“A man doesn’t need brilliance or genius, all he needs is energy.”
Are you available for dinner at my house? He asked. Of course, I replied. We have known each other for more than a year. One story started when we bumped into each other at different parties around Salsa dancing.
Then I got the invitation. I love Thai food. I could not miss that opportunity.
We are having dinner. Then more people joined us. Finally, there was a young guy. He was 23 years old. As we were tasting the food, he explained that he was making a lot of money. He is a happy owner of an Audi TT.
Then my friend started pitching us the idea of a telephone company where you can quickly own a product and make a lot of money. All I had to do was buy the product and then invite my family and friends to join.
Then the Audi TT guy jumped in: I am making so much money that I work 10 hours weekly. So I was like: Really, what Am I doing working as a tier 3 subcontractor for Airbus? It was in 2009.
Something was bothering me, though. They are talking about a revolutionary phone product I have never seen in the news. It was two years after the launch of the first iPhone. I owned an iPhone 3G at that time. I did not feel at ease with my friend from the salsa club. I saw the trap. I never met him again after I declined to embark on that thing that was too good to be true.
I just dodged a Ponzi scheme, know also as an MLM (Multi Level Marketing) scam:
“Multi-level marketing (MLM), also called network marketing[1] or pyramid selling,[2][3][4] is a controversial[5] marketing strategy for the sale of products or services in which the revenue of the MLM company is derived from a non-salaried workforce selling the company's products or services, while the earnings of the participants are derived from a pyramid-shaped or binary compensation commission system.”
Multi-level marketing. (2023, March 16). In Wikipedia.
Don’t get me wrong. I am sure many companies use that scheme to sell products that have changed people’s lives. But don’t fool yourself. You are playing a losing game when you are introduced to the product.
I want to share a new perspective on another Ponzi scheme with a twist in this article. Most of the time, the person at the top of the MLM scheme is making all the money. However, you will make more in this new approach if you reach the top.
This new Ponzi scheme of mine has two advantages that set it apart from all other ones:
- You can reach the top of the pyramid,
- You can gain something more valuable than money.
And the best part is that you can invite your friends, family, and colleagues into this scheme, and they will thank you later.
MONEY: THE BASE OF THE PYRAMID - Like all scams, this pyramid's base is money. But if you are seeking only money, you will stay stuck at the lowest level of this pyramid.
Today, you and I are doing our 9 to 5 just because we are paid at the end of the month. Most of us would not show up tomorrow to work for free.
On social media, we are bombarded by pictures of so-called influencers traveling the world and living in mansions with a dozen, at least, of the most expensive cars money can buy.
They will teach you how to do it with their fake and fabricated wealth, just if you give them $997. Nowadays, the internet is full of multi-millionaires who still need your money to teach how they are doing it. Just buy the ten steps to Being a Millionaire, attend a seminar, or buy their ebook.
The offer is bound in time. It is 95% off, and you better hurry. Well, you get the idea.
You can chase money all you want. You can chase money your whole life. I have never seen a billionaire saying that they have had enough money. Yet you cannot eat it. You cannot take it with you. The more you have of it, the more hungry you are to get more.
Money is the black hole of human greed. Let me rephrase. The sole pursuit of money is a bottomless pit that will never have enough of it.
Yes, you need some financial freedom to build generational wealth. However, that should be the standard we should all strive for.
Beyond that, the only good use of more money should be to go to the next level of this new pyramid.
TIME, THE MIDDLE MAN OF THE PYRAMID - When you have money beyond financial freedom and generational wealth, you should use it for two things. One is to pay it forward to others so that you are helping them reach financial freedom and build generational wealth. The second best use of money is to buy more time for yourself.
When we move from seeking money to buying some time, we reach a level where only 10% of people are today. That 10% are not only crazy rich people. It is the most diverse segment of all humankind.
Some people are not corrupted by money. They just get what is necessary for their basic needs. Then they focus their time on living a simple life. They are not running behind shiny objects. On the contrary, they value their time as the most valuable asset in life.
Indeed we all have 24 hours a day. We can give millions to other people. We can get them back thanks to loopholes or tax breaks. Yet the time we give to other people, we cannot get it back. The time that is gone is gone forever. No amount of money can buy you a single day, a single hour, a single minute, or even just a second.
Yet as crucial as time is, having a lot of it means nothing if you cannot use it properly. That is one of the biggest traps of all time (pun intended).
That is the reason why time is just a middleman.
ENERGY, THE PINNACLE OF THE NEW PONZI SCHEME - Imagine that you could live forever, but each day your energy is decreasing a little bit more than the day before. Unfortunately, you and I have been victims of that time fallacy.
Who doesn’t want to live forever?
We all have asked ourselves that question. We all have imagined that the genius in the bottle could grant us such a wish.
The question we should ask, though, is the following one:
Who doesn't want to be young forever?
Youth is synonymous with having a lot of energy. So we should all mine for more energy. We cannot be forever young. Sorry, Jay-Z.
We have first to seek more time for the sole purpose of harvesting more energy. We need to surround ourselves with people who can fill our energy bucket.
We should run away from energy vampires. Instead, we should sleep more and sleep better to have more energy in the morning.
The most efficient resource in the universe is Energy. Energy is the driving force from the Big Bang to the Big Crunch.
The universe is energy. The sun is energy. Our planet feeds from energy. Plants are energy that feeds us. We are energy beings. We beam our energy to others. The energy around us influences us.
Energy is the ultimate grail, far above the Holy Grail. Unfortunately, only the right 1% of humankind is at this level of this new pyramid.
Are you ready to join the 1% that matters?
In conclusion, the Money, Time, and Energy pyramid is the only scheme worth participating in. You can reach the top of the pyramid. Don’t spend your whole life at the lower level chasing money. Exchange money with time. While doing that, ensure you build energy wells that can be your Fountain of Youth.
If you find this newsletter of any value to you, please like it, subscribe and share it with one person to pay it forward.
#Dare2Care #Dare2Share
#BIOS #BringInyourOwnSoul #LeadHeartship #Leadership
Photo by Emma Bauso from Pexels