This may end up being a brief and short article. Maybe if I had as much money as I would like, it could have been longer!

Money isn’t everything; but its an important part of everything. Life as we now know it has been designed/structured in such a way that without money, you actually can’t do anything. Money in its physical raw form is a symbol of value, of power. Money or the amount it represents is a signature of ability. It doesn’t necessarily define status, but it lends credence to our agility to do things.

Money is a significant part of life and living. How so? Life has been ‘designed’ such that we continuously seek more and better ways to improve ourselves. We seek advanced education, higher degrees, business opportunities, the next best thing. That’s the natural destiny of every upwardly mobile progressive human  being (it seems), and to do these things one needs money.

But we never seem to have enough money. We always want more. Is this natural or greed? (is greed natural?) The Social Scientists say something about our needs overwhelming our resources, and so its only natural that we always seek to get more. So, don’t listen to anyone who says you like money too much. Without money, you actually can’t survive. Even if you choose to live off someone else, there has to be money in the equation somewhere for life to be sustained.

Let me leave preambles and tell you a little about my romance with money.

I used to revel in the fact that I ‘was’ financially agile, until I realized how poor I was, because I had a retrogressive mindset. There was a time I thought I had money, until I came across people that have money ….. Hello Mike. Hello Aliko :)!

If you received a million dollars today, would you know what to do with it? You’d say definitely, yes; but think about it, would you still have that million in a year? Would you have increased it? Would your life be different for having it after a year? That you buy a luxurious car and a mansion doesn’t necessarily translate to a better life, but if you are able to make the million create more, then yes, you are better for it. It’s therefore more important to know how to create money versus waiting for it to come to you. Know how to call money. Know how to appeal to money. Because if you don’t call it, or if you don’t appeal to it, it’ll never come to/add value to you. If you are not able to create value with what you have today, having a million dollars will probably be of no benefit to you.

Money should be treated as you would a friend. I don’t have lots of it, but I desire to be best friends with it, because without it, ….. there really is no ‘without it’.

Never make money your enemy. Matter of fact, be best friends with it. Send it on errands, it’ll come back with more money. Share your ideas with it, it’ll tell you how best to use it. Tell it why you need it to stay with you, it’ll transform itself into a form that no one can take from you. Make yourself appealing (by being able to provide a service and making yourself available to provide it), and just like real life friends, it’ll hola at you. Don’t hold on dearly to it, because just like everyone, it has a life of its own and it don’t want to feel stifled.

There was a time I wasn’t friends with money. I saw her around, knew a lot about her, had ideas of what to do with her, but never got close to her. Then I met her. I had her. I used her, without considering how she desired to be used. She left me, because I didn’t treat her right. I learnt my lessons and re-approached. Now, I intend to make her mine to keep forever.  I’ve learnt that having money is not the only thing that is important, but knowing what to do with it is what is; having a plan for it.

Don’t run after money. Instead, seek to provide value. You’ll be rewarded for it, immensely. But when you provide value, make sure you get paid for it! I don’t lay up treasures for myself on earth, but if you touch my Mercedes, I’ll be angry with you!

I’m not going to try and advise you on what to do with money. Whatever you do with your money is your business, not mine; but it’d be wise if you actually used it for business. Invest in yourself. Invest in your mind. Whatever service you provide, paid employment or entrepreneurship, is ‘your’ business. Grow it. Your mind is the greatest tool you have.

I have made poor investment decisions in times past, committing time and money to them. They say (and it’s true) that wasted time is worse than wasted money,but you shouldn’t ever waste money. You shouldn’t be reckless with it. It’s the fruit of your labour. It should be planted or used to add value, in any way. Don’t hoard money. There is no recognition for being the richest man in the cemetery.

I don’t know about you, but I’m trying to be the richest man in my world. Are you trying to do same in your world? Do you dream about being wealthy and stop at dreaming, or do you wake up and get to ‘doing’? Have you learnt the laws of money? It’ll be a big shame if you don’t give good thought and deliberation to something you love so much (even though a lot of you say you don’t love money).

Think about money. Desire money. Look for her and when you find her, embrace her. Use her. Share her. Without her, life could (or would?) be miserable, so whatever you do, never ever let her go.

NB: The writer does not have a Mercedes.