Wealth Perspective | Philippe Goyer | TEDxHawkesbury
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD88K9ePMI4 Video ID: ZD88K9ePMI4 ============================================================ Transcriber: Aitana Soler C Reviewer: Walaa Mohammed Today, I’m going to take you on a journey through the concept of wealth. But before I get into that, let's dive in with a question. Who here wants to be wealthy? Now, what does that mean to you? Is it driving a fancy BMW down the streets of your childhood neighborhood? Is it owning a beach house in the Maldives? You see, the problem in today's society is we associate wealth to materialism. We think it's about having the things that we want, when in reality it's about creating the moments that we want. In today's world, 91% of the Canadian population has a TV. 87% have a smartphone. 87% have access to the internet. 83% have a car, and 98 have a roof over their head. The only difference is the size and brand, but the utility remains the same. It’s almost comical when you think about it. Imagine someone spending a whopping 120,000 on a car that drives on the same place as a 30 year old one. Is that what true wealth is? Having grown up in poverty and not having realized it until a later date because I was so rich in experience. And here’s an example. I remember at six years old, going on a three and a half month camping trip. It was so much fun, and every child’s dream. Running around, playing in the sand, playing with bugs in an environment with little to no limitations. What I didn’t know was it was actually a very challenging time for my parents, because we were basically homeless, and this was just a short term sacrifice in order to start off on a better foot. In that moment, I wouldn't have changed it for the world. But as a parent today, I can imagine the sheer willpower and strength that it took from my parents to get out of that. What it taught me was the value of sacrifice, and that I’d have to get used to it. Why is it when we’re born in poverty, is it so hard to escape its clutches? Why is it so hard to break free from the cycle of living paycheck to paycheck, playing catch up with bills and banks? No matter our economic status, we all know how this feels like. So the burning question arises: Is wealth generally tied to money or is it tied to the choices we make? Money is both a burden and a responsibility. Yet it grants us freedom. A paradox concept, to say the least. Let me take you to when I was 15. Having moved 27 times in my life due to challenging upbringing, unstable work conditions, and a lack of stability. Fueled by determination to take control of my life, I decided to do what everyone told me not to do. I dropped out of school. I moved out and started working. Embarking myself on a journey of real, practical education. From 15 to 21, I bounced around from apartment to apartment, friends couches to park benches until, I had a profound realization. But before I get into that realization, let me take you to when I was 21. At 21, I had $50,000 in the bank. I had just bought my first home and had my first time. That was what you could call part of the 1% in terms of age and assets. Yet I didn't feel wealthy. Today, 31, having owned multiple homes, having ventured into various businesses, having had to start over many times, including during the preparation of the speech. What set me aside was having embodied a different type of wealth, One that exceeds monetary figures. You see, the cycle of poverty can be broken. But it can be easy to fall back into it. The key difference is having the right experience, the right tools and invaluable experience. So let's go back to that moment of realization. Where our perception of wealth will shift. As humans, we compare ourselves to those around us. We all have friends with fancy cars, nice boats, that go on exotic vacations, and we want to keep up with them. We work tirelessly to afford these luxuries, yet simultaneously spend recklessly on mundane things like daily cups of coffee and restaurants. What if I told you I bought my first house working part time? Would you believe me? I was able to achieve this by carefully allocating my time and resources to where they mattered most. If you work 50 or 60 hours a week, can you sincerely and honestly tell me that you have time to shop local deals at the grocery store? Probably not. You can’t buy the $4 brick of cheese instead of the $8 one. Well, many wealthy individuals would be insulted by the mere fact of overpaying for something, knowing they can get it at a cheaper price. Talking about wealth amongst the middle class is considered taboo. Yet in order to be financially literate, we must break down these barriers and have these open conversations and talk about our money. Why aren't we? Could it be that we're ashamed of our financial situations? We engage in excessive consumption to fill an emotional void, making us feel empty inside. Burdened by our decisions, like the new car or boat we struggle to afford, the wealth culture is characterized by the way we look at money and not money in itself. As Robert Kiyosaki once said, instead of telling yourself: “I can’t afford it,” we should ask “how can we afford it?” Talking about money isn’t comfortable yet it is important for financial liberty. So let’s revisit that moment of realization. At 21, I was smoking cigarettes. It was extremely detrimental to my health and extremely costly. So I decided to quit. I was smoking a pack a day back then. With today’s inflation, I’d have to sell both my [...] just to afford it. So I carefully and strategically took the $450 I was spending on cigarettes and decided to put it towards housing. I got my first apartment. A year later, I met the mother of my children and we got an apartment together. Continuing the same practice. I put half of it for the apartment and the other half into savings. A year later, I bought my first house. So you see, over time, continuing the same practice, I was spending the same amount of money, just on different things. The key to financial success is finding purpose for your money, because if not, it goes into what I like to call the cloud of miscellaneous spending. As society today, we tend to pay our bills and live off the rest. So if I were to tell you your phone bill is going up by $50 tomorrow, you could probably manage it, and you would do it. But if I were to tell you to put $50 aside for yourself, it wouldn’t come to mind. The wealth culture has understood that they can and must choose themselves first. They must invest in their financial futures. Why aren't we? We need to live modestly, below our means. Refrain from constant consumption. Avoid the trap of buying the latest gadgets, of buying status symbols. Have you ever seen the way Elon Musk or. Mark Zuckerberg dress? I mean, come on. Just look at Jeff Bezos and his hair. He could probably afford a better haircut than that. I opt for this one, like Jeff. I’ll oftentimes get Mr. Clean, but that’s another story. So, it’s about choices. So you have the choice to buy a BMW. You have a choice to go on vacation. You have the choice to do what you want. So your choices are what liberate you in terms of finance. And your perception is that wealth and financial liberty is just for the elite But it is extremely attainable, and it’s attainable for everyone here. So the next time you’re in line at Tim Hortons, at Starbucks or on Amazon Prime. Ask yourself, is the time spent earning the amount that you're about to spend worth it? A $20 lunch is an average hour work for the Canadian. You wouldn't come work for me for a sandwich to drink. The sacrifices of yesterday are the opportunities of tomorrow. And today you got to make a choice. Remember, true wealth lies in the liberty of choice. Thank you.