How to Master Money and Not be Dominated by It

Money is an element that will be linked to the human being throughout his life, there is no way to avoid its omnipresence and importance among all the acts he performs since he becomes conscious.

Money establishes control over the temporal dimension of people because it determines moments in which certain things can or cannot be done, a specific time to start or finish something, a moment to stop, and another to move forward. Money has control over the time of the human being and from there, it approaches to take control over his destiny.

The regulatory nature of money also intervenes in the dynamics of the human soul because it significantly influences feelings, defining the degree of joy and sorrow, joy and anxiety. Money can regulate the emotions of the human being and from there it also takes control over his destiny.

Finally, money influences Values: faith, virtue, knowledge, patience, and love. From there it conditions many manifestations of the spirit and takes the final step to govern the destiny of the human being.

Downplaying money or depriving it of its specific place in life is FOOLISH. This only enriches a long history of ignorance regarding the subject.

This story begins many years before the birth of each person because the nature of the relationship with money is determined by parents and grandparents, and their parents and grandparents.

The logic that is built concerning money comes first from the orientation that is received within the family, in that sense the human being is a helpless recipient of the content and quality of the messages.

Family responsibility in education about money is decisive. How it is faced depends on the level of vulnerability that the person has in this regard and how this complex relationship is carried out in the course of her life; Without the appropriate family participation, the weakness of the human being in his relationship with money can take on characteristics that are difficult to modify over time.

The error of families in the process of educating children on the subject of money is based on two aspects:

1.- Parents often say that money is not important.

2.- Parents often affirm that money is not everything in life.

The first affirmation, by other common, is absurd. Money is a very important aspect of the dynamics of life.

The second affirmation is a truism of Perogrullo. Money is not everything in life and for this reason, its specific value should not be increased or decreased.

Interestingly, the families that achieve better results in their relationship with money better educate their children on the matter, and with this, they build another fact of an unquestionable nature: the generational transmission of financial prosperity.

And it is that money, like few things in life, is capable of generating significant levels of frustration among people. People who do not overcome the effects of frustration tend, almost instinctively, to reduce the value of money, and thus they transmit it to their descendants; Those who, on the other hand, do not suffer from this frustration oppositely treat the subject.

The definitive formula for the treatment of money in life is very simple: the human being is the one who must DOMINATE money and not give room to the contrary.

Mastery emerges from knowledge; the older he is, the broader his power and ability to control. When knowledge about money comes from within the family, the effort is a lighter burden and the probability of victory is increased.

Mastery involves submission. Either money is a “servant” or money is a master; a mighty servant or mighty master.

Dominion, in turn, represents sovereignty. Either it is the human being who determines the “how” and “when” concerning the scope and benefits of money, or it is he who establishes the guidelines. The sovereign is not subject, the sovereign determines.

Mastery, finally, means independence. Either money depends on our ability to produce it or our ability depends on money.

How is Mastery over money achieved? Through three ways, all of similar importance:

1.- Having the necessary and sufficient capacity to produce it. Here knowledge is vital, both about the specific dynamics of money and the basic knowledge to generate it through a trade or venture. The lack of knowledge is the final sentence to conclude under the domination of money.

2.- Losing the fear of failure in attempts to produce money. The greater the fear, the less the capacity to produce money and the more meager the final result. This is a matter of character, resolve, and determination to achieve mastery.

3.- Having the ability to SELL “that capacity” to produce money, because as long as the knowledge of a trade or the potential of a venture remains inactive or is not exposed to Demand, it cannot materialize. The ability to produce money must be put into practice in the Market, in the community, and in the social environment that determines economic exchange.

The combination of these three factors is essential in the process of achieving mastery over money. If this is scarce because you do not have the necessary capacity to produce it, the balance is lost in favor of the domination of money over people. If, on the other hand, there is the ability to produce money but it is conditioned by a negative attitude towards risk, the result ends up being the same. Lastly, if the capacity and the character are not effectively set in motion, no quality is perfected. Mastery over money requires that all factors meet and develop a positive synergy.

