Gratitude

Do you start and finish each day expressing gratitude?

If not, why not?  Do you feel you have nothing for which you should be thankful?  I can assure you that cannot be true.  For a start, you are reading this, so you must be alive!  Not only alive, but also in possession of at least one of your five bodily senses - one which Helen Keller never had, but Helen was thankful for what the Universe gave her!

Perhaps you ARE thankful but do not feel the need to express this.  That is a BIG mistake.  You need to express it not because there is a jealous God out there who will punish you if you don't give Him His due (personally I believe in God, but I do not attribute to Him petty human emotions like that).  You need to express it so that you really internalize how much you have for which you should be grateful.  The more you do this, the more positive you will become.  And the more positive you are, the better the life you will have.

This applies both to saying "thank you" to the Universe (or God, depending on your religious views) and also to the people around you who have contributed to your happiness.  By saying "thank you" to other people you will not only feel really positive yourself, but you will be spreading that positive feeling to others.  A win-win situation!

If you are really grateful, then you should also look for ways to "give back" to God, or the Universe.  There are so many ways you can do this.  Any limitations you see are just in your mind.

Stuck for ideas?  Let me give you a couple of ways I have expressed my gratitude recently.  Both happen to relate to charities, but neither involve much (or even any) digging into your pocket.  You can copy these ideas, contribute to the charities, or simply use theme as stepping stones to find unique ideas yourself.  Do whatever you wish with them - just do something.

Last Sunday I committed myself to running a half marathon in aid of a charity called the Himalayan Peoples Project - Nepal.  This charity is a small but very dedicated charity which is trying to improve the lives of poor and disabled people in Nepal.  You can find out more about it at www.hppnepal.co.uk.  I have never run or walked anywhere near that far, but I was determined to complete the half marathon.  As I got within a few miles of the finish line I felt as if my legs were about to fall off.  Quite literally - I actually wondered briefly whether they were suddenly going to disclocate!  But I kept going.  Why?  Because I am grateful for my health.  I have had cancer, and still suffer some permanent after effects of the treatment, but I am far healthier than many of the people the charity wants to help.  I am grateful for that, and wanted to do something to help them.  Notice I didn't actually have to dig my hand into my pocket - my gratitude was expressed in another way.

You can see the view I had of the finish line here, just approaching Windsor Castle a few miles away in the distance.  Put yourself in my place.  How does that make you feel?

How do I feel now?  Great!  I am fitter as a result.  At the top of this article you can see me just after I got my medal that proved to me I did it!

I also feel more positive.  And I know I can send a lot of money to the charity thanks to the people who sponsored me.

How do those sponsors feel?  They feel great too, knowing the good that will now be done with their money.  Another win-win situation!

Then, a couple of days later I did something to help another very small charity.  The Chreda Foundation, which helps young people with their spiritual development, in the widest possible sense.  What did I do?  Help launch a challenge which the Foundation hopes may go viral just like the Bucket Challenge did - but one which is more environmentally friendly.  Everyone who participates in the Dragon Challenge donates a small sum (the Foundation asks for just $10, or £5) and then performs musically on the internet.  It doesn't have to be star quality - check mine out and you will realize that!  All that is important is that you give it a go.

You can see my attempt here:

Was it fun doing it?  Yes it was.  Did it help me at all?  Yes - it made me put some time into learning to play a keyboard properly, which is something I had been meaning to do but never actually got around to doing.

And again I feel more positive.  A little bit of money has gone to the charity, but if the people I have included in the challenge do it, then more will go.  And if the people they challenge do so as well, then even more will go.  Perhaps even you will give it a go, and become an honorary Dragon, after reading this and watching my attempt.

These are just a couple of examples.  Nothing really big.  But a way of giving back to the Universe (or God).

I am doing my bit, and I will stay grateful and keep finding more ways to express my gratitude.

How about you?

Is it wrong to want to be wealthier?

As a researcher into the many different forms of personal development I frequently come across books, coaching programmes etc which promise to help their purchasers become wealthier.  I find many of these long on promises but short on results, and those go no further than my desk.  But some are genuine.  Recently I have come across several genuine such systems based around the Law of Attraction, which I know works as long as it is used properly, and I have been recommending some of these to members of my exclusive subscription list.

