Time, Money and Good Health - Which is More Important to Your Success in Business? By Sunny Obazu-Ojeagbase

IF you were presented with three choices -- time, money [seed or working capital] and good health -- which one will you absolutely go for? Which of the three will you hang on to while ignoring the other two?

Tricky question, you say? Maybe. But I don't think so. Not when you give it a deep thought.

Depending on the level you're in your entrepreneurship career, the answer is as simple and straight forward as ABC.

Without a shadow of doubt, these three items are so essential for anyone to have enduring success in business. They are as important to a business as blood is to a living soul. None of the three is dispensable But right now, you're being forced to take one only.

So which of the three will get your nod? This is my own ranking of the three "must haves" in order of their importance to me.

1. Good health

2. Money

3. Time

And this is the reason behind my choice:

Good health ; This is the number one choice for me. It's so far ahead of the other two that I didn't even have to think before giving it my vote.

Practically everything in life is achievable if there good health. No matter how desperate your situation may be, if you have good health and sound mind, you can literally overcome it and turn it around.

But without good health, your chances of making it next to zero. When your health fails, you're like a boxer lying flat on his back from a left hook to the jaw, with the referee counting from one to ten.

Your crown, if you're the champion, or your ambition to wear the crown, if you're the challenger, depends on your ability to get back on your feet and resume the fight. If the referee counts you out, it is good night.
The fight is over. You're down and out. From that point you could end up six feet below the ground level. Or you could become a vegetable on wheel chair, totally useless and dependent on others for everything you may wish to do. And running your business is certainly not going to be one of those things! So you see, good health is number one. No questions about it.

Money ; If money could speak as men do, I'm sure it would have pulled me aside and demanded to know why I'm making him my number two choice instead of number one. I know that money speaks in other ways. Its voice is even more audible than a man's voice that is magnified by the most sophisticated loud speakers.

For instance, if you turn up at an annual old students association gathering wearing the same dress you wore last year, which now stands out not because it was the same dress but because it's now worn out and bearing some outstanding patches here and there, everyone in the gathering would know immediately that your finances has headed south.

That is one of the ways that money speaks. And it could be very loud indeed. In fact money is powerful. It is a must have. But in spite of that fact, it's still number two, behind good health.

If I'm healthy, I could make all the money in the world that I want to. With my health in good shape, I could do anything legitimate to earn money, including getting a part in a home video acting a clown if it would guarantee the next meal for my family.

But you say, suppose you don't have money, how will you be able to start your business and run it profitably?
Every diligent and attentive reader of our monthly magazine knows [or should know] by now that capital [seed or working capital] is not a barrier to starting and running a successful business.

What counts, is a sound idea.

Time ; You've heard it said over and over again: Time is money. And it is true. I believe it is. But, despite that fact, I'm choosing good health and money ahead of it. Why? Because, until you learn how to invest your time and not spend it, time could be a wasted asset. And that is what it's in the hands of a majority of people. Sad! Time is a great resource. An indispensable one for that matter.

But as an entrepreneur, which is the consideration here, good health is running far ahead of time and money not so far ahead but still having a slight edge. Consider the following: You have a hot idea. This idea is capable of making you tons of money. It's an idea which can be exploited by anyone. I mean, it is not patented. There's no government law that restricts others from doing it. And even if there's such a law, no responsible government will give you the go ahead for an indefinite take off date.

If you have this hot idea and you don't have the money to start to it, you'll lose the market. No doubt about it. So, money beats time hands down here. And, of course, if you have a hot idea and you have billions to invest in it, the moment you're identified by Ward C and bed number five by the window in a popular or not-so-popular hospital, you're out of the race.

But make no mistake about it, in another setting -- a setting that guarantees good health and eliminate the conditions attached to the hot business idea that I described above -- I will go for time ahead of money. If you have lots of money but you're a procrastinator, all that money will be wasted away. Inflation will eat it up.

For example, if you wanted to place order for a raw material in November last year but dragged your feet till February after naira moved from its secure exchange rate of N118 to the one US dollar, you're already a loser by several thousand naira.

See? For you to create wealth and live to enjoy it, sound health is the sine qua non. So, dear entrepreneur, don't under-estimate good health. You can disagree with me on my placement of money above time. But, never never take your health for granted. Never!

Dr. Sunny Obazu-Ojeagbase is the publisher of the nationally acclaimed monthly magazine, SuccessDigest and founder of SuccessDigest Leaders' Club. His publications have helped thousands of people to launch their own successful businesses. To learn more about him and how you may profit from his wealth of experience visit http://sunnyojeagbase.com

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