Financial expert Mduduzi Luthuli in a private finance based interview explains the importance of making smart emotion driven decisions about money.
He says,
”I’m a big advocate of value-driven wealth creation. In simple terms, this means recognising that we have limited time and resources. We’re all mortal, and one day we will die. So, we have to make the most of the time and resources we do have.
We have to face facts: most of us can’t rely on a single salary and don’t have enough cash to fund our goals and dreams. As a result, we have to focus. If we focus our time and energy on our resources, we can dramatically increase the probability of creating wealth by following these guidelines:
What is your purpose, and what gives your life meaning?
Many of us do this because introspection is tough. One of the hardest things you’ll ever have to do as a human being is figuring out who you are. Those who define their worth purely in monetary terms struggle to see money for what it is, a tool instead of a goal.
Even after consistently levelling up in their lives and careers, most people still feel unsatisfied or uninspired. This is because they haven’t quantified what is enough. So, they keep lurching from one level to the other, looking for fulfillment to smack them in the face.
Don’t let money define you
But if we are to make a subtle change in how we think about money, from ‘needing more’ to ‘using better’, only then can we appreciate money as a tool. And tools are meant to be used, not hoarded.
When you make money a tool or object, you depersonalise it and make less emotional decisions about using it. Money ceases to define your worth. How much we have and how we use it no longer needs to evoke feelings of guilt, fear, greed, or happiness.
Define yourself first
Define yourself and what money means to you. Introspection is hard, but the benefit of setting values and defining your world is incredible. Don’t allow money and material objects to define who you are. If you define yourself through money, you’re not likely to learn to use money for its true purpose.
This shift in thinking can change our feelings about money and how we use it because we no longer need to think about good and bad, positive or negative. This kind of thinking focuses us instead on the outcome of our actions.
Money is a tool that we can use to help achieve what we want, and our finances will bring more fulfillment and satisfaction to our lives.
