Article 10: Money is Potential Energy

You don’t want money.  I don’t want money.  WE don’t want money.

About now, you may be asking, “Who is this clown?”  OF COURSE WE WANT MONEY.

Nope…we want what money gets us.  Whether it is the Hawaiian vacation (that I just returned from), the new leaf blower (sounds like work, eh?) or peace of mind (now we’re talking!), we want what money gets us.

Money is a useful tool, a medium of exchange, a currency (we’ll get back to that in a minute) agreed to be “legal tender for all debts, public and private.”  It keeps us from having to barter dry cleaning services for apples or trading a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie card for a car.  It also provides us with a way to energize and contribute to causes we believe in and want to support.

In this sense, money is a form of energy … it can make things happen, in your life and the lives of others.  This gets right back to some of the fundamental laws of building wealth that I teach in my speaking and training programs: what goes around comes around.  Once you have your basic survival needs (food, shelter, security) met, you should be doing two other things with your money:  giving it away and investing it.

You can start to understand the true nature of abundance when you examine the the word affluence.  It comes from the Latin affluere which means to flow to.  This is what needs to happen with not only your money but the rest of the wealth and abundance in your life, including all of the talents, passion and expertise that anyone can bring to the market to make all the difference - and all the money - in the world.

Building wealth involves all dimensions of our life that are important to us.  And this definitely includes money … if for no other reason than for all the good it can do in helping you towards contentment and purpose in your life.

Article 9: Passion is the Emotion of Wealth

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive, and do that.  Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

- Dr. Howard Thurman: Author, theologian, educator and civil rights leader

 You here a lot about passion these days.  Everyone wants to follow their passion and do what they love.

Cool.  Really.  That’s cool.  That more people are becoming aware of what they love, what brings them joy … makes them come alive.

Where does passion come from?  Why are we moved to the point of tears or agitated to the brink of madness about certain topics? Our passions are the present-moment manifestation of our underlying attitudes and emotions, connecting our heads with our hearts. They don’t come out of the blue, but are shaped by our beliefs and values.  Understanding this helps us to know not only what we’re passionate about, but why. Read more

Article 8: Competencies are the Building Blocks of Wealth

Competencies, capacities, strengths …. all are talking about the same thing: what can you do?

Competencies are a major component of our Wealth Potential and include the combination of talents, skills, knowledge, experiences, contacts and many more resources that are an integral part of who we are. It is a part of the Unique Value Proposition that each of us can contribute in exchange for what we want, specifically, wealth in whatever dimension we desire.

If you are employed, your employer expects that you will contribute value to the company’s objectives above and beyond what they are paying you. If you buy a service - cell phones, yard maintenance, business coaching … whatever - you expect a certain value in return for the money you pay.

If you help your neighbor rebuild his deck, you have a reasonable expectation that he will return the favor. This is not necessarily WHY you help him in the first place as giving of yourself has it’s own rewards beyond an in-kind exchange. Realistically though, you would feel as though the balance sheet was a bit awry if when it came time to rebuild your deck, The Neighbor was ‘tied-up’ for three weekends in a row.

Identifying and deploying your competencies builds on the foundation of values I discussed in an earlier post. It is an integral part of The Wealth Manifesto system and something everyone can do … everyone can create value.

This is part of the path to wealth.

Article 7: Values are the Foundation of Wealth

When you find something to be valuable, it is a reflection of your values. All of those things which you find valuable in your life form your system of values.

It is this collection of values, most of them reflecting our beliefs and those we grew up with, that we use to make decisions everyday about the tradeoffs in our lives. More work vs. less time with the kids, more exercise vs. less dessert, being honest vs. lying to get what you want etc. This is one function of our system of values. You will make choices between these kinds of things based on what is most important to you at a given time in your life. Read more

Article 6: Wealth Begins With Your State of Mind

“You are today where your thoughts have brought you. You will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.” - James Allen, British author and poet

We all have several dimensions of mind that we work with and that work for us. Understanding the roles of your conscious, subconscious and superconscious minds is critical to becoming wealthy.

Our conscious mind is the day-to-day mind that deals with the “real” world of time and space (not to be confused with space-time because this starts us down the rabbit hole of quantum mechanics …. let’s stay away from there for now).

