If you weren't born into a wealthy home and you don't have inheritance that's going to be worth much waiting for you when your parents die. Then the road to wealth is going to be very steep. But some people are born lucky- not a lot but they are lucky to be born with talents

that they can sell for "wealth". The Drakes, Zuckerbergs, Mayweathers, Ronaldos, Bolts, Willamses, Hamiltons, Rowlingses, etc. When you find your talent early in a place where there's an opportunity for it, you can hone it and be wealthy in no time. This people are less than 2%

of the population. Even then only a few % of them are lucky enough to be born where theit talents are met with opportunities.

When, I was much younger, there was this brother we called Amokachi on my street. Best football player I have ever seen. Long story short, he never

made it. He never had the opportunity. By the time he was getting invited to camp, he was already too old and had no money to buy his way into it.

So even if you're incredibly talented. It is not a silver bullet. You still need luck and opportunities. (and money in Nigeria).

For the rest of us, the "average people". Wealth is a marathon, not a sprint. Understand there's a difference between riches and wealth. If you still have to live by a budget, you are rich not wealthy. Wealthy people spend with reckless abandon and only seem to grow more wealthy.

4 principles always comes into play for the average people.

- Initial income
- Savings
- Mentorship/ Sponsor
- Opportunity for compound investment.

Initial income: There isn't one way to this. It can range from being scholar to being a furniture designer. What matters is that

you have a skill that you can sell for money. That you earn an income, no matter how little. That's the beginning of the road to wealth. If you have a stable source of income, congratulations, you're on your way.

- Savings: This is the next step.

It doesn't matter how little you earn. Saving is an habit that's not negotiable if you're going to build wealth. Whatever you earn is not all yours. You pay other people for goods and services. The only way by which you pay yourself is saving. And you should pay yourself at

least 10% of your every income. The remainder can be spent as you deem fit, you still have 90% and even after you remove tithe, 80%. It won't reflect in your standard of living if your disposable income moves from 100 to 80%. Pay yourself 10% and stash it away.

- The next is mentorship/sponsorship: This is a very important part in the process. A mentor or a sponsor is someone who has already built wealth and can offer valuable advice on how to do same. They can tell you where to put your money, what to invest in, what to avoid, etc.

They are people whose experience you need to give you solid advice on how to go about wealth building. I intend to choose @Mazigburugburu1 (e get why). He's going to be my wealth mentor even if he doesn't know it yet.

They are the ones that will tell you, don't give your money

to a carpenter that says he has identified an investment opportunity in commodities trading. He'll most likely fail at it and piss off your savings with it. They can tell you the common pitfalls to avoid as @Mazigburugburu1 regular does. (Yes, I have been paying attention.)

- Investment opportunities with a compounding effect: The point of saving is not so you can spend it on the latest shoe, home furniture, new car and whatever your short term needs may be. Those should be factored into your remaining 90%. That's what you pay @ShoeGuyOtis,

@interiorwittega and @Otunbakush1 respectively. It is not part of what you pay yourself.

The point of saving is so that your 1k can work for you and earn 2h and while the 1k is working to earn another 2h, the 2h has also started working to earn more. Together they all work and

they all earn and grow together.

Don't eat the babies before they mature. Saving is a lifelong habit. Before you know it your 1k is 5k and your 5k is 25k. The earlier you start the better. This means it'll happen over a long period of time. But the cheat code is that, you that

you're earning 10k today to save 1k, will earn 50k next year to save 5k and 100k is 2 years to save 10k. The better you get at whatever you are doing, the more you earn, the more you earn, the more you can save, the more you can save, the more your savings can earn, the more they

earn, the quicker they grow, the faster you can become wealthy.

These are ancient lessons from ancient books, that have been practices since time immemorial and have been proven.

Common pitfalls to avoid:

-Saving to spend on short term wants.
- Not seeking out proper

investment advice.
- Not working to increase your initial income in as little time as possible.
- Gambling.
- Living to impress.
- Addictions.
- Did I mention Gambling?

Good morning.

Olóyè from the #CoC