Wealth

Why you must earn before you spend

09/14/2025 by Roy Sutton

Today’s message is all about why you must earn before you spend.

Earn it before you spend it! ~Author Unknown

Why you must earn before you spend:

If you want to build wealth, then developing good money habits is essential, dear reader.

And if you’re a parent, it’s a good idea to encourage your children to develop good money habits as well.

In fact, if you can only give your children one piece of financial advice, then the best piece of advice is included in the quote above. I can’t repeat it often enough. Earn before you spend.

Far too many people today do the exact opposite.

People spend money they don’t have to impress people they probably don’t even like. The result is a burden of debt from which it can be very hard to escape.

Occasionally, we all want to buy those big-ticket items. A nice television, nice furniture, a nice personal computer, tablet, or smartphone, et cetera. Naturally, these are things we all want. The question is, does it make sense to incur debt to own these things?

My advice is to save the money first and then buy the thing you really want.

Financing schemes are there to make other people rich. And by using unsecured finance, that always means you’ll pay a lot more for items acquired using credit.

The ‘buy now, pay later’ deal comes with a high interest rate added. So inevitably, if you go down this road, you’ll end up paying a lot more than you would otherwise.

Yes, you’ll receive the item more quickly; that’s true. However, you’ll enrich someone else at your own expense. In what way does that make sense? After all, a debt burden can prove very stressful.

Now, be honest with yourself; there really are very few things in life we couldn’t live without if we really had to, surely?

Look after your own interests rather than lining the pockets of other people while impoverishing yourself and your family in the process. That is today’s life tip.

Financial education matters, and the sooner you get one, the better.

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The 4 steps to financial freedom

09/12/2025 by Roy Sutton

Financial peace isn’t the acquisition of stuff. It’s learning to live on less than you make, so you can give money back and have money to invest. You can’t win until you do this. ~Dave Ramsey

Many people are searching for the steps to financial freedom. Search the internet, and there will be references to seven, eight, nine, and even ten steps, but I think only four steps matter.

However, before I discuss those steps, let us first think about the biggest cause of people remaining poor, namely the debt burden.

Statistics suggest that most people these days are heavily in debt. And debt is a burden that enslaves us. Knowing we have debts can be stressful.

What is the underlying cause of such debt? That’s simple. Mostly, it’s the overuse of credit cards with little or no thought to how this will affect our financial well-being.

Unsecured debt built up through the excessive use of credit cards is expensive. Very, very expensive!

That means even a small sum outstanding on a credit card can quickly become a large debt due to the effect of compound interest if you only make the minimum payment each month.

Are you affected by debt, dear reader? Are your finances out of control? Would you like to achieve financial freedom?

Steps to Financial Freedom:

People often say, “If only I could increase my income, I could pay off my debts.”

Those same people, if they did increase their income, would probably just spend more. And financial freedom would remain a distant dream.

If financial freedom is your aim, then you must take control of your finances. The steps to financial freedom are as follows:

1. Spend less than you earn:

It all starts with spending less than you earn. If you spend less than you earn, you can work on becoming debt-free and then start to build capital.

2. Pay yourself first:

You must always pay yourself first. What does that mean? It means that as soon as you get paid each month, you take a minimum of 10% of what you earn and put it away somewhere safe immediately.

Never, ever wait until the end of the month to see what you’ve got left.

If you do that, you’ll never save anything.

If you take 10% upfront, it will just be another debit on your income like taxes and pension contributions. You’ll quickly get used to having only the remaining 90% to live on.

And what do you do with the 10% or whatever you’ve put away?

3. Eliminate credit card debt:

Initially, if you have a credit card debt burden, then it makes sense to use that money to deal with paying off your debt first because the interest you’ll pay on the debt is always greater than any interest you’ll get on savings.

To pay off your credit card debt, you must find a way to eliminate the interest element each month so that any payments you then make go against the outstanding balance.

And how is that done?

Well, when you take out a new credit card account, it often comes with a period of zero interest, usually six months. These accounts also usually allow you to transfer in outstanding debt from another credit card account.

So by moving from one card provider to another and transferring the debt across to the new account, you then have a period of six months to make payments against the outstanding balance without accumulating interest on the old debt.

