“Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” – Warren Buffett
From YouTube videos to “1-Week Packages”, so many frauds are selling the idea that you can become rich in less than a few weeks. These guys are working off of the human instinct of wanting immediate gratification for whatever they do. Unfortunately, unless you yourself are a fraud, it doesn’t work that way. Creating “long-lasting” wealth takes more than weekend packages or a video telling you to pay for someone’s seminar. REAL wealth takes time. It may take a couple years, it may take a decade. Look at the American business mandate Warren Buffett. 99% of his current wealth never came until the age of 50! The most important thing to understand here is that the earlier you start, the faster you will reach your financial goals. Trying to beat the universe will not work in your favor.
Think about the rules of nature. For simplicity sake, let us take an apple tree into the analysis. When you get apple seeds and plant them, a tree bearing fruit does not sprout up instantly. You need proper soil (a proper foundation), you need to water it consistently (investing in yourself and/or business), and once you see a stem out of the ground, you don’t pluck it; you let it sprout. Even when the tree is growing, you still water it and clip off the dying or dead branches. Does the tree bear fruit instantly? Most times not. You may go through two summers of no apples. But if you consistently water and nurture that tree, you will have a sudden abundance of apples. So much so that you will have to give a ton of them away. I have seen this in relation to the various trees that I have in my garden. My father was the one who gave me the analogy of the apple tree, and I thank him for it every single day.
I, myself have witnessed and am still witnessing the power of compounding in my investments , as well as the processes towards financial success in other businesses. All of these businesses and investments take time and I am content with that. I had that VERY short period where I invested in things that were supposed to bring me immediate gratification. To keep it short, I stay away from those things like the plague. When you plan for the long-term, your goals and the processes to achieve those goals have to be worked efficiently day and night. I personally plan to retire from a traditional career by the time I am hitting my thirties. I will still work my businesses and investments, but that will be because I am passionate about investing and I want to leave my kids financially affluent for themselves, their children, and their children’s children. My family on both sides (mother and father) come from great wealth that was squandered by members of the family that wanted to enjoy the fruits of their parents’ labors, and evidently drained it all. Due to that history, I have taken it upon myself to build back that generational wealth. Because of this determination, I have taken the time to understand that fast money isn’t secure money; therefore I work my investments for the long-term in order to have that surety of security as well affluence in order to enjoy life to the fullest.
What you must get out of this post is that you should steer clear of investments that claim “immediate riches”. If you want everlasting riches for yourself, your family, and your future generations, get out of the mindset that you want riches today and figure out how to get riches today, tomorrow, and forever. The man who thinks long-term will never stumble for long. The man who thinks only about today will stumble, crash, and never get back up again.
Until next time, Live Long and Prosperous.
J.M.
Wealthy Fools 