The subconscious mind is a kind of database for all the knowledge, experiences, trauma and triumphs that have ever occured in our lives. It supports the conscious mind by retrieving data based on the commands or needs of the conscious mind.

The superconscious mind is less familiar but the concept is broadly used. It has also been called the Universal Mind, the collective unconscious, Non-Local Intelligence, and many other names. For all intents and purposes, it fulfills the classical Christian definition of God

The classic book on success, Think and Grow Rich was about this very same topic. It is the core of the Law of Attraction and other aspects of the metaphysics of creating your own reality.

Of all of these, the conscious mind is the most familiar to us … we have the most experience with it and the most control over it. When we get to the subconscious mind, things start to get a bit more tentative as to who is controlling what. It is critical to train your subconscious to focus on the things you want. The information held in your subconscious can be a self limiting belief that keeps you from a dream or a persistent determination that pushes you on when your conscious mind wants to quit. It is important also to note that the subconscious mind does not really “think” all that well. More than anything else it is important to pay attention to your emotions as this is how the subconscious communicates best with the conscious - this will give you an idea of how aligned your actions are with your true desires.

The subsconscious is also how the conscious mind communicates with the superconscious mind, the source of creativity and intuition - it is what some people say is our sixth sense.

Harnessing the power of all of our minds is critical to manifesting wealth, hence Article 6 of The Wealth Manifesto: wealth is exactly what you think it is. More next time on how our beliefs, attitude and intentionality figure into the equation.

Article 5: Purpose is Not a Destination, It Lives Within You

Most everyone sort of “gets” this. We have been hearing for some time now that the journey is what it’s all about; this fits very nicely with the concept of being present and not being so concerned about what is going to happen in your life once something (fill in the blank) happens.

Things work out the way they are supposed to. How many instances in your life can you think of things where you DID NOT get something that you were just going to DIE if it did not happen for you (new girl/boyfriend, acceptance into a specific college, this or that job, house … whatever) only to find in retrospect that you were far better off without out it.

Or more specifically, better off with whatever, whoever or wherever you ended up instead of what you thought you wanted. This is the divine working in your life. This is the universe looking out for you.

This is how your purpose happens, and happens uniquely to you. This by itself is not a revolutionary idea; we all intuitively believe that we are special and that there is a “calling” awaiting us if we can just find it.

Typically your purpose will not turn out to be a singular function that you will perform for the rest of your life. I find that many people are forever searching for that one elusive activity that they can dedicate their lives to. Can such a singular “calling” happen? Sure. There are lots of famous examples of people who became single-mindedly tied to the causes they championed (Martin Luther King and Mother Theresa quickly come to mind).

But instead of searching for plagues to cure, tyrannies to overthrow or dragons to slay, the first place to look for purpose is within yourself. You don’t have to go searching for your purpose in some kind of Magic Forest; you just have to be Who You Are, fully and completely.

You are unique for a reason. Not only is your uniqueness of value to you as you create the wealthy life you deserve, it also simultaneously facilitates your contribution to the bigger picture – the value you add will be like no one else’s on Earth. The universe does not respond to anyone else the same way it responds to you. You share a one-of-a-kind connection with the infinite energy of Source.

In The Matrix Reloaded, the rogue artificial intelligence program (Agent) Smith tells Neo: “Without purpose, we would not exist.”

I would modify that slightly to “Without meaning, we might as well not exist.” That is what being wealthy will do for you: it takes you to the core of who you are, discovering what you value the most and helping to create that reality.

OK … yeah, I was getting out there on the moonbeams with the AI stuff and all. But as The Boss once said. “Mama, that’s where the fun is!”

Article 4: From Survive to Thrive …

I have always liked “wordplay.” This is everything from knowing and appreciating the origins of words, alliteration and rhyming, playing Scrabble, etc. This comes out in my writing because it makes it interesting to me and is a part of the challenge and joy that writing brings to me. My interest in this can be seen in one of the raison d’etre’s of my book regarding the word ‘wealth’ - when I discovered that it is derived from a word that meant ‘wellbeing,’ it moved me one more step down the path of discovering just what “being wealthy” was all about. The same process then evolved with another word that is getting a lot of use these days: thrive. This of course works out nicely with a word that contrasts with (and rhymes with) thrive: survive.

Damn … I’m having fun all over again.

