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Money-Money-Money! Your awareness is of the essence, otherwise you will become a pawn in someone else’s game. If you view money as a simple tool to acquire more stuff, then having more of it will never ever fulfil you. However, when you see money for what it really is – the transfer of energy that enables opportunity – you can establish a much clearer picture of the positive force it can play in your life.
DISCLAIMER: The following information is not intended to be financial advice. If anything piques your curiosity, we recommend seeing a Financial Advisor.
All relationships are important because they reflect how you feel about yourself. Your relationship with money is no exception. Money is an expression of energy and we use it to support our lives. Without money, there is no mission. Consciousness is the awareness and internal knowing of thoughts, feelings and experiences. Your consciousness is the best bank account you have. When you put in worthwhile thoughts, you will reap large dividends. When money is earned, spent, saved and given consciously, it reflects what we value most. It becomes an intuitive gauge for who we are, what we stand for and where we are headed. By interacting with money consciously, we feel good about ourselves and our world.
A “money mindset” is a set of beliefs you hold around money. It dictates how you feel about your bank account, and it may even be a statement of worth. What you believe about money, yourself and the world shapes how your life will unfold. ‘Playing NOT to Lose’ and even ‘Playing to Win’ are the biggest detriments to your mindset when it comes to having true wealth. You are heavily limiting your success if you are wearing ‘Playing to Win’ like a badge of honour.
These ways of looking at the world and success are governed by scarcity, require sacrifice, and become toxic to your quality of life and sustainable success. Ultimately, whether you are ‘Playing to Win’ by hustling, grinding and crushing yourself to outwork everyone, or ‘Playing NOT to Lose’ by holding on to every cent you earn in a bid to save yourself rich, you will find that either way will result in many more sacrifices than gains and much more regret than success.
“While money can’t buy happiness, it certainly lets you choose your own form of misery.”
―
Know your archetype. Like any good four-factor model, there are two personas in the Playing-NOT-to-Lose game and two in the Playing-to-Win game.
The Miser
The Miser is playing-NOT-to-lose because they are governed by fear. All of their decisions about business and money are made with worry and stress. They are constantly defending against losing what little they have. They are pessimistic and often bitter. If you share your vision with a Miser, they will tear it down. They think the world owes them something and take whatever they can glean from it. Then they retreat back to safety, rarely contributing anything of value in return.
They are also judgmental about how everyone else goes about business and financial practices. They either think everyone is doing it wrong because they are either taking too much risk or stuck in the “wrong thing”. They live with a scarcity mindset and their life is built on a scrimp-and-save philosophy. They use their talents to scrimp, save and sacrifice. By coupon clipping, budgeting and spending most of their financial life looking for deals, they become selfish and do all they can to hold on to what they have. Expect them to resist change and complain a lot.
The Conservative
This has nothing to do with political ideology, rather it is a way of using personal resources and wealth. This person is condescending in their playing-not-to-lose. The Conservative has been talking for 20 years about something they’ve always planned on doing one day, someday, but it never actually happened. Maybe it’s a holiday they’ve always wanted to take or a home they dreamed about, but never ended up buying. The Conservative is always hesitant. They over-analyse everything and use what has gone wrong in the past to predict what will inevitably fail in the future. They save for retirement, where they expect life to be better, which is the reason they are willing to delay gratification for everything today. They feel entitled to a better future, but have little control over that future, since they cannot control the investment market.
Both of these personas play losing games because they have a scarcity mindset that focuses on survival which tends to be selfish and limiting. No amount of hard work will ever create wealth with this worldview. Even if these people create a decent sized nest egg, they are unlikely to enjoy it.
The Striver
This person is all about the hustle. They are playing-to-win by always being busy and on the go. They tend to be impatient and often hard to please. Nothing is ever enough for the Striver. You can spot a Striver by their Bluetooth earpiece. It’s usually difficult to tell if they are talking to you or someone else. They brag about how they hardly get any sleep, as if that’s a good thing! They think they are just going to out-work everyone else to achieve their vision. They have a ‘do-whatever-it-takes’ mentality and they will take any costs to get there. They don’t stop to think about the ramifications of those costs because they are always working for more, but more of what?
The Striver is the one who feels guiltiest when they are not working. If you confront a Striver about their toxic tendencies, they will most likely tell you that they are doing it for their family, so that they can put food on the table. They may say they are doing it for you. The truth is that they are actually doing it for themselves.
