Cultivate and Grow Your Assets: Escaping Financial Rat Race

 

Name: Sherlyn C. Tibay                                                                                  Date: November 17, 2022

 

Cultivate and Grow Your Assets: Escaping Financial Rat Race

 

What are your assets? Business-minded people may answer, “money-generating activities.” At some point, it is correct. But this idea is only the tip of the iceberg. Every individual, rich or poor, educated or not, is equally bestowed with the first two most significant assets to become financially stable and to escape the financial Rat Race. The first two principal assets are mind and time. Everybody can think, endowed with the brain to generate thoughts and help oneself grow.

 

Furthermore, everyone has given the same amount of time each day— 24 hours a day. If properly cultivated, these two assets, mind and time, will contribute significantly to the growth of the third asset— money. Here are a few steps to escape financial troubles to develop your assets, mind, time, and money.

 

If you haven’t experienced joining any race at school, for sure, in financial matters, you did – that is Rat Race. A rat race is a weekly routine to find money— no work, no money. To escape the Rat Race is to farm your assets. Money-making is like farming: you plant, care for, or water and let it grow. As we go along the process, I want you to remember these essential concepts:

Your brain is the field.

Financial education is the seed.

Time investment is the water.

Money is the fruit.

 

The first step, plant the seeds of financial literacy. Earn yet not cash but literacy. Instill in your mind the vitality of financial education: 1) knowing how money works; 2) what money can work; 3) and how money can work for you. The second step is to care for the seed and invest time in growing it. Invest an ample amount of time in activities that will contribute to growing your seed. In real-life farming, crop enthusiasts spend plenty of time looking at or creating methods and fertilizers for their plants. Similarly, look for or create opportunities that potentially or promisingly invite money to your pocket. The third step is to handle the fruit wisely but not get scared to take risks.

 

Let’s talk more about your fruit. What to do with the money? As much as possible, don’t just give away your fruit to nonsensical pleasures: doodads, unplanned trips, hangouts, vices, etc. The fourth step, proper management, is distinguishing between wants and needs and understanding liabilities and financial assets. In simple ideas, liabilities are any variable that takes away money from your income box.

In contrast, financial assets are any variable that puts cash in your income box. Ideally, plant the seeds of that fruit to multiply the cash flow in your income box: invest and trade. The fifth step, keep expenses low; both wants and needs are liabilities but always prioritize your needs over your wants to reduce liabilities. The sixth step, keep growing by staying up to the demand and trend; be open to any opportunity or new business idea. Don’t just stay outdated and loyal to your old business methods; venture into new doors to keep up with age.

 

Financial education is a pivotal course of study but is overlooked in school. The school promotes the seed of academic intellect. Consequently, graduates got licensed and felt productive in their professions but failed to manage financial matters and were still Rat Racing. You want to grow mango, but you planted avocado— seed choice plays a leading role. School teaches how to find money; wouldn’t it be better to create money? School emphasizes that we work for money; why not let money work for us instead? A strong foundation is an important principle. Hence, the first step is planting the seed of financial literacy. If you have implanted the healthy seed and invested a productive time with it, you will surely grow a solid and sturdy tree that will never run out of fruits if correctly and consistently tended. Likewise, establish a strong financial education to end the Rat Race scenario and be financially stable throughout your life.