Thriving is the ultimate attitude to adopt if you want to become wealthy. Here are some definitions of the word “thrive”:

- To grow vigorously: FLOURISH
- To gain in wealth or possessions: PROSPER (from the Latin prosperare meaning “to cause to succeed.”)
- To progress toward or realize a goal despite or because of circumstances, as in she thrives on challenges

I also believe that one of the crucial steps towards unlocking your purpose is learning to thrive rather than survive. Many people, as you know, are barely surviving; they will have a hard time seeing their life as wealthy, now or in the future. To experience and accelerate wealth, it’s important to get beyond focusing on lower-level needs and raise our sights towards growth and prosperity. In short, we must learn to thrive. This is the 4th Article of The Wealth Manifesto:

The journey to wealth will transform your life from Survive to Thrive.

Thriving is far better than merely surviving. Of course, thriving is pretty tough when you are having trouble surviving. Since it is often the case that money takes care of nearly any issue that has to do with the lower level, physiological needs associated with survival - food, shelter, security … even sex - I think money is important (within reason). This is why I make the connection between your Wealth Potential, your ability to be fulfilled as a person and the ability to generate income. It is going to be very difficult for you to fulfill the valuable role you have on this Earth if you are lacking in the physical needs common to all human beings. You are here for a much bigger reason than to live in scarcity.

The path from surviving in fear to thriving in love can be challenging but it is the path of least resistance that we all must ultimately find. You are moving towards wellness and grace and away from that which causes you pain. This will put you on the path to who you were meant to be. This means the path to wealth is not only consistent with finding your purpose, it is your purpose.

I’ll finish up today with a favorite quote (found of course in my book The Wealth Manifesto )

Love is the only wealth that man absolutely needs.
Love is the only wealth that God precisely is.

- Sri Chinmoy, Indian philosopher and guru

Article 3: Your Wealth Potential

When you work for someone, the theory is that you are doing something of value that the employer/boss/owner compensates you for based on some prior agreement (you do ___. you get paid $____). Pretty straightforward exchange of value. When you are accessible and empathic to someone’s situation, they will find you more likable, and subsequently will be more interested in being your friend. When you contribute of your time and/or your financial wealth to charitable causes or needy individuals, you find that not only does this make you feel good (helping with the wellbeing of others) but that you are recognized for it by your peers, maybe even the Universe that continues to send opportunities and other forms of abundance to you with no real connection to any specific acts of generosity that you have performed but, gosh, it just seems like are one lucky person.

Baloney.

What you are doing is exercising your Wealth Potential and the rest of your reality is responding according to the universal principles and laws that govern the creation of wealth (specifically in these examples, the principle of ‘what goes around comes around’).

OK, so what’s “Wealth Potential”? Wealth potential is pretty much just what it says: it represents the potential you (and everyone else) has to create wealth.  Since you now know (from reading the previous blogs … if you haven’t done that yet, get going and catch up) that wealth is multidimensional, you can see how it was created in all of the instances about: financial wealth (pay check), better quality relationships, increased self-esteem and coincidences. These are all forms of wellbeing that were created on your behalf because you were exercising your Wealth Potential.

Wealth Potential is the subject of the 3rd Article of The Wealth Manifesto: Your Wealth Potential represents the value you have to yourself and to others.

Your WP consists of any and all of the resources that are at the core of your needs for personal fulfillment and/or what can be a part of the unique value proposition you have to offer anyone else. It consists of your knowledge, skills, talents, passion, relationships, beliefs, attitudes and anything else that contributes to your ability to offer value.  In short, we get what we want by exercising using our wealth potential.

Forget about money for a moment.  If we are using our skills, doing things we are passionate about, things that make us feel good (gardening, reading, playing golf with friends, creating something, starting a business, etc), we are satisfying different levels of needs (and different dimensions of wealth) by both the act and the result.  Everything from the Bible to the work of Abraham Maslow has said that to become a full human being we must live the fullest of our capacities.  Interestingly enough, my approach in helping people to develop their Wealth Potential is that the things that many people find most rewarding personally, can also be applied in the marketplace as something unique and valuable that others are willing to pay for.  This is where the second half of the article comes into play.  When you are able to figure out how your internal motivations are best satisfied, this can be turned into a marketable asset that can get you whatever type of wealth you want, including money.  This is where your Unique Value Proposition comes in.  Ill talk about this in the next blog in a few days.

