I met my grandfather some time ago to complain to him about how I found it difficult to save after being paid my salary.
I attributed my financial problem to my boss being a ritualist. In fact, I concluded that my boss was a ritualist and that when he paid me, he indirectly restored the money to himself, leaving me stranded.
When I explained my ordeal to my grandfather, the old man started laughing at me. He said he was shocked to hear someone of my generation talk about ritualism in this modern age. He said that people of his age were the ones expected to wallow in beliefs about spiritualities that likely didn’t exist.
My grandfather said to me that my boss was not behind my financial problems, but rather I was. I was quick to hear how it was my problem, and he said that he had noticed that ever since I got the job upon graduating from a higher institution, I had been living in luxury.
He told me that my problem was not with my boss but with the way I spent each time I was paid my salary. My inability to control my wants was what was keeping me in my present condition.
Finally, he told me that to start from somewhere, I should try creating an account that I could only withdraw from and ensure that I made it a habit to always transfer 65% of my salary to that account.
He made me promise that I must do it, and of course, he’s my grandfather, and I respect him so much. I took his advice and opened a bank account just as he instructed. I had an agreement with the bank that I could only withdraw from the account after five years.
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Days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and months turned into years. It has been five years already. I didn’t go ahead to withdraw my funds; instead, I extended it to another five years. Hello, do you know that after ten years of saving 65% of my hard-earned salary, by the time I went to withdraw it, I was already a millionaire?
From the money, I bought land, built my dream house, and at the same time, got married to a woman I recently fell in love with. From that same money, I started a business for my wife, and of course, we were living a good life.
I decided to try that saving pattern again and elongated it to 20 years. I encouraged my wife to do the same, and she did the same thing.
Unfortunately, my grandfather was not alive to witness my testimony, but I am very grateful to him for helping me navigate my years of financial problems.
Today, I am living a fulfilled life, all thanks to my grandfather, who didn’t allow my shallow thought of my boss being a ritualist to obstruct me from making progress.
To be honest, it was a very difficult journey, but it paid off. Learn to save your money; it will help you a lot. No one is bewitching you from making progress; it is just you who has not set up your mind to become successful.
Stop thinking that people are after your progress. Stay focused, learn a skill, and invest in improving it.
Thank you for coming around. See you in the next story.