During the course of the Prosperity Project exercise, in which we began with $1000 and every day had to spend $1000 more than the day before, we found that we very quickly ran out of things we wanted to buy. After about four days, the amount of money we were expected to spend became ridiculously large. When the game got to that point, many people stopped playing ... I mean, we were clearly being forced to spend unrealistic sums of money, so why bother? Those of us who stuck with it for the full 28 days -- in which we had to spend yet another $28,000 in one day after already having spent $27,000 the day before and $26,000 the day before that, after having already bought everything we've ever really wanted -- were forced to really stretch our imagination in order to complete our assignment. The exercise was not a pointless one, however, because we can't learn where our limits are if we never attempt to move beyond them (ask any teenager).
Showing posts with label prosperity project. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prosperity project. Show all posts
Sunday, August 15, 2010
PROSPERITY PROJECT: How Much Money Do You Really Need?
During the course of the Prosperity Project exercise, in which we began with $1000 and every day had to spend $1000 more than the day before, we found that we very quickly ran out of things we wanted to buy. After about four days, the amount of money we were expected to spend became ridiculously large. When the game got to that point, many people stopped playing ... I mean, we were clearly being forced to spend unrealistic sums of money, so why bother? Those of us who stuck with it for the full 28 days -- in which we had to spend yet another $28,000 in one day after already having spent $27,000 the day before and $26,000 the day before that, after having already bought everything we've ever really wanted -- were forced to really stretch our imagination in order to complete our assignment. The exercise was not a pointless one, however, because we can't learn where our limits are if we never attempt to move beyond them (ask any teenager). 
Monday, February 1, 2010
The Power of Gratitude: Prosperity Project Revisited
Sometimes our dreams start small. If we have been accustomed to believing that we are only worthy of just barely scraping by, then our dreams must start small if they are to start at all. For most of my life, whenever I envisioned having a place of my own, I always pictured a small studio somewhere, with just barely enough room for my things. I was always certain that I could pay my own way, but only if that way were meager. I never dreamed that I would ever own a real house, even though a house is what I've always wanted.
For ten years, I lived in a small one-bedroom condo that I bought with the money my father left me when he died. When I bought that condo, what I really wanted was a house; but I didn't feel worthy of owning a whole house, so I settled. Unfortunately, that condo recently became a casualty of what is now euphemistically known as "This Economy," and for the past year I have been staying in my boyfriend's house, with all of my stuff in storage. Although I will always be grateful to Keith for giving me a safe place to stay, rent-free, while I got back on my feet, I've really missed having my own home. And although he has been happy to be able to help me in a very significant way by graciously providing me with shelter, we are both people who have a strong need to be alone in our own space.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Prosperity Project Revisited
I have since received many letters from other people who were not able to participate in the Prosperity Project because their resistance was simply too great. There were quite a few people who could not break through their belief that it is somehow wrong to ask God for material things. Here is one of those letters:
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Prosperity Project, Phase 2: What is Wealth?
Greetings once again, prosperous friends! Congratulations to those of you who successfully completed the entire 28 days of the Prosperity Project, where we became accustomed to spending ever-increasing amounts of dollars. Those of us who made it through the entire course found that our relationship with money is a little more relaxed now. More importantly, we are much more clear on what our goals are for our life. On the one hand.
On the other hand, although we know where we would spend money if we had it, we are still a bit unclear on how to actually earn that money. Well, that is exactly what we will be exploring here in Phase 2 of the Prosperity Project. I don't actually yet know the answer to that question, or I would be making more than $11.00 an hour. But I know that it is possible, because I see others around me who are comfortably well off, able to travel, happily working high-paying jobs. I know that if some people can do it, then we can also learn to do it ... even in what is euphemistically known as "this economy."
This blog is called The New Book of Clues specifically because I don't have all the answers. What I do have is a whole bunch of clues. So over the next few weeks we'll be exploring those clues, to see if we can uncover together the secret of attracting wealth. Before we begin, though, we should take some time to explore what we mean by "wealth."
Sure, one measure of wealth is having a lot of money. But I've met some very wealthy people who were miserable. For example, I know one money-rich woman who is so lonely that she pays for a companion. She is grossly overweight because she compensates for her emptiness by eating lots of comfort food. This woman doesn't DO anything. She married money, and adds no value of her own to the world every day, unless you count spending money. She spends her day making shopping lists, and then pays someone to go buy the stuff and put it away for her. In my mind, that women may have money but she does not possess wealth.
On the other end of the spectrum, I have a friend who has almost no money, and doesn't really want any. When his trailer was destroyed a few years ago he had no means of replacing it, so now he lives quite happily in a tent in a friend's backyard. He has an old truck that runs, because he is an excellent mechanic. The truck gives him a dry place to keep his things, and gets him around town. This particular friend works odd jobs, but nothing that keeps him too tied down. Every morning when he wakes up he sits quietly on the riverbank while he sips his coffee, deliberately not thinking. Some people might call this practice meditation; he would tell you that people's brains get them into an awful lot of trouble, and it's best to give them a time-out every day so they don't get out of control. This man spends his days doing acts of service. He attracts people who are sick and alone, and he sits with them. It's a simple act, and one which doesn't cost him anything but time. But I've witnessed his healing presence first-hand. He may be gnarly looking, but when I was the one sick and alone, I welcomed his presence.
