Are There Any Shortcuts to Prosperity?
You have problems if you focus too much on money or too much on production.
If you focus too much on money, all you think is "get money, get money, get money." You borrow as much money as you can. You convince people to buy services or goods that you cannot deliver. You gamble or invest hoping you will get money without having to work for it.
For example, the manager of a computer company is more concerned about selling computers than making computers. She buys huge advertisements, hires excellent salespeople and pays them big commissions. However, because her company cannot make good computers, she gets fired by the owner. The company has a horrible reputation and closes down.
On the other hand, if you focus too much on production, all you think is "produce, produce, produce." You build a great product or provide an excellent service. But you do not work out how to promote and sell it. You think, "If I just do nothing but produce, I'll eventually get some money."
For example, a dentist loves making people's smiles look perfect, but he hates asking for money. So he works hard fixing people's teeth, but never collects his fees. He does not focus enough on money and so he constantly has money problems.
"When either money or production get out of balance one has trouble. All production and no money is as bad as all money and no production.
"This also answers the world mystery of booms and depressions which, unsolved, drove the whole field of economics into a mad subject."
"Well-paid delivery in high quality is the correct answer. Only then can a boom continue."
"There are no shortcuts to honest prosperity." -- L. Ron Hubbard
As you may have noticed, too many people tried to just get money without any production. It caused our world-wide recession. Here are two examples.
Fred hears how people are making money by buying houses and then selling them for a big profit. Fred also learns he can borrow a great deal of money, even though he doesn't make enough money to pay it off. He is convinced, "I'll just buy this big house with this big loan. I'll sell it in a year and make a big pile of money, just like everyone else."
A few months later, Fred is behind in his payments and can't pay back his loan. No one will buy his house, so he goes bankrupt.
Jill believes that anything she does is okay as long as she makes money from it. So she cheats on her time card at work and adds an hour or two each week that she did not work. She steals office supplies from time to time. She also borrows money from people and never pays them back.
As another example, Joe owns a company that has a $1 million retirement fund. Hundreds of workers have given part of their pay into this fund. Pete convinces Joe to give him the $1 million so he can turn it into $2 million. Joe thinks he's going to make $1 million profit for doing nothing. Pete gets a big commission for getting Joe's $1 million.
When Pete's plan completely fails, the retirement fund is gone. Joe loses his company and all of his workers have no retirement money
When farmers produce too much food, it goes to waste. They do not ensure people will pay before planting or they do not know how to sell the food after it is harvested.
When computer programmers create web services that no one wants, they might have to live in their parents' basements. Smart programmers find out what people will buy before creating their web services. They live in big houses.
Certain employees can produce twice as much work per shift than anyone else in the company. Yet they never make their bosses aware of their performance. They never ask for promotions, look for ways to move up in the company or find better jobs.
What is the solution?
How to Prosper Despite Everything
To succeed, you need to do two things: 1) Produce high-quality goods or services and 2) Get paid well for it. Both things.
For example, if you cut hair for a living, figure out how to produce the highest-quality haircut possible AND how to get paid a proper fee for it. If you focus too much on money and charge too much, you'll lose your customers. If you focus too much on great haircuts, you won't collect enough and you'll be broke.
What do you produce? Is it really valuable? If not, what do you need to change to make it so?
If your services or goods are valuable, are you earning enough money from them? If not, what do you need to change so you get paid properly?
If you do both things, you will have a boom. If you do not do both things, you will have a depression.
"There are no shortcuts to honest prosperity." -- L. Ron Hubbard
Produce a valuable product or service, make sure you get paid adequately for it and enjoy a lifetime of success.
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