Money and you
This week I interviewed Intimacy Coach Angela Wilkinson about what intimacy is and how to achieve it with yourself and other people in your life. Next week I will be interviewing Kare Anderson of Say it Better Coaching.
Money and You
With the economy sliding into a depression, money is obviously one of the biggest concerns on anyone’s mind. Even in the best of times, money is usually a concern, because it is our survival ticket. We pay money for almost everything we acquire. Money is the both the life blood of a business and the life blood of a family. At this time, we can’t really live without it.
Lately I’ve been reading The Analects by Confucius and one of the points he makes is that people will spend three years studying for a salary, but that studying for a salary is not a good reason to study. I agree with his perspective. Doing anything for money ultimately treats money as an end goal and in the process makes it more important than anything else in your life. At the same time, the main purpose of money is forgotten. the main purpose of money is to facilitate a means to an end. In other words, money in and of itself only has value when it is used to secure goals that enrich our lives. If you work all the time and hoard your money, is it really useful? This isn’t to say you shouldn’t save money or have some put aside for hard economic times, like the current ones. But the point Confucius makes is applicable to this time as was in his. Studying with a salary in mind ignores the potential unhappiness you may feel doing that job.
The same is true for business owners. Getting into a business solely to make money is usually an equation that leads to unhappiness. People can tell if you are or are not passionate about what you are doing. And that dictates whether or not they will spend their money.
The relationship you cultivate with money is about attitude. Lots of people have written about how important it is to have a healthy attitude about money and it is important to have that healthy attitude, but part of finding that healthy attitude involves recognizing that money isn’t an end in itself. Study for three years for something you are passionate about and that passion will show up in the quality of work and consequently manifest in the money you earn.
Review: Guerilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson
This is a must have book for anyone who’s starting or running a small business. Levinson includes tons of tactics and strategies that any small business owner can benefit from and best of all can personalize to their own advantages. I have lots of pages dog tagged in my copy, because I know I’ll be referring to them again and again and again. I also like Levinson’s style of writing; he makes readers instantly comfortable with the concepts, while also urging them to incorporate those concepts into how they do business. You can’t go wrong with GuerillaMarketing…what you can learn is how to make your business successful while spending as little as possible.
5 out of 5
Attitude Frames Your Reality
Attitude Frames your Reality
On Monday afternoon, my downstair neighbors and friends were moving. They’d hired a couple of movers to help them move, but halfway through loading up the truck, the movers quit, because of some dust and cat hair agitating the allergies of one of the people. My friends were stuck in a bad situation and immediately asked us for help. Even though my wife and I were busy that day we both realized what a jam they’d been stuck in. We called friends and also got ready to help. Even after our neighbors were able to find two replacement movers we stayed on, just in case.
Now our friends/neighbors were pretty unhappy. But everyone who came and helped them move, also helped perk their spirits up. And throughout the time I helped them, I kept a cheerful attitude. Sure I could’ve been somewhere else, working on something, or doing something else, but right then my friends needed me. And I chose to have a cheerful attitude because I realized that attitude frames the reality you experience and display to others. By choosing to be cheerful, I chose to display a reality where a situation was working out, where my friends knew I was there for them, etc. I knew that by displaying a good attitude, I was framing my reality so that I could get the most out of the experience I was having. In this case, I got share in the fellowship of friends.
When you are in a situation that doesn’t seem very good, consider what your attitude about the situation is and whether or not that’s a factor in why you are unhappy with what’s happening. while you may not have control over everything, you do have control over yourself and how you handle what life provides you.
Book Review: Your Money or Your Life
Out of all the financial books I’ve read so far, I believe this one is the one that speaks most to my values and beliefs about finances. Instead of preaching about how you can have it all, the authors discuss the value of frugality and recognizing when a person has enough. The authors have nine steps in their program and each step is designed to help you make your way to financial independence and intelligence by asking yourself what your really getting out of your spending habits, and also the way you live your life. The authors posit that it is entirely possible to retire earlier in your life provided you know how to live frugally, and I believe this is entirely the case. I’ve already been modifying how I spend money, thinking carefully about what the benefit is of buying a particular item, as well as what my overall goals are. I’m already noticing some effects and I’m willing to continue comitting to a program that ultimately could lead to satisfaction in terms of having enough time to really do everything that I want to do.
Workshop Reminder Open Yourself to Wealth
Open yourself to Wealth Pt 1 of 4: What You Think is what You Produce
The thoughts you think and emotions you feel are powerful tools that you use everyday to determine your wealth or lack thereof. You will learn how to consciously take your thoughts and emotions and turn them into wealth generators that help you find opportunity in every situation you are in.
When: Tuesday July 29th, 7-9pm
Where: The Guiding Tree Holistic Community Center 4831 SE Division St, Portland OR
Instructor: Taylor Ellwood
Registration: http://imagineyourreality.com/schedule.html
Tuition: $30 for this class or if you sign up for all four classes $90 (a 25% savings!)
So WHO is this class for? Anyone who wants to improve the wealth in his/her life and is willing to explore the mental and spiritual mechanisms that are integral components to wealth.
WHY would anyone attend this class? Because it’s an excellent opportunity to learn how to claim the wealth you want in your life, while learning to recognize what has held you back from achieving that wealth before.
WHAT will you learn if you show up?
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Turn a scarcity mentality into a prosperity mentality
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Manifest your emotions into energy in motion that propels you to success.
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Recognize how your thoughts can sabotage you with reactions
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Create actions that enable you to find success.
Is this class a good use of your time? You’ve got my guarantee that if you don’t feel that the two hours you spend in this class helps you get clear on what is blocking you from achieving your wealth, I’ll refund you your class fee, minus the ten dollar non-refundable classroom fee.
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“I connect Creatives, Entrepeneurs, and Professionals to Wealth”
