 When I was around 11 years old, I was taken from the village where I grew up in a town in Africa and for the first time in my life, I had daily access to TV and movies. Needless to say, I fell in love with the TV and by the time I was 12, I had been developing some unusual addiction to the TV screen, so much that I would stay awake many nights to watch movies. Fortunately for me, something else was about to happen and what happened to me then turned my life from someone who wasted too much time in front of the TV to someone who started reading good books, which later ended up changing my life and making me who I am today. In today's video, I'm going to share with you that single thing that changed my life as I try to share with you why in fact you might be the reason for your poverty. If you're new here, consider subscribing so that you won't miss other interesting videos like this. Here's the thing, when I was around age 12, I suddenly discovered that there are two kinds of people in the world, the people who work hard to create things and the people who work hard to consume things that the first group created. I discovered that the TV shows and the movies I was watching were actually created with a lot of hard work and by me spending too much time consuming them, I'm simply working hard to make other people richer. Hence, I'll be my greatest enemy because I will make myself poor. Today, so many people are poor because they make themselves poor. In other words, you are the reason for your poverty. If you don't love yourself enough to say no to the excessive consumption of things other people created. Don't be a consumer of everything interesting. Most people I know are consumers of everything as long as those things are good or interesting. Movies, soccer games, reality shows, social media and every other interesting stuff. Because these people consume everything, they are the architect of their poverty. Because you can't simply be rich when you can't say no to other people's business that is stopping you from having your own business. There are three things people who consume interesting things don't know. First, everything you consume is other people's business. When I started seeing the movies, TV, websites, etc. as other people's business, my relationship with them changed and that was more than two decades ago. Take for instance, if you understand that movies are other people's business, would you wake up early in the morning to watch a movie? If you're aware that soccer and every other sport are other people's business, would you argue and fight about it? If you don't understand that everywhere you go on the internet is other people's business, would you spend eight hours every day consuming what other people are making? As for me, when I started seeing everything like a business, I know that I should never consume your business if consuming your business would mean that I won't have time to create my own business. For example, I know some people who wake up early in the morning to watch movies or TV shows. The reason why I can never do that is I know I should spend my morning to build my own business, not patronizing another man's business. If you love yourself, this is very easy. The second thing most people who waste too much time consuming other people's creativity don't know is that it takes an unbelievable amount of time, preparation, and efforts to create what they are enjoying. Again, the way I see this is different from the way most people see it. You see, when I understood that every significant entertaining or interesting thing out there was created out of the unbelievable amount of work, preparation and sacrifice of the creator, I started asking myself if these people couldn't make so many sacrifices to create what they created. Wouldn't I make some sacrifices to create something? Tell me any product, movie, football player, musician or artist you like today and I'll tell you that behind every of these people and product lies an unbelievable amount of work, persistence, collaborations and sacrifices. So much that if you understand the number of sacrifice that goes into most of the things you enjoy, you will stop enjoying them. Instead, you will be inspired to create something that other people can also enjoy. Your favorite musician probably spends an entire year to write, practice and record the music you like the most. The movie you like most was probably written short and only released after five years, have been invested into it. The YouTube videos you love watching were being made with a number of hours you wouldn't believe. Take for instance, the video you're watching right now must have been worked up on by five or six people before you can watch it. I write the script, someone proofreads it, another person voices it, someone else reviews the voice, another person animates, someone checks to be sure that everything is fine, and another person uploads and publishes it. But if I don't tell you this, you probably think it was simply made as you simply watch it. What is the point I'm making here? Well, you'll be your number one enemy if you consume too much of other people's creativity because you'll not realize that most things you are consuming took tons of hours to make. And that for you to have a meaningful life, you have to consume less and do more to create what other people can consume. Stop making yourself poor by consuming too much of what others create. Dedicate your life to creating what others will like to consume so that you can be rich. The third thing most people don't know is that most people who create what we're consuming are not consumers. I'll explain this. Tell me, how many hours do you think Mark Zuckerberg spends on Facebook every day? Well, an average Facebook user spends two hours on Facebook every day. An average Instagram user spends 32 minutes on Instagram every day while an average WhatsApp user spends two hours on WhatsApp every day. Mark Zuckerberg owns all these three platforms. So, he should be spending as many hours as an average person spends on these platforms, right? Well, an average YouTube audience spends two hours on YouTube every day. Does this mean that Larry Page and C.I.J. Breen should be spending such hours every day? The point is, if you devote your life for creation, you won't have much time left to consume and even when you want to consume 90% of the things you will consume will be things that are related to the industry you are creating in. For example, if Mark Zuckerberg spends two hours every day on social media that of course is good for him because that may help him to understand how to improve his products. If Lionel Mercy spends three hours every day to watch football of course that's going to end up making him a better player. But imagine Zuckerberg spending five hours every day watching the TV and movies like most people do. Or imagine Mercy spending five hours every day on social media. You get my point. People who create great things discipline themselves not to be addicted to many interesting things that others created. Consuming everything that other people created is a sign that you hate yourself because you won't have time to create anything significant and because of this, you won't become rich. Loving yourself enough to hate yourself. Over 11 years ago when I left school with the decision to build a company of my own I knew what I was signing up for. My goal was to succeed only after a decade of failure and that goal was influenced by my previous studies about many successful people. Since I've studied and understood that most people who succeed almost always have to sacrifice many years before their success comes I never expected any cheap success. I knew I was going to suffer a great deal but I just have to do it because I love myself. That's what I call love yourself enough to hate yourself. Most people don't love themselves enough and that's why they complain and make excuses. For instance, if some armed robbers come to your home steal all you have and rape your 17 year old daughter what would you do? Would you wait all day, complain and blame them? Wouldn't you stand up and take the responsibility of taking your daughter to the hospital? That 17 year old innocent girl is your life and whoever you think is the reason for your poverty is that armed robber. It doesn't matter what makes you poor. The Ambrothers can never come back to take your daughter to the hospital. You have to do that. No matter how difficult that is, if you love yourself enough you'll have the courage to hate yourself. If you love yourself enough, every excuse will disappear from your mind. If you love yourself enough, you'll hate yourself to do difficult things and go through failures just to create the kind of life you want for yourself. Here is a summary of everything I've discussed with you. You may be the very person who's responsible for your poverty. If you spend too many hours consuming what other people created you won't have the time to create anything. Whether it's a product, a service or an idea and if you create nothing, you'll be poor. And this is your fault. If you don't love yourself enough to hate yourself, you won't do difficult things. Instead, you'll expect the government or God to do it for you what you have the power to do for yourself. God will ignore you and the government will lie to you. If you don't hate yourself, you don't like yourself. If you don't like yourself, you will consume too many things and create nothing. If you create nothing meaningful, you'll be poor. And that will be your fault. Thank you for watching. If you enjoyed this video, please like, share and subscribe to our channel. I'll see you in the next video. Bye bye.