If you’re the kind of person who’s still wondering, hoping, wishing, wanting, and even lighting holy candles for some sort of financial miracle, Tony Fleming wants you to cease and desist with those futile and fruitless fantasies. No bundles of Benjamins are going to suddenly swoop down from the sky and land in your lap as if it rode in on angels’ wings. Don’t expect to be bequeathed a fortune in a posthumous gesture of love from a relative that you never heard of. Don’t expect your nephew Pooky to make it to the NBA — and even if he does, don’t expect him to lavish you with a lovely lifestyle into eternity. If you have a desire to become wealthy, do expect to begin the process yourself.

But take heed: Fleming says never believe that you can become wealthy entirely on your own merit, as society perpetually purports. “We’ve been trained in America to think selfishly. They line us up in cubicles. And there’s no team atmosphere there. It’s like ‘if you win, somebody else has gotta lose,’ ” says Fleming, founder of Tony Fleming Enterprises LLC. “It’s never set up where it’s a win-win situation, so we’re trained that way, to step on people as we climb the ladder. You have to incorporate other people into it. A group of people thinking one way is the best way to become successful.”Develop a relationship with a bank, so when you want to invest in your business, you can risk with someone else’s money. “That’s why it’s good to build a relationship with a banker. Borrow $200. Pay that back. Then borrow $500 and pay that back. Then when a big deal comes along, you can use the bank’s money,” counsels Fleming.And Fleming’s take on why we are workers rather than owners? “We’ve been trained to work. We haven’t been trained to be businesspeople. We haven’t been trained to own our own businesses,” he says.

The sheer monotony of routine without growth incites dependency on substances to cope. “When you get up to go to the same job every day that you hate, and you’re not growing at all, and you are going through the motions on the job, the only way to survive is to have a drink, or two or three or four in the evening, just to take you away from the miserable life that you’re living,” says Fleming.

Instead of a cocktail, try a taste of Fleming's sound financial advice. - terry shropshire

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