The discussion of people, money, and consumerism starts with the natural development of goods, services, and ideas in any growing community of people. As we go through the history of humans, we eventually see gold and then paper and coins replace the barter of items and services to create some of the first money systems. This article is going to focus more on the "psychology of money."
What Does Money Tell Us About An Individual? My personal experience with money not only involves being a consumer but also being the person providing the business. So I've seen a number of different ways people can allow money to affect them. Here are a few:
·0 Money can be an "amplifier of our gifts, talents, etc.- Money managed well and in it's rightful place can allow an individual to spend more time with possibly less effort sharing their talents and gifts with the world around them.
·1 Money can be a test of how we handle things that are perceived by us as valuable- In other words, money can be a test that reveals character or lack of character in an individual. If we think hard enough, we can all probably come up with some examples of this from our own experience.
·2 Money is a tool that can be used to reveal a person's true motives- Although this could fall under the previous statement, I think it warrents it's own "moment of fame." The classic example of this is the "Sugar Daddy" or "Sugar Mommy" who gets married for their money and love is only a secondary motive.
Consumerism and Money For those of us who live in countries with a free market, we understand how competition works. What we forget sometimes is that we, as consumers, share some responsibility in holding businesses accountable as to how they do business. Businesses that are providing poor service to their customers will most likely continue to provide poor services if they can still make money. One Personal Example of a Negative Experience A certain company I was doing business with provided a rebate program with the purchase of their particular product. When I proceeded to go through the rebate process, I found it took me
a full evening after work hours to complete the process. I contacted my health care physician who worked directly and exclusively with this company and he informed me that none of his other patients had complaints and that the problem was that I'm not "computer savvy." After this conversation, I decided to switch health care providers and chose another company to work with to provide these products. The new company's process only took about a half hour and I'm still waiting for notification of my rebate. In this example, the key is to speak up and move on if a business insists on consumming your resources (time, money, and energy). Two Personal Examples of Companies That "Stepped Up" Two business I work with are Arbonne and the SFM for affiliate marketing education resources. Since I've started working with these companies both myself and these companies have gone through a growth process that required us to "step up" a little because of multiple factors. Working with other people and groups successfully requires both the groups as a whole and the individuals in the groups to go through a growing process. I continue to stay involved with these two group because they are helping me build the life I dream to live. If you are interested in building the life you would love to live through affiliate marketing and/or a health and wellness company, check out these links: https://theinspiredandinformedlife.com/start/home http://SteveKMartin.arbonne.com/
In Summation Money can affect people in a number of different ways. Some of these ways include becoming an "amplifier of their gifts, talents, etc.," becoming a tool that reveals their values and character, and also a tool that reveals true motives. As a consumer we need to call into accountability businesses that refuse to change dishonest and selfish practices primarly through the power of choice. As a business person we need to constantly grow ourselves and improve our business. Your Takeaway So what does money reveal about your character, values, motives, gifts, and talents? Do you take responsibility as a consumer to call into account businesses that are dishonest or use selfish practices by exercising the power of choice? If you are a business person are you personally
growing and improving your business?