The High Roller
You know this one – they wear their sunglasses inside. If you’ve ever met or spoken to a High Roller then this description of playing-to-win probably sounds familiar. They pretend to show a great deal of interest in you. They sell you a dream and have you believe they will take you to a whole other level if you just do all you can to earn their favour. They don’t learn much about you, and spend most of the time telling you everything about themselves: who they are, what they’re doing, what a big deal they are and then they name-drop. They name-drop like crazy. They finish by asking you to invest in something that you know nothing about, which they try to convince you is the coolest next greatest thing. They talk in terms of revenue, and pretend like it’s their profit. They are disconnected from others in general. Their vision is only big enough to see themselves in it. Think narcissistic tendencies.
“Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people that they don’t like.”
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Lucky we’re not here to play the game, we’re here to change it. These same characteristics, with a new paradigm, will set you free to engage in a completely different experience.
Not one of competition, but one of value creation.
Not one of sacrifice, but one of collaboration.
There’s only a finite amount of money that you can save. However, the amount of value that you can create has expansive possibilities. A simple change in mindset reveals four new personas:
The Mindful Manager
This individual pays attention to details that others may ignore. When they look to save money in business, they don’t do it by cutting things out. Rather, they look for superior alternatives or substitutes. This way you never lose anything to costs – you only gain. The Mindful Manager is extremely resourceful. If there is something in your company that you pay for and don’t use, they are the first to notice. They get the team to consider if they are using that resource regularly and to its potential and if not, then they look to remove the clutter. They are all about optimisation.
When it comes to money, they look for innovative ways and methods to save more of what they make. They pay attention to money leaks having to do with taxes, insurance and other things that are mandatory to pay, but easy to over-pay. The Miser’s only thought is about what to eliminate – the Mindful Manager thinks about what is no longer serving them.
The Planner
The Planner looks for ways to create stability, instead of deferring to delaying gratification, which is the calling card of The Conservative. They strive to create long term security, as opposed to staying stagnant because they fear it will be too risky. They act to mitigate risk over avoiding it. The Planner is thoughtful. They take time to think through and assess things, which is all a part of the planning process. This brings structure and order to the team, allowing for optimum efficiency when carrying out the vision. The Planner is strategic. They look to see how something would work if implemented and consider what factors might keep it from performing. They are the ultimate risk mitigator.
The Creator
The Creator is focused on growth and ensures there’s progress – but not at all cost! Growth through innovation and effectiveness. Growth that scales and expands the company in a sustainable and positive way for everyone involved. They ask better questions than their counterpart, who would be someone too “busy” to take the time for more careful consideration. The Creator asks why you are doing something a certain way and if there is a better way, they’ll be the ones to find it. They look to see if you can reach more people with your message. They look to add more to your impact.
The Creator is motivating to others because they lead by example. Their energy can become contagious. Instead of looking to others to fix problems, they make sure they are part of the solution. Because they are determined, they motivate others and create momentum. They don’t allow obstacles to derail anything. They find the lesson and move everyone forward.
The Catalyst
No one is quite as adaptable as The Catalyst. This character is a talented connector. They are constantly bringing different people with different complimenting skill sets together. They bring in people who have relationships that can advance the vision. In this way, one of their most important functions is building and adding invaluable players to the team.
They are the ultimate delegator. They don’t get stuck in all the minute details on their own. They are the ones who find the Mindful Manager’s and others to build an A-Team. They make sure all of the previously mentioned personas get put to good use. The Catalyst is usually the one who has a compelling vision that others are inspired to follow.
“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”
―
Your vision is bold. Your vision is expansive. It can be so easy to drown in what you are trying to accomplish along the way, so don’t brave it alone. When we work alone we are easily pulled down by the negative parts of our Ego-Mind which creates a bad persona for us. When we involve others and seek to share our vision with those who believe in it, it can bring out the best in ourselves and everyone involved.
Scarcity tells us that if you want something done right, do it yourself and so we become trapped in the losing games. If you want to go fast, sure go it alone, but if you want to go far, bring others along with you. With the right people – the right team – you will find that not only is your vision possible, it will have an even bigger impact than you ever could have imagined. When you focus on working with others to solve problems and serve people, you avoid the limited results that the losing games create and, instead, expand your means by reaching more people and more deeply impacting existing clients. When we use value creation as the change agent, we move from a losing game to an infinite and winning game.
