My most favorite chapter was Chapter 11 "Earning More ". Read and digest the words, learn, and apply them they are worth it. And here we go : ( The words are exact from the book)
SMART-MONEY LESSON: MAXIMISE YOUR EARNING POTENTIAL BY FOCUSING ON FINDING YOUR PURPOSE
Nine out of ten times when people ask how they can make more money my answer is to find your purpose. Yes, it sounds trite, but this is a basic truth. Your purpose is your calling; the thing that drives you to be successful because it is what you were created to do. It sits at the center of three aspects of your life:
Skill-set. The things that you are good at, either because it's what you've studied or something you've spent hours honing.
Passion. People often confuse this with the things they like doing. It is that idea that burns deep inside you, so much so that you can't stop thinking about it until you execute. I like to say it makes you feel like you are pregnant with ideas.'
Earning potential. Your idea has to solve a problem that people will be willing to pay for.
People are complex, so it's possible to be called to several things, or for your purpose to evolve. An article written by Fred Swaniker of the African Leadership Group explains purpose best: to determine if something is your purpose, it must answer three questions. “Is it big enough (Which speaks to impact)? Are you in a unique position to make it happen (What skills or resources do you have or have access to execute the idea)? And are you passionate enough about it (does it pass the sleepless night test)?” He explains that if the answer is yes to all three, then it is probably your calling.
When it comes to earning money it's important for people to understand purpose because they often pursue an idea and then can't follow through on because they haven't thought through those three questions.
You can earn money from a side business, side deals, investing, and passive income but ultimately the mechanism with which you primarily and actively earn an income plays a huge role in determining how wealthy you become. The more money you can generate from the mechanism you choose will determine how much you have to invest in a side business, stocks, etc.
So how do you earn more? The most popular answer these days is to become an entrepreneur, start your own business. I have seen lots of articles and memes on Instagram and Twitter that say, 'If you don't follow your dreams, you'll end up working for someone who did', which is fair enough if a bit of an over-generalization.
In order to maximize your earning power and have the ability to invest, you need to pursue a career you are passionate about and create multiple streams of income. This does not necessarily mean you have to become an entrepreneur. The reality is, not everyone is cut out to be their own boss and you need to learn this early on. Being a boss is not about working for yourself and avoiding the discipline of a nine-to-five.
There are two ways to be stuck (and you don't want to be stuck in your thirties or forties):
1) Stuck in a 9-5 job you hate, and
2) Stuck in an entrepreneurial role you cannot handle.
Are We Glamorising Entrepreneurship?
Just ten to fifteen years ago in Africa, becoming financially successful and making your parents proud generally meant that you had to become a doctor, lawyer, engineer, accountant, and maybe even an investment banker. Pursuing a university degree then decided to become an entrepreneur would have caused mayhem in most Nigerian homes. You were expected to choose a profession, work hard at it, then scale the career ladder to success. However, with the scarcity of 'good' jobs and unemployment on the rise, starting a business has become the new normal for many graduates. In fact, entrepreneurship has become one of the most sustainable ways to solve Africa's unemployment problem. However, are we glamorizing it to the detriment of our longterm success?
Three things we should probably reconsider:
1. Selling the idea that entrepreneurship is the ONLY guaranteed way to success
I can't count the number of times I've heard, 'If you don't follow your dreams, you'll end up working for someone who did' or 'No one ever got rich working a nine-to-five'. These are overgeneralizations that have consequences because the fact is, not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur. Plus, if we all become our own bosses who is going to work for whom? Who will be the employees? It is wonderful that non-traditional avenues to earn money have opened up in the form of entrepreneurship, but why do we always have to have two extremes? Mark Zuckerberg is the founder of Facebook, but Sheryl Sandberg Facebook's COO and author of 'Lean In' (which has helped millions of women around the world in the workplace) is not just an employee. Just because she isn't the founder of Facebook it doesn't make her less important because she focuses on being a value-driven individual. To paraphrase Dustin Moskovitz, if you joined Facebook as employee number one thousand, you would still have made roughly twenty million dollars. Shouldn't the focus be on encouraging people to be entrepreneurial in their thinking whether they work in a corporation or run their own business? People who are entrepreneurial in their thinking are value-driven. They adopt critical thinking and embrace innovation and continuous improvement. They are the ones you see solving problems every day and are getting paid to do so regardless of whether they are the founders of the company or not
2. Are we choosing entrepreneurship for the right reasons?
With entrepreneurship growing in global popularity, everyone wants to be a boss. Many graduates don't even bother joining the rat race anymore; they come out of university saying, 'I don't want to work for anyone. I want to be my own boss'. A good proportion of those already on the corporate ladder can't wait to jump off and start a business so that they too can escape. The thing is, becoming an entrepreneur isn't about avoiding the discipline of a nine-to-five job or jumping into the next “it” industry because other people seem to be making money. Becoming an entrepreneur is about finding a problem that you are uniquely placed to solve and that people will pay you for. You shouldn't be thinking about a “me too”, copy and paste approach because the idea of working for yourself sounds appealing. The thought process should be, what skills or resources do I have to execute that idea? Am I passionate enough about it to pursue it and follow through?
3. The myth that good ideas are the key to business success
We live in a world where the future of success is touted as becoming an entrepreneur, so the focus of most graduates is to be the next Elon Musk or Sara Blakely and create the next Tesla or Spanx. The thought around this is powerful, but it is not the full story. Ideas are a dime a dozen; execution and the ability to solve a series of problems is the actual key to success. Becoming an entrepreneur means you are responsible for an enterprise and beyond the idea—a successful enterprise has to have structure, a business model, and a value proposition. Instead of over-glamorizing either end of the spectrum, let's focus on encouraging people to be value-driven. solve problems where they are and focus on finding career paths that suit their skill-set and temperament so they can thrive.
SIDE HUSTLES
If you have a 9-5 job, then the best way to have multiple streams of income is to have side businesses that you do in your spare time. These could be the stuff you are passionate about, or those extra skills that you have but don't practice at work.
Learn to use your skills to get you some extra income. There are several good platforms out there that can help you get side-businesses very easily and connect you to people who could pay for your services.
Some of the best platforms I know include Fiverr, Freelancer, and T-Influencer (freelance marketplace in Tanzania)
I hope by sharing that I added something into your financial life.
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