Of these two people, I would have to say that the one with no money was the wealthier of the two. I have to be careful here, because it is examples like these that feed into my false belief that only corrupt people have money, so in order to be pure at heart you must also be poor. I'm learning through this Prosperity Project that this really isn't a true assumption. Money is a tool, like a hammer or this computer. Good people can have money, just as good people can own a hammer!
So, if wealth isn't money, what is it?
Wealth is the freedom to be, do and have anything that your heart desires. Money definitely helps, but sometimes there are creative solutions to getting what you want that don't require much money. In Phase 1 of the Prosperity Project, we each learned that what we really wanted was to build a workspace for ourselves filled with all the tools we could ever need for working on our creative projects. We also wanted the freedom to travel, and we absolutely all wanted to use our money to help friends, family, and even total strangers to live their dreams. Although we had lots of money to spend, we found we weren't really interested in the money; we were more interested in the freedom that the money gave us to fully live our lives.
True wealth cannot exist without a sense of deep gratitude and appreciation for everything that we have. It is one thing to have what you want; it is quite another thing altogether to want what you have. Wealth is in the eye of the beholder. My tent-dwelling friend says that he's wealthier now than he was in the days when he had lots of money, because he has learned to see his world with a grateful eye. I urge you to look around at all that you have and to see it for the wealth that it is. Remember that the Law of Attraction teaches that we will attract that which we consistently focus on. If we look at what we have and focus only on the things that we don't have, we will continue to attract more lack. If, however, we learn to look on what we currently possess and see it as wealth, we will begin to attract more wealth.
OK, so money is tight, and the lights might get turned off this week, and we might run out of fuel oil before the end of winter, and people might get sick with no way of going to the doctor, and the car might break down with no way of fixing it. How can I look at all this and see wealth? My answer is, don't focus on that part. Focus on what you do have. Do you have people or animals that love you? Do you have a place to sleep at night? Can you take a hot shower? Is there hot coffee when you wake up? Are you happy, at least some of the time? Is there beauty around you? Do you have harmonious relationships? Focus on those things, because they are definitely included in the definition of wealth.
See yourself as already wealthy. That doesn't mean picture yourself with a lot of money, it means to see yourself where you already are, and to see, and appreciate, and be grateful for the fact that wealth is already yours. Then watch that wealth grow.
Now it's your turn to talk. Every day I will close with a question for you to answer. Here's today's question:
IN WHAT WAYS ARE YOU ALREADY WEALTHY?
On the other hand, although we know where we would spend money if we had it, we are still a bit unclear on how to actually earn that money. Well, that is exactly what we will be exploring here in Phase 2 of the Prosperity Project. I don't actually yet know the answer to that question, or I would be making more than $11.00 an hour. But I know that it is possible, because I see others around me who are comfortably well off, able to travel, happily working high-paying jobs. I know that if some people can do it, then we can also learn to do it ... even in what is euphemistically known as "this economy."
This blog is called The New Book of Clues specifically because I don't have all the answers. What I do have is a whole bunch of clues. So over the next few weeks we'll be exploring those clues, to see if we can uncover together the secret of attracting wealth. Before we begin, though, we should take some time to explore what we mean by "wealth."
Sure, one measure of wealth is having a lot of money. But I've met some very wealthy people who were miserable. For example, I know one money-rich woman who is so lonely that she pays for a companion. She is grossly overweight because she compensates for her emptiness by eating lots of comfort food. This woman doesn't DO anything. She married money, and adds no value of her own to the world every day, unless you count spending money. She spends her day making shopping lists, and then pays someone to go buy the stuff and put it away for her. In my mind, that women may have money but she does not possess wealth.
On the other end of the spectrum, I have a friend who has almost no money, and doesn't really want any. When his trailer was destroyed a few years ago he had no means of replacing it, so now he lives quite happily in a tent in a friend's backyard. He has an old truck that runs, because he is an excellent mechanic. The truck gives him a dry place to keep his things, and gets him around town. This particular friend works odd jobs, but nothing that keeps him too tied down. Every morning when he wakes up he sits quietly on the riverbank while he sips his coffee, deliberately not thinking. Some people might call this practice meditation; he would tell you that people's brains get them into an awful lot of trouble, and it's best to give them a time-out every day so they don't get out of control. This man spends his days doing acts of service. He attracts people who are sick and alone, and he sits with them. It's a simple act, and one which doesn't cost him anything but time. But I've witnessed his healing presence first-hand. He may be gnarly looking, but when I was the one sick and alone, I welcomed his presence.
Of these two people, I would have to say that the one with no money was the wealthier of the two. I have to be careful here, because it is examples like these that feed into my false belief that only corrupt people have money, so in order to be pure at heart you must also be poor. I'm learning through this Prosperity Project that this really isn't a true assumption. Money is a tool, like a hammer or this computer. Good people can have money, just as good people can own a hammer!
So, if wealth isn't money, what is it?
Wealth is the freedom to be, do and have anything that your heart desires. Money definitely helps, but sometimes there are creative solutions to getting what you want that don't require much money. In Phase 1 of the Prosperity Project, we each learned that what we really wanted was to build a workspace for ourselves filled with all the tools we could ever need for working on our creative projects. We also wanted the freedom to travel, and we absolutely all wanted to use our money to help friends, family, and even total strangers to live their dreams. Although we had lots of money to spend, we found we weren't really interested in the money; we were more interested in the freedom that the money gave us to fully live our lives.
