By Edwin Ngwane
“A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things.” – Ecclesiastes 10:19

The debate about money is huge is our communities. Some believe it is the root of all evil even when the Bible is very clear that it is THE LOVE OF MONEY which is, the root of all evil. Not money.

There are people who even think “those” with more money are greedy people. What is more surprising, is that most people who think money is not important, are always the ones looking out for a little more money in their lives.

Let’s be real. Money is important. And the more you have it, the better your life becomes. If your life is not becoming better with money, I advise you to seek help my friend. That’s not normal.

Your church needs money. Mother Theresa who helped millions of vulnerable people used money to achieve that objective. Your family needs money. Your government needs more money. And it’s always cool to go out on a date with a wallet full of cash..

Now that we agree that more is important, how can we make more? That’s what I call a billion dollar question! We need more money! Money is equal to happiness after all. Let’s explore how you can make more money.

1. BELIEVE IN ABUNDANCE
Life is all about the Mindset. What you believe, you live. Before God created man he created everything man needed in advance. Everything… This earth is full of abundance yet only those who believe in abundance can see and find.

Whenever I look at the top 100 billionaires in the world, I get inspired. They are not of the same age, gender, country, height, race, tribe etc. They also don’t do the same type of business. They are all different. Wow! It means even you can do it!

Whenever they are asked about their beliefs, most of them believe in abundance. They look at the world as a whole. They provide services and products to the whole world. They don’t have a limited mindset. They don’t just look at their country, race or gender when they are doing business. They are limitless.

Abundance is everywhere. Your country have what other countries don’t have and other countries have what your country doesn’t have. But that does not mean there isn’t abundance. Because you can always use what you have to get what you don’t have.

Believe in abundance. The world has a lot for everyone.

2. LEARN MORE
Learning is another way to earn more. There are people who say, first you have to lean and then go and remove the letter L. A learned person will always get paid more than someone who is not learned. A skilled person is more valuable than someone unskilled.

The only challenge with this is that we have people with papers who are not learned. They have understood that having degrees is more important than acquiring the knowledge and skills. People have more pride in displaying papers instead of skills. No wonder they buy these papers!

I am not talking about buying doctorate degrees. Education should not only be used as a status symbol. Education should be our foundation for real transformation. With skills and knowledge, the world becomes a better place.

But if you want to earn more, you will need to learn the skills which will make you give more value to your company and they will pay you more because you will be contributing more to the company with your new skills. Not papers.

You can also sharpen the skills you already have by cultivating a spirit of continuous self improvement. You should always be hungry to learn more, do more and give more in terms of value to your organization.

And if the company you work does appreciate your value, try looking out for opportunities with other companies who can pay the more for your value. There is absolutely nothing wrong with seeking what is good for you and your family. A better salary is always a good thing.

3. INVEST IN YOUR PERSONALITY
“Work on being, not on having. With what you are, you will have. Don’t work on having anything. Work on being something. Invest in your personality.” – Pastor Chris

One of the best examples I can give to illustrate this point is on the issue of my field – public speaking. Malcolm Gladwell or Tony Robbins will charge above US$100,000 to come and speak to you about Entrepreneurship. Bill Clinton asks US$300,000 for speaking.

Yet, there are so many speakers in the World who cannot even dare ask for 10% of what Bill Clinton asks for. Why? Because Bill Clinton is a huge personality! He wasn’t like that at first. But he managed to invest in his personality to the point where you can pay him US$300,000 so he can tell you a story about how his wife lost the election.

CEOs, Sports Stars, Celebrities, Celebrated Pastors, Entrepreneurs, Senior Government Officials, Influential Public Figures etc. are paid huge sums of money in terms of salaries and allowances because they took time to invest in their personalities. They worked had and became the best in their chosen fields.

Invest in your personality. Be the best in your chosen field. I can tell you that someone will pay to take a selfie with you..

4. BECOME AN ENTREPRENEUR
One of the comments on my article called “10 Steps To Starting A Successful Business” was, “easier said than done”. I don’t remember using the word EASY in that article. It wasn’t “10 EASY STEPS”.

I wasn’t providing insight to people who want an easy way out of life. Business is not easy. But its very rewarding once things come in place.

It is also worth mentioning that nothing worthy in life comes easy. A great fulfilling relationship is not easy. Raising children is not easy. Working for others is not easy. Climbing the corporate ladder is not easy. Waiting for pension isn’t easy. Being a Christian is not easy. Why would you look for an easy way out?

Anyway, most people think successful people are just lucky. It is the same reason why people think are also looking for their luck. Good luck with that… For anyone who thinks success is a matter of luck, I have advice for you → you can also try your luck at the casino.

You should always understand that high
risk ventures are also very rewarding. Ventures which everyone can do are very competitive and less rewarding. If you want the comfortable zone where you don’t lose any money and work 8hrs a day, business is not for you. And I respect that.

But if you are one of those people who don’t want to make one investment called pension, start a business now. You can start what I call a Side Hustle (Any type of business you run whilst working full time). It’s very challenging but once you are good to go, you will be happy with yourself for having made that decision.

And if you don’t have money and not employed, you can still start something without money if you are resourceful. Contact me if you want ideas on this (I do it for free). But it’s not an easy way out. You can always come up with an idea on how you can provide a solution for a problem and get paid for it. You can also read my article 10 Steps To Starting A Successful Business.

5. FIND A SOLUTION TO A PROBLEM AND MONETIZE
Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, once said; “If you find people complaining, and you provide a solution for that complaint, you have an opportunity to win”. I think no one has revealed a secret for making money like Jack Ma. Look out for people complaining, find a solution, charge them and get paid. Just like that.

We live in a world full of problems. But most people focus more on acknowledging the problems and complaining about them instead of looking for solutions. As I write this article I even understand that some people think it’s not right to make money by taking advantage of people’s problems.

You are not taking advantage. You are providing solutions. If you go to a remote place and you find people don’t have clean water, then you dig a borehole and start charging them to access your clean water, is that being human or inhuman. I think it’s being a good example of an excellent human being.

The people in that area might stop losing lives due to drinking and using unclean water. Your solution will save lives. But in the process, you will make money for yourself and your family. It’s a win-win situation. I can tell you that there are so many people who just ignore problems. But if you can offer a solution and make money, that’s what I call great entrepreneurship my friend.

6. INVEST YOUR MONEY TO MAKE YOU MORE MONEY
Lastly, you cannot increase what you don’t treasure. When you make more money, use it to make more money and help more people. Money has to be used well and treasured. The only way you can make money while you are asleep is by investing it.

There are so many ways of investing money.
a) Invest in your religion – Give tithes and offerings
b) Invest in real estate – the value is always increasing
c) Invest in people – develop and nurture future leaders
d) Invest in charity works – God says when you give money to the poor, you lend to him. What an investment! No bank can give you more interest than God.

By making more money and using that money to better a lot of people’s lives, you contribute more to life.

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Edwin is a Banker, Motivational Speaker & Entrepreneur