The Way Money Works

“Do good and the money will follow.”- Marsha Senitar

I thought about this topic back in December of 2023, hoping to enlighten people who are confused on why they feel “luck” hasn’t showered them with wealth yet. I never really got to finish it as I never wanted to embarrass myself by writing an article about money when I can’t even show any verification of my own success. Although, I can tell you that I was able to understand how money works at a young age, thanks to the lessons of my parents. If you are one of those people who are still looking at the sky on a bright sunny day with your mouth open and waiting for a single drop of water to touch your lips, then this might be a good read for you.

I am writing this for my fellow hospitality friends

Money is no magic

One thing that you can observe in our world right now is that people are so into the overnight millionaire story, the “I made X amount in a day,” Bitcoin millionaire by 19, or the 23 year-old Lambo owner, etc. The world has already forgotten how money is being generated in the proper way. There’s a multitude of new streams of income that has been created within the past twenty years and some are miracles, some are shady, some are morally inappropriate and some are interesting. With the advent of the internet and highspeed data, we want everything instant. We don’t want to work hard anymore, we just want to be part of the “instant money” circle. You may have gotten lucky once by striking it big in the lottery or a good trade in the stock market, but without the proper foundation or understanding how REAL wealth is created, you will lose it all. Pay attention.

Yes, these miracle stories are happening more often than not—some are worthy of a tale and some are just cheating their way to sway people with their gimmicks. I have been swayed a couple of times as well, thinking that I can make so much in so little time with so little effort. This mindset ruined me and I have been regretting it every single time. I want to spare you the long, toe-curling story of what I did in the past—it wasn’t pleasant. The good thing is that I learned my lesson from those failures and reminded myself to go back to the old school belief in money, and I am good at it.

Call me old-fashioned, but this is the gist of the whole article: Money knocks to the door of an individual who has demonstrated that s/he have put in the (right kind of) work (& time) and is deserving of it. The universe will align and pave the way for you to reach what you’ve been aiming for. That’s it. Luck does play a part in bringing you success, although its contribution is minute. What is more striking than luck is timing. Timing, mixed with luck and hard work, are all that it takes for you to become who or where you want to be. Take note though, only the Universe can judge who it deems deserving or not.

The reason why I am doing this is because I am seeing people being so obsessed with wealth without putting in the work. Without putting in the foundation or effort, dreams will continue to be dreams. Some people go the extra mile to dream that they become delusional and lose grasp of reality. ‘Fake it till you make it,’ they say. I hope you spare yourself from this ideology and refrain from waiting for luck to touch you with its golden finger. There is no such thing as free money in this world. There is no such thing as getting a raise or promotion without more responsibilities, “from those who have plenty, much is expected.”

For example, Covid changed everything in my industry where cooks with no qualifications wanted to become sous chefs ( mid-level managers) out of a sudden. Since there were a lot of seasoned chefs who departed and found a new calling in life, the industry had to fill in the roles that were essential to keep businesses running. The underqualified cooks demanded more and threatened management of job abandonment. The industry was in a pinch and was left with no choice. Now, in order to survive and keep the employees, restaurants had to find a way to pay for labor cost by charging their customers premium. These under qualified employees are now the ones making your experience less appealing. They don’t have anything to bring to the table—they just want the title or the money.

This phenomenon led the industry to become rocky. I mean, how often do we get disappointed with a sub par service or a forgetful pasta dish and end up with a bill north of $150? Plus, on top of that, you pay 18-20% service charge (dining in OR take out) for a mediocre server who don’t seem like he/she really have the passion to serve people. It doesn’t help that some restaurants are known for having bad reputations, and they’re fine with it as long as the money keeps printing. Company work culture in most restaurants right now are toxic. Kids and adults who don’t have proper work ethic do what they want and get fired for the most foolish of reasons:

Coming to work late because s/he partied last night and was drunk,

Somebody calling out for the an unknown reason and didn’t care who would cover his/her shift,

A couple had sex in the restroom and got caught, one of them had to go away,

Drinking and getting high while on shift,

Coming back from break intoxicated,

No-call no show,

I mean, where are we headed to? 

And these people are the very people who speak like they have sacrificed so much already in order to make themselves look deserving of wealth. How awful have we become.

How To Get Money Pay A Visit

1.) First thing’s first, you need to find something that you are good at or you have passion for. If possible, avoid doing something that you hate doing. If you dread being a chef or a server everyday, then spare yourself, find something that you are good at or will be happy to do. Loving something naturally will help you persist during the tough times of your career. Not loving your career choice from the get-go just makes you quit even with the slightest mishaps.

2.) Being good at something takes time. For some people, figuring something out is easy, for some, it takes more than what is expected. The secret ingredients are consistency, persistence and aiming for the best. You need to be good at something. This mindset creates value and makes you indispensable. You will only hear the success of somebody and not even bother asking how long it took him/her to master his/her craft. Keep on pushing through. I’ve learned from my good friends who own businesses that it took them at least 7 years before they became successful.

3). Be surrounded with the right people, cut ties with people who are not contributing to your success. The saying, “tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are.” is the most powerful statement regarding finding the right people to surround yourself with. Having like-minded friends enable you to think like them.

4.) You need to show the universe that you are responsible with money and show that you are honest with what you do. A very bold criteria that most of us fall short of. How honest are you with your intentions and aspirations? Let’s just say that when somebody hands you a million dollars right now, how will you spend or use it? Will it be for foolish things or will it be for things that will make you a better person and help the people around you be better too? Being responsible with money is hard. But let me tell you something that I’ve learnt from my parents from a very young age, “If you cannot manage a small amount of money, then you will never be able to manage a large sum of it.”

5.) Be consistent, even in the midst of strife. Our natural instinct is to give up easily when there are challenges looming. These hurdles are part of the journey that strengthen us. Rather than give up, you need to prove that you will be there through thick and thin, just like marriage. You will slowly see that problems become smaller and smaller as you conquer them. If you’re only here for the good times, then you are just another statistic.

Come to think of it, attracting money can be associated with a man in pursuit of a very conservative lady from the most conservative family. Money doesn’t force you to do anything and it will make you feel that it doesn’t need you (which is really true, money doesn’t go after anybody). You have to go through the old fashioned courting and prove that you desire her deeply, with clear intentions. You will go through rejections and other challenges along the way. If you persist and your heart is honest, then she will slowly entertain you. Once you’ve surpassed all the challenges and see that you have the persistence and the willingness to do everything, then she will shower you will blessings and give you abundance that you’ve never experienced before. How nice of a love story this is.