For most of the people I’ve met, work is their entire life. In other words, if they stop working, it’s the end. They can’t pay their bills, their rent, or buy food—in short, they can’t take care of themselves. If you fall into this category, it’s a sign that you are poor. You must acknowledge your poverty and reassess your relationship with work.

The wealthiest people don’t work for money—money works for them. They invest and afford themselves decent leisure. The rich don’t work, they build businesses, often without taking breaks. The poor, on the other hand, only work. The miserable squander. If you want to become wealthy, you need to rethink your relationship with work. Why do you work? To make a living? To grow? Or to invest? Over the past two years, I became poorer after embarking on at least three investment projects. I resigned from my job at the end of 2021 because I understood that if I stayed in that environment—even earning €1,500 a month—I would still be poor in ten years.

In Africa, if you manage to build your own house, buy one or two cars, and send your children to study abroad, you’re considered a wealthy, accomplished man. It’s a sad reality. Laughs! What has such a man done that’s more than what an ant does? Even ants build houses—sometimes with several floors. They construct bridges and walkways to move around more easily. They even send their young to other territories to colonize new spaces. There’s no difference between the life of such a man and that of a primitive ant.

In fact, I realized how extremely poor I was the day I traveled to Gaborone (the capital of Botswana, a country in Southern Africa). I was lodged in a student hotel I found luxurious. The American students in the competition stayed in the same university residence—it was “acceptable” for them. The Australians, however, called it a “dump” and went to stay at the Hilton. That was the second shock of poverty in my life, after my trip to Nigeria.

When I returned to Cameroon, I changed my mindset. I asked myself the right question: How can I escape poverty and misery? Since 2009, I’ve been involved in social entrepreneurship, launching innovative institutional and educational projects focused on public speaking. In a word, I’ve made education my investment field. I resigned in 2021, but I still work. I’m not unemployed. I’ve simply decided to work towards fulfilling the projects of my destiny. I wasn’t the one who came up with the idea of founding the Cameroon Debate Association (CDA), yet I created it. Someone might have an idea, like starting a business, and you can take it as your personal mission, your life plan.

There are salaried workers and ambitious workers. Ambitious workers aren’t satisfied with just their salary. They seek to develop the company they work for, create or grow a department within the organization, or build a strong network of clients that makes them indispensable. Unfortunately, many young Africans leave their boss’s companies too early to start their own businesses. Not everyone is meant to be an entrepreneur, but everyone is meant to lead someone. Even a night guard is a boss somewhere—at home—but that doesn’t mean he will necessarily become an entrepreneur.

So, learn to work to build, to invest—not just to make money. That’s the hallmark of great leaders. They’re willing to work for free to gain experience, meet people, and leave a lasting impact.

I was a volunteer for over 10 years in my youth, freely working in several African countries and even one Asian country. The downside of excessive volunteering is that you may be seen as “unplaceable” in the professional world. A volunteer is freer than an employee. He sets his own rules. He helps establish the standards. The best way to reassess your relationship with work is to try volunteering.

Take a leap into the unknown. Take one, two, or three months off and go volunteer in the company of your dreams. Maybe in a civil society organization that has nothing to do with your usual routine. The experience you’ll gain will propel you forward in your professional environment. You can also take a different approach: reduce your daily work hours and devote one to three hours to volunteering in an organization or company smaller than yours, over a period of three to six months.

Another option is to dedicate one or two weekdays to volunteering in a different organization. You’ll surely gain something you couldn’t have achieved by staying confined to your regular workplace.

This exercise will help you develop a sense of greatness, dignity, and humanity. You’ll become more respectful of people. If you’re a boss, try this. Go elsewhere and work as a volunteer. At the end of the experience, your relationship with your employees will have changed. And in three months, at no cost, you’ll have solved a host of management problems that might have cost you tens of millions of CFA francs.

How many hours do you work per day?

I’m mostly a homebody. I spend 80% of my time in front of a computer, locked in my private office. I work at least 12 hours a day on average, because I have different blocks of work. There’s time devoted to my prayer life and ministry.

There’s also time dedicated to our development and humanitarian projects. There’s time focused on my gifts and talents, from which I’ve excluded musical activities for now. And soon, I’ll have a work period dedicated to my personal businesses and clients. My work time will certainly increase. That’s why I’m poor. The rich are free because their money—invested in multiple ventures—works for them. So they can afford a certain level of luxury and leisure.

You must accept, at the start of your social life, to suffer—that is, to go without leisure and to sleep no more than four hours a day until you’re sure you’ve achieved financial freedom. In fact, rich people spend more time investing in their brains (general culture) and their bodies (intense physical activity) to maintain clarity and sharpness under the pressure of their lifestyle.

Sometimes, they have to make urgent decisions in times of crisis. They are financially free, but live under constant pressure. That’s one of the reasons I really appreciated Dany Laferrière’s book The Art of Doing Nothing. You can’t imagine the pressure I’m under to ensure this book, Succeed at All Costs, is ready by early July. In two days, it’ll be exactly thirty days I’ve been writing under pressure. My eyes hurt, my nerves hurt, my shoulders hurt, my back hurts—I hurt everywhere. That’s the price to pay if you want to change things. Your body must sweat. It must bleed. Tomorrow, in thirty years, if I’m still alive, my books will work and speak for me.

My relationship with time has also changed. Time itself has become an investment. I don’t know what leisure is. I have no TV, no radio. I hardly ever leave my house except to go to church, attend appointments, or take part in conferences. My only leisure moments are during retreats, in the forest or on a mountain. That’s when I receive inspiration.

I also occasionally go to the countryside to plant, cultivate, weed, or harvest. You’ll almost never find me in nightclubs or lively spots at night. My nights are for working. If you want to become rich, go to such places at night only to work or network; otherwise, stay home at night—read, think, build…

This text is an excerpt from the book “Succeed at All Costs: The 5 Fingers of Success” written by Jean-Paul Marie (Pastor Samuel Binyou).

We invite you to read the next article: “WORK MAKES YOU POOR, STRATEGY MAKES YOU RICH.”