True wealth cannot exist without a sense of deep gratitude and appreciation for everything that we have. It is one thing to have what you want; it is quite another thing altogether to want what you have. Wealth is in the eye of the beholder. My tent-dwelling friend says that he's wealthier now than he was in the days when he had lots of money, because he has learned to see his world with a grateful eye. I urge you to look around at all that you have and to see it for the wealth that it is. Remember that the Law of Attraction teaches that we will attract that which we consistently focus on. If we look at what we have and focus only on the things that we don't have, we will continue to attract more lack. If, however, we learn to look on what we currently possess and see it as wealth, we will begin to attract more wealth.
OK, so money is tight, and the lights might get turned off this week, and we might run out of fuel oil before the end of winter, and people might get sick with no way of going to the doctor, and the car might break down with no way of fixing it. How can I look at all this and see wealth? My answer is, don't focus on that part. Focus on what you do have. Do you have people or animals that love you? Do you have a place to sleep at night? Can you take a hot shower? Is there hot coffee when you wake up? Are you happy, at least some of the time? Is there beauty around you? Do you have harmonious relationships? Focus on those things, because they are definitely included in the definition of wealth.
See yourself as already wealthy. That doesn't mean picture yourself with a lot of money, it means to see yourself where you already are, and to see, and appreciate, and be grateful for the fact that wealth is already yours. Then watch that wealth grow.
Now it's your turn to talk. Every day I will close with a question for you to answer. Here's today's question:
IN WHAT WAYS ARE YOU ALREADY WEALTHY?
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Prosperity Project Day 28 - FINAL EXAM
Greetings, prosperous friends. We have reached the last day of the Prosperity Project, and are here to spend our final $28,000. Today, I'm going to reverse my usual order: I'll spend first, then I'll talk:
$28,000 Book royalties
$ 2,500 Performing Arts Center building fund
$ 5,000 Wealth Building Fund (Total $100,000)
$20,500 Vacation Home Fund (Total $137,000)
Wow. I need to take a moment of silence as I contemplate these numbers. Altogether, in 28 days we have spent $406,000. On the scale at which money is being earned and spent out in the world, that's not really an incredibly large sum of money, but to me it seemed a life's fortune.
I heard last night that when football players retire they get paid $25,000 a month NOT to keep playing ball. That is $300,000 every year. There are people out there making well over a million dollars a year doing whatever it is that they do to make that kind of money. While I don't really need a million dollars every year to sustain the lifestyle that I've imagined over the past four weeks, I certainly would like to make more than the $11.00 an hour I'm currently making. But then, that $11.00 seems huge compared to being basically unemployed for the past two years.
Four the past four weeks we have imagined spending money; beginning tomorrow, we will start exploring ways in which we might reasonably earn more money than we are currently bringing in. But first, we must take our Final Exam!
This is an essay exam, consisting of the following questions. (WARNING: This is a graduate school-level exam, so I will be asking you to do some serious thinking. I urge you to take the time to formulate and write down your answers. I promise you will learn a lot about yourself from the process.)
1. Look over the money you have spent in the past week, and break it down into categories of spending. For example, How much did you save? How much did you give away? How much did you spend on travelling? How much did you use to pay down debt? How much did you spend on specific projects?
2. How you spend your money is an excellent indicator of what it is that you truly value. What do the above numbers say about your values? According to how you spent your money, what is the thing that you value most of all?
3. Think back on who you were on Day 1 of the Prosperity Project. How has your relationship with money changed since you've begun this game. How have YOU changed.
4. How you spent money in this game is pretty much how you would like to spend money if you were to have some. Without worrying about where the money might come from, write down some long-term financial goals for yourself.
HERE ARE MY ANSWERS:
1. Out of 406,000 I allocated 10% as God's money, and gave about $40,000 to local classical music programs. I spent $22,300 on my workspace, about 5% of the total money. I spent $25,000 travelling, again about 5%. I saved $100,000, about 25%. I spent $39,000 on a motor home, about 10%. I collected $137,000 to buy a vacation home, about 34%. That means I spent about 6% of my money buying stuff for me and my loved ones, plus outright gifts of money to friends.
2. According to these numbers, the thing I value most is having a home base that is completely set up for me to comfortably do my life's work. Between enhancing my current home in Florida, buying a motor home, and buying a vacation home where I can work without being subjected to the unbearably steamy Florida summers, I spent over half of my allotted money on housing. I also greatly value traveling, because I spent a significant amount taking vacations, and quite a bit of money on that motor home and a vacation home. I want to be able to work in different locations as the mood strikes while still being at home. I also value sharing money with others, and saving a portion of the money that I earn.
3. I feel much friendlier with money now than when I started this game. I feel more worthy, somehow, as if it really is OK for me to buy the things I've written down here on these pages. I've often thought of vacation homes before, but they were just dreams. After going through this process for the past four weeks, I can clearly see that everything I've written down here is completely within the realm of possibility for me. I feel more confident in my ability to earn larger sums of money, even though I don't yet know how that will happen for me. I do notice that I am planning more frequent vacations than was my habit in the past, and I'm doing so without my usual fear of loss of income. I have recently bought a few expensive items for myself with almost no guilt. And I am also noticing that I am enjoying what I do have much more thoroughly than when I started this game.
4. Here are my financial goals:
I'll see you here tomorrow as we begin to explore the earning portion of this equation.
