The WHYPOWER Attribute

Updated: April 14, 2020

It’s always wonderful to meet people whose lives have been transformed because of financial education.

They’re ordinary people, who used to believe that life is a constant struggle. But because they learned how to properly manage their finances, they now see life as abundant and opportunity-rich.

Such is the case of April, who shares with us her story below.

Find out what WHYPOWER means, how it has helped her, and most importantly, where she learned this powerful concept.

WHYPOWER

“WILLPOWER is not enough,” one of my mentors at the IMG Wealth Academy would always say. “You’ve also got to have the WHYPOWER”.

WHYPOWER? What does that mean?

Merriam Webster defines WILLPOWER as a strong determination that allows you to do something difficult.

Meanwhile, in my own terms, WHYPOWER is a strong reason that motivates you to keep going despite relentless failures and disappointments.

Every advocacy starts from an individual’s reason – the “WHY” – because this becomes the source of her “power”, her vision, desire, passion… her mission in life.

Why am I doing this? Why am I like this? What is my WHYPOWER in my financial advocacy?

MY STORY

I grew up in a lower middle class family. My parents have no regular jobs. My father is self-employed and my mother is an OFW. I am the eldest in the family and I have two sisters.

As the eldest, people have always been expecting that I will be the one who will get my family out of poverty.

It’s tough when you’re just in your teenage years and you see your parents going through a lot of hardships and sacrifices. But what makes it tougher is when you see everything and you can do nothing about it.

I always think, there’s nothing I can do at that time but to keep silent, continue to wake up every day, study and finish my college. I would feel helpless.

As a person who grew up in a family without proper financial planning, I know how it feels for a child experiencing that. And I would never want to let that happen to my future kids.

I would always wonder, if they know that we’re going to study in the future, why didn’t they get ready for it? If they know that it’s already the start of class, why didn’t they prepare for it? If they know that the business is always going slow during some season, why didn’t they make an advance plan for it?

I was forced to sacrifice things I couldn’t afford. I was forced to delay gratifications hoping for better returns. I was forced to learn how to use my spare time productively. I was forced to think on different ways to survive.

I do not blame my parents for I’ve seen how hard they tried to meet their responsibilities and I believe that no financial-wise person with a good heart reached out to help them at that time.

But to think that if they have only known how to manage their finances well, if they have only known how to earn it way better, and if they have only met someone who could help them in this matter, we could have created better memories together as a family.

I could have pursued my other passion. My sisters could have pursued theirs too. My mother need not go to another country to work, and my father could have done things with better value.

Lack of money affected us negatively, it almost broke our family.

People could easily say, “Too bad… money should never affect your relationship with your family. It’s just a piece of paper.” OR “Perhaps your parents are just so vulnerable to let that happen to your family. Ours will not be like that.”

I agree that family relationships should not be based on money. But the reality is it does affect all of us, and in most aspects. If you’ve been in a similar situation, I know you’d understand.

I’m not saying that having a lot of money would spare us from having family problems, because wealthy families get broken too.

What I wanted to explain here is that having enough money to support your family and having proper financial planning is a big factor that could make our lives way better.

LEARNINGS

Gladly, I’ve learned so many things from my past experiences that can help me carry on my ventures today. I was able to turn everything from being a curse into a blessing.

I used this as an inspiration to myself and for the people around me. I would love to teach my kids how to be financially independent because I don’t want them to be in a “do-or-die” situation as I’ve been before.

Right now, all I want is for people to understand why I believe financial literacy is not a joke nor is it just a rich man’s game – the fact is, it is everyone’s reality.

I want Filipino families to be aware of their financial responsibilities. I want them to have the strong desire to be a provider of a good and better future for the next generation, and of course, to give back more to God.

This is where my WHYPOWER comes from and this is why I’m different.

About the author:
This article is written by April Ann Ramirez. She is working as a credit analyst in a bank and an active member of the IMG Wealth Academy since Feb 2014.

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Photo credits: snlsn, cybercafe, and weirtz