In one of my previous posts I asked the question of Where do we go from here?
I managed to provide some solid advice on dealing with that struggle, now I'm going to take things to the other side. Mind you this information is purely speculative but it is based on sound wisdom from an observation lasting years.
Anything I say can be taken with a grain of salt but there are always tidbits of useful information to be found.
SO.... You made it.
Through what ever means; you have achieved you're own version of wealth and success. The how is unique to every individual but through a combination of talent and good fortune; you've arrived.
Your life has changed for the better, and you're happy with that. You now have the means to do the things you've always wanted. Now you can have more time with your craft...
...Except now as a result of new found success comes a lot of the freedoms that ride shotgun. You have reached the mountain top only to discover the was more hidden by the clouds.
Here are a few things to keep in mind.
1. Sudden wealth often changes people and they lose sight of what they originally wanted it for.
Why do so many people go broke after they gain wealth and success?
It's because they lost sight of what they were seeking. Many see wealth as a means to escape the despair and anguish that comes from poverty. The wealth wasn't just supposed to take them out of poverty, it was supposed to keep them out.
To many people spend recklessly, enjoying the privilege of being wealthy without doing anything to ensure they are staying out of poverty. Poverty can be seen as a sort of prison of both mind and spirit, and wealth is the release from that prison. One must desire freedom at all cost and that includes doing anything (legal and ethical) that will keep you from going back to prison.
2. Having money often means a decrease in creativity but it doesn't have to.
When you are starting from the ground up you will make all sorts of sacrifices to complete your path. In the process you become better for it. Money should be an enhancer, not a crutch. Money allows you to think in broader strokes if you allow it to. Allow your wealth to work with your creative process, but always allow that process to start from the same place as it always did... From the heart.
Use the opportunity gained from wealth to guarantee your continued success and vice versa. In a previous post I waned about being smart about ones finances, so I won't repeat that here. What you might want to consider is how wealth can change anyone and the lack of it, can do the same. So my last nugget is the hardest.
3. Remain humble.
Money and success change people drastically. It's a known fact, but it doesn't have to change You. If you are normally humble, then don't let the wealth go to your head. Some of the wealthiest and most successful are also some of the genuinely nicest people to encounter. Strive to be like them. Don't let it all go to your head. We've all seen people who become famous and successful and then they change virtues. From humility and arrogance, and then when something terrible happens to them; critics and fans alike usually agree they got what was coming to them. If you cannot maintain a level of humility, then you could damage relationships with new and old friends alike, and the constant fluctuations of success will reveal what arrogance has cost you.
4. Always be a student, never a master.
Before you became wealthy, you were always trying to learn something new. You never stopped trying to grow and absorb new information. You were a student. Bright eyed and bushy tailed you sought to learn from anyone who was willing to teach like villager seeking martial skills from the Shaolin Monks. Then you made the right moves, met the right people, and reached your goal where you are now. You figured that since you arrived, and met your goals, then there was nothing else to learn. You are wrong. You have only reached the tip of Everest, but is Everest the only mountain to climb? Even after achieving wealth, you should always continue to learn and evolve with as much fervor and passion as you did before you made it. What ever path that you carve, it's guaranteed to change in the next, five,seven,ten years. If you don't constantly learn how to stay on top of it, and socially relevant, then the possible inevitability is being left behind as an artifact of a bygone era..or possibly worse. A one-hit wonder. (not that those are always bad). In a life time seeking knowledge, no one will ever possess it all, but we can absorb incredible amounts of information and there is always room to improve.
5. Never turn your back on those who helped you.
Do I really need to say more?
So my advice seems more like common sense right? Well considering how many people lack it these days once dollar signs light up in their eyes, we could all use a common sensical reminder from time to time.
-K
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