$28,000 Book royalties
$ 2,500 Performing Arts Center building fund
$ 5,000 Wealth Building Fund (Total $100,000)
$20,500 Vacation Home Fund (Total $137,000)
Wow. I need to take a moment of silence as I contemplate these numbers. Altogether, in 28 days we have spent $406,000. On the scale at which money is being earned and spent out in the world, that's not really an incredibly large sum of money, but to me it seemed a life's fortune.
I heard last night that when football players retire they get paid $25,000 a month NOT to keep playing ball. That is $300,000 every year. There are people out there making well over a million dollars a year doing whatever it is that they do to make that kind of money. While I don't really need a million dollars every year to sustain the lifestyle that I've imagined over the past four weeks, I certainly would like to make more than the $11.00 an hour I'm currently making. But then, that $11.00 seems huge compared to being basically unemployed for the past two years.
Four the past four weeks we have imagined spending money; beginning tomorrow, we will start exploring ways in which we might reasonably earn more money than we are currently bringing in. But first, we must take our Final Exam!
This is an essay exam, consisting of the following questions. (WARNING: This is a graduate school-level exam, so I will be asking you to do some serious thinking. I urge you to take the time to formulate and write down your answers. I promise you will learn a lot about yourself from the process.)
1. Look over the money you have spent in the past week, and break it down into categories of spending. For example, How much did you save? How much did you give away? How much did you spend on travelling? How much did you use to pay down debt? How much did you spend on specific projects?
2. How you spend your money is an excellent indicator of what it is that you truly value. What do the above numbers say about your values? According to how you spent your money, what is the thing that you value most of all?
3. Think back on who you were on Day 1 of the Prosperity Project. How has your relationship with money changed since you've begun this game. How have YOU changed.
4. How you spent money in this game is pretty much how you would like to spend money if you were to have some. Without worrying about where the money might come from, write down some long-term financial goals for yourself.
HERE ARE MY ANSWERS:
1. Out of 406,000 I allocated 10% as God's money, and gave about $40,000 to local classical music programs. I spent $22,300 on my workspace, about 5% of the total money. I spent $25,000 travelling, again about 5%. I saved $100,000, about 25%. I spent $39,000 on a motor home, about 10%. I collected $137,000 to buy a vacation home, about 34%. That means I spent about 6% of my money buying stuff for me and my loved ones, plus outright gifts of money to friends.
2. According to these numbers, the thing I value most is having a home base that is completely set up for me to comfortably do my life's work. Between enhancing my current home in Florida, buying a motor home, and buying a vacation home where I can work without being subjected to the unbearably steamy Florida summers, I spent over half of my allotted money on housing. I also greatly value traveling, because I spent a significant amount taking vacations, and quite a bit of money on that motor home and a vacation home. I want to be able to work in different locations as the mood strikes while still being at home. I also value sharing money with others, and saving a portion of the money that I earn.
3. I feel much friendlier with money now than when I started this game. I feel more worthy, somehow, as if it really is OK for me to buy the things I've written down here on these pages. I've often thought of vacation homes before, but they were just dreams. After going through this process for the past four weeks, I can clearly see that everything I've written down here is completely within the realm of possibility for me. I feel more confident in my ability to earn larger sums of money, even though I don't yet know how that will happen for me. I do notice that I am planning more frequent vacations than was my habit in the past, and I'm doing so without my usual fear of loss of income. I have recently bought a few expensive items for myself with almost no guilt. And I am also noticing that I am enjoying what I do have much more thoroughly than when I started this game.
4. Here are my financial goals:
- Save 10% of every dollar I make. I will first amass an emergency savings of $10,000, then put the rest into a wealth building fund.
- Save 10% of every dollar I make, and put it into a Home fund (workspace, motor home, vacation home, in that order.)
- Save 10% of every dollar I make, and put it into a Vacation fund
- Give away 10% of every dollar I make
- Live on no more than 60% of my money. Until I make more money, this will require loads of disipline!
- Figure out how to make more money! At my current rate of earning, that Vacation Home is really just a pipe dream. But I believe that I can increase my earnings by working in That Certain Way, so I am beginning to truly believe that it is possible for me to completely finish my current home, complete with a second story, buy a motor home, and own more than one vacation home: Carolinas, Maine, Pacific Northwest; all while doing lots of travelling.
I'll see you here tomorrow as we begin to explore the earning portion of this equation.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Prosperity Project Day 27
Greetings, prosperous friends! We have almost finished with our experiment. Tomorrow will be the final day of our game, and so I think it fitting to schedule a Final Exam. On the exam, I will ask you to talk about how your relationship with money has changed over the past month. I will also ask you to write down your goals, because I know that they are much clearer now than when we started.
But that is tomorrow. Today, I want to talk to you about the idea of a "Master Mind." I am reading Napoleon Hill right now, and according to him one of the most fundamental secrets to success is having a Master Mind. Here's how it works:
When two or more minds come harmoniously together, a new mind is formed combining the best that all of the individual minds have to offer. That new mind is called a Master Mind. One of the most powerful Master Minds that any of us will ever have is the one that is created out of our primary relationship with our spouse, assuming that our relationship is a harmonious one. Hill believes the Master Mind concept is the reason that happily married men are more successful than single men or unhappily married men. (Ladies, don't bristle: Hill was writing before World War I; the world was a much different place then.)
