Income is NOT Wealth

Someone calls you up and says that he earns Rs. 20 Lacs per month. He then seeks your advise on how soon can he be financially free. What would be your answer? Think about it.....1 year, 2 years, 5 years, or may be 10 years....or is it that his income may just not have any correlation with his wealth.

A ball held at a height from the ground is said to possess 'potential' energy. Water stored in a dam reservoir is 'potential' electricity. A Head Girl or Boy of a class in a school is a 'potential' leader in the making. A college student receiving accolades for her acting performance in the annual college function is a 'potential' celebrity. A young lad scoring a double ton while representing his school cricket team is a 'potential' Sachin Tendulkar or MS Dhoni or Virat Kohli in the making. Morning Walk makes for a 'potentially' great day ahead. A 95%+ score in 12th class gives the student a 'potential' advantage over his or her peers.

But there is a more than a massive gap between being a 'potential' and being an 'actual'. It needs immense commitment, dedication, hard work, discipline, faith, patience, and of course blessings, to convert a 'potential' power into an 'actual' power, a potential success into an actual one. And trust me, there is an absolute lack of these human traits among our tribe. That is why 99% of the 'potential' Tendulkars are never able to play beyond the domestic circuit. It is the same reason that more than 99% of aspiring and talented actors never reach beyond their stage performances.

It is no different on the financial front. Most of us seeking Financial Freedom and wealth accumulation focus our energies on generating higher Income. Striving hard for the next promotion, looking for a big jump in salary, slogging through the year for the top rating and it goes on and on...the maddening Rat Race. Many even feel the urge to generate quick money to get wealthy fast - and in the pursuit do massive blunders. All such people, who also happen to enjoy the majority, base their theory on a fundamentally flawed assumption. And here is the assumption:

More Income = More Wealth 

They cannot comprehend or appreciate the fact  that higher Income just gives them a feeling of being rich, but cannot make them rich automatically. More Income is just 'potential' wealth and not 'actual' wealth - and there is enough gap between the two.

I have interacted with so many readers who come to me and say that they are earning very low incomes, and therefore, are not sure if they can even dream about Financial Freedom or wealth accumulation. And on the other extreme, there are an equal number of people I have interacted with, who believe that since they are earning a pretty decent Income, they may not even need anything like a financial freedom plan.

In both cases, seekers tend to forget the simple fact that 'Income' is just a 'potential' wealth - just like the potential actor or leader or singer. It is NOT 'actual' wealth. Seekers simply are not in a mindset to understand that it takes immense discipline, commitment, hard work, goal oriented tracking and reviewing, and of course blessings to convert this Income (potential wealth) into actual wealth. It is not going to happen of its own - no way. In fact, a seeker with lower income but greater passion is more likely to become more wealthy than a person with higher income but lesser passion towards a cause.

And the reason for this is simple. Usually, and unless you are driven passionately by your goals and reasons, your Expenses (in the form of your lifestyle or show off) will catch up with your Income - leaving you dreadfully poor at the end of the day. Expenses have this uncanny stickiness and affinity for your Income. They catch up with higher incomes, and in many cases even exceed them - leaving you in a debt trap - without even alarming you enough.

And those who have a fundamental understanding of money, appreciate and understand the fact that it is not the Income which makes you wealthy, it is the Savings that hold the key. Moving a step ahead, it is the investments done from those savings that make you filthy rich in the long run. (Recommended Read : Four Levers of Wealth Creation). You must make your money work for you and start earning passive income for yourself. Your money must become your servant and perform. And that can happen only if you learn how to save, and then how to invest.

Income is NOT wealth. Income is just 'potential' wealth. You will need a mentor to get it converted into 'actual' wealth. It is not as simple as it looks - simply because the world around us (be it marketing companies or government or family / friends or our own habits) is here to make us spend all our income, and even more.

You will need to be blessed - to be able to get that mentor who can drive your 'potential' wealth into 'actual' wealth! It will happen slowly, but surely. It will be driven by a track-able goal. It will be driven by a very strong reason. It will be fueled by your passion. It will need discipline, commitment, hard work, patience and faith - traits which are not easy to imbibe for all human beings. And therefore, the simpler it sounds, the difficult it is to implement !

So, whether you earn 20 K per month or 20 Lacs per month - is not the point. The point is how committed and passionate you are, for your freedom? The point is how much you are able to give up today, for a worthwhile life tomorrow? The point is whether you are ready to do what it takes to achieve your freedom.**

It is not easy. But who is worried of doing difficult things? Are we? We all look for worthwhile things, isn't it?. And after going through the pain, commitment, hard work and sweat; after having displayed the superior human traits of faith, patience and commitment;  when you come out as an Amitabh Bachhan or a Virat Kohli or a Warren Buffet in your life - you appreciate the fact that you were able to convert your 'potential' worth into your actual worth - and that it was worth all the pain.

** It is for this very reason that we are conducting an interview before we accept any subscriptions to our ELITE program. The purpose of the interview is not technical. The purpose is solely to find out the passion and drive in the seeker. Rest everything is anyway learnt by the seeker during the program - as we handhold him/her on the journey towards Financial Freedom.

Regards

Manoj Arora

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