STAN J TONOSKI,
Entrepreneurial Coach
Making Business Better
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Money, Money, Money! It is always about the money, or the lack of it! Money is one of the most emotionally charged issues in our lives. Did you grow up in a household where it was taboo to talk about money? Did your parents only talk about money in private or did they argue about money all the time? Many of our parents and our teachers did not understand money and in fact still do not understand money. Because of that we were not told the truth about money. Some of you may be thinking that money is bad or evil. If I have too much money then someone else may not have enough. After all money is the root of all….No it is not. The actual message from the Bible is that the love of money is the root of all evil. You may also think that money doesn’t buy happiness. That is right. It is not meant to buy happiness, however it does keep you from being broke. Maybe you constantly heard there is never enough or the rich got rich by cheating others. “Money doesn’t grow on trees.” “You have to work hard to earn money” or “What do you think I am made of… Money?” What did you tell your kids about money? The negatives beliefs about money are all untrue, yet those beliefs run our personal lives and effect how we run our businesses and our countries. Is money your Master or your Servant? In a cartoon called “Pardon My Planet” by Vic Lee there is a woman standing looking at a door mat. On the other side of the doormat is the Devil. The doormat reads MasterCard Visa. The devil is saying to the woman “Don’t look so surprised. They’ve been the welcome mats to hell for decades” For so many people that is truly their relationship with money. They say there are three things you should not discuss if you want to avoid conflict. Religion, Sex & Money. Mankind invented money, yet unbelievably it is a social taboo to talk about it publicly. We do not talk to anyone other than our accountant, banker and hopefully our financial planner. Well, I think it is time for all of us to come out of the closet and talk about money. Many of us fear the lack of money, and do not understand how it works or how to use it. It is for these same reasons that our employers do not want us sharing with each other what we are paid. So where did money come from? Let’s turn to some snippets from “A History of Money From Ancient Times To Present Day” by Glyn Davies. The earliest form of money was likely cattle. This occurred somewhere between 9000 to 6000 B.C. This form of currency was still in use in Africa in the middle of the 20th century. It is estimate that writing developed around 3100 B.C. in Mesopotamia. Between 3000 – 2000 B.C., banking developed in Babylonia. The first deposits were grain. Later other merchandise and livestock was accepted, along with precious metals. Money came in many forms over the centuries and across cultures. There were shells, whales teeth, horses, sheep, lambskins, manilas, miniature tools, large stone wheels, elongated nails, cowries, white deerskin, tobacco wampum and crude coins. The Incas managed without any form of money, however the tight structure of their society allowed them to build using the power of slaves. The development of paper money likely occurred in China around 806 to 821 A.D. Well then, what is money? Money is only an idea, a concept that we hold in the mind. What we call money is only paper and ink. Only because you and I agree, certain pieces of paper represents money.. It is the method of barter and exchange that most of the world’s population has accepted. Money is only a system of debits and credits that we use to keep track in order to simplify the exchange of goods and services. Now we find computers worldwide, exchanging millions of dollars every second of every day, Stop for a second and think about it. There are millions of electrons flying around the earth every second transferring money in and out of accounts…. And none of it exists in any material form. It is simply electronic coding. So what is the purpose of money? Money only has two purposes. The first is to make you more comfortable and the second is to extend yourself in service to humanity. I stated above that money is not meant to buy happiness. What money does to people is make them more of what they already are. When a misery person becomes richer they become more miserly. A kind generous giving person becomes more giving. Those who believe they have to do without so those less fortunate can have some are actually doing a dis-service to the underprivileged and poor. Money is the most versatile tool in that it can be used in so many ways to make a difference to improve the lives of those less fortunate. Organizations like Habitat For Humanity, and the Gates Foundation use both money and labor to make a difference. What does it mean to be wealthy? Being wealthy means that your passive income equals your monthly expenses. Passive income is income you earn from not doing a job. It comes in the form of investments, bonds, stocks, real estate, inventions, books, patents, royalties, etc. It is anything, which regularly pays you money for which you have to put little or no effort into ongoingly, once the initial steps have been put into place. Is there a shortage of money? Many would still think so. However, it is simply not so. Buckminster Fuller, the inventor of the geodesic dome calculated during his time, that there was ten million dollars in circulation for every man woman