Hill is quick to suggest divorce if your marriage is not a harmonious one, because true power grows out of harmony. Here's why: Everything is vibration, and vibrations are waves. When one wave comes in contact with another harmonious wave, the two waves join together and become one even bigger wave. Their combined amplitude is bigger than what it was when they were single waves. If, however, a wave hits a disharmonious wave, the two cancel each other out. It's basic harmonics. In music, it is the difference between a beautiful harmony and dissonant noise.
Now, I'm not saying this to tell you to get married, or to get divorced for that matter. I'm merely stating a principle. I will, however, urge you to develop some harmonious relationships around the area of your life work. We have all expressed dreams here on the Prosperity Project. We've expressed dreams of spending money, but we've also spent some time imagining how we will earn that money. I would like to suggest that, even if your life work is solitary, as in the case of we writers, you develop a team that can be your Master Mind. No one who has been wildly successful has done so alone. Even Jesus had disciples.
If you are fortunate enough to have a harmonious primary relationship, that person should absolutely be a part of your Master Mind. If you are currently single or your primary relationship is disharmonious, please don't consider yourself at a disadvantage here. The world is filled with people, and ultimately you are in relationship with all of them. Go build a team. According to Hill, the most powerful Master Minds are built around six or seven people. Hill gives the example of Henry Ford, who is clearly the man that Hill admired most: Ford had no education, but he was smart enough to surround himself with people who knew everything that he needed to know to succeed in the car business. Remember, Ford invented cars, so he was working outside the box. Andrew Carnegie, who built a huge steel industry, knew nothing about steel manufacturing. He did, however, know how to bring a team together and to use their combined knowledge to create his (and their) fortune. Both men began their careers penniless, yet managed to amass incredible amounts of wealth by using the principle of the Master Mind.
Who will be on your team? It's OK not to know today. It is enough to have the intention to build a team. If you hold the intention to build your own Master Mind as you go through your day, then the Universe will be sure to send you the people that you need. Watch for them.
Now it's time to spend some money!
$27,000 Royalties continue to flow through Motherpearl Industries, from book and CD royalties, speaking engagements, and personal coaching sessions.
$ 3,000 Performing Arts Center Building Fund
$ 5,000 Wealth Building Account (Total $95,000)
$19,000 Vacation Home Fund (Total $116,500)
I feel pleased with this, and extremely contented with my life.
What will you do with your $27,000?
But that is tomorrow. Today, I want to talk to you about the idea of a "Master Mind." I am reading Napoleon Hill right now, and according to him one of the most fundamental secrets to success is having a Master Mind. Here's how it works:
When two or more minds come harmoniously together, a new mind is formed combining the best that all of the individual minds have to offer. That new mind is called a Master Mind. One of the most powerful Master Minds that any of us will ever have is the one that is created out of our primary relationship with our spouse, assuming that our relationship is a harmonious one. Hill believes the Master Mind concept is the reason that happily married men are more successful than single men or unhappily married men. (Ladies, don't bristle: Hill was writing before World War I; the world was a much different place then.)
Hill is quick to suggest divorce if your marriage is not a harmonious one, because true power grows out of harmony. Here's why: Everything is vibration, and vibrations are waves. When one wave comes in contact with another harmonious wave, the two waves join together and become one even bigger wave. Their combined amplitude is bigger than what it was when they were single waves. If, however, a wave hits a disharmonious wave, the two cancel each other out. It's basic harmonics. In music, it is the difference between a beautiful harmony and dissonant noise.
Now, I'm not saying this to tell you to get married, or to get divorced for that matter. I'm merely stating a principle. I will, however, urge you to develop some harmonious relationships around the area of your life work. We have all expressed dreams here on the Prosperity Project. We've expressed dreams of spending money, but we've also spent some time imagining how we will earn that money. I would like to suggest that, even if your life work is solitary, as in the case of we writers, you develop a team that can be your Master Mind. No one who has been wildly successful has done so alone. Even Jesus had disciples.
If you are fortunate enough to have a harmonious primary relationship, that person should absolutely be a part of your Master Mind. If you are currently single or your primary relationship is disharmonious, please don't consider yourself at a disadvantage here. The world is filled with people, and ultimately you are in relationship with all of them. Go build a team. According to Hill, the most powerful Master Minds are built around six or seven people. Hill gives the example of Henry Ford, who is clearly the man that Hill admired most: Ford had no education, but he was smart enough to surround himself with people who knew everything that he needed to know to succeed in the car business. Remember, Ford invented cars, so he was working outside the box. Andrew Carnegie, who built a huge steel industry, knew nothing about steel manufacturing. He did, however, know how to bring a team together and to use their combined knowledge to create his (and their) fortune. Both men began their careers penniless, yet managed to amass incredible amounts of wealth by using the principle of the Master Mind.
Who will be on your team? It's OK not to know today. It is enough to have the intention to build a team. If you hold the intention to build your own Master Mind as you go through your day, then the Universe will be sure to send you the people that you need. Watch for them.
Now it's time to spend some money!
$27,000 Royalties continue to flow through Motherpearl Industries, from book and CD royalties, speaking engagements, and personal coaching sessions.
$ 3,000 Performing Arts Center Building Fund
$ 5,000 Wealth Building Account (Total $95,000)
$19,000 Vacation Home Fund (Total $116,500)
I feel pleased with this, and extremely contented with my life.
What will you do with your $27,000?
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Prosperity Project Day 26
Welcome, prosperous friends, to Day 26 of the Prosperity Project.
