The most thought provoking video of 2011? You decide.

A Curiously Spontaneous Note on Wealth.

One of the key concepts to creating wealth is to understand that money is not the goal.
 

Frequently you hear people tell you that they want to make money. However, it's not money they are really after. It is the things that money can buy and the freedom of time to do what they really want. While you may think this is an insignificant difference, it is actually the reason so many people never become wealthy.

Most of us were taught throughout our childhood that the whole point of making money is to sock it away and build our own 'nest egg'. We think of this as a type of insurance against bad fortune, accidents or old age when we can no longer work. The wealthy know that money only works when it is in motion - not when it's sitting in a bank account. We must understand that wealth is an ongoing journey of growth and circulation and if that circulation is stopped, then the flow of money will cease.

While it may seem that there are many roadblocks on the journey to wealth, the only real obstacle is what you believe, think, and feel about money. Most of us were raised with the cliché "Seeing is Believing" which is a skeptical and negative view of life. Still, we hear it our whole lives until it becomes a part of our thought process without our even realizing it. Wealthy people understand that this cliché is exactly backward - you must believe in what you can achieve before you will see it happen in your life. They know that "Believing is Seeing." The only thing that separates a millionaire from you right now is a wealthy mindset, and the foundation of that mindset is belief.

Does this mean that the wealthy have some special skill or knowledge? No - but they do possess some key characteristics that help them become wealthy.

The first of these characteristics is a willingness to listen to their own intuition. If you could become wealthy by listening to the masses, then the masses would be wealthy and they are not. It is a natural tendency to ask the opinions of those we love or respect. Unfortunately, we listen to their comments and biases not taking into account the results in their own lives. We make a decision to listen based on our emotional attachment rather than by looking at what they have achieved. How can anyone who has not accumulated wealth advise you on how to do it? They can't.

A second characteristic of the wealthy is the ability to act when opportunities present themselves. Opportunity is often imagined to be something that you can't miss or pass up. However, I know from personal experience that opportunity is often only a whisper that comes during some of the most trying times of life. If you read the life stories of very wealthy and successful people, you will frequently find they were fired from jobs, kicked out of school or dealt with significant personal tragedies that other people would view as devastating. Instead, they viewed the challenges as opportunities and prospered.

The wealthy also understand that wealth is an ongoing process. It is not a destination you arrive at one day and then stop. It is also rarely accomplished overnight - although it can occur in a short period of time. However, if you gain wealth before you have gained a wealthy mindset then you are in danger of losing that wealth forever. We have all heard of those that win the lottery only to be near penniless a few years later. Since they were never taught to think wealthy, they have very little chance of achieving wealth that lasts and ultimately they lose what money they have.

Those with a wealthy mindset do what they love - and make money at it. Often I see individuals who are seeking wealth like it's something outside that they have to search for. In reality, wealth exists within you. You have activities and hobbies that you love and you can make these into your business if you choose to. Those who are successful and create a great deal of wealth do so because they are doing something they love. The money follows and is just a logical result of them realizing their dream. 

Money is not the dream.

Whether you grow up in the worst circumstance or have every advantage, you have the exact same potential inside of you to create the life you want. No matter how many times you read or hear someone talk about how to become wealthy, your life will never change until you believe that it can - Believing is Seeing.

Desperately Seeking Self-Inspired Salvation?

I must be honest. I cannot recall when or where I read the meat of this post. Or who wrote it. Only that he/she/they inspired me enough to feel the need to pay them forward.


So for all you entrepreneurs out there, and anyone else Desperately Seeking Self-Inspired Salvation, the following 16 questions were written (by someone clearly with their finger pressed firmly on the aorta of life right now) as an alternative to getting clarity and conviction on any new business venture your might cooking up. 

1. Who are you trying to please?
2. Are you trying to make a living, make a difference, or leave a legacy?
3. How will the world be different when you've succeeded?
4. Is it more important to add new customers or to increase your interactions with existing ones?
5. Do you want a team? How big? (I know, that's two questions)
6. Would you rather have an open-ended project that's never done, or one where you hit natural end points? (How high is high enough?)
7. Are you prepared to actively sell your stuff, or are you expecting that buyers will walk in the door and ask for it?
8. Which: to invent a category or to be just like Bob/Sue, but better?
9. If you take someone else's investment, are you prepared to sell out to pay it back?
10. Are you done personally growing, or is this project going to force you to change and develop yourself?
11. Choose: teach and lead and challenge your customers, or do what they ask...
12. How long can you wait before it feels as though you're succeeding?
13. Is perfect important? (Do you feel the need to fail privately, not in public?)
14. Do you want your customers to know each other (a tribe) or is it better they be anonymous and separate?
15. How close to failure, wipe out and humiliation are you willing to fly? (And while we're on the topic, how open to criticism are you willing to be?)
16. What does busy look like?

Very cool. I for one, have them printed and posted up by my desk. They teach as well as shape. And avoid too much wanton sprinting into visceral and fad charged dead ends.

Be well. & Good things

CB