Never, ever use this card to increase your debt. Use it only to reduce your debt.

At the end of the period of zero interest on your new card, repeat the process if necessary. Once again, you move to another card account offering you a zero-interest period. By focusing only on the outstanding balance, it will be paid off sooner.

Eliminating the burden of debt is the first step on the road to financial freedom.

Freedom from debt will give you peace of mind. And that peace of mind is a good reason for spending less than you earn.

Once the debt is cleared, what next with the money you’ve paid yourself first?

4. Build capital:

Initially, put your money into a savings account. Then, as that builds into a larger sum, you can start thinking about other forms of investment like stocks, bonds, and property.

Once you develop the habit of putting some of your money away each month, it’s amazing how quickly it accumulates into a decent capital sum, and you’ll be on the road to achieving financial freedom.

Conclusion:

Learn to live within your means.

If you live modestly and spend your money wisely, you can ensure that you have enough money when you need it.

You can also build that nest egg for your retirement and give a little back to those less fortunate than yourself. And you’ll feel so much better about yourself, too.

Conversely, gathering too much clutter through excessive spending on things you don’t need can become stressful, as well as wasteful. The choice is yours.

Financial freedom is achievable, and it will give you peace of mind.

You will sleep better knowing you’re debt-free.

The steps to financial freedom are quite simple. Spend less than you earn; pay yourself first; eliminate expensive credit card debt; and start building capital.

Do this, and one day your older self will be grateful you made the effort, I can assure you.

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The debate about identity politics and how we get beyond it

09/09/2025 by Roy Sutton

The debate about identity politics has dominated much of the news for quite some time now. Surely we must find a way to get beyond it? In that, I refer to getting beyond the problems associated with identity, rather than the debate itself.

We’re all human beings first:

Whether we think of ourselves as Black, White, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or some other form of ethnic or religious identity, in reality, we’re all just members of the human race, surely?

In my opinion, we’re human beings first and other forms of identity second. We’re all just people.

We all want the same things:

As people, we all want the same things if you think about it.

Ideally, we all want a peaceful, prosperous life and a better world for our children.

We want a roof over our heads and the ability to put bread and food on the table.

Equally, we all want to feel secure.

We all want our lives to have a sense of purpose and a reason for us to get out of bed each day.

And, of course, we all want to enjoy some leisure time with family and friends occasionally.

Life’s too short:

Life’s too short to worry about anything else, surely?

As human beings, we have much more in common than we’re often able or willing to recognise, and those things that apparently separate us are often more imagined than real. Well, I think so anyway.

In my experience, there are good people everywhere you go in this world.

And yet, as human beings, we often fear people simply because they are not a reflection of ourselves.

We fear what we don’t understand.

If only we could see others as human beings first. They’re people just like us, with hopes, dreams, and a desire to be loved, accepted, and respected by others.

Respect people and get to know them:

If only we could treat people with respect, regardless of whatever sense of identity they present to the world. If only we could respect others just for being themselves.

I’ve been fortunate enough to live and work in many parts of the world, and I’ve learned that if you make the effort to get to know people, whoever they are, you begin to see them differently, regardless of their origin, ethnicity, or creed.

If you try to understand them and their lives, suddenly you realise that they’re actually just like you, or not so very different at least.

Wherever you go, people are just people. We laugh, we cry, we eat, we sleep, and we all have to go to the bathroom occasionally.

Yes, there are a few bad ones, of course, but most people are honest and decent, and if you treat them with respect, you will get their respect in return. In my experience, wherever you go, people want to be treated fairly.

Avoid making assumptions about people:

When you meet people from a culture that is different from your own, it’s easy to make assumptions about them. However, how can you be sure you’re right unless you get to know them?

Judging is easy, but it’s hard to know what someone else’s life is really like. Unless you’ve actually walked a mile in their shoes, you couldn’t possibly know what their life is really like or what challenges they face daily.

So you can’t judge anyone unless you make the effort to get to know them.

And for me, that’s the underlying problem for all humanity.

We judge people first without making the effort to get to know them. We make assumptions and judge on perceived stereotypes rather than treating people as individuals.

For instance, it would be easy to assume that all Muslims have the same extreme views as those fundamentalists making media headlines fighting for the establishment of the so-called Islamic State or ISIS.

