You can be rich by devoting most of your time to a moneymaking venture, or you can wait many years and be rich by saving a percentage of your income with the power of compound interest.
Whether you want to be a millionaire, multimillionaire, or billionaire (not that it’s your choice), the first thing to know is that money is what it is – a value of something it can be exchanged for.
Money is Value
When you make money by working at your job or business, it’s a value you are creating for your employer or your customers. You are earning in exchange of this value. If you want to make a million dollars in X amount of time, ask yourself how to create a value worth a million dollars in X amount of time. Don’t think in terms of how you can get a million dollars all at once.
During my early days of investing, I often pondered buying penny stocks, which would grow into a giant corporation rendering me a couple million dollars in profit. That was just ridiculous thinking on my part. It only happens in dreams.
People do win lotteries, people do inherit estates, and there are claims of making huge sums in stock market gambling as well. They are one-off cases, not sustainable. Even if you win a lottery, you can;t repeat yourself again. We shouldn’t waste even a single moment waiting for a windfall.
As simple as it sounds, to make $1000, you need to create value of $1000.
That’s because money is value. That’s how the universe works; that’s how the natural order of things is maintained.
The value of things was always there. Money, the way we know it, currency notes, were created by human beings. Money is just a medium of exchanging values between people. We spend money to buy value and then enhance its value further to get back more money. The value is shapeless and formless but it’s of tremendous importance.
To Earn $X, Create $X Value
Can you name any one person who’s only known for his money and not for his value creation? Rockefeller, America’s first billionaire is more regarded for his oil business. Wikipedia lists this about Rockefeller:
“Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of modern philanthropy.” That’s mentioned before they ever talked about his wealth.
When you are about to die, you’ll measure your success in life by how many people love you and how much value you created for them. Not by how much money you have in the bank. That’s the last test of how you’ve lived your life.
In your endeavors to create value, you’ll have your fair share of obstacles. But as with achieving anything good, you need to master the difficulties. Are you prepared?
When I started this blog, I wasn’t concerned with the revenue generation aspects of it at all. People who know about this blog used to wonder, “How much can you earn blogging?” and “There are so many bloggers writing about personal finance”. They wondered if I would be able to earn any money at all.
Forget about money – anything that can impart value has the potential to attract money. I don’t think anybody has any less potential to earn money than others. There is no limit.
More value you create for others, the richer you’ll become in the long run. Just don’t lose heart. It will take time and effort to spread the message of the value you are creating. Once it’s out, there’s no stopping as long as the value proposition is maintained.
Likewise, regardless of what you want to do in life, there is no limit to how much you can earn. It is independent of a set path. The revenue-generation potential is independent of what you do. It’s got everything to do with how much value you’re bringing to the world, and nothing to do with how lucrative that career path may seem.
Many of us see drawing as a hobby that would hardly earn any money, but the top artists earn more money than we can imagine.
The same goes for every other professions out there, be it designing, cooking, painting, teaching, acting, sports, fitness, racing, writing, blogging, photography, videography, and so on. It’s all about the value you can create for the outside world. As long as you create value, people will pay money for it.
To make $X, you need to generate a product or service that someone else wants to have for $X. How can you create this $X of value for others ?
Whether this value creation comes from selling a product or a service, or even a bright idea; look what Michael Zuckerberg did. He saw value in providing people (social animals) a social atmosphere online. And that value changed our lives for at least a few years to come.
Similarly, what can you do to help change others’ lives for the better? The more value you create, the more money you’ll make. The more you can enhance their lives, the more they’ll want to pay.
Change your thoughts about making money
Think about ways to achieve your financial goals. Start by first thinking in terms of the value that you are going to create for takers.
Think about how you can create value worth $10,000; don’t think about “How can I make $10,000?”
Take a piece of paper and answer the following questions:
- What’s Your Financial Goal? What is your biggest financial goal now? How much do you want to earn?
- Build Self Awareness – Stop seeing this goal as a monetary, financial goal. Rather, start seeing it in terms of the value you need to create.
- How To Create - How do you intend to create this $10,000 of value for others? Think of as many ways as possible. Some questions to help you narrow down the search:
- Who are the people you need to create value for?
- What are the biggest needs of those people?
- What needs of your target population are not met by others before you?
- What are you better at doing that you can offer?
- What will be most (or more) beneficial to others?
- How can you make them aware of your work toward their benefits?
- Do you need external help? Where can you get help?
The money you earn is a result of you creating value for others. As long as you keep this principle in mind, you’ll continue to get ahead toward being rich! Ending it with immortal Warren Buffet quote for us to think.
I always knew I was going to be rich. I don’t think I ever doubted it for a minute ~ Warren Buffett
| Thank you for reading this article. If you like my blog, consider subscribing to One Cent at a Time via RSS or email. You can also subscribe via Facebook or Twitter by clicking on those icons on the top. You can also pint it! |
Creating value for others is exactly what made me get started with my blog. It’s true that when you think about money that way, you will start coming up with all sorts of ways to create value and money will find you.
