In a YouTube video Money is Fuel Simon Sinek explains the role of money in business.
Money is fuel and fuel is very important. There is nothing wrong with money, it is just we have to understand the purpose of money. So the company is the car and money is the fuel.
So I don’t care how amazing you’re just cause is and how wonderful your culture is, if you have no money, you don’t go anywhere. You might have bought the most beautiful car, you got no gas, you got nowhere to go. The purpose of a car is not to buy gas. The purpose of a company is not to make money.
The purpose of a car is to go somewhere and fuel helps you get there. The purpose of a company is to accomplish something – to advance a greater cause; to contribute to society and money will help you get there. Fuel is very necessary and very important, but it is not the reason we bought the car in the first place.
A well-known quote of Zig Ziglar is that “you can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.” Therefore the focus is on serving the needs of other people and the money will come to you in return. But if your focus is to make money, your greed will most probably turn people off.
A few weeks ago in our letter and blog about “meaningful work” I wrote that our mission in this world is to serve each other’s needs with the talents God has given us. Serving others is what work is all about. Money is a reward for serving others well.
# Zig Ziglar in Over the Top writes that our relationship with money affects almost every other aspect of our lives. When making as much money as possible is the main focus of your life, then it will most probably have a negative impact on basically every other aspect of your life.
Ziglar points out that true contentment and total success come from the things money can’t buy. We all like nice clothes, a beautiful residence, big, comfortable cars, and so on.
But then Ziglar points out that he love the things money won’t buy. He says that money will buy me a house, but not a home; a bed, but not a good night’s sleep; pleasure, but not happiness; a good time, but not peace of mind; a companion, but not a friend.
If you go for standard of living (money) first, you will probably earn considerable sums of money, but you will have no guarantee that your quality of life will improve. However if you go for quality of life first, your standard of living will inevitably go up. With this approach you will arrive at the end of life’s road with more of the things money will buy and far more of the things that money can’t buy.
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. (Mat 6:24)
Doing work that you really love can also have a huge influence on your quality of life. A Career Direct Assessment will help you know and understand your authentic self. It makes all the difference.
Also tune in to my program “Jy die Entrepreneur” Monday evenings at 20:00 on Radio Namakwaland www.934fm.co.za.
