Time, energy and money key to translating ideas into action

 

Bananas imported from Uganda on sale at Nakuru’s Wakulima Market. The World Bank and Retirement Benefits Authority have reached an agreement to boost the retirement scheme for millions working in the informal sector. PHOTO/SULEIMAN MBATTIAH  NATION

 

By PATRICK WAMEYO

In Summary

• Fellow Kenyan youth, the poor anywhere in the world are more concerned than the wealthy about the prospects of never accumulating enough wealth or not being wealthy enough to retire in comfort. In fact, they spend more time worrying about these issues than taking proactive steps to change their tendencies to over-consume and under-invest

Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko are celebrated authors known for their research on the affluent in America since 1973. In The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy, a firsthand account of such research on the wealthy for a pension fund client, the two authors provide a first class record of the defining characteristics of first generation millionaires and the poor alike.

Among other issues, they discuss the use of time, energy, and money among these disparate groups as well as planning and control of spending.

Thomas Stanley and William Danko agree that efficiency is one of the most important components of accumulating wealth. Efficient allocation of time, energy, and money dedicated to wealth building activities is a critical differentiator between the habits of the poor and the wealthy. The wealthy were found to allocate their time, energy, and money efficiently and in ways that are in sync with building wealth.

On planning and controlling consumption, they observe that “only those with considerable wealth want to know exactly how much of their family spends on each and every category.”

In “Follow Your Dreams With Actions To Create Wealth,” we discussed the need to follow through an idea with action. Many people out there, young and old alike, have spent long hours defining their life purpose and can write a book on it, yet they have never started off. Instead, they continue to focus on other priorities that shield them with temporary comfort.

Proactive steps

Fellow Kenyan youth, the poor anywhere in the world are more concerned than the wealthy about the prospects of never accumulating enough wealth or not being wealthy enough to retire in comfort. In fact, they spend more time worrying about these issues than taking proactive steps to change their tendencies to over-consume and under-invest.

While dreams and desires are essential for starting off and sustaining momentum for wealth accumulation, they are formless ends until action goes in to turn the wish bone into a backbone. An idea must receive sufficient time, energy, and money dedicated for its translation into a wealth generation system to be worth anything.

There is an inverse relationship between the time spent purchasing luxury items such as cars and clothes and the time spent planning one’s financial future. Your time is perfectly within your control all the time.

— Patrick Wameyo is a financial literacy educator and coach.