Last Updated on November 16, 2020
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Benjamin Franklin wrote The way to wealth back in the 18th century. It offers incredibly wise advice that its author shares with the public. Most of this information is familiar to us nowadays. Its contents are based on Franklin’s work on ethics and his own moral values.
Contents
What Is The Industry
A government that is under pressure might demand its citizens to pay 10% of the people’s time as tax. However, if the person is lazy, it will eat up a lot of his time. Being idle means throwing away a lot of your time, and as a result, you will begin to get sick. Laziness is akin to rust, and it consumes your health entirely. In contrast, being active will help you keep your health. As the saying goes, a shiny key is a key that is always used.
Time is a vital asset. If you waste your time away, it means that you spend your life away. You cannot regain lost time. It’s invaluable and highly limited. Therefore, you must use your time correctly.
Do not waste time, and make sure to focus hard on your career. Franklin’s advice throughout the book is for people to work hard all the time, in order to obtain things in life that they want.
For lazy people, all work is mundane and challenging. Do not retire to bed late, or you will be overrun the whole day to finish your work before it is time to sleep. Once you become lazy, you will soon become weak.
Benjamin Franklin points out how important it is to take control of your career. If you don’t, it will control you instead. He recommends the reader to stop dreaming and face reality. If not, they’ll inevitably lose every single thing that they possess. A person that only has faith will die very fast. Therefore, make things into reality, and you don’t ever have to dream again. You need to work hard to get somewhere in life.
What Are Taxes
Franklin tells many stories in his book. One such example describes a large crowd waiting outside the auction. An old man passes by. The whole group surrounds him to gain insight. This elder is called Father Abraham.
Father Abraham has a lot of opinions, and he agrees to share his wisdom. Though he only does so for a short period of time, his speech is invaluable.
There are people in the crowd that are worried about tax in the country. The Father states that it’s indeed a big sum, but it is still not that much. Compared to the tax burden the people face, people should be accountable for their actions. If people are lazy, the tax would double. If they are proud, three times more. If they are stupid, four times more. The local government cannot decrease the tax imposed on the nation. Only when the person passes away can he entirely escape from taxes.
What Does Frugality Mean
You might work very hard and mind your own business carefully. But all of these things go to waste if you are not frugal. If you lose your money on temporary joys, then you will spend a lot of money and gain no benefit from it.
If you wish to save a lot of money, you need to mind how you spend your income. Saving is even more important than earning money. You need to give up on some of the stuff you enjoy, as tiny expenses will slowly add up. Bits and pieces of small costs will burn a hole in your pocket.
Returning to the story of Father Abraham, the wise, old man tells people that they are going to buy useless stuff. These are named as antiques and unique goods, but if they don’t take care of them, these goods will become evil.
You need to stop buying things that you don’t need, or soon be selling the things that you need. If you act vain, you’ll inevitably end up spending all the money on unnecessary items. A lot of people want to look stylish and wealthy, but they are hungry all the time. You don’t need gorgeous outfits and jewelry to survive in life. They are not cheap, either. These things will make you miserable and cover you in debts. If you are always frugal and work hard, you’ll never have to borrow any money from anyone.
What Is Procrastination All About
Focus on tasks that need attention now. Like, right now. You never know what might happen tomorrow.
If you have a good day today, finish your work today. If tomorrow brings hurdles, then you will regret not having finished your tasks the day before.
Don’t focus too much about your problems. This will make them grow bigger and worse.
Working hard will decrease any hard issue. Working hard on your job means finishing work on time. Make sure to avoid delaying work.
Try to complete the work today and don’t procrastinate everything for the following day.
Your job may seem tough and go on and on forever. However, the only thing that you can do is to hang on every day. After a while, you will soon see the effects of your hard work. The more time that you procrastinate, the more work you will need to do for tomorrow. Therefore, become patient and chant a mantra to yourself. You cannot relax as you do not know what is going to occur in the next moment. So even a single hour-break is a waste. To have time off is a sort of luxury. It’s reserved for people that know how to spend their time properly. Only someone that can do their job correctly has that type of luxury. However, someone that works hard will always want to have that luxury.
What Is Trust
To become a hard-working person means paying proper care of your career. Also, always use discretion when dealing with people. Do not trust them easily. The best example is handling business on your own. In every day’s work, you can choose to be the owner or the donkey. If you are the donkey, then you have to be under another person’s control. If you are the owner, you must control the donkey and make sure that the donkey works every day.
You have to watch over your workers. Don’t let them work whenever they want to. This is like leaving a wallet in the open so that people can make money from it. Don’t trust people too much. This is a sure-fire way to failure. Take charge of your personal life, that way you can learn to trust yourself. If you are in charge of every single thing, do not neglect anything else. What might seem to be a small mistake might become something big in the future?
How Does Pride Link To Debt
Do you want to know what money really means? Go and borrow some money. It is pure torture to hunt for a loan. If you are a proud person, it will add on to your expenses. The minute you get the right product, you will want to buy ten more products.
So, restrain the urge to get new things. It is easier to get rid of the urge and stop temptation before it grows any bigger.
You must learn to know what things you can get within your budget. If you want to raise above your current status, your friends might get envious, but people that know better will think that you are a fool. Do not take pride in expensive and lavish outfits. It will cause problems with your finances later on.
Being in debt means giving up your self-respect and integrity. At first, you might even want to buy things on a credit card, buy now, and pay at the end of the month. This means the debt will take charge of your current situation. If you cannot make payment when the debt I due, you will start creating excuses. This then wounds your self-integrity. If you can go without debt, you won’t fear meeting anyone on the street. However, if you are in debt, your personal integrity goes downhill.
You Should Have Both Knowledge and Wisdom
You should give both wisdom and reason the respect they deserve. If you want to be wise, and you have a rational mind, you still need to be blessed by God. Pray to God to bless you. Also, help the less privileged people. Be humble all the time. Experience is like a school, except it’s life. However, you should never give fools counsel as they never listen to what you say.
Author Biography
Benjamin Franklin was a polymath, writer, philosopher and also a diplomat. He was also one of America’s founding fathers.
He was the creator of many different theories on physics and electricity. Franklin also invented the lightning rod and the kitchen stove.
If you want to know more about philosophy, make sure to read more about Benjamin Franklin.
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