I have lived and worked in the Middle East for many years, and I know that this is not true. Some of the finest people I’ve ever met are Muslims.

I have many Muslim friends for whom I have the greatest respect. I’ve also known many Christians, Jews, Buddhists, and more for whom I could make a similar comment.

Seek first to understand:

I’ve learned to treat people as I find them and not as others tell me I should find them.

I concern myself only with the content of their character. I try to treat others with respect, and I find that generally if I do, I get their respect in return.

If only we could all treat others in the way that we’d prefer them to treat us, then I think the world would be a better place. And surely our aim should be to make this world a better place?

In the words of Stephen R. Covey, we must:

Seek first to understand and then to be understood.

Identity politics:

Identity politics has the potential to divide us all in a way that could be detrimental to everyone, but it doesn’t have to be that way. We can get along with each other if we respect people for who they are and what they are and judge them only by the content of their character.

Look beyond obvious differences to the person within. It’s what’s on the inside of people that matters most. Well, that’s my opinion, dear reader.

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The secret to being a successful entrepreneur

09/04/2025 by Roy Sutton

If you’re looking for the secret to being a successful entrepreneur, this article is for you, dear reader.

Now, how often do you hear people say they’d love to start a business and become entrepreneurs?

People will tell you they’d love to be a business success, making a difference in people’s lives with great products and services.

Then they’ll add the caveat that, unfortunately, the time’s not right for them now. They’ll have a go one day, but their circumstances won’t allow it now.

However, very few who say they’ll have a go will ever actually do so. They don’t have the desire, and they probably don’t understand the secret to being a successful entrepreneur anyway.

The secret to being a successful entrepreneur:

The only way to get rich:

The measure of success for an entrepreneur is the money they make.

Let’s face it, starting any business is all about making money for the owners. Otherwise, why would anyone bother?

Starting your own business can be a fantastic thing to do, and, for most people, it’s the only way they’ll ever have the chance to make some serious money.

Certainly, you’re unlikely to get seriously rich working for someone else.

However, to succeed in business, you must first get started.

The critical ingredient to success in business is getting off your butt and doing something about it.

And the best time to do it is now. Last year or the year before might have been better, but otherwise, now is always the best possible time. It’s simple, really.

The secret to making money:

Getting off your butt is one thing, but how do you make money as an entrepreneur? Well, dear reader, pull up a chair and listen carefully, for the secret is very simple.

The secret to making money as an entrepreneur is to solve problems for people. To make their lives easier in some way.

Solve problems; make money:

Every product you sell must solve a problem for the customer.

So, if you can identify problems for which people need solutions and offer those solutions, also known as products, at value-for-money prices, then you can make money and be successful.

Remember this, too: you don’t necessarily have to be the first with a solution, either. If you can improve on an existing solution in some way, then you can still make some serious money. If you can ‘build a better mousetrap,’ then people will buy it.

For instance, Steve Jobs and Apple were not the first to offer cellular mobile phone handsets, nor was Samsung. Yet these two companies both dominate the market for smartphones right now.

Make a difference:

Has your appetite for business been whetted, dear reader?

Do you have any ideas you think might make a difference?

You do?

Then you have to be prepared to take action. Having ideas means nothing unless you take action.

Ideas are ten a penny. Plenty of people have good ideas that never see the light of day.

Occasionally, people have good ideas but leave them unexplored for too long, and then someone else comes along with the same idea and makes a significant profit from it. That’s happened to me. I came up with a great idea for a t-shirt slogan. I failed to act, and someone else came along with the same idea; it’s currently a bestseller on Amazon. My loss; their gain.

Having ideas is easy. Implementation is the challenging part, and there are too few people with the drive and determination to turn a good idea into a viable business opportunity and then generate revenue from it.

So you must take action if you want to be a successful entrepreneur.

Not tomorrow, not next week, not next year, but right now.

Become a ‘doer’:

In my experience, true entrepreneurs are doers; they’re not dreamers.

So go on, get started right now.

Solve people’s problems, and you’ll be on the road to riches. It can be done, and people do it. And so can you! Go for it.

