Discover a RicherMe
Executive Summary
Everybody has a purpose! Not just academics or the financial elite but you have a purpose too. Living your purpose in your circumstances can make a difference to you and those around you. I hear you asking: “how?” This short story will illustrate it:
“It was an unbearable steamy August afternoon in New York City, the kind of sweaty day that makes people sullen with discomfort. I was heading back to a hotel, and as I stepped onto a bus up Madison Avenue I was startled by the driver, a middle-aged black man with an enthusiastic smile, who welcomed me with a friendly, “Hi! How you doing!” as I got on, a greeting he proffered to everyone else who entered as the bus wormed through the thick midtown traffic. Each passenger was as startled as I, and, locked into the morose mood of the day, few returned his greeting. But as the bus crawled uptown through the gridlock, a slow, rather magical transformation occurred. The driver gave a running monologue for our benefit, a lively commentary on the passing scene around us: there was a terrific sale at that store, a wonderful exhibit at this museum, did you hear about the new movie that just opened at that cinema down the block? His delight in the rich possibilities the city offered was infectious. By the time people got off the bus, each in turn had shaken off the sullen shell they had entered with, and when the driver shouted out a “So long, have a great day!” each gave a smiling response.” (taken from “Emotional Intelligence” by Daniel Goleman).
You can easily imagine the ripple effect this must have had on others meeting those changed by the bus driver. So, what does this have to do with money? Well, you need more money to get richer, and for getting richer you do not necessarily need more money. Please think about this for a moment. When last did you feel the richness of life that made you feel truly alive and grateful? In many cases, this was not caused by a sudden windfall. The beginning of your journey to richness starts with the recognition what “being rich” means to YOU. It starts with the purpose or dream you have had at some stage in your life. You might still feel it strongly and aim at achieving it. Or your dreams were burried underneath what life has thrown at you but you still have that quiet longing to see it fulfilled. If you had more money, what would you do? Would accumulating things fill the void of this unfulfilled dream? Would achieving your goal make up for sacrificed luxuries? The point is that nobody can prescibe to you what rich means – nor will we. However, we realised that most goals or dreams have financial implications, and very often our spending habits do not reflect our priorites and values. Many of us tend to be driven by internal and external forces that seem to be beyond our control, or we simply lack money management skills.
Discover a RicherMeTM gives you the opportunity to explore and align your approach to money with your values and goals and apply time-tested principles of managing money to achieve financial freedom.
It explains how much impact money has on the formation and stability of your identity, how parental approach to money, peers, and the environment impact your thinking and thus drive your financial decisions. As a result, you will be able to claim back control and climb into the driving seat of your financial affairs. Further, Discover a RicherMe will help you to define and plan for your destination, motivate yourself, make good decisions, take calculated risks and persistently focus on the achievement. This book puts you into the position to coach yourself.
Finally, Discover a RicherMe describes simple, powerful and time-tested principles of how money works and how you can grow your money. Every principle is illustrated. You will also find real-life examples.
Since the research for this book draws on a wide range of views about money, it is neither an intellectual book nor does it want to be prescriptive. Rather, its simple aim is to put you in control of your destiny which is influenced by your financial decisions to a large extend. Just as circumstances change, we can change circumstances as well. It is your decision how your hard-earned money is spent. Surely, we want you to have more money but also more of what is important to you, since this will make you feel richer.
Dare to be a butterfly not a caterpillar!