Money, income, bills, investments, does the sheer thought of them make you want to shriek in disgust, curl up into a prickly ball?
What an advantage to those with reliance on advisors of financial savvy! Early on in their lives, while the rest of us still trying to make some sense of the financial world! How many times did the thought strike you "I could be rich now, if only all these facts had come to me as a kid, or at least much earlier." Why then would you let your child experience the same lack of practical financial strategy?
Hillary Adams, a former white collar worker, felt the same, every time her son asked her for an advance. All her talking about not having enough money and his having to be more careful with his spending did not seem to be understood by him.
She needed facts, a way of demonstrating, and soon. About the same time she quit her job and went into business for herself, she began digging for a sensible solution.
First, many nights were spent in books. She discovered the term “passive income” and a fascination with its concept.
Passive Income
Does it mean it just “sits there,” regardless of what one does, it's inactive? Not exactly. Passive income is cash-flow obtained without linear time involvement. In other words, while you sit on the porch knitting, your passive income is generated, non-stop. You only had to do the work once.
Secondly, after Hillary discovered this concept, thought of all the benefits of doing business this way. She began to motivate herself for several days into finding a way to make a small investment, on behalf of her son, with a very important “switch” in mind.
Here is What Hillary Adams did:
She bought a small table-top game machine. As the contraption was delivered, and she and her son Aaron unwrapped it, she let him try it out, play with it, answered his questions, and finally told him: "Aaron, this machine is yours. And even better, all the money it's going to make is yours. However, I am only able to lend you the $227 it took to purchase the machine for a little while. You must pay it back. I'll help you set up the machine the rest is your business. Now, honey, tell me, can you do it?"
Aaron thought for a minute. His answer surprised Hillary: "Mom, I don't know if I could do it by myself. But with you there, I guess so. And after that….Yes, mom, I guess I can do it."
Thirdly, as they set up the machine in a few days, and impatiently waited for their first cash pick-up day to arrive, Hillary noticed the benefits of her actions had already begun to materialize and she was quite pleased.
The exciting “switch” she had intended had taken place, from her son's waiting to be given money to his own plan of action, from “give me” to “I can do it MYSELF.” His attitude, after re-paying her the amount for the table-top game machine would now be the one of a responsible business person. Now that he had done it once, he would always be able to do it. He would not remain in the "poor" thinking mode.
He would eliminate the feeling of lack of money from his life, while he now had the self-esteem and confidence to invest the surplus of his machines, after purchasing a few more, in his very own college fund.
The Moral
Without looking, you don't find. Such a small change is bound to turn Aaron's life around, for he is already on the way to becoming an accomplished business owner. "How old is he?" you ask. He's only 12 years old.
Ina Bliss has written dozens of spirited articles, E-books and web information pages whose daily help to small business owners is widely appreciated. She is the author of The Job Replacement Center(TR) and the Cinderella System(R).
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