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5 questions that’ll help your buying decision process

08/04/2025 by Roy Sutton Leave a Comment

Today, I am considering the buying decision process.

If you want to create wealth, it starts with being sensible with your money.

So, the buying decision process is essential.

Buying decision process:

Now, how can you be expected to save money when you don’t earn enough to make ends meet as it is?

I’m guessing you may have asked yourself that question at least once, dear reader? If you have, you’re not alone. It’s a common challenge.

However, whilst some people may struggle financially, it’s also true that far too many people squander their money buying items they don’t need and probably will never use, often in an attempt to impress people they don’t even like.

For such people, their buying decision process is usually limited to whether they still have enough credit left on their credit cards.

Well, the mantra “Have Plastic; Will Purchase” is not a good one if saving money is one of your goals.

You can earn a decent income, and yet a lack of money management skills and poor buying decisions will result in you never achieving financial freedom. Poor money management skills will condemn you to a life of being poor.

So it’s essential that you learn to manage your money properly if you want to avoid long-term poverty.

Avoid the ‘I’ve got to have it’ approach:

So, be honest with yourself: how often do you buy things you didn’t need?

Stuff that you weren’t even looking for, but it was there, and it looked nice, and you thought, I’ve got to have it. Out pops your ‘flexible friend,’ and the item is yours. A brief period of gratification follows, and then the item is largely forgotten.

How often do you buy things you never use?

Take a look at your wardrobe. I’ll bet there are a few items in there that still have the store tags on them. Never used, and they’ve probably been there for quite some time, I suspect? Would I be right?

‘I’ve got to have it‘ is a great way to waste all your money. With this approach, you’ll enrich other people at your own expense. Now how could that possibly make sense?

Credit cards: Weapons of mass wealth destruction:

How often do you buy things you can’t afford with money you don’t have?

It’s true, credit cards can be a convenient means for making payments, of course, but they can also be weapons of mass wealth destruction. That’s a fact, dear reader.

When it comes to the buying decision process, most of us are driven more by a desire for gratification than by any sensible approach to managing our money carefully.

Most of us are guilty of buying more than we need. Many of us are guilty of buying items we seldom use, if at all.

If you’re like this, dear reader, then you’re not alone, I can assure you. However, that’s not a good thing.

The disciplined approach:

With discipline, you can hang on to more of your money and build capital, which, eventually, will start generating an income all of its own through interest payments on deposits and bonds, dividend payments, and capital growth on stocks and shares.

Still, we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

The underlying message I offer you today, dear reader, is that:

You should establish for yourself a buying decision process that will allow you to control your expenditure.

Essentially, before you buy anything, you need to ask yourself a series of tough questions to gauge whether the purchase makes good sense.

And what are those questions?

The questions to ask before making any purchase:

There are, in fact, five questions you should ask yourself before making any purchase, as follows:

Do I need it? Honestly?
Will I use it? Honestly?
Can I afford it? Honestly?
If I didn’t have it, would it matter?
Does it represent value for money?

If you answer ‘No’ to the first four questions, the fifth question is irrelevant.

A negative on all or even most of the first four questions means don’t buy the item. Simple!

And even if you do think you need it, never buy anything if you do not have the money to pay for the item right now. Never, ever incur debt for a discretionary purchase.

It’s better to do without than to run up debt on a credit card to pay for discretionary purchases.

The compounding effect of high credit card interest rates can quickly turn a small debt into a large one.

The ‘value for money’ question is only relevant when you can answer every other question in the affirmative.

Nevertheless, you should never buy something that’s not also good value for money.

That is, you should never overpay for anything.

Overpaying means the price is inconsistent with the value on offer.

Let the answers to the questions guide you:

To ensure your buying decision process is sound, you must always ask these questions.

Let them be your purchasing guide, and you’ll be in a better position to start saving money and watch it grow.

Once it starts growing, you’ll be on your way to building your own personal wealth.

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Thank you.

Roy Sutton

Roy Sutton is a writer, content creator, digital entrepreneur, and international traveller. Formerly, a CEO, corporate business executive, management consultant, and electronic systems engineer with a background in telecommunications and IT. His blog aims to both inspire readers to achieve their best lives and entertain them with the humour we all crave.

