Title: 10 Financial & Wealth Attitudes to Avoid
Author: Prof. Charles Mwewa
Publisher: Africa in Canada Press (ACP)
Reviewer: Stephen Misori
The book, 10 Financial & Wealth Attitudes to Avoid, opens with a running call to all pessimists to look outside the box since money is never hidden but found in almost every adult’s pocket, purse or wallet.
The book, in ten chapters, offers genuine clarity on the path to riches and gives insights on reasons the rich should not be condemned.
The 10 Financial & Wealth Attitudes to Avoid is one of the latest motivational releases by Charles Mwewa.
He is a visionary scholar who has spent most of his career life in the writing and creative industry, influencing opinions and informing decisions on issues law, finance, culture and governance, among others.
The book traces the missteps that have become the new trend of individuals not keen on creating wealth.
It provides the practical answers to most of the questions that have barred developing countries from accessing wealth and riches.
Mwewa, in this book, has no kind words to those who believe they live in poor countries and hence lack the wheels of progress.
In Chapter 2, he writes, “If you are poor-minded, it will bury you permanently into poverty.”
This bit, to a larger extent, warns the unemployed youths of the developing countries who look up to developed nations for job opportunities and placement.
He ridicules this worrying trend in the African continent when he writes, “Even in the poorest economy, there are people making it good and big there.”
Mwewa wonders what informs the decision of Africans to only believe in the opportunities offered by the developed countries.
The book inspires those who dare to look for money, to do so genuinely and with resolute desire since money does not care where one was born or where they live.
In Chapter 2, the author pens, “Money and wealth know no borders or boundaries. You have to know that wherever you may be, you can prosper.”
The author, in this case, reminds the youths, precisely from Africa, to change their attitudes towards financial opportunities.
This is captured up to chapter 3, where Mwewa writes, “When it comes to money, the grass is never always greener on the other side.”
In praising those who invest in real estate, the author writes that money has a very short life span. The book in chapter 4 justifies, through vivid examples, that money begins to die the moment you acquire it.
He, consequently, reminds Africans that there is power in investment in order to bury poverty.
He says, “Most of the people who are rich, don’t even keep cash in their wallets. They exercise their money by diversifying it into many portfolios. They engage their money into activities.”
He adds that when money is being exercised, it begins to get fit and to grow.
He draws this approach from banks when he writes, “The money you bank is being exercised by the bank management. It is being put to good use so that each penny or ngwee you deposit brings forth another penny or ngwee in terms of profit.”
Mwewa advises that the best money attitude is to learn to invest in more reliable assets like real property or spend it wisely on things that appreciate easily.
He says developing countries have failed to realize true financial freedom due to their engagement in misplaced activities and programs that do not add value to the currency.
In chapter 5, he asks such nations to stop thinking of wealth in cash money terms. He claims most countries look at the “outward appearance” as a standard for wealth.
Mwewa writes that non-performing currencies in Africa are better explained through such actions.
“…they compare the value and brand of clothes, apparel, shoes and cars, and etc. To them, a person who wears “expensive” clothes or shoes is rich,” he adds.
He decries that such a mentality won’t build the continent and all leaders must engage in reverse gear for a major mindset shift.
Mwewa alludes that being poor is a choice made by those who do not want to progress in life. He says once one decides to keep their money without circulating it, poverty checks in.
He uses this concept to warn African leaders who stash large sums of money in overseas accounts, referring to them as the real enemies of both the continent and themselves.
He explains this in Chapter 5 by noting, “And they rarely spend it or use it. If they spend it, they buy things which will not keep the present value like real property.”
In Chapter 6, Mwewa sets his readers on the visionary path of assets versus liabilities. He clarifies that both are different and good choices should be made in order to understand every country’s financial standing.
He calls on countries to think about value and not price, all the time. He pens, “A person who is driving a very luxurious car but doesn’t own a house may be poorer than a person driving a common car but owns their own house.”
Taking it further, he explains that cash money has very limited value but real estate has real value, unless cash is translated into real property.
The author, once again, hits out at the jobless youths in developing nations who are pursuing job opportunities in developed nations.
He says that a job is a liability since it merely exchanges one’s efforts and abilities for another’s money, but a business is an asset.
He asserts the need for being own boss, and thinking less of spending an entire life working for another.
The author adds, “If your job merely makes ends meet, no matter what country you live in, change your thinking.”
Mwewa does not take kindly the African leaders who spend most of their public life begging from countries they believe are way ahead of them financially.
He says with finality, “Beggars are the most selfish people on earth – because God gave them the same amount of air, sun, environment and sometimes even physical and mental abilities. But these people choose to “sleep” on theirs and they want others to work for them.”
The 10 financial &wealth attitudes to avoid book refers to begging as the first impediment to financial freedom that must be stopped.
He says begging keeps people poor. “Rich–minded people ‘borrow’ money or capital, because when you borrow, you increase value both ways.
The one who borrows will invest and increase or make profit, and the one who lends will gain interest,” he writes.
He digs deep into begging menace by saying begging goes through three phases.
According to him, it begins as a feeling; it then becomes an attitude; and finally, it transforms into a culture. He says, “When you first beg and receive, you feel a sense of nostalgia.”
Mwewa says countries that have perfected the art of begging have created a mechanism for begging. He reiterates that when the attitude matures, it becomes a culture.
He writes, in Chapter 7, “…this cult may morph into a national disease – where the entire national government begins to rely on begging as a method of national governance.
This is unacceptable. Begging may be a launchpad for poverty.”
The author says begging underpins poor behaviors and choices since it curtails creativity.
“…it ends in disillusionment and confusion. Make sure that you are not a victim of begging; be a champion of enterprise,” he adds.
In Chapter 8, Mwewa insists everyone has a right to good things,; they must work hard towards realizing the same.
Financially struggling countries must stop thinking they don’t deserve the best in life.
He reiterates that the developed nations have always used this tool to impoverish the African continent by limiting their potential and capacity.
According to him, this must stop as poverty begins as a mentality and then it morphs into a culture.
Both chapters 9 and 10 delve into the need to rise above low self-esteem in order to remain both relevant and competitive in the quest to access prosperity in society.
This, he says, is only tenable when nations don’t submit to the tricks of poverty.
The 10 financial &wealth attitudes to avoid is a good read, which I would recommend to any job-seeking individual and to any nation struggling with debt and high inflation rates.
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The book not only addresses how to come out of frustrating economic holes, but it also discusses how not to enter into those holes.
I like the context