Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” – Matthew 7:7, NIV Bible
As a money coach, I interact with many people who are desperately seeking solutions to their financial problems. When you are constantly broke, heavily in debt and unable to find the way to achieve your dreams, it can feel as if you’re lost in a confusing maze without the vital directions to get you out.
I can easily relate to people’s feelings of distress, as I was also trapped in a financial quicksand for a long time. After years of spending more than I earned, depending on debt and naively ignoring any preparations for the future, I had the good fortune to get a job at a financial institution.
For the first time, I saw persons who were smart about money, who were achieving financial goals that I hadn’t even dreamed about.
Observing other people’s financial successes ignited in me a burning desire to discover what it was that they knew about money that I was unaware of. I realised that my financial failures were caused from a lack of knowledge about the right things to do with money; and I became determined to find a way to become just as successful.
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I was relentless in my quest to discover the money secrets that I thought had been hidden from me. I developed an intensive reading habit, searching for answers in books that related to financial and personal achievement. I asked my well-off clients to share their success stories with me. The Internet, with its wealth of information about money, became my university.
I discovered that it is possible to learn and apply habits that will completely turn around your finances. The success principles are not secreted in highly confidential material that can only be revealed to a few fortunate people; they are readily available to anyone who asks, seeks and knocks on the right doors.
What does it take to be rich?
One of the treasures that I unearthed in my search was The Richest Man in Babylon, a book that contains many of the key laws of money success. Most of the modern-day authors that I had read made reference to this 1926 masterpiece by George S. Clason as being highly influential in their own development, so I was very eager to discover what it could do for me.
“This book of cures for lean purses has been termed a guide to financial understanding.” Clason’s foreword immediately encouraged me. Its purpose, Clason declared, was “to offer those who are ambitious for financial success an insight which will aid them to acquire money, to keep money, and to make their surpluses earn more money.” I felt like I had found the mother lode in a gold mine!
In an easy-to-read format, Clason recounted the tale of an ordinary chariot builder in ancient Babylon, who was tired of working hard every day without achieving any lasting wealth. In search of a solution, he decided to get advice from the richest man in Babylon, Arkad, to find out how he gained his riches. “Yes”, I thought as I read, “tell me what the secret is.”
The chariot builder approached Arkad, who had once been in a similar lowly financial situation, to find out why fate had rewarded him while ignoring others. Arkad declared that the chariot builder’s money distress was not caused by fate, but because he had either failed to learn the laws that governed the building of wealth, or else did not observe them.
A part of all you earn is yours to keep
I was transfixed as Arkad wove his story of how he, too, had laboured in vain for years until he met a wealthy merchant who taught him the principles of success. I read impatiently, waiting for the revelation of the mystery solution that would change my life. Finally the rich man disclosed, “I found the road to wealth when I decided that a part of all I earned was mine to keep. And so will you.”
“Is that all?” Arkad’s incredulous response to the merchant’s declaration echoed my own. The problem was that all of Arkad’s earnings were used to pay for goods and services, so he was only working to make others rich. The wealthy man explained that if Arkad saved one-tenth of his wages, he could put this money to work and would eventually increase his wealth over time.
Despite the fact that his income was initially not enough to meet his needs, Arkad followed the merchant’s advice, religiously paid himself first, and saved ten per cent of his wages. He learnt a hard lesson about the dangers of unwise investing, but sought advice from knowledgeable persons until he found the right investments and multiplied his wealth.
The Richest Man in Babylon contains many other essential principles of money, so it is a must-read if you are searching for the secrets of financial success. If you abide by the simple lessons it offers, you will be amazed to see the positive changes that will occur in your life.
Copyright © 2011 Cherryl Hanson Simpson. No reproduction without written consent.
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Originally published in The Daily Observer, January 13, 2011
Cherryl is a financial consultant and coach, founder of Financially S.M.A.R.T. Services. See more of her work at www.financiallyfreenetwork.com and www.financiallysmartonline.com. Contact Cherryl