How to turn your yearly income into your monthly income

07/25/2025 by Roy Sutton

Would you like to learn how to turn your yearly income into your monthly income?

Perhaps you are one of those people who feel you should be earning more than you do.

To have enough money to enjoy the lifestyle you’d love?

You’d like a higher income, but you’re unsure how to achieve it.

Perhaps you feel that big money never flows to people like you.

A natural assumption, possibly, but it’s wrong.

With the right approach, you too can have significantly more money than you have now. Yes, you can become truly wealthy.

The question is, where do you begin?

You can start by understanding the Law of Compensation. In the video included here, the self-help guru Bob Proctor explains that income is earned according to the Law of Compensation.

How to turn your yearly income into your monthly income:

The Law of Compensation:

Bob explains that the Law of Compensation states that the amount of money you earn will always be in exact ratio to the following three points, namely:

The NEED for what you do.
Your ABILITY to do it.
The DIFFICULTY there would be in REPLACING YOU.

Now you have no control over points 1 and 3, so you must concentrate on point number 2.

You must constantly hone your skills and become a master of whatever you do.

That said, becoming a master of what you do is only part of the solution.

To earn more, you must decide on your strategy for earning money. In the video, Bob Proctor explains that there are only three strategies for earning money.

The Strategies for Earning Money:

So what are the three income-earning strategies? Bob Proctor describes these as M1, M2, and M3. In more detail, that means:

M1: Trading your time for money:

Essentially, this is paid employment, and it is the way that 96% of people earn an income.

The problem is that, unless you’re a Wall Street banker, you’re unlikely to get rich this way. It probably explains why you’re not rich right now.

M2: Invest Money to Earn Money:

Assuming you’re working for the man as a salaried employee, you can start saving, and gradually, as your savings grow, you can invest your money in stocks, bonds, and property, and over time, your investments will start generating an income of their own.

That’s great, but you need to know what you’re doing. If you have nothing now, it will take some time before you can start generating anything approaching a useful extra income.

Of course, if you have a large sum of money available right now, then this might be a solution; however, for most people, it’s not feasible, which is why only around 3% of people make an income this way.

M3: Multiply your time with multiple sources of income:

Establishing multiple income streams is a great way to start generating substantial income.

Even fewer people make an income this way, around 1%, but that has more to do with the fact that most people fail to recognize its potential.

Now, let me make one thing clear: having multiple income streams does not mean working multiple jobs.

It means having income streams that will earn money for you even while you’re sleeping. And as the legendary investor Warren Buffett once said, “If you don’t find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die.“

M3 Income Strategy:

M3 is the income strategy that will help you earn far more than you earn now. Certainly, it will if you do it right.

Bob Proctor offers the example of Network Marketing (also known as Multi-Level Marketing), whereby not only do you sell products, but you also create a network of sellers, which means that when they sell, you receive a portion of the commission generated from those sales.

The best network marketers have made a significant amount of money this way, but it’s not the only solution to generate multiple streams of income.

The internet now offers multiple ways to get rich online.

For instance, you can use Amazon as a marketplace and sell products with fulfilment (delivery to the customer) handled by Amazon.

You can also generate commissions through affiliate marketing with Amazon, as well as other platforms like ClickBank and Commission Junction (CJ). These can be great ways to make money whilst you sleep.

Blogging and Vlogging are also other ways to produce income streams.

There are numerous ways for the ambitious and determined. It’s never been easier for people prepared to put in the effort.

So listen to what Bob Proctor has to say and be inspired to take action now.

The Game of Money-Making:

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3 things you need to know about money

07/21/2025 by Roy Sutton

Today, I’d like you to consider some key things you need to know about money, dear reader. In other words, think about what it all means to have money.

It’s natural to dream about being rich, of course.

Most people dream about being able to buy whatever they want and go anywhere and everywhere they’d like to go, possibly even in a private jet.

The attraction of having that pot of gold is why a lot of people will chase every rainbow.

However, while money is necessary for sustaining life, there are some things you should understand about money.

Here are three of them:

Things you need to know about money:

1. Having money brings its own pressures:

A great fortune is a great slavery. ~Seneca

It’s reasonable to want to create wealth and build a fortune. Everyone wants to feel financially secure. Why wouldn’t you?

