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!