What matters is not YOLO
I talked to a group of very successful Peso-Billionaire entrepreneurs last year and said something that got them thinking: “The reason why you and I are now successful in life is because we all come from very poor circumstances, don’t we?”
Everybody nodded in agreement.
I continued, “And now that we have more than enough, the constant nagging sense of worry is that our kids are having everything so comfortable we wonder if they will know how to deal with challenges and adversity of life and be successful through it.”
They sent their children to my leadership workshop and seminar after that. What was intended to be a philosophical challenge turned out to be a good business opportunity for me, which was not my intention at all.
The big difference between Boomers, Generation X and this fascinating bunch of young people called Millennials is the way they think.
Boomers always have a sense of working real hard, staying put and slugging it out and preparing for the future.
Generation X is generally suspicious. They want to make sure that the successful life carries lots of options. There should be multiple income streams, and strategizing life means you and I need to have Plans A,B, C and just to be sure, Plan D as well.
The one glaring mindset of Millennials is that they do not want to plan for the future. The present offers them so many options, so life is too short to waste on future living.
Thus, their “YOLO (“You Only Live Once”) mentality — a vital issue on The Philippine STAR and Cinema One’s Single/Single — plunges them into unhealthy behaviors that mess up their financial well being.
They also have FOMO — “Fear Of Missing Out.”
• They do not want to miss out on the latest travel expo.
•They hate it when they are not the first patrons of a cool bar or restaurant.
•They can’t stand it when their friends are able to shop during a sale and now that they have time to do it, the event is over.
Many young people are paid highly, but at the end of the month, their bank account is in the negative. Their debts run high, they max out their credit cards and search for higher-paying jobs so that they can pay off their debts.
Meanwhile, they are fascinated with the so-called “success stories” told to them by shrewd and scheming salespeople who claim that if they put their money in schemes and scams, they will get rich in a very short time.
And they get sucked into it. This is not a good thing at all. Real and profitable investments involve discipline. Discipline enables us to do things that are good for us.
Discipline enables us to go through a process by which the results provide us the strengthening and rewarding that could not and would not have happened had we not gone through it.
The little money my wife and I had from our salaries as we were starting out in life involved a portion that we devoted to investing in insurance coverage in order to secure us a good future.
We put a portion of our money in real estate properties as well. Rather than thinking of “big-time-one-time” deals, we kept ourselves out of debt.
Instead, we invested in books and education and put our money in instruments that earned interest, so that when a business opportunity came at the proper time — one that was moral, legit and viable — then we would be liquid enough to put the money there, take educated risks and work like crazy to earn more money.
We forced ourselves to save this way. Today, my wife and I are enjoying the rewards.
As we grow in life experience and work-business competencies, we should keep our emotions in check and insist on living a lifestyle with some minor amenities but the discipline of wanting to prepare for a better future. By living a disciplined life and practicing financial health, our financial wellness remains.
Here is the deal: The younger a person is when he or she embarks on the journey of financial learning and discipline, the earlier he or she will enjoy financial success.
That process has to start NOW! Do not go for quick fixes. Be a disciplined person, especially in the area of finances. What will matter most in your life tomorrow is what you do today.
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Single/ Single is a wealth management project of The Philippine STAR in partnership with SunLife, Metrobank, Avida, Samsung, and Ford. It airs on Cinema One every Saturday at 8 p.m., with replays on Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. and Sundays at 10 p.m.
Stay up- to- date on Single/ Single by catching the latest episode synopsis every Sunday in the Entertainment section.
The one glaring mindset of Millennials is that they do not want to plan for the future. The present offers them so many options, so life is too short to waste on future living.