However, being financially secure doesn’t mean you’ll have a life without problems and worry.

You’ll encounter different problems and other things to worry about.

No one goes through life without problems. Dealing with problems and challenges is an inevitable part of human existence.

Put simply, having money brings its own pressures.

Once you’ve got money, your biggest concern will be to ensure that you hang on to it.

Inevitably, that means you can become a slave to managing your money, preserving its capital value, and protecting your fortune.

Being wealthy may be a nice problem to have, but it’s no less of a problem for that.

So keep it all in perspective.

2. Money can never be more important than people:

We love to earn money; who doesn’t? It gets you things. ~Katie Price

Earning money is excellent, as it allows you to buy both the things you want and the things you need. However, money won’t take care of you when you’re ill.

Yes, it might enable you to hire some help.

However, that’s not the same as having someone around who genuinely cares about your well-being. That someone for whom you matter much more than money ever will.

In my experience, while money is important, nothing in our lives matters more than friends and loved ones. Human beings are social animals. So, only people really matter to us.

Never focus on money to the point where you neglect the people who should matter most to you. Forget about them, and eventually, they will forget about you.

You can have all the money in the world, but you’ll have nothing at all without friends and loved ones.

Please go out and earn as much money as you can, and enjoy it too. Fill your boots, as they say.

However, always maintain a sense of balance in your life and make sure that you allocate some time for the people who matter most to you.

An investment of your time in the people you love is an investment that will pay dividends.

3. Money is a precious resource, so use it wisely:

A penny saved is a penny earned. ~Benjamin Franklin

I make no apology for repeating Benjamin Franklin’s money mantra, repeated frequently by generations of well-meaning parents to their profligate children. It’s as valid today as it was in his day.

Whether Franklin was referring to money saved when making purchases or money saved from income is not obvious in his statement, but that doesn’t matter.

The underlying point is that you must be cautious with your finances, as saving money is the key to building wealth and achieving financial independence. No one ever got rich by wasting their money.

Money, like time, is a precious resource, so use it wisely.

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Thank you.

3 ways for getting rich

07/16/2025 by Roy Sutton

Today, I am exploring the idea of getting rich.

You should never take money too seriously, dear reader, but, equally, you should never underestimate the importance of money either. Let’s face it, in the modern world, money is as essential to sustaining life as oxygen. That’s a fact, whether we like it or not. So getting rich is a worthy topic for discussion.

By getting rich, I mean achieving financial freedom. I think that should be everyone’s goal, if only so that they can enjoy their old age. In my opinion, there’s nothing wrong with getting rich, provided money does not become your obsession. That is, you should have money in your head but not in your heart.

Now getting rich is easier said than done, of course. It requires effort on your part and a lot of determination, too.

Nevertheless, getting rich is also easier than it might first appear to be.

So today I offer you three ways for getting rich that are available to anyone and everyone, and they will all help you to achieve financial freedom.

Getting Rich:

1. Solve problems for people:

Working for someone else may make you a living, but having your own business can make you a fortune. The only way most people can become seriously rich is by setting up a business of their own. It can be done, and people do, very successfully, and you can do it too.

Essentially, business is all about solving problems for people in exchange for money.

Businesses create products that solve problems for customers. The customer buys the product, and the business makes money. You need to ensure that your revenues exceed your overheads, but in essence, business is that simple.

If you want to make money in business, look for problems to be solved, and there you’ll find commercial opportunities.

One person’s problem is another person’s business opportunity.

However, do make sure that every product you offer solves a problem for your customers.

That means understanding the needs and wants of your target customers and always asking the question, “What problem will this product solve for my customers?”

2. Risk leads to reward:

If you want to make serious money, you cannot avoid an element of risk. That’s a fact of business life.

Entrepreneurs have to be risk-takers by definition.

However, that doesn’t mean you take crazy risks. It means taking calculated risks by doing your homework, proper planning and market research, and using your business skills to weigh up the pros and cons of every opportunity.

Risk is simply the probability of you getting an outcome you don’t want.

However, it’s a fact that risk and reward go hand in hand. The greater the reward on offer, the greater the risk you must potentially take to achieve it.

Your attitude to risk is important here.