and child on the world. Today that has been recalculated at twelve million dollars. Now…..that is a lot of money, and the amount grows every day. So how much money is there in the world? Actually there is an unlimited supply. Why do we not have enough money? It is in part due to our mindsets about money. Many are enslaved by their belief there is a lack of money. They do not realize that money is the servant and we are the master. Not that many years ago I was focused on debt. I was making a good salary yet all I saw was the debt I was carrying. It seemed every time I turned around another bill would, arrive, my car would break down, my house needed repair. Have you ever notice that you always get what you focus on. All I did was change my focus from debt to abundance…… and the unexpected bills and repairs stopped. I still owed debt, however abundance started to flow to me. I started getting money from unexpected sources. A lack of money is never the problem – it is a symptom of what is going on underneath. The first element of all change in our lives is awareness. It is our lack of understanding and our attitude that keep us in our current money position. The rich have the belief that money is good and that I create my life. The poor believe life happens to me. They believe they are victims and blame, justify and complain. In life whatever you focus on expands. There is no such thing as a rich victim. The rich play life to win. The poor play not to lose. The rich admire and model those in the past and the present who are successful. The poor resent them. Is it better to live in poverty or to live in wealth? You may not like what I have just said. The truth shall set you free, but first it will piss you off. What do I need to do to change things? The first thing is to start using your money as the servant. Begin by actively managing your money. It does not matter whether you are looking at money in your own life or are running a business. The principles are the same. Make a budget so you can plan where your money goes. Making a budget gets you to look at where your money actually needs to be spent to provide the basics to run your life and your household. This way you get to see how much money you have left over for the other things in life. The experts say you should always pay yourself first by allocating 10% of your income to investments. They also say you should give away 10% by tithing to a deserving charity. The truly rich have always maintained that the more they give away the more they get back. In addition it is advisable to record your cash flow. Write down all the money that comes in and all the money that goes out and where it goes out, preferably on a daily basis. I require all my small business clients who are having money challenges to maintain a cash flow record. One client who did not have a record of his cash flow was stressed about all the money going out to pay bills and not enough money coming in. He did not see how the business was going to last and was ready to throw in the towel every time we talked. When he did implement cash flow recording on a daily basis he quickly found the business was paying him well. The problem was he was using the cash to pay for old bills that were not related to the business. The benefit of the individual doing a cash flow is that you get you to see where you are buying the niceties or the frivolous things in life. How do you become wealthy? Becoming wealthy is easy. It is the discipline to do what it takes that requires focused effort. If you are in really poor position do not stew in it alone. Get help from money counselors and follow a plan to get out of debt while acting in a way the will lead you to become wealthy. Study money and the people who know how to become wealthy. Learn what an asset is and what a liability is from the prospective of the wealthy. Most people believe their home is an asset and will help them when they retire. This is a falsehood. Your home is a liability. Implement and keep to a plan. Work with financial advisors who are successful so they can help you become successful. Actively research and participate in the decisions that will affect you investments. Learn about risk and how to take risk. Study the effects of compound interest and get tax planning advice from a trusted accountant to maximize your returns. Always remember your banker is not your friend. George Bernard Shaw said “It is the duty of every person to be rich. It is a sin to be poor.” You must learn to understand money, to be comfortable with money. People who are poor, have a poverty consciousness. They see only lack, limitation and hard times. They see only the physical results. We must develop a wealth consciousness. Wealthy people see abundance in everything. They know this is a universe of abundance and that it is available to us for the asking. They understand the spiritual side of money. Mike Todd said being broke is a temporary situation, being poor is a mental condition. I invite you to do what it takes to become rich, to be more comfortable in your life and make a bigger difference in the world through helping others with your money. Learn to use money as the tool and servant it really is! May your life be prosperous in every way. Best regards, Stan J. Tonoski Money frees you from doing things you dislike. Since I dislike doing nearly everything, money is handy. Groucho Marx "Money is a representation of how much fun you are having!" Laura North
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