This morning, as I write this, I am back at home after a glorious week in a beautiful mountain hideaway. The home we stayed in was much bigger than my everyday home, with far more creature comforts than I am accustomed to. It would be easy to look around me this morning and see all of the ways in which this little house I live in is not quite good enough. I could choose to focus on the fact that it is really tiny, and there is no beautiful room that is exclusively mine, where I can write undisturbed and take long afternoon naps. I could also choose to focus on the fact that the kitchen is unfinished, and that although I live with a cabinet maker, I have no cabinets. I could totally focus on the steamy Florida weather and compare it negatively to the crisp mountain air. In short, if I wanted to, I could choose to be very discontented this morning.
But I'm not. Sure, there is much that could be done to this little cottage to make it more livable, but improvements mean projects, and projects are a wonderful way to create memories at the same time as we create beauty together. Sure, September in Florida is way too steamy for human comfort, and September this year seems to have bled, unwelcome, into October. But in just a matter of weeks, the weather here will be dry and cool, and while many people are freezing and lamenting the ice and snow, I will be wintering in Florida. I'm not discontented this morning because I made a choice a year ago to choose to have an attitude of grateful appreciation no matter what life may throw my way.
This week, I've been reading a book by Carolyn Myss, Invisible Acts of Power: Personal Choices That Create Miracles, in which she describes the acts of service associated with, and motivated by, each of the seven main chakras. In an earlier post, we talked about giving financial and creative support, which is an act of service powered by our second chakra. The attitude of grateful appreciation of which I speak today is a sixth chakra act, the chakra often called the Third Eye and associated with wisdom.
Having an attitude of grateful appreciation is a choice; the normal human response is to whine and complain and to see everything that is wrong with our world. We must actively choose to see our world with a grateful eye, and we must consciously cultivate a grateful attitude, particularly in the face of obstacles, sorrow, and pain. Myss describes one man, Jack, who managed consistently to keep an attitude of grateful appreciation. When asked how that was even possible, Jack explained:
Like Jack, I choose to see my life as good, just as it is. But that doesn't stop me from imagining something different for myself. The trick is being able to visualize more while remaining contented with what is. It's not that hard really; like Jack, we just need to decide that it will be so.
***
If you are reading this, I want to congratulate you for coming this far with me. Some people have stopped reading these posts, thinking that we are only spending imaginary money here, and they are waiting for me to start writing clues again. They don't realize that the clues have been cleverly hidden within the game itself. So if you are here, you are the kind of person who will dig deep to find the clues you seek. Good for you!
So let's spend some money:
$26,000 My share of proceeds from the Living Gratitude Conference, a day-long event featuring speakers specializing in gratitude, appreciation, and the Law of Attraction.
$ 2,500 Performing Arts Center building fund
$ 5,000 Wealth Building Account (Total $90,000)
$18,500 Vacation Home (Total $97,500)
Looks like I'm easily going to reach my goals before the game ends. How about you?
How will you spend your $26,000?
This morning, as I write this, I am back at home after a glorious week in a beautiful mountain hideaway. The home we stayed in was much bigger than my everyday home, with far more creature comforts than I am accustomed to. It would be easy to look around me this morning and see all of the ways in which this little house I live in is not quite good enough. I could choose to focus on the fact that it is really tiny, and there is no beautiful room that is exclusively mine, where I can write undisturbed and take long afternoon naps. I could also choose to focus on the fact that the kitchen is unfinished, and that although I live with a cabinet maker, I have no cabinets. I could totally focus on the steamy Florida weather and compare it negatively to the crisp mountain air. In short, if I wanted to, I could choose to be very discontented this morning.
But I'm not. Sure, there is much that could be done to this little cottage to make it more livable, but improvements mean projects, and projects are a wonderful way to create memories at the same time as we create beauty together. Sure, September in Florida is way too steamy for human comfort, and September this year seems to have bled, unwelcome, into October. But in just a matter of weeks, the weather here will be dry and cool, and while many people are freezing and lamenting the ice and snow, I will be wintering in Florida. I'm not discontented this morning because I made a choice a year ago to choose to have an attitude of grateful appreciation no matter what life may throw my way.
This week, I've been reading a book by Carolyn Myss, Invisible Acts of Power: Personal Choices That Create Miracles, in which she describes the acts of service associated with, and motivated by, each of the seven main chakras. In an earlier post, we talked about giving financial and creative support, which is an act of service powered by our second chakra. The attitude of grateful appreciation of which I speak today is a sixth chakra act, the chakra often called the Third Eye and associated with wisdom.
Having an attitude of grateful appreciation is a choice; the normal human response is to whine and complain and to see everything that is wrong with our world. We must actively choose to see our world with a grateful eye, and we must consciously cultivate a grateful attitude, particularly in the face of obstacles, sorrow, and pain. Myss describes one man, Jack, who managed consistently to keep an attitude of grateful appreciation. When asked how that was even possible, Jack explained:
"It's been easy for me to find something to appreciate every day. I gave up expectations. Tomorrow doesn't have to be better than today for me in order to have a good day. I don't have to have all my dreams come true in order for me to decide my life is good. I don't care if I don't drive a certain car or have everything I want. I don't want that much. So, it's easy to appreciate life. I took the burden away from God that he had to provide everything for me so I could be happy. Oddly enough, I'm happier now than when I lived possessed by having life turn out my way. People ask me, 'How come you're so happy?' as if I'm on to something. I just decided to choose to see good somehow in people and to appreciate what each day might have in store for me. It makes for a better life."
