Money While You Sleep!
By Bakari Akil II, Ph.D.
Published by Bakari Akil II, Ph.D. at Smashwords
Copyright 2011 Bakari Akil II, Ph.D.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this report may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any informational storage or retrieval system without express written, dated and signed permission from the author.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Dedication
To a great future!
Table of Contents
A New Way of Looking at Wealth
Freedom from the Rat Race- Robert Kiyosaki
The Importance of Being First - Seth Godin
Small Risks for Incredible Prizes – Wilanda Akil
Spousal Matters – Thomas J. Stanley
World’s Greatest – Robin Sharma
Desire for an Emotional Outcome – Ernie Zelinski
Quality of Life – BONUS MATERIAL
Wealth procurement is not a new topic. Before rap stars, such as 50 cent, created songs like Get Money or the O’Jays wrote the 1974 hit For the Love of Money, PT Barnum wrote, the Art of Getting Money in the 1800s. In it he discussed Benjamin Franklin’s writings on acquiring wealth in the 1700s. So in the 21st century, I join a long line of others who talked about wealth and how to “get” it.
Money while you Sleep is a collection of ideas that I have used to establish my career as a professor and author and to build personal wealth. A lot of them were shaped by my upbringing and business experiences as a restaurant and bookstore owner and some were developed using the ideas of people I consider financial masters. Finally, there are a select few ideas from people who I do not consider financial masters but whose outlook on life can lead to the accumulation of wealth.
Although Money while you Sleep has many tactics and strategies that can be used to develop wealth it is not a how-to-manual. I believe that wealth gathering is a personal journey and all of us have different passions, dreams and outcomes we wish to experience. However, there are underlying principles of accumulating wealth that are universal and Money while you Sleep discusses many of these principles.
Each section discusses one central idea and isolates why it is important to a person seeking wealth. At the end of each section is a tip labeled “The Point.” It succinctly sums up the overall issues discussed. Money while you Sleep also contains many quotes from famous stars, financial gurus and life coaches and it also provides many references (books, websites, etc.) at the end so you can investigate the information discussed in the book further.
As we are all at different stages of our financial journey, some people may find every aspect of this book useful; others may only find a few jewels. Therefore, Money while you Sleep was designed so the reader could read all the way through if he or she desires, but can also mix and match as needed. Each section stands on its on.
This book is meant to be a light and entertaining read that also imparts useful information. I hope you are able to glean many helpful ideas and can use them in your life. Thanks for purchasing Money while you Sleep!
Regards,
Bakari Akil II, Ph.D.
A bird in hand is worth two in the bush. - Aesop
Did I just use a line from an Aesop fable to make a point? Yes, I did. Sometimes, you just have to say it simply. I used Aesop’s famous and ‘tired’ saying because I wanted to illustrate a point. Often when we think about wealth, we are fascinated over what we don’t have, but we remain clueless to what we possess. This brings me to the thrust of my argument, which is:
If wealth is only measured through what we want, then we will never be wealthy.
For instance, imagine a person who is single; lives in a 3000 sq. ft. home; has a car that's paid for; little to no debt and an $80,000 income. He is able to meet all of his monthly obligations and still put a substantial amount away for retirement and savings. However, the man is very unsatisfied with his economic life.
Why?
Because he wants to live in a 6000 sq. ft. home, make $500,000 a year; drive a Bentley instead of a Porsche and vacation in Rome and Prague instead of Las Vegas and New York. The preoccupation with what he wants and can't afford doesn't allow him to see the wealth he possesses. As a result, he often puts himself down or feels inadequate because he has not accumulated a certain level of resources.
This brings me back to my opening statement:
If wealth is only measured through what we want, then we will never be wealthy.
Now let's look at wealth in another way. What if we measured wealth according to being able to afford what we need? And this statement is not to belittle the desire for whatever level of wealth you would like to acquire. However, my needs are food to eat, beverages to drink, a place to live, transportation, clothing and the well being of my family. In my case, I can meet these needs for an extremely long time.
Of course, I have a standard of living that I apply to this basic outline of needs and it’s a standard that I am very comfortable with. Yet, the point is that we often can meet our needs with no issue and fail to give that ability the respect it deserves.
So the question is how well we can meet our needs?
If you can meet all of your needs, then you are wealthy, Period! That is the true measure of wealth.
How long you are able to meet your needs without working also determines true wealth. I am all for increasing the amount of resources that flow in, in order to do fabulous things. However, not recognizing the wealth we already possess and how able we are to take care of our real needs does an injustice to our psyche and self-esteem.