What Do You Feel About Money?

Early in life I knew I wanted to own a business. Why? Money was a straight up BIG factor. I knew business and money go hand in hand. Business is about money. If you are not in business to make money you’re not in business — you have a hobby! But it would take me years of being in business before I truly learned that the monetary success of my business would depend upon not just knowing about money but also maturing in my feelings about money.

In years gone by I actually believed that being successful was something that could be measured in cold cash. My greatest lesson learned was that the true worth of a person can never be measured by how much money they have — but rather by how they earned it and what they did with it.

I think one of the most misquoted phrases in the history of the world is … “Money is the root of all evil.” Wrong. What was really said was… “The loveof money is the root of all kinds of evil.” Makes a difference, doesn’t it? Loving money or thinking it is the answer to all problems can lead to some pretty sticky situations. Money cannot solve problems by itself. Money may even increase or create more problems. The problems may be different from those without the money but they will still be problems. I spoke with a woman had lived most of her earlier years on welfare. One day she struck it rich. She won a lottery — three million dollars… $3,000,000 – a lot of money. She went from welfare to wealth overnight. She just knew all her problems were over and she could finally be happy and free from worry. She had the answer for all her problems, right? That is what she thought… until new troubles began.

In less than two years she was worse off than she had been when she was on welfare. Before she had just been broke. Now she was deeply in debt and embittered by false relationships. Without knowing how to properly manage money, she kept buying, and buying and buying. Finally, she sought services of a financial adviser. He hit the lottery with her, helping himself to a serious share of her wealth. So here she was now owing people money – lots of money. Then there were relationship problems. There were many friends who thought she should share her money with them because they had given her food or money back when she was poor. Even when she did give to them… it was never enough. They always wanted more. She was even sued by a close family member alleging she owned them money from years gone by. Even her children were demanding and encountered problems with money as well. The loneliness she felt was painful. She felt she could never trust new people who said they wanted to be her friend because she felt they only wanted her money. Then there was the really big worry… “Where would she be when all her money was gone?” What had happened? In her own words, “… I didn’t have the right attitude about money from the beginning. I was completely unprepared. The worse thing that ever happened to me in life, was having all that money and not knowing how to make it work for me instead of against me.”

After taxes, bills, wasteful spending, false friends, thievery, lawsuits, worry, and a lot of heartache she was actually happy when her money was finally gone. What had gone with the money were problems she never had before. The only thing she felt she had done right was to buy a small catering business that she could at least earn a living by working.

As a child I always thought my family was rich. My father was in the Army. Not a career choice that makes a lot of money. But, my parents managed money, time, and resources so well that we always had plenty and always was ready to reasonably help others in need. My mother, an entrepreneurial housewife, sewed for other people, using left over scrapes to make our clothes. We were always stylishly dressed. She even did furniture upholstery so our furniture was changed so often that people thought we owned a furniture store. Having attending a private school for some time, most of my friends were from wealthy families, in terms of material things… but it was our home where everyone wanted to be. I guess because there were just always such great things going on. My parents were very community-active and worked to help so many other people that when ever we were in need, there was always someone there to help us. We traveled a great deal because of Dad’s career and Mom made certain we enjoyed our travels as much a vacation and saw that we got the best of education along the way learning different cultures. Bottom line is – my parents showed me a life of wealth that was not measured solely in terms of money and things.

As I matured, I finally became aware of the fact that we were by no means rich by world standards and that what we had came from seriously hard work, sacrifice and common sense management. I asked my father how we always had so much with so little money. His answer stays with me today… “Honey, don’t ever think you have to have a million dollars to live like a millionaire.” My father taught me that what we think is a millionaire’s life – a life of ease and comfort and being able to do what we want - when we want is something anyone can plan for and attain. But above all, wealth is not about money – it is about how we live our life. My parent’s attitude has to be one of my favorite money attitudes to this day… how can I help but succeed when I measure my success by values and not by coinage.

It was a great day when I learned in “Money 101″… that money is a by-product of how we have applied our skills, talents, and resources. Money is not the ultimate measuring tool of success for any true entrepreneur. Success is clearly – personal achievement.