What I have found enlightening, though, is that many people who rely on me to conduct this kind of research tell me they are not interested in becoming wealthier.  Some even seem to object to the whole idea, as though it is morally abhorrent in some way.  So I thought this would be a good time to look at whether wanting to be wealthier really is, in some way, a bad thing.

Let me begin by telling you a story about two brothers.  We will call them Luke and John.  They were born into a family that, whilst not outright poor, nevertheless had little spare money left once all the essential bills were paid.  Both brothers wanted their lives to really mean something, to help others who were less fortunate.  But they also needed to earn a living, and as with most of us this really took up most of their time.  They began their working lives as junior managers in a big international company.  Luke stayed there, and managed each month to put aside $500 for charity.  This was as much as he could afford.

John, on the other hand, decided that this was not enough.  But he was on around the same salary as Luke, so he couldn’t really afford more than this.  What John decided to do instead was set up his own business, giving him the chance of creating more wealth, which he could then use for charitable purposes.  Luke was unhappy about his brother’s decision, saying he had sold his soul to the devil by wanting to build his fortune, but John took no notice.

For the first few years John could only afford to donate to charity a fraction of what his brother was donating.  But then his business grew and grew, as John was successfully practising Law of Attraction techniques.  After only 5 years John owned a multi-million dollar business.  The business itself helped a number of charities, and John personally donated $5,000 a month to charity as well as living a much wealthier lifestyle than his brother Luke.

My question here is who was doing the greater good – Luke or John?  You may correctly answer we don’t have enough information, as we don’t know what each brother was like in his day to day life.  How each treated the people they met etc.  But if we assume they both retained their original loving personalities I think you will agree John must be doing the greater good – as he has much greater resources to do so.

You see, wealth itself is certainly not evil.  It all depends on what you do with that wealth.  If you are selfish and try to hold on to it all and not use any of it to help others, then this is clearly not a good thing.  But someone who is like that may be just as selfish whether they have $1 or $1,000,000 spare.  What is wrong is not the money but the attitude of the person who owns it.  You could compare money with a natural force like electricity - it is neither good nor bad, but neutral.  If you use it to light your house and read a good book which ends up making you a better person, then that is good.  But if you use it to electrocute someone and kill them that is clearly bad.

If you see the acquisition of wealth as a means to an end, and the end is good, then there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to be wealthier – obviously provided you use ethical means to acquire that wealth.

Some of my Christian readers may say that the Bible says money is the root of all evil, but it does not say this at all.  So many people misquote the passage from 1 Timothy 6:10.  What St Paul actually said in this passage was:

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”

The love of money, rather than the love of the good you will be able to do if you acquire it in the right way.  That is very true.  If you love just the money itself you will want to try and hold on to it and end up not using it for good – and that is wrong.  But it is certainly not wrong to want to acquire money to have a better lifestyle if you are also going to use some of your wealth to improve the lot of others.

So, is it wrong to want to be wealthier?  My answer as a personal development researcher is a resounding “No!”  Go for it!  Use the Law of Attraction properly to become wealthier, and then see what good uses you can make of that wealth as you begin to acquire it!

Self Esteem

In my humble opinion Jim Rohn, who died at the end of 2009, was one of the world's greatest teachers of success principles.  In this video he expounds on the benefits of what he terms "intelligent self interest".  Doing things that others may think silly, but that increase your self esteem.  Put this into practice and you will be a better person:



If you would like to have Jim Rohn as your mentor, you can, even though he is no longer with us.  Subscribe now to his "One Year Success Plan".

Why Be Wealthy

Three Things to Do with Your Money

Author: Dave Ramsey

 Why build wealth? If you think wealth will answer all life’s questions and make you trouble-free, you are delusional. I have had wealth twice in my life, and I don’t find it to be trouble-free; as a matter of fact, most of the troubles have zeros attached to them. Wealth is not an escape mechanism. It is, instead, a tremendous responsibility. After years of studying, teaching and even preaching on this subject across America, I can find only three good uses for money. Money is good for fun. Money is good to invest. And money is good to give. Most anything else you find to do with it doesn’t represent good mental and spiritual health on your part.