I do tend to think that I am also creating value out of this blog. Readers, do you agree?
That’s why these get rich quick schemes never work. Look at anyone who is wealthy – they got where they are today because the provided a significant amount of value and they were rewarded for it.
Like you said, focus on providing value first and the money will follow.
Only legal way to make quick money is to apply your brain and create a value for others.
SB I like your become rich articles. I think I should leave day job now. No risk no gain. I cannot forever work for someone
Hey Diego! Where have you been all these days? Man taking risk is one think and calculated risk is another. Did you think about retirement enough?
I think the most important thing is creating a value and really understanding it.
A value that can have a mass appeal.
But there are a lot of get-rich-quick guys out there who preach what they think. But then again, a lot of those preachers were just lucky to have been in the right time, right place.
Also their numbers are limited. Couple of hundred did make a lot of money in stock market. But I am sure they worked hard and created a system to make money by stock trading.
Love this post, will be Tweeting and Facebooking it! Not enough people think about money this way. Focus on doing something that you love while helping others and eventually the money will find you.
That’s exactly what I meant. Thanks Matt for your valuable comment
I just wrote a quick post in which I referenced and linked to this one @ http://money.ramblingfever.com/2011/11/how-to-make-money-doing-what-you-love.html
Thanks for the inspiration!
Glad I could be of help.
This is a very refreshing way to think about wealth generation. I hear this echoed by businessmen, but I generally don’t read it amongst bloggers. The wheels are turning about what value I will be bringing. Thanks for the admonishment!!!!
Aren’t you already creating value with your blog. I was reading your BOM winning post and got so much value out of it. Continue that, you are creating values already
I agree with Roshawn. Create value and readers will appreciate it. Build it and they will come.
I’ll have to think like this more often.
Oh yes. Think only about quality of your posts not PR not back links…they will come if your content is valuable
Awesome post. I totally agree. Value is what matter not monetary amount. I really try to live my life this way. I don’t want to get old and have regrets. I always try to follow my heart and do what I enjoy.
If you create value by doing what you love, money would follow for sure. Thanks for commenting
[...] One Cent At A Time – Check out his latest post on How to be Rich! [...]
The more value you create, the more money you are going to attract. Just like building up a list. If you have a list of subscribers, you must provide quality information for your subscribers, the more value you created for them, the more likely they are going to spend in you.
Absolutely, first create the demand for more of your materials. Then offer values added service products. Don’t just try to sell a sub standard product. You’ll be caught and punished. Remember you’ll money as per the value of the material.
[...] at One Cent At a Time has come up with one mega-tip for becoming rich: if you want to be rich you have to create value. In some sense this is one of the oldest tricks in the book – achieving goals by substituting [...]
[...] 5) One Cent at a Time says that Money is Value. See what they say about How to be Rich by Creating Value for Money. [...]
[...] One Cent at a Time reveals how to be rich by creating value not money. [...]
[...] with our government going broke, the only politically correct thing to do is tax the rich. Well, how to be rich is becoming a relative term with inflation moving as fast as it has been in the last few [...]
[...] about getting ahead in life which includes personal finance and productivity related topics like How to be rich and How to increase [...]
[...] off our bills and what we can do to reach these goals. Shopping hampers reaching these goals (not how to be rich goals but just getting out of debt) as fast as we would like, but I know that in the long run we will pay [...]
Hello There SB,
Your assessment of money as containing value, is spot on. The web is so full with people who are saying money has no value. This is certainly isn’t true. Money is representing value, although money itself, has no value.
People often confused between money and other kind of assets. I hope you can continue guide others in this.
Regards
Glad you liked it, appreciate your comment!
hey like this, full of good info making money from the internet is quite difficult, you need to be determind to be successfull.
Thats very true Laurence!
I think before we assume its difficult, let examine what you can do for online people. If you find a good way, making money online or offline is equally easy.
[...] about getting ahead in life which includes personal finance and productivity related topics like How to be Rich and Saving Environment. Read my post at One Cent at a Time [...]
[...] about getting ahead in life, encompassing personal finance and productivity related topics like How to be rich and How to increase [...]
[...] in my blog and rarely reads my posts.More about us here.About OCAATThe main theme at OCAAT is how to be rich. The blog is my journey towards being rich monetarily, spiritually, emotionally and socially. [...]
Excellent take on value and money.
If you can dream it, then you can achieve it. You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.
-Zig Ziglar
That, to me, is the essence of creating value.
This is excellent quote. Yes a value is valuable only when other like and use it.
Loved your article. Something is only worth what someone else is willing to pay. Know the value of your products or services and promote yourself.