By Daniel Sampayo
The article you are about to read can be very intimidating, but very useful at the same time. The reason being that it will touch on the most sensitive thing we value- money. They say the truth shall set you free. I believe it will in the words that follow.
There are two concepts confusing the youth today. One is happiness and the other is success. While there are definitions in the dictionaries, in real life, you need to define them yourself. Many of us the youth are so desperate of being employed. We have become chronic complainers for the State to create jobs. However, we are not prepared to handle what money can do to us.
Stories of graduates being swindled thousands of dollars by people pretending to be principals are common. Our desperation for employment has grown horns that we do not even take a minute and think things over. I am deeply disturbed by what is happening these days. A graduate gets employed, enjoys less than a year of his or her labour and all of a sudden back paddle into the whips and shackles of poverty and struggle. Some even go to an extent of being broke immediately on payday.
I can relate today’s employment to a gamble. A gambler keeps betting until one day he or she wins big - thousands or even millions of dollars. Then spend the money recklessly. After some time, the same gambler will be back to the same or even worse position they were in before.
What is happening with employment today is, that a person seeks for a post, get recruited and then live a better life. After a short period, usually four to six months, the person goes and take tens or even hundred thousands of dollars of debt. This money is spent recklessly and all of a sudden, the same individual goes back to the same or even worse position they were before. Darren Hardy once said, “When people get started in a new endeavour, they almost always overdo it.”
Employment has become a double-edged sword. It can make your life easier or harder. For those not yet employed, it is crucial that we prepare ourselves so that when the time comes, we can avoid taking the same road. A different road needs paving and we have to become contributors in society from our labour.
Why most of us go through this same road is because we are so desperate to have all the finest things money can buy overnight. This mindset is pushing many youth deep into debt. A wise man once said, “Money can’t make you happy, but it can give you comfort.” Happiness is not a destination it is a mindset. We can only find it within. Brian Tracey once said, “The world is full of unhappy, frustrated people who are convinced that they can change the outer aspects of their lives while leaving their inner attitudes of mind unchanged. This is simply not possible.”
The surprising thing is that the mistakes others have made are the same ones we make. Why? The answer is simple - we have the same mindset. Until you change your thinking, only then can you make a difference. When you reason from the viewpoint of desperation, the results will always be regretful. Common things deliver common results. Today, we have young people who are committing suicide and retiring just to settle their debt. We have all heard the saying, “Rome was not built in one day.”
What you can do to make a difference?
Some blessings can become curses if you let them. While you are busy looking and praying for a job, the most important thing you can do is define what happiness and success is to you individually; or you will end up following the followers. Also, read books to educate yourself. Reading can be the most boring activity, but if you want to lead a different life, you just need to make time for it.
Furthermore, ask advice from people who use their incomes in a sensible manner. You can’t go to a sick doctor if you are sick. Always remember that birds of a feather flock together. If your friends are drowning in debt, be careful of how much time you spend with them, because bad habits are more contagious than good habits. If you are already into debt, focus on repaying it back than piling up more and more. It is not what happens that matters; it is what you do about it. Someone once said, “If you find that you have dug yourself into a hole stop digging.”