Just in case this is my first post you are reading, do well to read the preceding blog on "what is wealth?" to understand the background to this.
I concluded my last post by saying that wealth is both intangible and tangible.
Wait a second!
Did you hear me correctly, or was I mincing words right there?
No, you heard me clearly, wealth could either take tangible or intangible forms.
And can I shock you by adding that the most expensive and extremely valuable forms of wealth are intangible.
Wow! I bet you didn't see that coming.
So follow me, as we journey this path.
Having established, from the last blog (what is wealth), the fact that wealth is and should not be limited to money alone, and in addition, we have just be informed that the most expensive and valuable form of wealth is the intangible wealth, then we need to give this form of wealth a more closer and intense study.
By something being intangible, we mean it cannot be seen, felt, or touched. Which means that true wealth is not measured in physical possessions, but in things we possess which are not visible in the natural realm. We can list examples of intangible wealth to include health, peace, joy, discipline, principles, consistency, wisdom, understanding, contentment, etc.
All these may not translate to spendable cash, but they have indirect imparts on your liquidity position per time. How do I mean?
Let's examine the wealth of health, for instance, you may have physical cash of about N1,000 at your disposal, but a sound health that keeps you away from the hospital bed, makes you better than a millionaire who breathes through oxygen to survive.
You may not have much to spend at the moment, but the principles you set over your finances, which prohibits you from borrowing, keeps you away from debt and money mismanagement. Many are perpetually in the vicious circle of debt, owing to the fact that they failed to set boundaries, by way of financial principles. This has made them slaves to impulse buying, making them spend money on their wants rather than their needs.
Tangible wealth, on the other hand are those forms of wealth you can see, feel and touch and they include friends, assets, business entities, cash etc.
I sincerely hope and pray you were not surprised to see friends as a form of wealth, if you were, then it's right about time you began being intentional about your choice and configuration of friends.
Can I stretch this a little?
Your friends constitute your confidants, counselors, circle of influence, and companion, and as a result, they have a great impact on your decisions, thought process and patterns, life style, choices, etc. Many great people became small on account of their friend(s). Just as there are testimonies of small people who rose to greatness because of their friend(s). Many people married wrongly because their friend(s) suggested the spouse. How about great business ideas that would have changed the financial landscapes of the visioneer, but never came to fruition because it was shared with a "friend" who couldn't see your tomorrow from today.
Can you now see why the choice of whoever occupies such a sensitive and influential position in life, demands careful selection? Even the bible said that in the multitude of counselors(who in most cases are your friends), there is safety (proverbs 11:14), purposes are established (Proverbs 15:22), and you can make war safely (Proverbs 24:6). True wealth does not consist in the multitude of friends, but in their deliberate and intentional choices, which reflects in the net-worth they bring to your life.
let me conclude by saying that, for any property, plant or equipment to qualify to be called an asset, it must return some form of financial value to you. I must add here, the fact that you own a car or property, does not make it an asset (in the context of this discuss). A car you drive is not an asset, but a liability. It only becomes an asset when it is engaged in a profitable venture like transportation etc.
There are many forms wealth can take, and I'll be discussing a few, extensively in my subsequent blogs.
Watch out for the first form of wealth, I bet you would not have envisaged it.
Grace and Mercy!!!
Amb. Emmanuel Etukudo
Kingdom Wealth Ambassador
