According to Amartya Sen (1992, 2001), poverty is a condition that results in an absence of the freedom to choose arising from a lack of the capability to function effectively in society.
The following are the reasons for poverty and you should avoid them at all cost:
1. Lack of Education: Education is to gain knowledge. Knowledge is power. Without education, you miss one of the vital tools of existence, let alone the capability to function effectively in society. Education affects earnings strongly. Educated people are more likely to be employed and earn more.
2. Live aimlessly: To live life effectively is to focus. Without focus or the main aim in life, you do not know what to do. There must be something in life that holds your interest that you can pursue and go after. When there is no intention, there will be no attention and energy to concentrate on. Life is just drifting aimlessly.
3. Without a marketable skill: While an academic education lays the groundwork of your knowledge, you need technical skills to compete effectively in the job market and command higher earnings. It is essential to obtain technical skills to complement your strengths.
4. Without the saving habit: You don’t pay yourself first. You only want to save what is left. More likely than not, there will be nothing left to save. Saving should be one of your monthly “expense” items. When there are no savings, there will be no emergency fund or money for investment. There is no financial future.
5. Live beyond your means: There is no budget. You spend at your whims and fancies to satisfy your material wants. It means you are living on credit and building up debt. Bankruptcy is the only certain outcome.
6. No planning: Life has to be planned in advance. You need financial planning to buy a car, purchase your first house, start a family and save for your retirement and your children’s tertiary education. To manage and plan your personal finance is to avoid overspending and poverty.
7. Bad habits: Smoking and gambling are more than the worst way to poverty. These bad habits destroy your health, family, and your future.
8. Not willing to work for it: You can work smart, but you still have to work hard the smart way. It is what you do every day that makes a difference in your life. To avoid poverty is to avoid laziness and put in the extra effort. There is no instant success.
9. Get along with the wrong kind of people: Birds of the same feathers flock together. When you are in the wrong company you become one of them. Get connected and learn from successful people and you will be one of them.
10. A negative mindset: You behave and act according to what you think. Negative thinking attracts poverty because you think you can’t and you won’t. When you believe you can do it and you will go all the way confidently to get it, you will avoid poverty.
Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that. ~Norman Vincent Peale
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