The Comfort Zone Trap !

Some fifteen years ago, whilst I was working for one of the mining companies on the Copperbelt, some of my children were attending a Primary School that was run by the company.

Our home was very close to the school. The children were, therefore, able to walk to and from school on many occasions.

I was then working as a project engineer and this saw me working out of town most of them. I only had a few occasions when I would work within town and then I could drive them to or from school.

Since my children were then very young, the school had a rule saying that children would only be released when they were escorted by an adult. Our domestic servant was tasked with the duty of escorting them to and from school at specified times.

One day, I happened to be working in town. I informed our domestic worker that I would pick our children from school, as I was coming home for lunch.
There was some drama at the school, when two children of one of the senior managers in the Mines refused to be picked by the company driver, who was sent to pick them from school.

At first I could not understand the cause of the commotion raised by the children until when I came closer to see what was happening.
The two children, a boy and girl, were not happy to be picked in what they called “an inferior vehicle”.

Their father used to send the driver to pick the children his company Mercedes Benz.

On this particular day, for some reason the "usual" vehicle was not available. The driver then picked another vehicle from the company Transport Pool. I can not recall the make of the “offending vehicle”, but I was really surprised why the children could not accept the other vehicle!
After a heated argument with the driver, he was told off and instructed to go away with the “cheap” car! The children then rang their mother to come and pick them.

A few days later I learnt that their mother only managed to pick them after about an hour after she borrowed another Mercedes Benz from a family friend!

At one time I came across some foreign nationals who had "invaded" the Copperbelt and started mining precious minerals in the 1980s and later.
I and some colleagues were visiting some public bars in one of the townships where these foreigners were mostly found. There was a group of five young men whom we found drinking beers outside the premises of one public bar.

They were driving two brand new BMW cars and they had a lot of cash with them.

They had in their company, was a group of women who seemed to be their mistresses or business partners.

They had bought some three crates of beers from inside the crowded public bar and were drinking straight from them. Nearby there was a Braai Stand where chicken, beef and goat meat was roasted.

From the look of the state of matters, they were having a very good time which was spiced with dancing from the music blaring from the stereo of one of the BMW cars and a lot of laughter.

As we watched them having “fun”, there was an incident that left us amazed.

Since there was no nearby water tap where the foreigners and their mistresses were enjoying themselves, one of the men in the group of the revelers started washing the cars with beer from the crates. At least two crates of beer were used for this unusual task!

The scenario above is very common amongst the affluent in our society who believes that being “wealthy” allows them to enjoy life as they so wish.
Has it ever occurred to you to think about the difference between having money and being wealthy? Did you know that there are some people who have a lot of money and yet poor?

Wealth is goods or services that human beings want, such as food, clothing, cars, houses, gadgets, etc.

Money on the other hand, is a means of exchange for wealth in a predefined area. For example, in Zambia our means of exchange of wealth within the boundaries of the country is the Kwacha. In South Africa it’s the Rand and so forth for other countries.

Whenever you travel outside the country, you have to exchange your local money into that which is used in the country you are travelling to. Some money such as the American dollar is accepted as a means of exchange of wealth across many nations.

Money in itself is not wealth as demonstrated below:-

Suppose you were, for some reason, given $1 million today, you would certainly jump up in joy because you will be an instant millionaire!

Suppose that amount of money was given to you in the middle of a desert, where there is no food and water nearby, would it be of any use to you? Of course not, because if you were not rescued in time, you would certainly die of hunger and thirst.

On the other hand, if you had food, water and some shelter from the great heat of the desert you would survive for a greater length of time without the money.

People find themselves in possession of money due to the wealth that they create to give to society. Wealth is what you posses which can not be taken away from you without your consent. For example, knowledge and education is not transferable from one person to the other for free. On the other hand, poverty is in abundance because it does not require money to acquire it!

When an armed robber steals money from a Bank, he has not created any wealth of his own because he has not worked for it. Since this money does not represent real wealth, it would be quickly spend on buying luxuries which soon disappear into thin air. That is why you would never find a robber who is rich for the rest of his life. Many of them end up being killed or jailed for many years.

If you find yourself in possession of a large amount of money, such as winning the Lotto Jackpot, you should have had a plan or project for it. Many Jackpot winners end up poor because they have no plan of how to use the huge amount of money, which comes into their possession at very short notice.

In fact, before putting some money in the hope of winning the Jackpot, you should have a plan for it! Otherwise one should never participate in any lottery at all!

In a similar manner, if one finds oneself born into a rich family, one should ensure that he follows the footsteps of the parents of how they made the money.

Many children born into rich families end up living poor lives in their adulthood when the parents are no longer alive or are unable to provide the money. What this means is that inherited money can never last if is not sustained by wealth.

Many working class people end up destitute after retirement because they depend on being workers who live on a monthly salary for most of their working lives.

On retirement, they are usually given some terminal benefits in a form of a pension. This pension, in most cases, is not adequate to maintain their previous standard of living. Many end up dying prematurely due to depression.
There are many ways of making money legally without solely depending on a monthly income from an employer.

The underlying fact is that one should identify what he is good at doing which other people would like to have in exchange for money.

For example, if you are very good at making handicrafts or music which people like one can make money from that. When you provide goods or services that are in perpetual demand you would end up a rich person. In one post, I wrote about “Nurturing Your Passion” which I believe is the right approach to making money.

Not all that is given to society in exchange for money is always good. For example illicit drugs and sex can not sustain one for long without adverse consequences.

The comfort of being in employment and getting a salary at the end of the month, in possession of easy money or being a child of the affluent always acts as trap for many people who could also look at other means of making money.

This is what I call the comfort zone trap!