Yesterday, I accompanied one of my cousins to an uncle's place. This guy needed a loan to kickstart his business again. For 15 to 16 months he got caught up in some familial commitments which needed some crazy amount of money to deal with, and because he was unavailable to work, a flourishing business took a hit, and now he has no money to continue.
On the surface, people would easily see this guy as an ostentatious person, but he came from such family where he was the most Financially equipped individual, he has an insatiable mother, and sisters who refused to work to earn a living.
He was a young hustler who got caught up in taking care of family responsibilities. He was surrounded by people who were not economically innovative. They're not driven to work.
Poverty is like a norm to them, and because they had someone around them who was making some money and building a small thriving business.
Their sense of entitlement made it difficult for them to see the need to individually equip themselves to hustle. It was crazy and saddening to see him in such a financial situation.
I am in a mess myself, battling some of the worst health conditions, a healthy brother who doesn't want to work to earn a living, familial responsibilities and recently paying heavily (financially) for some of the stupid mistakes I made recently.
We were both broke, mine was worse because I couldn't hustle like him. He was the type of guy who built a business from scratch with little or no finance. He's the type of guy that I could easily invest my last penny in, and he'd forget that we're family and make sure I got my ROI. But I was struggling to pay my way out of trouble.
Long story short. This uncle of ours refused to loan him the money because he felt he shouldn't be going broke. True. This guy was someone who shouldn't be going broke,
The Complexity Of Financial Expectations
If you're an African, born in a family where no one is making attempts to beat poverty just like you're doing, this is when you'll understand that money is like fuel, it needs extremal nurture (fire) to keep it burning.
At 34, my cousin has spent more more taking care of family expenses than he's raised his life. For a guy who works 18 hours a day, he lives moderately, and funds the lifestyle of people whose entitlement mentality has finally rendered him broke again, and back to ground zero.
Ground zero is a tough place
sometimes your financial discipline is not enough to keep you afloat. A lot of times, when the people in our lives do not extol the same financial discipline as us, it's difficult to thrive on our discipline alone.
This is why it's important to understand the concept of education and exposure. A lot of people make money solely for themselves, they're thriving people the people around them have chosen to be financially responsible. Some others are not as lucky as this. When you're related to, or have people in your life who are not financially responsible, then you're fighting two battles on two fronts.
A lot of people go broke not because they're not hardworking, but because they're the only ones who choose to work hard
The familial bond is such a revered one, especially in many African societies so much that, some people take advantage of this bond to create entitlement and milk those who are struggling hard to make a living for themselves. We cannot control what people choose to be.
We cannot influence their choice to be responsible. No one chooses the type of financial background they were born into, this is why people who are supposed to go far financially ends up in ground zero.
The ladder of financial discipline is difficult to climb
.....it's important to understand that no one is actually rich enough until their expenditure (no matter how huge it is) does not affect their passive or active income. A lot of generational breadwinners, no matter how innovative they are do not get to this level because they didn't nurture their money, or grow their business enough.
It's saddening.
A lot of people believe that poverty is a norm and they can only be liberated from it by another person.
They deem themselves incapable of working to set themselves free, making them dependent mostly on people who are truly struggling to set themselves free. Yesterday was an eye-opening experience for me, it showed me that not a lot of people are only invested in you because you're much more vested in them, the moment you're incapable, this is when you become surplus to requirement.
Interested in some more of my works
Is it Easy To Make Money?
Nigeria: A Unique Business Market & Industry
Virtual Bank Apps In Nigeria: An Experience Of Gamification
How To Find The Next "BIG" Meme Coin
Personal Finance: Achieving Intentional "Saving" Goals
Playing The Survival Game: Human Nature In Introspection
"Un-PAYING" The Debt You Owe
