Sola Adesakin 
Social media has made it easier than ever to peek into people’s lives. A new car. A home renovation. A foreign trip. A fresh business launch. Every scroll can make you feel like you’re falling behind. But here’s the truth: wealth is not built by comparison. It is built by principle, and principles don’t trend—they last.
If you want to cut through the noise and truly build wealth that lasts, there are five A’s you must hold on to. These are not theories; they are practical truths.
1. Ability: Your Value Brings Money
At the root of all wealth is the ability to give value. Money is a reward for solving problems—whether in your job, your business, or your community. That means your skills, talents, and capacities are the first levers you must build.
Think of the tech talent in Nigeria today: coders, designers, and developers solving global problems and earning global income. Their wealth didn’t just drop from the sky; it came from refining ability.
So ask yourself: what skill do I need to sharpen? What gap can I fill? Wealth starts from the inside, and your ability is your first currency.
2. Accumulation: Money Alone is Not Wealth
Too many people confuse having money with being wealthy. But money in your hand today is just cash—it can disappear tomorrow. Without direction, it slips away as fast as it comes in.
This is why accumulation must be intentional. Saving, budgeting, and building reserves are critical steps. The ability to keep money, and not just make it, is a discipline that separates the rich from the perpetually broke.
For example, if you earn N1m and spend N950,000 every month, you’re living in the same cycle as someone earning N200,000 and spending N190,000. It’s not about how much you make, but how much you keep and where you channel it.
3. Assets: The Real Goal
Accumulation without transformation into assets is wasted effort. Assets are what multiply your money and give you economic value again and again.
Real estate. Mutual funds. Stocks. Farmland. Intellectual property. A small but thriving business. These are assets because they either appreciate in value or generate cash flow.
If you buy a flashy car for N15m, it depreciates the moment you drive it out of the dealership. But if you invest that same N15m into a rental property or high-yield instrument, it starts working for you. Wealth is not about shiny consumption, it is about silent compounding.
4. Access: Who You Know Matters
Wealth is not built in isolation. Opportunities flow through relationships. Your network is often the bridge to your next financial breakthrough.
Access doesn’t mean being friends with celebrities. It means deliberately surrounding yourself with people who stretch your thinking, open doors, and connect you to possibilities you wouldn’t have found on your own.
In business, access to the right partners, suppliers, or investors can make all the difference. As an employee, access to mentors can accelerate your career. Money may open some doors, but people often hold the keys.
5. Advancement: Keep Moving Forward
Finally, wealth is a journey, not a one-time event. Too many people sabotage themselves by stopping halfway. They build a little ability, accumulate a little money, maybe buy an asset or two, and then relax.
But advancement requires consistency. The markets may rise and fall, the economy may shift, but those who keep learning, adapting, and pushing forward eventually create lasting wealth.
Think of the entrepreneurs who failed multiple times before breaking through, or the investors who stayed patient while the market fluctuated. Advancement is about staying in the game long enough for compounding to work in your favour.
Social media can tempt you into comparison. But behind every flashy display, there’s often debt, pressure, or unsustainable habits. Real wealth doesn’t shout—it compounds quietly.
As we step into the last quarter of the year, instead of scrolling and sighing, ask yourself: Which “A” do I need to strengthen? Your focus on these principles, not the distractions online, will determine whether you build wealth that fades—or wealth that lasts.
Sola Adesakin is a highly respected wealth coach and chartered accountant with over two decades of transformative impact in the finance industry. As the visionary founder of Smart Stewards Financial Advisory Limited and Smart Stewards Advisory LLC, she has revolutionised the financial wellbeing of countless individuals and businesses across 40 countries. Her methodical approach to ‘make-manage-multiply’ money principles has elevated many from financial stress to prosperity, and mediocrity to exceptional achievement.