The saying that “money is a cruel master but an excellent servant” contains a lot of wisdom. In short, it means when you give your money guidance and tell it what to do, it delivers great results. If you don’t, however, money can make you miserable.
Let’s unpack the saying some more.
Cruel master
Money is your master when it dominates your days and becomes the driving force behind your decisions and your actions. The results of this situation include:
- Stress, unhappiness and losing sight of what truly matters in life.
- Damage to your relationships when, for example, you work at night and over weekends instead of spending time with your loved ones.
- Not staying true to your personal values. An extreme example could be that you commit fraud or theft to fix your money problems.
- Poor personal growth and wellbeing because you work too much (or worry too much about money) to take care of your health, get exercise or learn new things. Some people also turn to alcohol or drugs when financial worries get too much.
Excellent servant
On the other hand, when you understand the role that money plays in your life, it serves you. Money as a servant is a tool to:
- Achieve goals
- Realise dreams
- Improve quality of life
- Invest in education
- Support your loved ones
- Contribute to charitable causes and to your community
- Create opportunities for personal and professional growth
In simple terms, money should never be the reason you want to make money. Having a big balance in the bank is not a powerful “why” for making money. You have to understand what that balance means to you and, more importantly, what that money must achieve for you. Once you understand that, you are in a position to make good money decisions. For instance, if money represents security to you, ask yourself what security looks like: is it a house? Good education for your children? Enough money to retire? Based on your answer, you can then take the next step to achieve that goal.
If you want to get your money to work for you, start by getting clear on your goals and your values. When you know what is important to you, you can use your money to make it happen. A simple example: if you understand that you value a healthy body, it becomes easy to spend your money on vegetables rather than takeaways; or to save up to buy something like an airfryer that makes it quick and easy to prepare healthy meals instead of buying another round of drinks.
A balanced life combines financial success with personal growth, meaningful experiences and positive contributions to society. Success is not a number in the bank; it is how close you get to achieving your goals. Seeing money as a servant means that you treat it as a tool to be used for a greater purpose, rather than as the ultimate goal. It also means that you keep control over money, rather than allowing money to control you. The point is that when you manage your money wisely, it can help you achieve positive outcomes and a higher quality of life.
