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That’s got to sound ironic coming from someone who believes whole-heartedly in the benefits of being rich. Forget about getting out of debt, paying bills, buying nice things, etc. That stuff’s great, but at the end of it all you’re not going to give a damn about your credit rating. Money’s the last thing on your mind in that moment, I would imagine.

Money can reduce the stress of living, but it can bring just as much if not more anxiety. I’ve gone through my cycles of accumulating and losing money, getting more and losing it again. The money wasn’t burning a hole in my pocket. I just had a big hole in my pocket and didn’t bother to sew it up. That hole represented something in my mental blueprint that kept me from being stable with money. There was nothing wrong with the money.

On the other hand, people without money often think if they just had enough to do this or that, then things would be better. While that may be true, what happens when the mind goes into ‘Only if …’ consistently? That’s exactly what you get … ‘only if.’

‘This will only happen if…’

All of a sudden nothing’s happening and you don’t even know or remember that rule you created. In business that thinking often translates into “It takes money to make money.” No! If you have money it can certainly grow more money, but it doesn’t take money to make money. It takes creativity to make money.

Throwing money at a problem is disaster! In business there’s no such thing as a money problem. That problem grew out of somewhere else. You want to fix the root of the problem. If you throw money at a business problem, you’ll have the same business problem for the rest of your life and no money. Creativity and knowledge are the answers, not money.

It’s also not logical to blame money for people’s shortcomings, or the world’s for that matter. Obviously there are people that are rich and greedy, but there are poor people who are greedy and there are middle class people who are greedy. There are rich, poor, and middle-class people who are generous. There are rich, poor and average income people who can be both generous and greedy, depending on the stress they’re going through at any given time.

To say rich people are greedy as a blanket statement is just as unfair as saying poor people are lazy. I’ve met many a hard-working poor person who just hadn’t yet turned the corner on working smarter instead of just harder.

Money can’t be the root of all evil. Envy, jealousy, and greed—all based on fear of not having or getting enough of something we want—pre-dated currency (think about the story of Cain and Able). It’s a part of what it means for us to be human.

If money isn’t the cause of all that’s wrong, it’s not going to be the cure either. It’s not the answer. It’s the fruit of our expansion—or lack thereof—beyond ourselves and of the impact we’re having on the world. What we choose to do with that is a result of who we choose to be, not because of money.

Baby crying

One of the funniest yet profound stories I’ve ever heard was about the young monk who goes into a monastery where you can only say two words a year.

He goes through that first year doing all the things he’s supposed to do. At the end of the year the head monk gives the young monk a chance to say his two words. “Bed hard,” he says.

Another year of painstaking work happens, better than any other monk. At the end of the year the head monk asks for the young monk’s two words. “Food bad,” he says. Another year, same thing, only this third time the young monk says, “I quit.” The head monk replies, “I’m not surprised. All you ever did was complain.”

Complaining becomes a habit. Focusing on the negative also becomes a habit. It’s one of the most detrimental habits you can possibly have. It can negatively impact you socially, affecting your personal happiness, but it can also subconsciously sabotage your money and success. How so?

First of all, when you complain to people 80% of them don’t really care, and the other 20% are kind of happy it’s happening to you. It makes them feel a lot better about their lives. Also, the ‘poor me’ victim role may have gotten you some sympathy or attention from your parents or from certain people, but successful people will not want to be around you.

We’re going to need successful people to help us get more successful, yes or yes?

The truth is nobody wants to be around a party-pooper, and complainers are the worst of them all. I get it all the time—people who love what we do at Peak Potentials, want to work with us, etc., but the way they approach me is to complain about something. Maybe they’re a sound person and they say the music was too loud at one of my programs.

They didn’t frame the approach in a positive way, like saying, “Here’s something that we can look at,” or “Here’s something you might be able to try.” All I need to hear is one complaint out of somebody and I’m like, “Back off, man! Get your own victim!”

Words have power. They are declarations to the universe. What you complain about becomes your focus and your intention, and it expands for you just like it’s suppose to. So go ahead and complain … or maybe not. You’ve got to catch yourself because no one’s going to do it for you, probably because they’re doing it, too.

Misery loves company, and those who don’t aren’t interested in the pity party. You think they’re interested because they asked you, “Hey, how’s it going,” and you start launching into, “Well, I can’t believe what so and so said and did and …” You know who’s interested? The other soap opera derby people you hang out with, not successful or even happy people.

It can be hard to change your peer group, or even dealing with loved ones who can be negative. What are some ways you’ve found to maintain a positive focus in spite of the complainers in your life? How do you care for, love and honor them while protecting yourself as well? We want to hear from you!

Olympic Torch

Practice makes perfect, right? Wrong!

First of all, nothing’s ever perfect. I’d even say you don’t really want anything to be “perfect.” Why not? Well, once you’ve reached it, where else is there to go but backwards or, even worse, nowhere?

With the Winter Olympic Games starting this evening (in Vancouver, no doubt!), I started to think about the art of practice and perfection.  Watching the athletes get ready to compete, I am in awe of their strength, dedication and focus. There is no doubt these athletes are striving for pure perfection.

But I believe that the point of practice isn’t perfection. We want to strive for perfection, yes, but that’s only going to work if you understand that it’s not just about the destination but the journey as well. That’s why it helps to look at process when it comes to those outcomes we’re reaching for. Because what would be the point of getting to where you always wanted to be if you’re beat up and worn out by the time you get there? Where’s the happiness in that?

Happiness is a process as much as an outcome. I mean, don’t get me wrong. A hard-earned victory is awesome. But think about it; should happiness in life be restricted to success in finances, or business, or career, or the attainment of goals?

We have all been there at some point in our lives, saying something like, “If only I had [fill in the blank], I’d be so much happier.” Hey, sometimes we may even get whatever it is we think will make us happy, but what usually ends up happening? We’re psyched for a little while—if at all—and then we find out it wasn’t really enough to make us as happy as we thought it would. There’s always more.

You can work your butt off to get to where you want to be by practicing your delivery, your backhand swing, your investment strategies—you can practice anything until you get it down, but that doesn’t mean things are always going to turn out perfectly. Practice doesn’t make perfect.

Practice becomes habit, and habits become permanent unless we consciously change them. We’re practicing something all the time through our habits, even when we’re not really thinking about it. If you practice the thought that “I’ll be happy when [fill in the blank] happens,” then guess what? You’re always delaying your happiness until [fill in the bank] happens. Not because things will never be great, but because you’ve become a master at being unhappy. Unhappiness will be your habit!

You have to practice being happy no matter what is going on in life; whether you win or lose, succeed or experience temporary setbacks, whether everything is the way you have always dreamed or if you are still on the road to your next major destination.

Practice whatever you want to be in the future now. If you want to be more patient and less reactionary, then practice patience now. If you want to be a manager of your own personal wealth, start managing your finances now, no matter how much money you earn. If you want to be successful, then practice being successful now. Start small. Engage in things that you’re already good at and challenge yourself to be better, even if it’s just in small increments.

The key is to enjoy the process, enjoy the journey. We can have moments of perfection, times where we wouldn’t want a single thing to change, but it’s unfair and unrealistic to ask that of life all the time. But it’s totally within our control to practice being whatever we want to be right now!

So now it's your turn:  What are you going to practice right now?  What's that one thing you want to achieve and are willing to enjoy the process while making it a habit?  I want to hear from you.