Cheers to your wealth!

Article 2: Wealth is created by the transformation of energy

There sure is lots of talk these days about energy: the cost of energy, the need for renewable energy, saving and conserving energy, investing in energy - not exactly new subjects but they sure are getting a lot of attention. What’s the big deal anyway, why is energy so important?

Well, for starters, all living organisms rely on energy to grow and reproduce. Whether it’s radiation from the Sun causing photosynthesis in green plants or chemical energy from food firing the metabolism of animals, we all depend on energy to survive. From the astronomically huge world of galaxies to the infinitesimally tiny world of subatomic quanta, energy relationships are perfectly balanced to provide us with the world we live in. Everything is energy. Energy is everything. Energy is the currency of wealth, literally and figuratively a factor in all aspects of our lives.

Energy is the subject of the 2nd Article of The Wealth Manifesto: Wealth is created by the transformation of energy.

If you look back at some of the previous blogs, I have been talking about wealth, how it works to define all the dimensions of your wellbeing, the stuff that you do that makes your life worth living. The nice thing about having all aspects of your life operate under one concept such as wealth is that it means all aspects of your life, whether you are trying to generate more income, have more friends or get in better physical shape are governed by the same fundamental laws. And a lot of those laws have to do with energy. Consider a few examples.

The 1st Law of Thermodynamics states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, only transformed (meaning into other forms of energy). If you want to be paid more at your job, you have to demonstrate additional value to your employer so they will compensate you with additional cash. Money itself is potential energy because it can be used to get whatever you want (at least among the things that money can buy). Your additional hard work, brainpower, creativity … whatever it is that you do to add value is converted into the potential energy of money.

Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion states (simply) that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. If you want to have more friends …guess what? You think that is going to happen without being a better friend yourself? Nope … not going to happen. You need take action - expend energy and effort to be a friend - to have that energy come back at you (the opposite reaction because it is in the opposite direction, towards you) in the form of more friends.

This works at the quantum level too, where intentionality aligns our thought energies with our feelings to help minimize entropy (taking into consideration the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics) and create the reality we want.

These universal laws are found the realm of common “rules of thumb” and spiritual teachings as well. “What goes around, comes around” - is more than just a saying, it is an everyday version of the 1st and the 3rd Laws I just discussed … you dont need to have a degree in engineering to know that you only get out of something what you put into it. Finally, there is the one Rule that everyone knows from their religious upbringing. It doesnt matter if you are a Christian or a Jew, Muslim or Buddhist, or hardly ever went to church, everyone knows some variation on:

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

This is the way the world goes ’round and it all ultimately comes back to energy management (way more important than time management, by the way). Learn how to manage your energy and you can have all the abundance, in whatever form, that you desire.

Cheers to your (energy transformed and delivered) wealth!

Article 1: Wealth is the Quality of Your Life

That title sounds like a quote or something, doesn’t it? It’s supposed to: it is the 1st Article of The Wealth Manifesto: Transforming Your Life from Survive to Thrive, my upcoming book on creating Quality of Life based income. Let me start with a simple question:

Are you wealthy? Well, are you?

Before reading any further, think for a minute about what “being wealthy” means to you. Close your eyes and imagine that fabulous wealth is yours. Where are you standing? What are you doing? What’s going on around you? Who you are with? What is your state of mind?

Done? When imagining wealth, you may picture yourself on a yacht in the South Pacific, throwing a big party in your Park Avenue penthouse at Christmas time or golfing at St. Andrews in Scotland. Others imagine thrilling lives filled with momentous events such as climbing Mt. Everest, ringing the bell at the New York Stock Exchange or traveling into space. The vision is frequently accompanied by a substantial sum of money in the bank.

Whatever you might imagine, one thing is clear: while wealth includes money, it also involves great people and places, peak experiences and the time, freedom and health to enjoy them.

With that in mind, please take another moment to really imagine what wealth is to you. Finished? Good.

I want you to know that just by doing this simple exercise - by visualizing what you really want in life - you have already initiated the chain of events necessary to achieve wealth. Visualization is a part of intention, the first step in manifesting wealth and the beginning of your Wealth Manifesto.