I JUST attended a leadership training event in Seremban: The
Global Leadership Summit Malaysia. The two-day conference blended live
interaction among participants, compelling creative arts presentations, and
curated video sessions of world-class leaders who either spoke or were
interviewed at the Global Leadership Summit in Chicago, Illinois in August. In
one of those eye-opening sessions, Melinda Gates spoke about the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation, which is giving away the bulk of the combined fortunes
of her husband, the world’s richest man, and that of Warren Buffett!
The foundation’s work is driven by one idea — all lives have
equal value.
Today, there are
seven million children who might otherwise have died if not for the
life-enhancing work of that foundation. You’ll be astonished at what you learn
at www.gatesfoundation.org, so please carve out six minutes from your schedule
today to visit that site with pen in hand to write notes on which
health-improving, poverty-eradicating initiatives inspire YOU.
Thankfully, we don’t need billions or even millions of
ringgit to help someone. When I consult with my financial planning and life
planning clients who confide about their deep-seated philanthropic leanings, we
chart plans that allow them to give sensible sums intentionally, regularly and
strategically to improve the lot of many others across our tiny, interdependent
planet!
In most people — but sadly not in all — there is a soft
centre that resonates with the plight of the needy and that yearns to help them
regardless of race, region or religion; colour, caste or creed.
Tragically, there are many more people who would love to
give to charities out of love and a mind of concern, but can’t do so yet
because they don’t even have enough for their own families.
The escalating cost
of living in Malaysia is frustrating and even angering many breadwinners. These
people need solutions to their money woes so they can migrate from a scarcity
mentality (and reality!) to one of super-abundance.
Let’s face it, we can’t help the poor effectively if we
don’t generate surpluses consistently.
In George S. Clason’s
book The Richest Man in Babylon, there is a chapter entitled Seven Cures for a
Lean Purse. Every personal library should have not one, but two copies of
Clason’s classic, written in elegant old English: One copy to be read and
reread by family and the other lent to friends.
These are Clason’s
Seven Cures:
START thy purse to fattening;
CONTROL thy expenditures;
MAKE thy gold
multiply;
GUARD thy treasures from loss;
MAKE of thy dwelling a profitable investment;
INSURE a future income; and,
INCREASE thy ability to earn.
If you’re inclined to
purchase your own copy, but suspect it might take you time to track one down,
here are my thoughts on Clason’s “cures”...
We fatten our wallets and bank accounts by establishing and
heeding a budget that allows us to spend less than we earn — Cures 1 and 2.
We grow our wealth
prudently and effectively by saving and investing based on professional advice
and by avoiding (like the plague!) get-rich-quick schemes that promise
astronomical returns. You see, the only ones who consistently grow rich from
such scams are the scoundrels who initiate them — Cures 3 and 4.
We should aim to buy our own homes and to eventually pay off
our mortgages. We should also transfer most of the inherent economic risks of
living to reputable insurers through cost-effective life and general insurance
policies — Cures 5 and 6.
Lastly, we must
recognise that our minds and our bodies are our most valuable assets.
Therefore, it is smart for us to care for both by investing in career-enhancing
and body-strengthening initiatives — Cure 7. If we do all this well, we will
boost our innate capacity to help ourselves, our loved ones, and deserving
strangers in profound need.
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