Steve has always wanted to have lots of money. From the time he started working he yearned for it. It started out with wanting to move to a nicer house, drive a car, live a better life, experience even more entertainment. In order to achieve this making more money was the answer and the good thing is that he was great at his job. He got several promotions which came with several pay rises. But somehow it was never enough. The increase would come, he would be comfortable for about two months and before you knew it he would start seeing how much more there was to have. Time went by and Steve got married and was blessed with two children. Before he knew it his ‘wants’ became even more.
Steve wanted his children to go to certain schools, he wanted to buy a great house, go on nice holidays, please the relatives and the list goes on. At some point, he decided that earning money via a salary was not going to ever satisfy him. He would listen to stories about people in business (what I like to refer to as myths) and how much money they made, he then decided that this was the life for him.
He got partners who were able to put some capital in the business and took the leap, his biggest motivation being that he wanted to earn more money. The business did just OK for about two years then it got a really good contract from a multinational company and this is when the big bucks started rolling in. Steve was earning more than ever and he did buy all those things he had wanted to have. However, he still found that this was not enough. The long-term fulfilment and satisfaction was still elusive. Instead he found himself with a lot of fear of not being able to achieve more as well as trying to hang on to what he had. Because of several bad decisions in the business which he now admits that he was driven by greed, it is no longer operational. Steve is now looking for other opportunities and is open to exploring both employment and business.
I had this conversation with Steve after he had taken time to digest what had happened in his life and he could now see things very differently and retrospectively. This is the never-ending cycle that many people are chasing with money in the hopes that at some point they will feel enough, successful, confident etc. Like Steve, we cheat ourselves that more money or the next item will make us feel whole. Even if you buy the planet’s best car today, the manufacturers do not stop working. In three months another model will be out and your car will no longer represent the best. Money cannot be your identity. If you get a million, you’ll want two then five then a hundred and there is always a bigger number. It is OK to want more and strive for it but understand what brings true fulfilment.
Steve reckons his business lost sight of providing true value to clients and they even ignored other opportunities as they were just looking at who could pay what. He has now understood that earning well is great but he wants to work for more than just a paycheck. He wants a great family life more than he wants to have an expensive vacation. He admits dropping the ball on this in search of money. He wants a nice car and a nice house but it also does not define him. This also became easier once he stopped trying to impress other people. More money without the right foundation will breed insecurity, not confidence. He has also learnt that when you get money the wrong way, you will lose it at some point. From the get-go, his partnership arrangement was not ideal but he wasn’t willing to look past the capital. The business was really bound to collapse.
From our conversation, Steve is actually grateful for this experience. Had the business continued growing with this dysfunctional relationship with money, he would have been far worse off. He probably may have never recovered. We can all use this lesson from Steve no matter where we are. Maybe if we look back into our lives we might just discover that we also have experienced something similar that could teach us something.
Is there really an amount of money that will ever be enough or should you sit back and begin figuring out what you truly value? What truly brings you fulfilment? Money is good to have but you cannot buy true satisfaction, confidence or sense of achievement with it. What really makes your life enough? Think about it.
I run programs on Personal Finance & Entrepreneurship with registration currently open and ongoing through our website centonomy.com For more information get in touch with me on waceken@centonomy.com|Facebook/WacekeNduati| Twitter@cekenduati