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What is more important than money?

Guest post by: Robert Strong

Article Overview: As some of you may know I did not grow up as the richest kid on the block. There were many things that I wanted as I grew up but was not able the luxury of having them, while I don’t blame anyone, I do feel fortunate today for that. At a very early age I wanted to get out in the world and explore, and ultimately make a difference in my life and maybe someone else’s also.

What is more important than money?

As some of you may know I did not grow up as the richest kid on the block. There were many things that I wanted as I grew up but was not able the luxury of having them, while I don't blame anyone, I do feel fortunate today for that. At a very early age I wanted to get out in the world and explore, and ultimately make a difference in my life and maybe someone else's also. Very early in my teens I decided that I knew everything there was to know about life so I decided to go out on my own. Well as we all know now, we don't know everything in our teens, for fact we never really know everything. I thought it would be a good idea to get my own little studio apartment, it was small andif I wanted to change my mind I had to step outside. It was little, maybe 500 square feet, but like I said I knew everything! The apartment was about 200.00 a month, while this doesn't sound like much; it was a huge deal because I became very active in the adult world.

I caught a break that started everything

I caught a break at a major retailer from a referral I knew, and that was my first step towards a better life then I knew. For many years I continued to struggle, some nights only eating a piece of toast for dinner. I started working many hours, picked up a second and third job but still was in the same rut, I was spending more money on crazy things that were never going to bring me closer to what I thought I wanted. I knew somehow though that working all those hours and having numerous jobs it would amount to something. While living on my own I watched numerous friends obtain more and more nice things, cars, clothes and latest gadgets or phones their parents bought them. For awhile there I was very jealous and resentful towards my friends because I was barely making it in life and they were living the luxury life. As the years went by I come to realize that although I was struggling through life I was learning how to survive and others attributes that would actually put me ahead of my friends.

I have made some good decisions

In my career that I established for 14 + years at a major retailer I had made some very good decisions. During the time of building my career I followed the right people, did what they said, and became a student of the business. I started out at a major retailer as a sales guy working about 20 hours a week on commission, taking on a new promotion every 12 months or so and ended up as a Store Manager. While this sounds awesome and it was, I was finding myself working more and more each day. There were even a few days that 18 hours were clocked; at that point I thought "there has got to be a better way".

This is what I realized

I realized there were more important things in life than money. I realized the four F's were missing from my life; my family, my friends, my freedom and fun. I had had such a passion to drive my career that I forgot the important things, for such a long time my family had become my fellow associates at work. I realized that I could continue to work 70+ hours a week, miss out on my family and friends events and celebrations, have fun only at work or do something about it!

So what is one to do?

I did what a normal person would do if they were fed up with their current situation; I decided to change my life. God Bless America for this given right, to change our lifestyle at our leisure and take life by the horns and control our future. As far back as I can remember I had the feeling I was different (no wise cracks here) and had something inside me that didn't want to be part of the norm. I realized that I wanted my own business and to be my own boss, don't we all, but I did something about it! While I never thought I was better than anyone else, I knew that I didn't want to be treated like everyone else. I grew up not being able to afford a wrestling jacket for a piss ant but I wasn't going to accept that for my future, I was no longer going to be in that position nor was I going to give up my four F's.

But weren't you scared

You don't know the half of it, scared does not even begin to describe my feeling. I had the feeling that I may be a failure in my home business, a feeling that I may get ridiculed from friends and family. I also had the weird thought "there is no room for me and my home business in this world" and I had the feeling that I had no clue how to start or let alone run a home business. Well it just so happened one day like most of us have had, I had enough, I begin my search and I was running on emotions that we have all had at work before. These emotions drove me with such passion that they consumed me until I started looking for an answer. These emotions saved my life as they drove me to start my own home business and I have got my four F's back. I am driving a home business that helps others start just like I had; frustrated, scared, overworked and not knowing anything about starting a home business. Now I have people all over the world approach me on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and many other avenues on how to have a prosperous home business. I have a daily routine that keeps me focused and learning something new every day that I can pass along to others. I have found one more thing that is more important than money, its helping others!

The feeling of helping others

I have been helping other people with their business and just the feeling I get is indescribable. In helping others I am truly being able to teach someone else something that enhances their life and business. Have you ever helped someone that you knew there was no way they could ever repay you? I was recently able to help someone just like this, and the only thing I asked of them is that they Pay It Forward. Just imagine of you could help just one person per day learn something new, and then they taught one person and so forth; the world would be a better place. I challenge you today to find at least one person you can help and teach them something that impacts their life in a positive way and then have them Pay it Forward. This is truly one of the things that is more important than money!

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Article Tags: kid on the block, money
Referred by: http://www.MeetKarenNewman.com



Related Forum Posts
Re: What would you be willing to do for a million dollars? - I agree with both GT and Tanny that earning the money over a period of time in an ethical manner is important. To quote Jim Rohn he says it is not the money that is important when you become a millionaire but the person you become in the process. MichelleJ
Finances - Having the finances to use is very important. I've learned that its equally important (and for some people more important) to learn to budget and manage the money that comes in and goes out. Chris
Re: Do you have an affinity to making money??? - Hey Yinka, Of course I like making money. However, I get more satisfaction from doing what I love and have a passion for that brings in money vs. doing something I hate and making money. There's little satisfaction if you're working hard for someone else and making them money, while you make a measly paycheck. Some people are okay with this, but they may not be as happy as they could be if they did what they loved to do. In either case, it's important to do what you love. The money will follow.
Re: Finance is the primary requirement of business - Finance is important, but I feel there are so many other factors that are just as important if not more. You can have all the money in the world to run a business, but if you can't produce results your business is better off closing the doors.
Re: You don't need a degree to be an Entrepreneur - I agree that you don't need a degree to become an entrepreneur and gaining a little bit of business knowledge such as setting up a business plan and some sort of accounting knowledge is important. You need to know if you are making a profit and if not, where your business is leaking money. Having this at your fingertips and not having to rely on others to give you this information is important. MichelleJ


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