Like Jack, I choose to see my life as good, just as it is. But that doesn't stop me from imagining something different for myself. The trick is being able to visualize more while remaining contented with what is. It's not that hard really; like Jack, we just need to decide that it will be so.
***
If you are reading this, I want to congratulate you for coming this far with me. Some people have stopped reading these posts, thinking that we are only spending imaginary money here, and they are waiting for me to start writing clues again. They don't realize that the clues have been cleverly hidden within the game itself. So if you are here, you are the kind of person who will dig deep to find the clues you seek. Good for you!
So let's spend some money:
$26,000 My share of proceeds from the Living Gratitude Conference, a day-long event featuring speakers specializing in gratitude, appreciation, and the Law of Attraction.
$ 2,500 Performing Arts Center building fund
$ 5,000 Wealth Building Account (Total $90,000)
$18,500 Vacation Home (Total $97,500)
Looks like I'm easily going to reach my goals before the game ends. How about you?
How will you spend your $26,000?
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Prosperity Project Day 25
Greetings, and welcome to Day 25 of the Prosperity Project. With just a few days to go in our experiment, we have the nice round sum of $25,000 to dispense with today.
Before we get to spending money, though, I'd like to ask you a question. How much of the life you already have do you keep in storage? Why is it there? Do you not have enough space for all the stuff you have? Are you saving some of it for a special occasion? Do you have a lot of remnants from a prior life that you just aren't willing to part with? The answer to that question may have a lot to do with why you are not yet attracting into your life the abundance you can see with your mind's eye.
I used to have dreams in which I would find hidden rooms filled with stuff I didn't know I had. Sometimes it was a house I owned; sometimes I was a guest in the house. In those dreams I'm always filled with wonder at the beautiful things that I've found in the secret room. In one busy dream, I had rented a house and found that the garage was crammed to the top with junk. I spent the entire dream cleaning out that cluttered garage. Sometimes I will dream that I am in a house I had dreamed of previously. I'll wander through the house trying in vain to find rooms that had been right there during the last dream. I'll show up at a house I recognize, and try to find my previously favorite room to sleep in for the night. Sometimes I find it; most often it is gone, and it reminds me to take advantage of things while the taking is good.
I've heard that, in dreams, houses represent our consciousness and rooms represent different aspects of ourselves. If we find rooms we didn't know existed, we are in the process of discovering untapped parts of ourselves. I guess the night I spent cleaning out the garage I must have had a lot of junk to clear out of my own life. Anyway, I've spent so much time dreaming about houses and rooms that I've had many years to think about this concept. I've decided that dream rooms are not the only rooms that reflect our consciousness: the rooms in our living space are also an excellent reflection of the current state of our selves.
So again, I ask you: Do you keep a lot of your stuff in storage? Are there parts of your house that you don't use at all, that are filled with a bunch of stored things? Do you have junk drawers? Junk rooms? Are parts of your home left unfinished? I would like to suggest that our lives will grow when we have become too big for the lives that we currently have. As long as you are not fully using the life, the home, the stuff, that you have now, I'm thinking that more stuff cannot yet come to you.
So if you're really wanting a change, if you are serious about wanting to attract the things that you are writing about here on these pages, then go let some light and air into the dark places of your home. Take stuff out of storage. Play with your toys. Give things away if you no longer have a use for them. If you are storing things from your past, find a way to display them so you can see and use them every day. Sleep on the good sheets. Eat off your best china. LIVE!!!
$25,000 Every day, I'm beginning to meet someone who has heard of my books. I believe that even after this Prosperity Project ends, I will continue to attract money because I will continue to add value to the world with my writing, and because I continue to gratefully use and appreciate all of the wonderful things that I already have.
$ 2,500 Performing Arts Center building fund
$ 5,000 Wealth Building Account (Total $85,000)
$17,500 Vacation Home Fund (Total $79,000)
Wow. I feel really good about this. When this run of money starts to wind down I will have saved $100,000 and will have bought a home in the mountains free and clear. For right now, that is the wildest that my dreams get, so I'm contented with how this has turned out.
What about you? How will you spend your $25,000 today?
Before we get to spending money, though, I'd like to ask you a question. How much of the life you already have do you keep in storage? Why is it there? Do you not have enough space for all the stuff you have? Are you saving some of it for a special occasion? Do you have a lot of remnants from a prior life that you just aren't willing to part with? The answer to that question may have a lot to do with why you are not yet attracting into your life the abundance you can see with your mind's eye.
I used to have dreams in which I would find hidden rooms filled with stuff I didn't know I had. Sometimes it was a house I owned; sometimes I was a guest in the house. In those dreams I'm always filled with wonder at the beautiful things that I've found in the secret room. In one busy dream, I had rented a house and found that the garage was crammed to the top with junk. I spent the entire dream cleaning out that cluttered garage. Sometimes I will dream that I am in a house I had dreamed of previously. I'll wander through the house trying in vain to find rooms that had been right there during the last dream. I'll show up at a house I recognize, and try to find my previously favorite room to sleep in for the night. Sometimes I find it; most often it is gone, and it reminds me to take advantage of things while the taking is good.