“Don’t think money does everything or you are going to end up doing everything for money.”
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The losing games come from rules dictated, fed and determined by society. Whenever people get stuck in any of these personas, a torrent of proverbial body-bags are left in their wake. Relationships are destroyed, health is sacrificed, happiness is forfeited, and experiences never happen in the name of hard work or saving. This is not true wealth! True wealth is a life where you are living the best version of yourself. True wealth is where those you love and care about are provided for. True wealth is where you are no longer controlled by fear or greed. True wealth is when you are inspired to give value and do what truly lights you up.
We tend to be our own worst critic and, for many people, making a financial mistake is something that we can find difficult to let go of. Here’s the thing: beating yourself up for mistakes you’ve made in the past will only keep you from moving forward. So you’ve made some bad choices, spent too much money, or landed yourself in a heap of debt. Mistakes are how we learn. Accept what is. Choose to forgive yourself and view these mistakes as learning opportunities. What matters most is how you move forward from your mistakes. Without the lesson, you could set yourself up for another cycle of failure. With the lesson, you are wiser and much more equipped to navigate the financial terrain.
“Lottery: A tax on people who are bad at math.”
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The field of existence is a feedback loop. What we give out, we get back. When we take something that isn’t ours, we almost always lose something of greater value. We might take money or some object, and then we lose a relationship. If we steal a relationship, we might lose a job. If we lift stamps and pens from the office, we might miss a train or a dinner date. The losses almost always hurt us in some important area of our lives. It’s unfortunate that many people steal from large companies or hotels, rationalising these businesses can afford it. This type of rationalisation does not work; the law of cause and effect is universal. If we take, we lose. If we give, we get. It cannot be otherwise.
If there are many losses in your life or lots of things going wrong, you might want to examine the ways in which you are taking. Some people, who wouldn’t dream of stealing things, will self-righteously rob another person of time or self-esteem. Each time we make another person feel guilty, we are stealing their self-worth. When we take something that does not belong to us, we are, in effect, instructing the universe that we don’t feel worthy of earning; we aren’t good enough; we want to be stolen from; or there is not enough to go around. We believe we must be sneaky and grab to get our good. These beliefs effectively become walls around us that prevent us from experiencing abundance and joy in our lives.
“Money does not buy you happiness, but lack of money certainly buys you misery.”
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Money and happiness expert Ken Honda, Happy Money: The Japanese Art of Making Peace with Your Money, prescribes the following eight questions to move your money toward happiness:
Appreciation: What is there in this situation that you can appreciate?
Curiosity: What is there in this situation that you can get curious about?
Presence: What in this situation can you be more present to?
Connection: Who is simply waiting for you to ask for help so they can support you?
Receiving: What is already present that you have not yet chosen to receive?
Acting: What action can you take right now, no matter how small, that could create a hint of movement?
Sharing: What could you give that would make space for you to receive?
Mindset: What belief work do you need to do so you can have an abundance mindset and shed beliefs around money that no longer serve you?
“When you are able to shift your inner awareness to how you can serve others, and when you make this the central focus of your life, you will then be in a position to know true miracles in your progress toward prosperity.”
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If you scan the financial headlines for 2020 (we don’t recommend this), it looks pretty grim. Whether it’s unemployment numbers, small businesses permanently closing their doors, or giant corporations filing for bankruptcy, COVID shutdowns are eye-opening and sobering. With all this economic disruption, how can YOU avoid the same fate and not get swept away by the growing tide of economic fallout? Here’s how you can turn the next few years into your greatest opportunity.
#1 Creation
This is the highest form of reality — the ability to produce a vision and create it. It’s not about “modelling” or “copycatting.” This is about knowing who you are, investing in yourself, and understanding your highest abilities that help you create value for the world. The most successful organisations understand that the purpose of any business is to create value for customers, employees, and investors, and that the interests of these three groups are inextricably linked. Therefore, sustainable value cannot be created for one group unless it is created for all of them. The first focus should be on creating value for the customer, but this cannot be achieved unless the right employees are selected, developed, and rewarded, and unless investors receive consistently attractive returns. Business begins with value creation. It is the purpose of the institution: to create and deliver value in an efficient enough way that it will generate profit after cost. What do you want to create in the world?
