It is often common to see people gaining back the weight they lost after a short period of time. When people try to lose weight to get the shape they want, they have to work to “stay in shape”. Same thing applies to being rich, you may think your struggles are over when you hit that $1m or whatever you deem “rich”, but if you don’t continue working hard and smart, you will find yourself where you started from. How does one stay rich even after getting rich?
Sometimes, getting rich isn’t as hard and tedious as staying rich. How do you continue to stay rich?
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Wealthy people remain wealthy because they understand the principle of wealth.
They follow their passion and stay true: Wealthy people are insanely crazy about what they love because no matter how much you make, nothing will help you overcome the feeling of doing something you hate. They do it not only for the money but a greater goal. To solve problems that affect humanity positively. Look at the wealthiest man in the world. He wrote his first software program at 13 and stayed true to his calling as a computer genius till today. Now Microsoft has made him so much money that can be ever imagined. Same for Warren Buffet (Finance and investing), same for Steve Jobs (computing). Mark Cuban, Donald Trump (real estate), Elon Musk etc. Some of these guys suffered humiliation along the line but stayed true to their calling. Steve jobs was eased out as CEO of Apple, went on to start PIXAR and NEXT. President Donald trump was bankrupt at some point but bounced back.
They invest in what they Understand: They invest their wealth in businesses and ideas that they have a full grasp of. In my home country Nigeria, the wealthiest man in Africa, Aliko Dangote invested strongly in manufacturing and stayed true to his calling. He expanded his manufacturing business by re-investing his wealth until his cement industry became a behemoth. He started his business in the 70′s after he travelled to the Arisco manufacturing industry in Brazil and caught the manufacturing bug. Now he recently diversified into Petrochemicals (manufacturing still) and his refinery will open for business soon. The biggest furniture maker in Nigeria, Mrs Ibukun Awosika is still in the furniture business.
They invest in financial education: They understand stocks, real estate market, oil trading, art trading, global politics and economy and how it affects trade. They read and watch financial and business news. They understand how to hedge funds, merger and acquisition, venture capitalism. contracting, commerce, marketing global politics and finance. They read, read and read. A typical CEO reads at least 4 to 6 books per month in his area of interest. The top 5 richest men are voracious readers and sucker for education. Coincidence?. No fam.
They work Hard: Work, work , work ,work work. They are insanely hardworking. Some of these work for 10–20 hours per day. There work ethics meanders from intense to crazy. Because they love what they do, they work like 24 hours is going extinct. They work 10X harder than an average CEO.
They invest in their Health: Health is wealth. Indeed it is greater wealth. They invest in their health by exercising, eating right, sleeping well and vacationing. All work and no play makes jack a dull boy. They sharpen their saw.
They network and keep their circle small: They network with wealthy people. You are an average of the five people within your circle. Warren Buffet is friends with Bill Gates. Floyd Mayweather is friends with C. Ronaldo. Aliko Dangote is friends with Femi Otedola. They have important friends in all walks of life. Billionaires befriends Billionai
Keep building in whatever made you wealthy in the first place. The likes of Warren Buffet and Bill Gates can speak to this. However, not everyone that landed in a large pile of cash did something interesting. For example, you wake up one morning, turn on TV, and casually find out that you are the winner of a lottery. Now what? How do you maintain such?
Become familiar with the magic of the compound interest. If I have to erase my entire memory and knowledge off my brain, with the exception of one concept, I would retain only what I know now of the “magic of compound interest”. It is considered to be the “eighth wonder” of the world. In 1626, the local American Indians tribe sold the island, today known as Manhattan, to the Dutch for some trinkets worth around $26. Today, Manhattan is home to the most expensive real-estate market in the world and is worth about $8 trillion dollars. What a rotten deal. Or is it? If the American Indians would turn around and invest that money in perpetuity with the British for an average of 8% yearly, they would be able to buy the island of Manhattan back; pay the USA national dept; and increase the minimum wage of the sickly white European settlers to $15/hours without even flinching.
Nothing good lasts forever. Whatever made you rich most likely has a shelf-life. If you came into money via a lottery, you know it is very difficult to hit the jackpot twice. Use the “good times” to prepare you for when the “hard times” arrive.