Author: Ayo Arowolo
Publisher: Refiner’s Touch Limited
Reviewer: Goke Ilesanmi
One of the major reasons why people work hard every day is to achieve financial freedom. But achieving financial freedom requires not just working hard, but working smart through financial education. This is why we are reviewing this week, this text entitled, “The New Millionaires’ Capsules”, with the subtitle, “How to Work Your Way Step by Step to Financial Freedom”. You can also read my “Success Path” column of Monday to reinforce your knowledge on this.
This text is authored by Ayo Arowolo, a Reuters Award winner, who has been involved in financial education in more than 20 years as a financial and investigative journalist. Arowolo has worked for leading newspapers in Nigeria, including the Concord Group, The Guardian, The News and This Day, all in Nigeria.
He is the founding Managing Editor/CEO of Financial Standard and founding CEO of The Investment Club Network (TICN). Arowolo is now the publisher/CEO of Moneywise, a personal finance newspaper. He speaks to audiences around the country, focusing on how individuals can take full charge of their personal financial affairs.
In this text, Arowolo shares with you the secrets of wealth-creation and sustenance. According to him, the financial journey that catapults you from poverty to wealth demands some conscious efforts. Arowolo educates that this journey begins by realising that God wants you to live the life of abundance and aligning your mindset to this reality.
To properly drive home his message through creation of concrete analytical background to achieve conviction, Arowolo recounts how his finance nosedived many years ago as a result of blind investment. He says the escape route came for him when he started applying the wealth-building tips shared with him by his financial mentor.
He adds that his financial mentor also recommended different motivational and finance books and cassettes to him, and within a short time, his financial situation started improving. This experience of practical journey to financial freedom is what Arowolo shares with you in this text.
As regards segmentation, this text contains 22 millionaire tips, technically christened “Millionaire Capsules”. Capsule one is labelled “Set specific and clear money goals”. Through his financial mentor as a mouthpiece, Arowolo stresses that it is only when you set clear and specific goals that you can transform your imagination into reality. Through his conversation with this financial mentor, Arowolo asserts that wealth is not measured in monetary terms, but how much your stream of passive income can take care of your expenses.
Capsule two is based on the need to dream your naira into existence. According to Arowolo here, you must be a millionaire inside to become a millionaire outside. Through his financial mentor, he illuminates that you can command every imaginative material possession into existence only if you have a strong desire. Arowolo asserts that to make your dream come into reality, you must make it a dominant passion.
In Capsules three to five, concepts of your mind being the most important asset; letting your imagination loose and attaching yourself to a business coach are X-rayed. Through his interaction with the financial mentor, Arowolo stresses that with your mind intact, sound and constantly developed, you have all it takes to make money.
Capsule six is entitled, “We are all stewards of God’s money”. Using the financial mentor as a mouthpiece, Arowolo says however wealthy you are, you are only a steward of God’s money and wealth, and if you are not kind with money, God will make it vanish.
Capsules seven to nine are based on the concepts of being bold to take baby steps; striving to stretch your talent to wealth zones and your problem being purpose-driven. Here, this author submits that many people are waiting for when they will have all the money in the world before starting their own business. Arowolo advises that though money is good, you should not let it be the major factor in choosing a career.
Capsule ten is about sharpening your financial intelligence. Here, through the financial mentor, Arowolo stresses the need for you to shun impulsive or bad spending and invest in business areas where you are experienced.
In Capsules 11 to 17, Arowolo beams his intellectual searchlight on concepts such as business with understanding breeding wealth; preaching the message, a biblical allusion; success and failure being predictable; learning to control your expenses; knowing the state of your financial health; avoiding reliance on just one source of income and getting your spouse involved in your money.
Capsule 18 is based on the subject matter of purpose and provision going together. It is established here that God has an assignment for every human being and you may not find it until you are able to locate that assignment and commit yourself to achieving it.
In Capsules 19 to 22, Arowolo analytically X-rays the concepts of knowing the state of your health; possibility of starting all over again; separating yourself for breakthrough and preparing your personal financial statements.
As far as mode of presentation is concerned, this text is a prototype of artistic and intellectual distinction. The title is suggestive, figurative and creative. It is also pictorial in the sense that the image of Capsules is conjured, thus aiding memory. The outer front cover design embroidered with the image of capsules and tablets is also used to achieve visual reinforcement of readers’ understanding of the concepts symbolised by capsules. The use of symbolism of capsules also underscores the fact that the ideas discussed are easily applicable just as capsules easily dissolve in water.
What’s more, the language of the text is simple. This is expected, given Arowolo’s professional background as a journalist. In short, as my Managing Editor/CEO, he always preached (and still preaches) the gospel of simplicity of language at Financial Standard, a paper I left as Acting Editor. Arowolo also employs biblical allusions, background stories and dialogue to achieve concrete conviction and lend credibility to his message. Another artistic success of this text lies in the combination of narrative techniques. Arowolo combines Autobiographical and Eye-of-God narrative techniques, thus assuming the role of an omniscient narrator. He includes summary at the end of each Capsule to ensure easy understanding through recapitulation.
However, one section on the outer back cover needs to be re-written for clarity. The section is, “There are principles behind wealth accumulation. It involves….” If the pronoun “It” refers to “Wealth accumulation” (through grammatical rule of proximity), rather than “Principles”, then, we need to put “Wealth accumulation” in brackets after “It” thus: “It (wealth accumulation) involves….” Otherwise, the third person plural pronoun “They”, will be used to maintain agreement (that is, anaphoric or co-referential relations) with the plural noun “Principles”.
Generally, this text is a masterpiece. If you are determined to legitimately transform your financial situation from the podium of despicable financial depression to the rostrum of enviable financial elevation in the remaining part of 2010, then this text is highly recommended to you. It is a treasury of irresistible financial knowledge.
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GOKE ILESANMI, Editor-in-Chief/CEO of www.gokeilesanmi.com.ng and Managing Consultant/CEO of Gokmar Communication Consulting, is a Certified Public Speaker/Emcee, (Business) Communication Specialist, Motivational Speaker, Career Management Coach, Renowned Book Reviewer, Corporate Leadership Expert and Editorial Consultant.