Last week, I wrote an article about the power of white lies in fake it until you prove it. In that last post, I was talking about how you can make your way up the ladder faster by “improving” your reality. The only thing is that you need to back up what you are saying at one point in time. BS will remain BS if you can’t back it up and people don’t like it ;-). Today, I want to talk about another vice; greed. One of the famous 7 sins, greed is probably the most obvious vice in personal finance. Most of us want to make money, including me. The difference between each of us is the degree to which greed fuels our motivation. If we are barely motivated, the power of greed can be beneficial without having much bad side effects ;-).

Greed as a motivation

I know, this can be very tricky. Usually greedy individuals all look like a bunch of old crooks gathering pennies and taking money from their friends & relatives. They don’t help anybody and sleep with the pot of gold in their arms. As I had mentioned before, a lower level of greed can give you a little push…

If you haven’t got this yet, you need to understand this; money brings power. I’m not talking about the power to control the world; I’m talking about the power of changing things in your life. You need to relax; money can bring you the power of taking vacations or going to the spa. You want to make your spouse happy; money can bring you the power of buying flowers, invite him/her to the restaurant or buying gifts. You want to retire young and happy; money brings you the power to do it and allows you to enjoy retirement without financial worries. As I said; money brings power.

So if you just want a little bit more money, if you just wake up the demon of greed inside of you without unleashing it; you can use this motivation for several things such as:

– doing the extra little things at work that will make you shine for your next promotion

– doing work on the after hours to start your own side line business

– getting a second job to achieve your financial goals

– creating a budget to give you order and follow a financial plan

Beware to tame your demon!

I think there is nothing bad about trying to earn more and get your finances under control. You can use a bit of love for money as a supplement to your inner motivation. However, getting greedy by letting the demon in your mind go as it wants: can do terrible damage. Controlling your expenses and making more money doesn’t mean that you can’t help others and you have to toss people in a corner in order to get a promotion. It’s like protein supplements; if you take a small portion, you will build up your muscles; if you take too much, you won’t be in a good shape later on!

Mike

Mike

Mike, aka The Dividend Guy, authors The Dividend Guy Blog since 2010 and manages portfolios at Dividend Stocks Rock. He is a passionate investor.