,000. Each person knows what they want as their sense of financial freedom. But if you are not getting those results yet, then the things you taught you knew about money are so false even if they look right to you.

Since the problem usually starts with the kind of exposure we have been given from childhood, the programming in us since being a child (why do you answer ‘I am fine’ to every ‘How are you?’ Programmed to do so since baby), the best way to unlearn and relearn the truth is to start with recoding the programming in us since childhood. These are three successful financial lessons which I am going to teach my children and which you can teach yours, too. But to teach them, you must first begin to practise them yourself.

On the day that each child is conceived in the womb in my family, I shall plant a tree of an amazing fruit. Mango, orange, apple or banana. Two to three years after when each child begins to ask for money and to play with other children engrossedly, I shall expose them to important financial lessons. My teachings will go thus.

‘Child, what do you want to do with the N xx money you asked?

‘Okay, what are you going to give or do to get that money?

‘You must learn to earn money for yourself and for everyone around you. I want to show you three important lessons about money. Okay?

‘How much do you say you want again, N xx? But is that enough for all you want today? After you have eaten the candy, won’t you come to ask for more? Why not calculate all the candies you want to eat and buy for your friends, and know exactly how much is going to be sufficient for you today, then ask? Isn’t that better? Good. Now, you must know how to be specific about the money you want. No money is little or a lot. Money is money. The same N1,000 is earned by some people each second, some each minute, some each hour, some each day and some only in a week. They are all using the same twenty-four hours a day. They are all earning the same ‘a lot’. But someone earning N1,000/second earns more money than someone earning N1,000/week. Right? Now, be specific about the money you need. Decide it and set it as a goal. How much will you spend daily, save to invest daily and gift daily? In 365 days of a year, how much does that make? As you are guessing it, it looks scary and big, right? So, write it down. When you write it down, you ease the tension on your mind. Once you write it down, you’ll see it is not even as scary and fearful as you imagined it. It is possible, definite and simple. But it may still not look totally possible “for you”. So, begin to read it day and night for at least thirty days nonstop. Write it as if that is what you earn now. Because the day you first earn it is not tomorrow. That one day is going to be today or now for you. No one lives in tomorrow. Do you understand the first lesson? Plan for your finances. It usually takes less than two hours out of 24 hours in a day or out of 8,760 hours in a year to plan everything. Isn’t it worth planning with determination and focus rather than work without direction? So, set your goals or financial plan.

‘Now, how are you going to earn the money? Be glad to receive gifts so far you also give gifts even to strangers. Money comes to you in multiple ways. But you don’t want to wait on receiving gifts. It is not even good because if that is where you put your mind, you become a beggar. Is it good to be a beggar? Good, so gladly receive because you give; and to give is to receive. But the money you have set, how will you earn it? Come, let me show you that money is everywhere and you can earn as much as you want. See this mango tree. We planted it the day we first knew your mother carried you in the womb. Now, it is becoming so big, just like you. That’s good. Look at the fruits on it. Do you see people buy them outside? What do they use? What happens when the seller collects the money? Good. So, the mangoes on this tree, are they money or not? Good. Money grows on the tree so far you can creatively make its produce valuable. Now, you can pluck mangoes and sell them to your friends when you play, to their parents when you visit them and to strangers when you meet them. As you earn more money, do more service. Package your mangoes well, label it and play around more things you can even do to improve it towards the money goal you have set. To earn that exact amount of money, you must give something for it. Clear? As you carry on, you can even employ your friends and pay them a part of the profits so that they also are independent and are earning money. Do you get it? Let me show you that you can creatively earn more money from the same source. Look at the tree’s branches here. You can cut these ones that are drying and sell them to people who use the logs. Literally, money grows on trees, is in trees and is trees itself. That is to tell you how abundant money is. So, never believe it with someone who says money is scarce or hoarded. When you want more money, create more service with what you have. Got it? Good.

‘Third, when you earn the money, you go and pay the candy seller for working to bring the candy to you. Right? You also pay the toy seller for bringing toys to your doorstep. Remember that all these things are money. Now, who will pay you who brought the money to your pocket? Well, no one except you. You can pay yourself just as you pay your friends. Right? So, pay yourself first. Pay yourself for your time, ideas and work by setting aside 10% of what you earn and save it to invest wisely. Remember that you want to use money wisely or it will be difficult for you. So, invest the money wisely. Don’t stock it at home; put it into an investment. Treat money as your servant and people as your friends, even your maids. Let money slave for you. But love people. So, put money to work hard for you. Put it where it is most secured as well. When it brings returns, let the returns also work hard for you. As you do that, your money’s worth continues to increase and you are becoming rich.

‘You won’t enter debts and when you apply these lessons, you are going to help others also by creating services to improve their life’s satisfaction, by paying them and creating an income source for them and by teaching them to be financially independent, too. So, let us review the important lessons. First, set your financial goals. Determine how much you want and when you want to get it. Make sure that your goal covers all you truly want, the daily expenses you must make and what you have to save or want to be worth. Second, have the true, positive and abundance consciousness, mindset and attitude towards money. Money is everywhere; believe in its abundance but never join people to nag about its scarcity because it is everywhere. Think of it positively always. Third, pay yourself first from every money that you receive. Either big or small, set aside 10% to be invested and to make work for you. Love people but use money.

‘Now, I am going to pay you your first earning. You are free to ask what you want in payment and we can negotiate. But this is the service I want to buy. I want to get these three financial advice from you in a way that I can understand it. You will explain it to me in the way that you understand it. Explain it well and I am going to pay you for teaching me. Deal?’

This is an extension of the OVERFLOW OF ENGRAFT, which started in October 2020. This extension, 365 Days of ENGRAFT, is one of the personal development release for ENGRAFT SOCIETY, designed to bring every person to the awareness of Success and Happiness in their lives. I invite you to join ENGRAFT SOCIETY today. Get a copy of ENGRAFT for our free invitation to ENGRAFT SOCIETY, become a part of our personal and team development programs and bring yourself to new levels of success beyond your wildest expectations.

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