Having Fun

The kid in us likes the fun part of this equation. If you’ve reached the point of wealth building, you have made the kid inside you behave for a long time with promises of ice cream. So if you’ve made it to this point, the kid should get some ice cream. Should anyone wear a $30,000 watch? Should anyone drive a brand-new $50,000 car? Should anyone live in a $700,000 home? Absolutely, they should. The problem with people is they buy those things when they can’t afford them.

Taking your family, even the extended ones, on a seven day cruise, buying large diamonds or even buying a new car are things you can afford to do when you have millions of dollars. You can afford to do these things because, when you do them, your money position is hardly even affected. If you like travel, travel. If you like clothes, buy some. I am releasing you to have some fun with your money, because money is to be enjoyed.

Investing

The grown-up inside us likes investing money because that is part of what makes you wealthy. In the movie Two Weeks Notice, Hugh Grant plays George Ward. The character of George is a very wealthy and spoiled corporate figure. His character isn’t one we want to imitate, but he has a great line in the movie about his wealth. He is telling Sandra Bullock’s character that he lives in this luxury hotel, when he says nonchalantly, “Actually, I own the hotel; my life is a little bit like Monopoly.”

Investing can feel like that after a while—“a little bit like Monopoly.” When you play Monopoly, you can be up, or you can get behind. Sometimes the market fluctuates, but as mature investors we ride out the waves and stay in for the long term. Sometimes I meet people who arrive at this step and are scared because just as they reach retirement age, their investments are heading down. Never fear; if you have quality investments with long-term track records, they will come back. Besides, you don’t need all the nest egg at once to retire on; you just need some of the income from it. So since you don’t need it all right then, it would be silly to cash everything out while the market is at the bottom. “Buy high; sell low” is not the formula to wealth. Be patient with the market while living off the income the nest egg produces.

You can choose to be a little more sophisticated, but until you have more than $10 million, I would keep investing very simple. You can clutter your life with a bunch of unnecessary stress by getting into extremely complex investments. I use simple mutual funds and debt-free real estate as my investment mix—very clean, simple investments with some basic tax advantages. As you arrive at this step, if you want to own some paid-for real estate, it can be fun.

Always manage your own money. You should surround yourself with a team of people smarter than you, but you make the decisions. You can tell if they are smarter than you if they can explain complex issues in ways you can understand. If a member of your team wants you to do something “because I say so,” get a new team member. You are not hiring a daddy; you are gathering counsel. God did not give them the responsibility over this money. He gave that to you. Celebrities and pro athletes often lose their entire fortunes because they give up the responsibility of managing their own money. The money manager who loses your hard-earned investments won’t live with the regret and pain that you will. A good estate-planning attorney, a CPA or tax expert, an insurance pro, an investment pro and a good Realtor are a few of the essential team members you should gather around you. I endorse the use of financial planners if they are team members and not the sole captains of their teams.

When selecting and working with your wealth team, it is vital to bring on members who have the heart of a teacher—not the heart of a salesman or the heart of an “expert.” The salesman is always chasing a commission and thinking short-term, and the “expert” can’t help being condescending, which is humorous because they likely have less money than you. Also, when taking advice, evaluate whether the person giving the advice will profit from it. If your insurance pro is coming up with more great insurance ideas every week, you may have a problem. That is not to say everyone who makes a commission off you is out to get you. There are plenty of commission-only financial people who have extreme levels of integrity. Just be aware of possible conflicts of interest.

When your money makes more than you do, you are officially wealthy. When you can comfortably live on your investment income, you are financially secure. Money is a hard worker—harder than you. Money never gets sick, never gets pregnant and is never disabled. Money works 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Money gets its job done, and it asks only for directions and a firm master.

Giving

The most mature part of who you are will meet the kid inside as you learn to involve yourself in the last use of money, which is to give it away. Giving is possibly the most fun you will ever have with money. Fun is good, but you will tire of golf and travel. Investing is good, but going around and around that Monopoly board eventually loses its appeal. Every mentally and spiritually healthy person I’ve met has been turned on by giving as long as it didn’t mean his own lights got cut off. I can promise you from meeting with literally thousands of millionaires that the thing the healthy ones share in common is a love of giving.

Summary

Someone who never has fun with money misses the point. Someone who never invests money will never have any. Someone who never gives is a monkey with his hand in a bottle. Do some of each.