If a given risk makes you very uncomfortable, then it’s probably not worth taking. It will just lead to too much stress for you. Some people can live with huge risks, while others cannot cope with that much pressure.

Either way, it doesn’t matter. If you can’t cope with significant risks, then avoid them. Just look for something with lower risk and with which you can manage. Even small risks can lead to great riches.

Remember, we all need a mix of certainty and uncertainty in our lives. Business requires you to live with the latter, at least to some degree.

3. The magic of compounding:

Once you’ve made some money, you must put it to work for you if getting rich is your aim.

And putting money to work is all about taking advantage of the magic of compounding.

Compound interest can have a powerful effect on your money.

For instance, if you invest $1,000 at 2% for 10 years with annual interest reinvested, it will be worth $1,219 at maturity.

However, if you invest the same $1,000 over the same period at 10%, then you will earn $2,594, assuming annual interest is reinvested. That’s over a 100% difference over the 10-year period.

Over 20 years at 10%, your $1,000 would have turned into $6,727, assuming annual interest had been reinvested.

So remember, the interest rate and the longevity of your investment both matter if you’re trying to build a capital sum.

So if getting rich is your aim, then start by investing as early as you can, be disciplined, and make regular contributions to build that nest egg.

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What is grit and why is it important?

05/16/2025 by Roy Sutton Leave a Comment

What is grit? I’ve heard this word a lot recently. And of course, the obvious supplementary question is, why is it important?

I’m referring to a term used in psychology to represent a positive, non-cognitive personality trait based on an individual’s perseverance of effort combined with the passion for a particular goal and a powerful motivation to achieve it. Allow me to explain.

What is grit?

Have you ever noticed that the smartest people are not always the most successful? Success can be defined in different ways, but for most people, their measure would usually revolve around money and prestige.

If we take money as the measure of success, then you’d think the smartest people would easily come out on top of that score, surely? Yet you’d be wrong.

We hear stories frequently about college professors who struggle financially, while at the same time, tradesmen like bricklayers and plumbers become millionaires. How can that be?

Surely the smartest people have a natural advantage? Well, no, they don’t.

The people with the real, innate advantage are those with this quality known as grit.

So, exactly what is grit?

It is an inner steeliness. It is courage and resolve. It is a strength of character. It is drive and desire. It is passion and motivation.

It is a willingness to persevere until the desired result is achieved. It is a determination to achieve a goal and a willingness to take calculated risks.

It is a fact that doing well in life depends on much more than academic ability and your capacity to learn quickly and easily.

Having those qualities is useful, of course, but in the absence of grit, you’d still be at a disadvantage.

Someone of average academic ability but with a shedload of grit will be better placed to achieve real success in life.

People with grit intuitively recognize that life is a marathon, not a sprint.

They’re willing to experience failure because they know that failure is a temporary outcome, not a permanent position. And they’re willing to fail and then start over using the lessons they’ve learned from the experience.

So what’s the key to success? It’s the need to get grittier!

Angela Lee Duckworth makes this point admirably in this excellent TEDxTalk video, and it’s well worth a few minutes of your time. It’s an interesting video, and I think she nails the point perfectly.

That’s what I think, but what is your opinion?

Could there be such an easy answer, or is it all much more complicated? I’d be interested to hear your views.

Grit: The power of passion and perseverance:

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What is grit? What is grit? What is grit?

Filed Under: Self-Help Tagged With: Achievement, being the best, Inspiration, Life, Making Money, money, Motivation, Philosophy, Sage Advice, Stress-free, Success, Wealth, Wisdom

How to become rich through your work

04/07/2025 by Roy Sutton

How to become rich through your work? This is a question many people ask. Some people get rich, but somehow you don’t, dear reader. Would that be true? Why? You work hard, but you’ve got very little to show for it, right?

How is it that other people succeed and get rich, but you never seem to make any progress at all?

Perhaps the question you’ve been asking yourself is, what’s the real link between working hard and getting rich?

Well, give me a couple of minutes of your time, dear reader, and I’ll tell you what I’ve learned about work over the years and how it’s linked to the generation of real wealth.

How to become rich:

What is work?

First off, as I’ve said many times before:

Work is simply doing stuff for other people in return for money

If you enjoy your work and it comes naturally to you, then you’ll do it well. If you do it well, then people will notice. And once people start to notice, then increasingly you’ll be in demand.