#2 Adaptability
Adaptability is the key to thriving in the future world of work as technologies change, employees rethink what they want from work, and customer expectations rise ever higher. All require a different set of skills, but one that will keep shifting. Add to this the pandemic that has disrupted our usual working routines, and it is little wonder that business leaders cite higher levels of uncertainty and anxiety. We cannot know what the future holds. With personal finance, the “old way” was focusing on accumulating a million-dollar nest egg that you could live off in retirement. That no longer works because the old rules don’t apply. There’s no “hockey stick” curve of interest that’s going to take care of you. We don’t know how taxes or inflation will change. At the end of the day, it’s a gamble – hoping that when it’s time for you to tap into your nest egg it will still be there… and be enough.
Now, it’s about adapting. To do that, you need to have liquidity – ideally enough to become a cash flow investor. That’s what every sustainable institution does. Cash flow investing allows you to pivot quickly when the economic scene changes. On a personal level, it’s important to plug cash flow leaks and figure out how to save more on taxes – because that’s what every wealthy family does. Everything from the financial game to transportation, health, and business is changing with technology advances… and the key for you to succeed is to be able to adapt to it.
#3 Economic Independence
Everyone wins when money is circulating. When we focus on cash flow over accumulation, we create Economic Independence for ourselves and our families. This means you have enough cash coming in on autopilot to cover your basic expenses so you can shoot for the stars in everything you do. At that point, you’re no longer burdened by day-to-day issues where you have to scrimp, budget, and sacrifice something greater for something lesser. Then you can expand your means, reach even more people with the value you provide and impact the world more deeply.
“What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.”
– Ralph Marston
People are the only true assets and AI will never be able to replace the value of humans connecting with each other. In this way we must choose quality over quantity. For instance, having a huge customer list can certainly help you create revenue. However, it can be much better to create a meaningful relationship with a smaller group of people. Those who genuinely want to follow up with you afterward because you can help them more specifically. Think of it this way: when times get tough, would you rather have a bunch of surface-level contacts, or fewer people but you know they have your back?
Spend the majority of your time connecting with true friends – people who you know want to see you succeed, and with whom you can share your vision. If you’re surrounded by people who live in fear, scarcity and negativity, this current recession is going to decimate them and you’ll be dragged down with them!
“Whoever controls the media, controls the mind”
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A news fast simply means opting out of watching the news on television, listening to it on the radio, reading newspapers, or following the news on the Internet for a few days or even a week at a time. Taking periodic breaks from the news can promote mental calm and help renew your spirits. In this way, the anxiety and overstimulation catalysed by the media are minimised, and your body will function better.
If you allow your mind to be dragged down by negative news telling you how scarce and awful the world or economy is, you’re poisoning yourself. Your thoughts create things. Control your personal economy and take steps to move forward. Rather than being sucked into the fear porn, amplify your morning routine (of education, exercise, and enlightenment) so that you can start the day off with an “armour of abundance.” Look to your highest-level relationships. Connect with them and tell them if you’re feeling any kind of negativity or fear so they can help pull you out. Or seek to deliver value to them – because what you give out, you get back.
“Never allow your mind to wander untamed like a wild animal that exists on the basis of survival of the fittest. Tame your mind with consistent focus on your goals and desires.”
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Citi Private Bank came out with a survey of 50 representatives who manage high net-worth families. On average, the wealthiest people have almost 40% of their portfolio in cash and cash equivalents. They do this so that they’re able to pounce on opportunities that only come when prices are down because people need to sell. During a downturn, people with access to cash can land great discounts on assets like businesses, real estate, stocks or art. These types of moves during tough economic times allow for “exponential growth” which is becoming more and more difficult to find when times are good.
More is going to happen in the next 10 years than in the last 10,000. That’s how fast things are changing. Now is your time to become a leader, to focus on your strengths, and to get your financial and life situation organised and running smoothly. Now is the time to transform your visionary idea into a profitable and world-changing business, community, or movement. It is time for visionaries, revolutionaries and change makers all around the world, to break free from everything that has held them back in the past so they can joyfully offer their highest contribution to our collective future. To welcome in the abundance we need to live our fullest lives. There is more than enough for everyone and there’s going to be more wealth in the future than ever before. When you take empowered action, it can belong to you.
“Wealth is not about having a lot of money; it’s about having a lot of options.”
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