It is a justifiable assumption to say that everyone wants to be rich. Of course, building wealth must be a goal. Riches are often fleeting and can dwindle suddenly due to unfortunate life situations or events. Wealth though has longevity and can span across generations. The harsh reality is that not that many people become wealthy. The irony is that principles for building wealth sound so simple. Wealth creation can only happen through correctly applying revealed principles and means. In fact, when you want to grow or build anything universally, you must rightly apply revealed principles and means. Let us discuss the principles you must apply to build wealth in 2023.
Why Do You Want To Become Wealthy?
The first thing is objectively checking why you want to become wealthy. From a biblical perspective, we find one noble purpose for wealth creation. It is to leave an inheritance for future generations. Universally, the desire to make wealth should be to make a positive difference in the life of others. This starts with your own family and then extends out. If the reason(s) are malicious, there is a tendency to take shortcuts.
People with such reasons will mostly do unethical things to amass riches. Plus, they will essentially be egotistical and even shun other people. Often time the end results are sad and shameful. Another wrong reason for wanting wealth is comparing oneself to others. Do not compare yourself with others. If you are to consider them, let them be for inspiration only. Not to endeavour to compete or be like them per se.
Increase Your Value
It is remarkable how many people never stop to grasp this. In life, your income mostly comes to you as a function of your value. Look at the companies or businesses with the highest net worth in the world. Consider the complexity of the problems they solve and the scale at which they solve them. That gives you an idea of how the value you carry determines your income.
That value is encapsulated in the kind of problems you solve. That is why you should never stop learning. From time to time, we do some articles on skills you should acquire. For instance, in July last year, 12 top skills with high demand in 2022. You can kindly check it out because they are still relevant today. The bottom line is increasing your value is central to wealth creation.
Spend Less Than You Earn Or Make
It may sound cliché, but it is fundamental to wealth creation. Recently did an article on simple daily changes you must make to save more in 2023. Part of that discussion was centred on spending less than you earn. The challenge is many spend more than they earn. Some spend as much as they earn. If you are not spending less than you earn, wealth creation becomes elusive. Part of the wealth creation journey is making investments. How can you make investments if you do not have money saved up? Wealth creation also entails having an emergency fund. How can you have one when you do not put money aside?
All of that cannot be possible if you are not spending less than you earn. Whenever you receive money, make sure you spend less than what you have. Always remember to spend after saving – a fundamental principle! Yesterday I saw some people shunning saving somewhere on Facebook. I see many people shunning saving, saying it is a scam. Without saving, you cannot talk of any financial freedom or wealth-building journey. It is practically impossible unless your journey is fuelled by corruption, theft or incredible good fortune.
Make Your Money Work For You
Never consider this statement as merely philosophical. It is a powerful statement that speaks of an important principle. The vast majority of people work for money. They are actually enslaved by money. Yet, in its most authentic essence, money is supposed to be your servant. Money is like servants or soldiers you should send to work for you. Some of the work your money must do for you must be to bring in more money. The other day someone on Twitter said something interesting.
They said, ‘it is easier for a business to take US$1 million to US$10 million than it is to take it from US$0 to US$1 million’. That is true. My response to that was that ‘money begets more money’. In building wealth, learn to make money work for you, not the other way around. One core aspect is paying professionals to do things for you. You produce better results and have more time for other things. No wonder we always emphasise outsourcing where possible. Make use of other people’s skills – that is leverage.
Allow Investments Time To Grow
We have already established that investments are integral to building wealth. Many people do understand this, but they make one huge mistake. They want quick returns, or they cash out prematurely. Sometimes, that is why some people think investing is not worth it. It is because they do not allow investment time to grow. You must understand the power of compounding. To compound is to increase in value with interest. The more time allowed, the more value and interest appreciated.
In everything, never take shortcuts to achieve your financial goals. Wealth creation takes time; do not cut corners. Intensify your wealth creation journey in 2023. Pause for a moment and be objective about why you want to become wealthy. Increase your value by constantly imbibing new knowledge and acquiring new skills. Become highly committed to spending less than you earn or make, no matter the circumstances. Money is akin to servants or a troop of soldiers meant to work for you; make it work for you. Prioritize making investments but, most importantly, allow those investments time to grow. Let us build wealth objectively!
