Hey there, I am David - a philosopher, writer and entrepreneur, who studied Philosophy and Linguistic in Austria and Management in Thailand. Currently I live, work and write in Munich.
With this post, I would like to introduce myself and let you know what I am contemplating and learning for years now. This will also be the topic, I am going to write here in the next days and weeks. Below you find my »Manifesto«. Enjoy it. Comment it. I am looking forward to hear from all of you.
Manifesto - »the art of dominating money«
Money is everywhere
When was the last time you used money? Five minutes ago, when you bought your lunch? Yesterday, when you did your shopping?
Even when you did not use money within the last hours, you are most likely living in a place with water and electricity at hand. To get those services you have to pay. You pay rent, you pay for water, you pay for electricity. Maybe not now, but you will pay at the end of the month.
We use money all the time. There is hardly a day where we don’t pay for anything, buy anything or receive money. Those transactions became so natural for us, we don’t even think about them anymore.
Money is powerful
Money is very important. Did you ever run out of cash? Then you know what I mean. If you don’t have money to pay and no one accepts your credit or debit card, you are suddenly expelled from the world of the living people. You are an outcast. You can’t take a taxi, you have to walk. You are not allowed to sit in a coffee-shop, you have to sit on the street. You do not even get water or food from a shop, you have to find something else. Without money life is tough.
Money plays undeniable a major role in our daily routine, unless you are a hermit, a small child or someone living an experimental way of life.
Who is dominating whom?
If you don’t master the art of handling money, money will dominate and enslave you. Look around. Many people out there are living from paycheck to paycheck. They work hard to pay off student-loans, mortgages and consumer debts. They do not control money. Money controls them.
If you master the art of handling money, you will dominate money and you will be free. Look around. There are people around there who manage to do so. They are free. Free to chose where to live. Free to chose what to work. Free to chose what to do.
Money influences our lives, if we like it or not. If we can control it, our lives will prosper. If it controls us, we will suffer.
We lack money-education
Money is really important. Therefore, we would expect someone teaching us how to handle it while we grow up. Think back to your school time. When did you learn about »money«? Was there a subject named »money«? Most likely not. You learned about the French Revolution, how to set commas in a text and how to solve quadratic equations. Valuable knowledge and skills, if you want to become a historian, a writer or a technician. But the most import knowledge and skill a person in the 21st century needs – the skill to handle money – was not taught in school. Something that everyone – even historians, writers and technicians – needs to know.
Being money smart
I was learning and studying all my life. After a spending some years focussing on electronics and IT, I studied Philosophy, Linguistics and Management. I was running my own business for several years. During all this time of learning and experiencing, no one ever taught me what money is and how it works. I did not even realize that there is something to learn about money.
This changed when I moved to Thailand. I had a friend – Steve. We were living in the same building. We studied at the same university. We had dinner at same restaurants. We traveled to the same places. But the way we handled money was completely different. At the end of each month, his bank account grew, while mine shrank. He was money-smart. I was not.
One day, we were sitting at a coffee-shop. I drank my espresso. Steve got his cappuccino. He started talking. He told me some general things about money, investing, value and saving. Things I never really thought about. Steve suggested me to read »Rich Dad, Poor Dad«, a book that helped him quite a lot.
I got a copy of the book and read it all at once. I was amazed. It seems like I found the secret of Steve. The book was so clear and so precise in its thoughts. It made me want to know more.
The next months, I read everything I could get about money: I plowed through the shelves of the university library. I spent days at bookstores. I read my way through several blogs on the internet. I learned that there is information out there, but this information needs to be found and extracted.
The Art of Dominating Money
The more I read, the clearer it became: Handling money is an art, but it is not rocket-science. There is no need for complicated financial mathematics, sophisticated language or stingy saving. There are only a couple of basic principles. These principles needs to be understood and applied. This is what »Mastering the Art of Dominating Money« means. Everyone should learn this art. Mastering money is vital for a good live. It is the basis.
Since three years now, I have been into this topic. And I will share some of the insights with you here on steemit.
Mastering money is not rocket science. It shouldn’t be made more complicated as it is. Everyone is able to master this art. And I wish that many will do so.