The Blue Roof

NIKE probably has the strongest slogan available – Just do it! What would happen if we all Just do it!? How many times have I kicked myself because I did not Just do it! How about you?

 This morning I was reminded of something I wrote in Investments and Investing (which you can download for free). In that book I wrote about people investing offshore when the Rand was at its weakest. The Rand has been very strong for some time now, and I was sort of planning to invest some money offshore. But never got a round to it. Now the Rand is weakening and when I heard the exchange rate this morning, I thought about the profit I could have made, if I Just do (did) it!

 When I lived in Worcester about 15 years ago, somebody developed a piece of land and was selling plots at a very good price. At least once a week I would drive past this development and say to myself: “I must buy a plot or two.” Then one day I drive by and somebody is building a house and I say: “Today I must buy myself a plot or two.” I went home, phoned the developer and discovered – I cannot afford one plot any more. I did not Just do it!

 And that is something that people who build real wealth understands. They see opportunities and ACT. Or as somebody once said: Every morning everybody has a wonderful idea under the shower. Some people get rich from their idea – because they get out of the shower and start working on it. They Just do it!

 Just do it!

Here is an interetting thought that caught my eye the other day.

I have already said that wealth is not money, nor the signs of affluence, such as cars and holidays.  Rather wealth lies in your ability to see and pursue opportunities to make the money to buy the right assets to increase your wealth.

If we look at wealth from this point of view, is there a limit to wealth?  No, there is not!  If wealth means the ability to “create money”, so to speak, there can never be a scarcity!  Wealthy people understand this and tap into as many sources of wealth as possible.

And yet, there are so many people out there who live with, what is called, “a scarcity mentality.”  First of all they think wealth equals money and then they “know” there is not enough money.  And the conclusion, only a few people can be wealthy and unfortunately, unless you are “chosen”, you can’t be wealthy.

And this is the idea that I read.  Most people grow up in households where they learn that there is not enough MONEY to get the things they want, and that is why they think there is a limit to wealth and not enough for everybody.

I try to think like this (and I mean try):  “How can I afford it?”  What can I do to afford the car I want?  And by that I normally want somebody else to pay for it.  How can somebody else pay for this expense?  Sometimes I am successful and get the solution and sometimes I keep on driving the car I have.

But thinking in this way, helps me see the opportunities!  When I started my business a few years ago, I took a small loan.  The bank keeps nagging me to take up MORE than the repaid capital.  Which I have refused.  The other day somebody said they needed cash to make a deal work.  I said:  tell me about it.   The upshot is, I get a share in the business, I borrow the money from the bank and lend it to the business who pays the full premium, which improves my cash flow. 

 Yes, if the business does not work, I will have to pay the money back – nothing comes without risk.  But with this cash, we already generated more income than the loan!  With the income re-invested we can generate more income.  I am creating wealth.

 Not because I am so good, but simply because asking the right questions makes me “tuned to the right wavelenghts.”