Challenge 2 - Be Open and Honest

Embrace that Silence becomes inaction

I often say to people that I frequently interact with about money issues that

WE MUST ALWAYS BE CAREFUL WHAT ABOUT WHAT WE SAY OR DONT SAY – FOR OUR WORDS BECOME OUR ACTIONS, AND IF WE SAY NOTHING, WE THEN TEND TO BE SO GOOD AT DOING NOTHING.

When we start believing and saying that we are stupid, that we cannot do or achieve certain goals for example, it only becomes a matter of time before we act stupid and actually not achieve anything. When we start telling ourselves that money is for certain people, that God didn’t create us to make money as some have continuously argued over the longest of time, that ours is to simply give of ourselves and live righteously and the rest, all of it without so much as an effort of work from our side will happen for us, we quickly disintegrate into a culture of not having (yes this can be a Culture of a Family as well). A culture where if we believe it enough starts to trickle down from generation to generation. And before we know it, we are perpetually chasing money.

I am sure here you all know exactly what I mean. Who we are as parents will ultimately define the Children that we raise. After all they learn about life from watching us live it. They develop a set of beliefs from hearing and seeing us live ours.

The third leg of saying we are stupid reaps worse results. The Third leg is not to speak the Opposite and say that we are Able, we can, we will and yes that we must. No - the Third Leg is not to speak at all. Is to say absolutely nothing and end up learning to be so good at suffering in Silence. Yes;

Silence leads to inaction.

When we don’t talk about money with our parents, friends, colleagues and children, that is where the trouble begins. When we claim to know it all, or worse have set convictions that to talk freely about money is to brag (its seems its mainly the Swazi culture unfortunately that dictates this), when we refuse to give money the Respect it deserves, we commit a worse crime. Yes by your being silent and not owning up to the need to have, by allowing fear to paralyze you, worrying about what others will think or say if you talk about your misfortune of not being able to manage money, or of not having enough – you Commit A crime to the Person that I believe you were Created to Become.

How are we supposed to teach the younger generation and our children if we fail to admit to ourselves that we need help? How are we to inspire change and financial literacy if there is no free flow of information about money and the need to work towards building a secure future? Why do we behave so carelessly with our own finances, spending unwisely, not planning for tomorrow?

Big Question - Would we still do this (act so carelessly) if we truly understood that our very happiness is imbedded in our ability to have money (we are not yet defining how much is enough Money)?

Truth is - if we persist in denying the place money has in our lives, if we don’t give money the respect it deserves it will surely lead to our unhappiness.

LET US FROM TODAY ONWARDS MAKE A CONSCIOUS CALL TO TALK FREELY AND OPENLY ABOUT MONEY. LET US TALK TO SELF FIRST, AND THEN OTHERS (PREFEREABLY FAMILY). ONCE WE GET COMFORTABLE WITH MONEY MATTERS I FIND THAT IT THEN BECOMES EASIER TO HAVE THE HEART THAT WILL WANT TO OPEN ITSELF TO LEARNING AND IN TURN ATTRACT MONEY TO SELF.....