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There is no ‘blue pill’ solution to our financial problems. We need to get into shape one day at a time and take control of our financial situation.  

In a previous article on the difference between wealth and riches, I offered readers a free template to assist you calculate your net worth as a basis for determining where you are today. 

A number of people emailed to ask if they could get an automated template which they would just need to type in a few figures and the rest would be done automatically.  This brought back to mind a study which showed that over 80 percent of those who use the drug Viagra do not actually suffer from erectile dysfunction!

There is a lot of excitement about this little blue pill that was discovered by accident (the researches where actually looking for a cure for a heart ailment. The pill was a failure in what it was expected to do, but had a very interesting side effect; un-stimulated erections.) For many men this meant that their inability to launch would soon be something of the past, but to others a new toy was discovered, thus its prolific widespread use.

Sex like wealth are not an overnight happening, both need an enabling environment – sex is the return from your investment in a relationship, profit is the return from your investment in a business. They are what are called, the icing on the cake. The widespread use of the little blue pill is actually a clear reflection of our investment attitude and affinity for quick fixes or returns.  Look at the billions we pumped into the infamous pyramid schemes all as a result of our need for quick and instant returns, and just like the effects of the pill, the pyramid went up and sooner than later went limp. I am not trying to imply that the pill has not helped many who genuinely suffered from a condition referred to as erectile dysfunction.  But ask any pharmacist about the number of pills sold, especially on Fridays, and you would be right to think that 50 percent of the male population in Nairobi suffers from erectile dysfunction, and about 20 percent of women.

Most of those who are using the pill for recreational purposes are like those of us who refuse to make the sacrifices with our current earnings to create wealth.  We do not want to change our financial or culinary diets, but instead keep looking for quick fixes to our self inflicted conditions.

Wealth making is not quick fix

We live beyond our means and hope that a new, better paying job or a salary increase will sort out our problems yet all we need to do is work towards living within our means.  One of the main causes of erectile dysfunction is cholesterol build-up caused by our unhealthy eating habits which results in narrowing of blood vessels. By changing our eating habits such as reducing your intake of animal fat, nyama choma na fry (roast meat), excessive and regular alcohol intake, and cigarette smoking, this condition can be reversed. 

The little blue pill increases your blood pressure to force more blood through those narrowed blood vessels, which is the same solution we try to achieve when we borrow to meet our none essential expenses instead of trying to eliminate those expenses.  The loan sorts out the symptom but does not cure the problem, just like the little blue pill cures a symptom but not the underlying problem. It is also recommended that we increase our intake of fruits and vegetables, forget the statements you heard your fathers yell at your mothers that they were not goats to be fed on grass (read greens).  As you might have noticed, many of them have been outlived by the same women, or suffer those so called lifestyle ailments leading to an early need for a little blue pill.

In the same way your financial diet cannot consist only of spending, but needs to be balanced with saving and investing.  Your investments also need to be diversified and by this I do not mean buying shares from multiple companies, but investing across the different classes of investment vehicles namely portfolio or equity (private & public), businesses, real estate and insurance.

The other major cause of erectile dysfunction is constant stress, usually caused by working at a job you do not like, working in a field you despise, fear of being fired, retrenched, downsized, right sized, outsized or terminated; being unable to meet yourself imposed expenses such as “new” car, lavish furnishings, extravagant Christmas holiday, designer shoes and image socialising. Or trying to keep up with the Jones’s (neighbours, friends and workmates), balancing between family and your mistress, which leads to performance anxiety. 

How money is made

We all know how to resolve these stress issues, but it requires too much time and sacrifice which we do not do; and why should I, when there is a little blue pill.  Flash your credit card to pay for that 5th pair of shoes you have bought this year, and taking that unsecured loan to clear the holiday costs, all it took was a signature, no need to even walk to the bank, and no personal loan vendors came to your doorstep.

Last but not least is our sedentary lifestyles; we eat heavily and workout lightly. We have bought into a lifestyle of inactivity, three-hour traffic jams, three-hour facebook sessions, three-hour car washing, three-hours of TV viewing.  When we are forced to walk for a kilometre we bemoan at the city councils lack of sympathy.

Get off our butts and get active, go to the gym or buy a bicycle to ride around the estate.  For those who can afford it, a treadmill would help; it only costs the equivalent of six months of satellite TV subscription.  Park your car one kilometre or more from your place of work; the two kilometres of exercise a day would help you lose those not so sexy love handles and pot belly resulting in unassisted performance enhancement.

Our investments are done by remote control, we prefer mutual funds and initial public offerings (IPO) which do not require long term attention; after that we sit back and wonder why our investment is not growing.  We love to own, so when you need transport you buy the means of transport, you want to watch FA soccer finals on a 42” LCD TV so you buy one; you need to go on holiday twice a year in Mombasa so you buy a time share.

Wealth is a destination

Our investments are sedentary that is why they are getting sluggish in their returns, so when an opportunity presents itself for a quick return that seems like it will sort out your 10 years of financial inactivity we jump in feet first.  Pyramid schemes, unsecured loans, further study, harebrained schemes, social centred investment groups, tips and deals will not sort out your mess; wealth is a destination so start the journey now.  As a wise Chinese man said, a first step taken is half way to destination.

The 1960’s generation, of which I am a member, were called the instant coffee generation.  This is because we were grown in the local villages, exported to western style schools and returned fine grained just like the coffee beans our parents grew.

The 1970’s and 80’s generations will most likely be called the pill poppers. There is no blue pill solution to our financial and physical problems. We need to get into shape one day at a time, take control of your work situation, reduce you alcohol intake, exercise a little more, talk to your spouse more frequently (screaming about your socks or your new car does not count), follow the stock market, start a business, attend an investment seminar, experience Cashflow 101, dump that savings group trying to impersonate an investment group. Take control and smell the flowers.

Curled from SmartbizAfrica online newsletter.
 
 

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