Poor man’s mind, rich man’s mind
THE poor will always remain poorer and the rich will always get richer. Poor tendencies breed poverty. Think rich and you will be rich. Dwell on poverty and you will be poor. Chances of remaining poor when you are negative are very high. Chances of getting richer are higher when you are positive. Why are communities still in poverty when they had children, their leaders and some companies doing so well?
Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Poverty in spirit is different from poor attitudes. Selflessness is different from dwelling on poverty.
What you are does not mean it’s what you would be because there is a mind, which is a game changer. How rich/poor you become is by and large correlated to your thinking. The difference between you and Bill Gates is not the billions but the mindset.
The biggest asset is the mind or the biggest downfall is the mind. Jose Mourinho (Manchester United manager) mentally defeats his opponents before even the match has been played. He bullies the opposition managers (especially Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger).
They call them mind games but MoB Capital calls them winning tactics. Muhammad Ali called himself the greatest before he even won many boxing matches.
His sense of belief in himself was amazing even to the extent of believing he was the prettiest but not the smartest (of course).
He so much dwelled on his positive attributes. He really motivated himself and didn’t wait to be motivated and it worked. He is the greatest and was arguably the most decorated heavyweight boxer of all time. He told himself he was and he became just that.
Being apologetic, shy and having excuses or feeling pity for yourself would not change your poor status quo. In fact it will worsen it. Get up, get positive and conquer the world because it’s ready for your taking.
The world is tired waiting for you to take your rightful place just change your thinking.
Funny how you can’t visualise poverty it just happens but on the other side being rich you can see it before it happens. Being rich here is in the broader sense of your financial well being. The power of the mind is amazing.
We accept poor traits to the detriment of our financial well being. We mourn, complain, fear a lot, lower standards, easily content, negative and yet complain of poverty. A state of the mind determined the latitude and it still does.
You spend so much time in poverty then you will get poverty stricken. The more you surround yourself with people with a giving up mentality the more you sink. You can’t expect to be a winner when you spend time with losers. Spend time thinking about what you want to become not what you are or what you don’t what to be. Spend more time with people that challenge you and uplift you and that is infectious. Surround yourself with average performers then you will remain mediocre and you have yourself to blame.
How do you learn when there are no lessons to be derived from your surroundings? Idea bankrupt friends will lead to poverty in no time.
An inspirational speaker talks about spending 33 percent of your time with those below you so that it makes you feel good about yourself. The other 33 percent of your time spend it with your peers to gauge how great you are doing in your life. The remainder of your time spend with people who are 10 times more than what you are so that you can learn from them. That is the balance you are looking for in your life.
Same environment breeds same thinking and that cultivates stunted growth. Comfort zones created are havens for reduced growth.
You will be assured to remain static if you don’t seek motivation that is challenging enough.
Stimulate your thinking buds to unlock value in a personal manner by interacting with crowds that push your boundaries. Like the Holy Book says bad company corrupts good morals.
The mind boggles with all these NGOs and intervention methods our communities still remain poverty stricken. With all Government initiatives still rural people remain poor. With all innovative ideas of funding and crowd funding non-urban areas still haven’t caught onto it.
Who is to blame? How come urban areas are eager and faster in assimilating such initiatives? It can only be a culture challenge. A warped culture won’t change anything on the ground.
As long as the mind isn’t yet ready nothing will change on the ground in a million years. Our culture towards poverty alleviation both the giver and the recipient needs relook.
Whichever way something is wrong because we are still poor when we started poor despite numerous interventions for a very long period of time.
Is it because our spirits are so poverty stricken that we don’t even want to imagine anything other than poverty.
MoB Capital is a microfinance institution (MFI), which is in a poverty alleviation sector. How many MFIs do we have in the country? Has MoB Capital and others alleviated poverty in our communities? Are firms like MoB Capital to blame or its communities that are so instruction proof that they never take necessary advice seriously?
He (she) who wants more to come out of poverty eventually does as they say where there is a will a way will be found. Those that want it (riches) so much eventually get it.
In addition I know I cannot stop thoughts crossing through my mind but thoughts that will linger on in my mind that I will control going forward because I have the power to. For as a man thinketh so he shall be.
IF YOU LIVE IN BYO PLEASE CONSERVE WATER
IF YOU LIVE IN ZIMBABWE PLEASE USE ELECTRICITY SPARINGLY: SOS (SWITCH OFF SWITCHES) IF YOU LIVE ON PLANET EARTH PLEASE PRESERVE THE ENVIRONMENT
Morris Mpala is the managing director of MOB Capital Limited, a Bulawayo headquartered micro-finance institution with footprint across the country.