Why Focus on Wellbeing when I want to be Rich? What has consciousness got to do with it?

Many of you find my site through your interest in money and not necessarily on the consciousness information, mind/body stuff, or even my books! Often, those with the desire to attain financial success get perhaps a bit impatient with the other topics! Let’s look at the relationship between them, and why there is a good reason to include them when understanding financial success. After all we want to be happy, fulfilled, satisfied and healthy, not only well off financially!

           As we move through life, we all look through our own unique filters, which creates our perspective of ourselves and the world. Just as there is a vast range of perspectives among us, there is a corresponding level of consciousness for each and every one of us.

           Consciousness is the basis of our existence. Before anything there is the unmanifest, as it moves it becomes consciousness. It not only permeates everything, it creates everything and yes, most of us call this God, but we are just looking at one attribute here, the levels of awareness. They ripple up from the underlying energetic field and its vibration.

           Basically, everything has consciousness, and as we look on the higher ascending levels, we find sentient beings becoming ‘aware’.

           Of course, now we are talking about humans. Eckhart Tolle says we have been at a level up to this point of being mostly unaware of our ability to manifest reality, (we may be on the verge of consciously manifesting in our evolution, but that is another conversation).

           What does all this have to do with money? We are each operating at a level of consciousness. At the lower levels there is no personal integrity, a lack of empathy and compassion, and there is not even the honoring of handshakes or a promise. If we use Dr. David Hawkins scale, this would be at a 1-3, with 10 representing a completely enlightened, evolved being; Jesus in his example. Most of us today are grouped in low to middle.

           Someone with relatively low consciousness can create wealth. We all know of people like Madoff or Harvey Weinstein. There is no exact correlation with how financially successful you are and on what level of consciousness you are operating.

           But, having what I call financial health is tied to your level of consciousness. When you have financial health, you aren’t stressed about money, (Do you think Madoff wasn’t stressed about how he was making his money? Keeping all those balls in the air? He must have been.). When you have financial health, your money is organized in accounts with purposes: savings, retirement, investments, insurance, etc. You have confidence in your financial plan; you have the discipline to protect your assets and not irresponsibly spending or losing it. You are able to delay gratification, and at the highest levels of money consciousness, you are provided for by an income stream without struggling or working long hours that you don’t enjoy. It also involves trust or faith that your future needs will be met.

           I’ve been a financial advisor and planner since 1983. I have seen all types of people and their money consciousness displayed before me in a steady stream through my office and, for the most part, the clients with faith in their future do quite well. They have enough of a grasp on how money and securities work to feel comfortable with their plans.

           Those who are lower on the scale may look upon the wealthy with envy, projecting negative attributes on them. This reinforces their own distrust of the financial world and supports a belief that truly good people are not rich.

          Let’s do something fun. Let’s combine these individual manifestations of money consciousness with Ayurvedic mind/body principles. Ayurveda is the 5000-year-old health system of yoga from India. There are three main mind/body types called doshas. In Ayurveda mental and physical diseases are the result from imbalances in these doshas. If we use this to determine an Ayurvedic-based money consciousness, it would look like these examples below.

1)     VATA Anxious. The anxiety of investing causes poor decisions—buying and selling based on emotions, the worry of uncertainty causing delayed planning, often changing their mind, the fear of what ifs creating so much stress that they cannot follow good advice, and perhaps some impulsive spending. Job insecurity, perhaps too many job changes, flighty.

2)     PITTA Distrustful. Viewing the financial community as corrupt, difficulty putting trust in others, desiring to do it all on their own, moving from one financial professional to another, always blaming downturns on some conspiracy or groups with nefarious motivations. They don’t see themselves as responsible for their situation. Can be overbearing, controlling, irritable, which may affect their ability to do their work. Makes it more difficult to find financial wellbeing.

3)     KAPHA Procrastinator. Always putting off getting their affairs in order. They will do it someday, it’s nobody’s fault, they just don’t want to think about it. Money stagnates in low to no interest-bearing accounts, or ‘orphaned’ accounts, those not paid attention to. They rarely get around to making a good financial plan, and just might go take a nap instead. Could easily miss opportunities to advance in their career by a lack of motivation or lethargy.

           1) VATA Inventive. Uses creativity and ingenuity to solve financial problems. Is in touch with their intuition and inner guidance to make better decisions. Vivid imagination to follow each choice to its probable result. Finds a career path that fills their need for expressiveness, communication, creativity, passions and service. Work is more like play, and their ‘play’ is fulfilling and monetarily rewarded.

           2) PITTA Leadership. Excellent organizer, charismatic, disciplined, ambitious, colorful, and self-determined. Good ability to formulate goals, financial plans, assessing problems and mapping out logical solutions. Natural entrepreneur. Their estate plan is in order, retirement plan enacted, insurance and investment needs are covered, and periodically reviewed. Mapped out their career, knows the trajectory, and is confident they are on target. They are admired and listened to. Life is good.

           3) KAPHA Stable. Dependable, consistent, loyal, caring, nurturing, the glue that holds families and companies together. Ability to stick with a good financial plan, understands long-term strategies, patient with market volatility, good ability to save, thoughtful through career, money and relationships. Good employee and a favorite beloved family member.

           All of these higher consciousness types have an underlying confidence that their financial life with be in line with the fulfillment and success in their personal lives, mind, body and spirit. From an Ayurvedic perspective, this is accomplished much easier when we have our mind/body in balance; when we have vitality, sound sleep, physical and emotional comfort, passion, and depth of awareness along with financial health. This is wellbeing and this is the goal.

You made it to the end of the essay!!! You are awesome.