Getting real about prosperity

Getting real about prosperity, money and the definition of success

 

The consumer society that we were born into has presented us with the widely-unquestioned beliefs that if we don’t have a certain amount of money we cannot be happy. We think this doesn’t affect us but beneath the thinking mind simmers longings for more. If we don’t have the car, house, clothes, jewelry, toys, tech stuff, etc., we think we have failed.

Studies have repeatedly shown that no matter what net worth someone has, whether it is one million, 5 million, 10 million, or 100 million, when asked how much they think is the ideal amount that would enable them to feel totally secure, almost everyone picks some amount higher than they currently have.

For 30 years, I’ve worked with people with varying degrees of what I call Money Consciousness, and it really has more to do with how much one trusts life itself, faith that life will sustain them, than any number. As someone grows in their wellbeing and money consciousness, so does their faith that things will work out, coupled with a gradual shift from me and mine to serving others (which ultimately has you receiving the fulfillment you seek and all you’ve desired).

That is why I tell people to take the focus off the money.  I’ve continually maintained that seeking and experiencing wellbeing will allow everything to fall into place, and that includes financial health.

Who knows what amount of money you need to be happy. There may be no correlation. The biggest hidden truth of all is that none of us needs 90% of what we have, but we have bought into the consumerism of the modern Western lifestyle. Possessions, like money, aren’t good or bad; but, if it takes us away from our authentic selves and transports us to an artificial reality, it insures dissatisfaction.

 

The Rules for Prosperity are the same as rules for wellbeing. One does not happen without the other. Follow your heart, observe yourself and discover your purpose. Your purpose shows up in how you express your individual life. Wellbeing includes health, happiness and financial security. My wish for you is that you will find true prosperity and wellbeing in 2013.

For specifics concerning financial life:

1) Make sure you aren’t working for your money. Money is a poor master. Money doesn’t know how to lead or how to care for you. Money is only a tool and your task is to learn how to make money work for you.  The most essential part of this is attitude, then understanding, next knowledge.  Find a good coach, one who has personally been in an effective coaching community and who possesses a resources and tools to inspire and move you forward.

2)  If you are out of work, your current career is finding a vocation, a job or profession.  Every morning, get up and dressed for your ideal work. Get out of the house and move into that world. Talk to people, find people doing what you want to do and hang out with them. The more you imagine this new reality, the more doors will open up to you.

3)  If you cannot find anyone to hire you, hire yourself. Earnestly. I’ve seen many people ‘play’ with their calling in their spare time, doing it off and on, but not really believing it could bring in enough money to support them.  Yet, those who don’t give up, who keep at it day after day, month after month, year after year, consistently and earnestly, are the ones who do find fulfillment and purpose.

4) Money, as well as a career, is best used to improve lives. Being one of service and love to one’s self and others is the highest calling. The penultimate use of your money is creating more time. Time to serve, heal and help, and time to cherish your own body and emotional needs as well.

5)  If your job is making you stressed or unhappy, you need to change things. If you are working long hours and it is expending you, leaving you depleted, it just isn’t worth your loss of wellbeing. If it is physically too taxing, wearing on your body or too taxing emotionally, what you are losing doesn’t warrant the rewards. On the other hand, if your long hours are spent doing what you love and actually filling you with energy and purpose, there is no loss of wellbeing  —   instead, there is an increase in wellbeing. If you feel you cannot leave your current job, notice and focus on those parts of it that are rewarding while keeping your eyes open for doorways to other possibilities.

6) Money isn’t the only bartering system. Bartering has existed since the dawn of civilization. I’ve bartered several times in my life when I didn’t have cash. I painted murals on the walls of a karate studio in exchange for classes, I cut the neighborhood children’s hair for dinners, as a kid I babysat for movie tickets; what you need doesn’t necessarily have to be bought with money. What do you like to do that you could barter with?

7) Lastly, don’t undercut yourself. If you are selling your services or creations, do your research and see what comparable goods are going for in your area. Charge accordingly. That is a fair price.

 

Remember:

“Financial Success is a by-product of a well-lived and well-expressed life.”

 

Copyright © 2013 Kasey Claytor