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"I love money. And I have a great deal of respect for it. Personally, I do not believe people that do not want to be wealthy, own a house or an expensive car." Why is it that some people have money and others don't? Do you know people who have worked hard all their lives but have little to show for it? I have observed in my own and in the lives of friends and family how easy it is to live within the familiar limits of poverty - complaining about work and (the lack of) money and yet doing nothing about it. The sayings, 'chikulu bwacha' and "God willing," speak for themselves.
When I shared with my best friend some of the ideas I had for this column, she laughed in my face and said I had become too Americanized. In Zambia, she reminded me; people do not and cannot save. They do not trade on the Lusaka Stock Exchange, get credit card debt, or have retirement plans. Immediately, an axiom came to mind - if you want to get to a different place in your life, you will not get there by continuing with doing the things you are doing. Over the past year, I made some changes in my life. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired: working so hard and getting nowhere, being broke by the 10th of the month and simply not having enough. My bank statement was a joke despite yearly resolutions to do better. One day, I heard these words: "you do not have to work yourself to the bone to make money; just learn to think." I quit my job, bundled myself and my three year old off to a new country, enrolled into college and started playing with buying and selling stocks. Not all of us need to be as extreme as I was and skip the continent, but it was important for me to be (very far) out of reach of the negative attitudes that consistently put me down. I was said to be a dreamer, materialistic and a lover of money and wealth. Actually, this was true. I love money. And I have a great deal of respect for it. Personally, I do not believe people that do not want to be wealthy, own a house or an expensive car. I said to myself that things were going to be different. I believed it, I was ready to live it and make it happen. I was going to change the course of my life, surround myself with people that would help me grow; and I was going to be as persistent as a weed. As unbelievable as it seems, it takes courage to be rich; to stretch your limits, express your power and fulfill your potential. Most importantly, it takes courage to move out of your comfort zone and venture into the unknown. This kind of courage is not about just getting by or simply accepting the cards that have been dealt to you. Instead, it's about excelling beyond your seemingly endless limitations. It goes beyond uku shipikisha. In order to become rich, you must believe that you can do it and you must take the necessary actions to achieve your goal. YOU HAVE TO WANT MONEY REALLY, REALLY BAD. There is nothing wrong with wanting more! Do not deny the possibility that you can have more. If you do, you'll be making yourself a victim of today's circumstances, and the cost will be your tomorrow. 10 of My Favourite Quotes on Preparing For Success - "Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other." (Abraham Lincoln, 1809-65)
- "If at first you don't succeed, assassinate everyone who knows you failed." (Anonymous)
- "Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared." (Eddie Rickenbacker)
- "Inside of a ring or out, ain't nothing wrong with going down. It's staying down that's wrong." (Muhammad Ali)
- "If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much room." (Jayne Howard)
- "Our greatest battles are those with our own minds." (Jameson Frank)
- "The first and most important step toward...success is the feeling that we can succeed." (Nelson Boswell)
- "You see things; and you say 'Why?'; But I dream things that never were; and I say 'Why not?'" (George Bernard Shaw)
- "Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way." (Abraham Lincoln)
- "A man who works with his hands is a laborer; a man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman; but a man who works with his hands and his brain and his heart is an artist." (Louis Nizer)
Continued in the next issue. Caroline Chinungo is a business student in New Jersey, NY USA, where she also runs a succesful business start-up. Caroline has written articles on a numerous number of topics previously for both both Brokenhill - The Ezine and Trendsetters.
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