THE POWER OF MONEY:Singapore 's youngest millionaire at 26 yrs

POWER OF MONEY

By: Adam Khoo ( Singapore 's youngest millionaire at 26 yrs.)

Some of you may already know that I travel around the region pretty frequently, having to visit and conduct seminars at my offices in Malaysia , Indonesia , Thailand and Suzhou ( China ) . I am in the airport almost every other week so I get to bump into many people who have attended my seminars or have read my books.

Recently, someone came up to me on a plane to KL and looked rather shocked. He asked, 'How come a millionaire like you is traveling economy?' My reply was, 'That's why I am a millionaire. ' He still looked pretty confused.

This again confirms that greatest lie ever told about wealth (which I wrote about in my latest book 'Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires'). Many people have been brainwashed to think that millionaires have to wear Gucci, Hugo Boss, Rolex, and sit on first class in air travel. This is why so many people never become rich because the moment they earn more money, they think that it is only natural that they spend more, putting them back to square one.

The truth is that most self-made millionaires are frugal and only spend on what is necessary and of value. That is why they are able to accumulate and multiply their wealth so much faster.

Over the last 7 years, I have saved about 80% of my income while today I save only about 60% (because I have my wife, mother in law, 2 maids, 2 kids, etc. to support). Still, it is way above most people who save 10% of their income (if they are lucky).

I refuse to buy a first class ticket or to buy a $300 shirt because I think that it is a complete waste of money. However, I happily pay $1,300 to send my 2-year old daughter to Julia Gabriel Speech and Drama without thinking twice.

When I joined the YEO (Young Entrepreneur's Orgn) a few years back (YEO is an exclusive club open to those who are under 40 and make over $1m a year in their own business), I discovered that those who were self-made thought like me. Many of them with net worth well over $5 m, travelled economy class and some even drove Toyotas and Nissans, not Audis, Mercs, BMWs..

I noticed that it was only those who never had to work hard to build their own wealth (there were also a few ministers' and tycoons' sons in the club) who spent like there was no tomorrow. Somehow, when you did not have to build everything from scratch, you do not really value money. This is precisely the reason why a family's wealth (no matter how much) rarely lasts past the third generation.

Thank God my rich dad foresaw this terrible possibility and refused to give me a cent to start my business.

Then some people ask me, 'What is the point in making so much money if you don't enjoy it?' The thing is that I don't really find happiness in buying branded clothes, jewellery or sitting first class. Even if buying something makes me happy it is only for a while, it does not last.

Material happiness never lasts, it just gives you a quick fix. After a while you feel lousy again and have to buy the next thing which you think will make you happy. I always think that if you need material things to make you happy, then you live a pretty sad and unfulfilled life..

Instead, what makes me happy is when I see my children laughing and playing and learning so fast. What makes me happy is when I see my companies and trainers reaching more and more people every year in so many more countries.

What makes me really happy is when I read all the emails about how my books and seminars have touched and inspired someone's life.

What makes me really happy is reading all your wonderful posts about how this blog is inspiring you. This happiness makes me feel really good for a long time, much much more than what a Rolex would do for me.

I think the point I want to put across is that happiness must come from doing your life's work (be it teaching, building homes, designing, trading, winning tournaments etc.) and the money that comes is only a by-product.
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In 1981, a group of friends who had a company that deals in coffee beans and machine which they started in 1971, hired a young man by name Howard Schulz as their director of retail operations. Howard after a while thought it was a great idea for the company to add coffee drink as part of their offerings to customers. But his employers refused, they resisted every persuasion from the young Howard. So in 1986, Howard,  convinced that there was a market for coffee drinks left the company and started what he called Giornale chain of coffee bars. Dramatically, in 1987, a year after Howard started his coffee bars, he was approached by his previous employers to buy their company. Howard obliged and bought the company. He renamed the Giornale chain of coffee bars to Starbucks.

Fast forward to 2016, Starbucks now has approximately 19,000 coffee shops across 60 countries. Starbucks has also gone into recycling which is evidenced by their recycled paper cups. Starbucks has acquired several other coffee shops and offered staff stock options at some point.

Friends, the only way to survive in a dog eat dog business world is to be creative. You cannot go far as an organization if you're not a creative one. Companies and business people who refuse to innovate will get swallowed up and ran out of the business space by those who're constantly innovating. Business schools all over the world teach us that it is important to be customer perceptive, whilst I agree that it's important to know what your customer needs per time, you must also have it at the back of your mind that Mr Graham Bell didn't carry out an opinion poll to be able to know if the world was ready for a telephone. He just did it anyway, it became an instant hit and everyone was queuing to be identified with Mr Bell.

Don't be afraid of new ventures. Don't be afraid of stepping into new waters. Never be afraid of new risks. Never be afraid of trying your hands on something new. The future belongs to the company and entrepreneur that is willing to try the new. The future belongs to the new. If Howard Schultz had stayed in his comfort zone, if he had played along with his former bosses, he would have continued receiving salaries without knowing that in him was a company that would birth 19,000 branches scattered in almost 60 countries. Imagine the heavy duty inventions and creations locked up in you because you have refused to try something new. If Howard had listened to his fears, I wouldn't be telling you his story. Give the world your story. As a writer, story teller and motivator, I want to be able to tell your story, I want to be able to write your story and inspire a generation by it. Are you going to give me and several other story tellers like me that rare privilege or are you going to continue with your current and remain with the old, Think about it. Even God whom you serve is a God of the new never stuck in the past, always doing new and incredible things.

There is no future in the past & current. There is a future in only one place - THE NEW.

Enough of old. Give us your new. We crave your new. Your generation craves the new. Even the real you tucked away somewhere in you wants you to give us your new. Are we going to see it or not or going to let the fear of the unknown keep it trapped in you? Choice is yours.