I have heard dozens of definitions of money. “It is a tool for freedom.” “It is the source of happiness.” “It is the root of all evil.” All those definitions are wrong. Money is neither good nor bad. Ultimately, it doesn’t offer freedom or manifest evil. Money amplifies your character. It is that simple.
It allows you to repeat your ingrained habits easily. And unless you have developed a strong, humble character coupled with good habits, more and more money will become more and more of a problem.
For example, if you have a drug addiction (a bad habit) and you get tons of money you are likely to do more drugs. Money amplifies the bad habit. It amplifies the character.
What about Mother Teresa? What happened when she got tons of money? She used it to serve more orphanages. She used it to do more of her good habits. Here too, money amplifies character.
My advice: Be very aware of your existing habits. Know who you are and know your character intimately. Master yourself. Build a foundation of great habits. Then when the money comes, good things will happen.
Money amplifies your character. It has no judgement. It just enables you to be more of you.
This is very true. When you look at how a person spends money, you begin to understand their values. This can be a good indication of whether you want to do business with them or associate with them, whether you have similar values and priorities.
Unfortunately, when i made a lot of money the first go around I was not ready for it. I would have never believed it before hand, but it was true. I believed I was better than others and that my financial success was the proof of it. I had to lose it all to really understand how dumb I was. Perhaps money is not only an amplifier of our character but also can provide us great lessons about self discovery.
As the saying goes, a learning experience is what you get when you don’t get what you wanted.
Well put, Sandra.
Thank you Mike that’s very true.
Thanks Prudence.
absolute fact, money takes on the character of the owner.
So true. So very very true. Character comes first, money second.
Hey, I’m a great fan of your articles. This one too is an extraordinary piece of advice.
Thanks for the nice article.
By the way, it is “Mother Teresa” and not “Theresa”.
Thanks for catching that Kamal!!!!
Thanks Kamal!!!!