A fourth factor that could be considered important does not, however, have a direct relationship with the domain: the administration of the money produced. The inability to properly manage money can indeed generate fragility and thus lead to states of precariousness, but in this area, we are talking about efficiency, not effectiveness.

It is necessary to be efficient in managing money because this contributes to stability, but the only thing that guarantees dominance is effectiveness, that is, the specific ability to produce money.

Most of the people in this world suffer from problems with money. Many more are among the “victims” than those who control the phenomenon. Faced with a reality like this, it is a matter of responsibility to be very clear in your statements: with money, you need to be effective rather than efficient; first the mastery is obtained and then the process is optimized.

Those who gain control over money but do not achieve efficiency in its administration probably do not have very good prospects for financial abundance, but in any case, they are extremely likely not to be among the victims.

Mastery over money is then based on knowledge, character, and ability to sell. None of these three elements should fail noticeably.

Knowledge capable of producing money is not necessarily associated with the usual understanding of education or professional training (it does not exclude them, of course). This knowledge is linked to QUALITY. The only knowledge that in itself is enabled to produce money in a sustained manner is that which is practiced with Quality. It’s not about being a scholarly lawyer, it’s about being the Best Lawyer; It is not about being a doctor with years of study and a lot of experience, it is about being the best doctor. And of course, the profession or the specific trade does not matter, because the ice cream man or the blacksmith can be equally or better equipped if he is the Best ice cream man or the Best blacksmith.

Life today does not guarantee anything to those who calculate that by entering the academy they advance in their objective of producing money; more likely it may be reserved for the hairdresser or plumber. Everything lies in the QUALITY with which knowledge is practiced. People should be aware that the greatest knowledge or the best training is just a scroll on the wall without the determination to put it into practice and be ranked as the Best in what is done. Here lies the ability to produce money.

The same applies to those who opt for entrepreneurship as a mechanism to produce money because Distinctive Quality is also demanded of them in the product or services they offer.

Concerning the second element necessary to achieve mastery over money, any requirement falls short. The current life system is implacable and forgives little for the indecisive, the faint-hearted, or the one who does not want to take risks. The world demands Character to accompany any knowledge, and this is forged in misfortune, in adversity, in the fall. Those who a priori avoid all this out of fear, never manage to develop the appropriate Character to travel and pass the tests. Woody Allen said: “It has taken me ten years to succeed overnight.” Character is strengthened with each fall and success is manifested when one gets up again. There are many more who can achieve Quality knowledge than those who can accompany it with the Character that is required.

Lastly, the ability to sell who you are and what you can do is essential. This game is not about “being for yourself”. Money is a product that is traded and therefore has as much to do with one as with the others. People who can only admire their own noses and are unwilling to expose them to others cannot achieve mastery over money. In transactional logic, what one thinks or believes about oneself matters little, it matters what others believe or think about oneself. Knowledge and character can end up unscathed in a closet if they are not sold to others. Gertrude Stein, the American writer stated: “Money is always there; they only change the pockets.” This “pocket change” occurs only when someone “bought” what one WANTED to sell.

Poverty, in essence, is not explained by the lack of money, but rather by the lack of the necessary knowledge to master it.

Sometimes it is discouraging not being able to be more positive or stimulating in the treatment of the subject of money since the subject itself is quite dry. The only thing that obliges is the definitive importance that it has because there are countless problems, anxieties, and misfortunes that are produced by its cause. William Shakespeare the great English poet and playwright said: “If money goes first, all doors open”; and this is a sober truth. The closed doors in life affect the soul and damage the spirit. The money, after all, is there to help open them.

On the other hand, the control achieved over money surely supports the affirmation of that other great man, José Ingenieros, who with the greatest pragmatism bequeathed this phrase: “The happiness that money gives is in not having to worry about he”.