The greater the demand for your services, the more you’ll get paid. In short, your value will increase.

If you truly enjoy your work and it becomes your passion, then it won’t seem like work at all.

However, if you work for a single employer, then essentially you’re trading your time for money, regardless of whether you enjoy your work or otherwise.

Even if you work for multiple employers one at a time, the effect is the same. You’re simply trading your time for money. It cannot be scalable because, as an individual, there’s only so much you can do in a given period.

There’s nothing wrong with trading your time for money, of course, and it’s the way that most people earn a living. However, you’re unlikely to get seriously rich that way.

Working for an employer will certainly make you a living, of course, but unless you work on Wall Street or in the City of London, that’s about all.

Serving the many:

To earn serious money, you need to be doing stuff for many people simultaneously. The more people you can serve simultaneously, the more money you can make.

The obvious question in your mind now will be, how’s that done?

Well, creative people serve many people simultaneously, don’t they?

For instance, if you write a bestselling book, record a bestselling song, or produce a bestselling DVD, these would all add value to the lives of many people simultaneously.

When people buy a book, a song, or a DVD in their millions, then, if you’re the creator, you can make millions of dollars in the process. Just ask JK Rowling, Paul McCartney, or Ricky Gervais. They’ve all become rich through their creative work.

Then again, not everyone can write, sing, or perform. Perhaps you’re a designer?

Suppose you design furniture, say a chair perhaps?

You produce a fabulous design and offer it to a furniture manufacturer. They really like it, and they want to use it, but you hold the intellectual property rights (IPR) because it’s your design. So the manufacturer must pay you a royalty when the design is used for every unit sold.

If that chair becomes very popular and sells in the millions, your ongoing royalty payments can add up to something quite substantial. Replicate that with many designs, and you could get very rich indeed.

In this case, the example is furniture, but the same would apply if you designed anything. For instance, the man who designed the retroreflective safety device known as cat’s eyes in Britain got very rich through his design. Fashion design is another area where serious money can be made from your designs if they become popular.

The value of the IPR:

The trick with creative work is to understand the law around copyright and intellectual property rights (IPR) and make sure you’re rewarded for your work through royalties.

The advantage of creative work is that the series of royalty payments can have a very long tail. Your work can be the gift that keeps on giving for years and years.

Take a song like Imagine by John Lennon.

John Lennon wrote that song around 1971, but we still hear it regularly on the radio and television to this day. So despite the fact that it’s been over 40 years since Lennon’s tragic death, the song still earns money for his estate, i.e. his family. Now that’s a real legacy for them.

Build your own business:

Starting a business and selling products by the thousand is another way to serve many people simultaneously.

If your business can produce products that provide your customers with genuine solutions to their problems, then there is serious money to be made. Problems are an opportunity to make money if you can offer suitable solutions.

Your business will employ people who are trading their time for money, but through your business, you’ll be serving the many simultaneously, and you can enrich yourself in the process.

The message here:

The takeaway message for you today:

If you work one-to-one, you’ll make a living, but if you can work one-to-many, you’ll make a fortune

Whether it’s becoming a creative person, a performing artist, or starting a business, serving the many is the real route to riches.

It’s not easy, of course, but it can be done, and people do. With a little self-belief and a lot of hard work, you can too.

So when are you going to get started?

Go on, have a go! Serve the many, not the few.

REMEMBER: It’s better to try and fail than to spend your life wondering what might have been.

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Why you must earn before you spend:

Polite request:

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Conclusion:

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We’re all human beings first:

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Respect people and get to know them:

Avoid making assumptions about people:

Seek first to understand:

Identity politics:

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M1: Trading your time for money:

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Things you need to know about money:

1. Having money brings its own pressures:

2. Money can never be more important than people:

3. Money is a precious resource, so use it wisely:

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Getting Rich:

1. Solve problems for people:

2. Risk leads to reward:

3. The magic of compounding:

Further Reading:

Concluding Remarks:

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What is grit?

Grit: The power of passion and perseverance:

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How to become rich:

What is work?

Serving the many:

The value of the IPR:

Build your own business:

The message here:

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