I've heard that, in dreams, houses represent our consciousness and rooms represent different aspects of ourselves. If we find rooms we didn't know existed, we are in the process of discovering untapped parts of ourselves. I guess the night I spent cleaning out the garage I must have had a lot of junk to clear out of my own life. Anyway, I've spent so much time dreaming about houses and rooms that I've had many years to think about this concept. I've decided that dream rooms are not the only rooms that reflect our consciousness: the rooms in our living space are also an excellent reflection of the current state of our selves.
So again, I ask you: Do you keep a lot of your stuff in storage? Are there parts of your house that you don't use at all, that are filled with a bunch of stored things? Do you have junk drawers? Junk rooms? Are parts of your home left unfinished? I would like to suggest that our lives will grow when we have become too big for the lives that we currently have. As long as you are not fully using the life, the home, the stuff, that you have now, I'm thinking that more stuff cannot yet come to you.
So if you're really wanting a change, if you are serious about wanting to attract the things that you are writing about here on these pages, then go let some light and air into the dark places of your home. Take stuff out of storage. Play with your toys. Give things away if you no longer have a use for them. If you are storing things from your past, find a way to display them so you can see and use them every day. Sleep on the good sheets. Eat off your best china. LIVE!!!
$25,000 Every day, I'm beginning to meet someone who has heard of my books. I believe that even after this Prosperity Project ends, I will continue to attract money because I will continue to add value to the world with my writing, and because I continue to gratefully use and appreciate all of the wonderful things that I already have.
$ 2,500 Performing Arts Center building fund
$ 5,000 Wealth Building Account (Total $85,000)
$17,500 Vacation Home Fund (Total $79,000)
Wow. I feel really good about this. When this run of money starts to wind down I will have saved $100,000 and will have bought a home in the mountains free and clear. For right now, that is the wildest that my dreams get, so I'm contented with how this has turned out.
What about you? How will you spend your $25,000 today?
Friday, October 9, 2009
Prosperity Project Day 24
Greetings, prosperous friends! It is Day 24 of the Prosperity Project, and we are here to dispense with $24,000!
This past week I've been staying in a gorgeous vacation home up in the Smokey Mountains. I've thoroughly enjoyed playing with all the dishes, and towels, and linens, and tables, and lamps, and chairs, and couches, and beds, and pillows. I've been like a little girl in a doll house.
Yesterday, I learned that the owner of this beautiful house (who is not here with us) sees it much differently. To her, this house is kind of crappy. The stuff in it is junk. None of it is quite good enough. I know people like that. Because the stuff they can imagine is so much better than what they have, they think that what they have is junk.
I have a family member like that. Everything she gets, she finds fault with it. She complained of having no transportation, but now that she finally has a truck she hates it because all she can see are its faults. After months of unemployment, she finally got a job which she now hates. She wanted a different kind of job, and this one just isn't good enough. Someone gave her a free cell phone because she couldn't afford to buy one of her own, and she hated it because it didn't have the features she really wanted. She has the kind of attitude that makes you NOT want to give her things. She wonders why she's so unhappy and dissatisfied with her life. Hmmm, let's think ...
I like that we on the Prosperity Project all kept our original homes and lifestyles, because it shows that we are the kind of people who appreciate the value of what we already have. Sure, there are more things that we could be, do, or have that would be nice. But we are the kind of people who can readily see that what we have now is already very good.
No matter where we are on the road to manifesting our dreams, if we can look at what we already have with grateful appreciation, we will be sure to attract more good things. When I get home from this trip, it will almost be tent weather back in Florida. Although I'm not yet in a position to build myself a room, I can totally set up my huge tent in the backyard and make that my writer's den for the winter. I'm learning that if we have things we should use them, not hoard them; so that tent is definitely getting used this year, and not just for my annual camping trip!
Let's see how the numbers work themselves out today:
$24,000 Motherpearl Enterprises is steadily raking in royalties from books and CDs!
$ 2,500 God's Money to the Performing Arts Center building fund
$ 5,000 Wealth Building Account (Total $80,000)
$16,500 Vacation Home Fund (Total $61,500) Almost time to start picking a spot!
OK, it's your turn! How will you spend your $24,000 today?
This past week I've been staying in a gorgeous vacation home up in the Smokey Mountains. I've thoroughly enjoyed playing with all the dishes, and towels, and linens, and tables, and lamps, and chairs, and couches, and beds, and pillows. I've been like a little girl in a doll house.
Yesterday, I learned that the owner of this beautiful house (who is not here with us) sees it much differently. To her, this house is kind of crappy. The stuff in it is junk. None of it is quite good enough. I know people like that. Because the stuff they can imagine is so much better than what they have, they think that what they have is junk.
I have a family member like that. Everything she gets, she finds fault with it. She complained of having no transportation, but now that she finally has a truck she hates it because all she can see are its faults. After months of unemployment, she finally got a job which she now hates. She wanted a different kind of job, and this one just isn't good enough. Someone gave her a free cell phone because she couldn't afford to buy one of her own, and she hated it because it didn't have the features she really wanted. She has the kind of attitude that makes you NOT want to give her things. She wonders why she's so unhappy and dissatisfied with her life. Hmmm, let's think ...
I like that we on the Prosperity Project all kept our original homes and lifestyles, because it shows that we are the kind of people who appreciate the value of what we already have. Sure, there are more things that we could be, do, or have that would be nice. But we are the kind of people who can readily see that what we have now is already very good.
No matter where we are on the road to manifesting our dreams, if we can look at what we already have with grateful appreciation, we will be sure to attract more good things. When I get home from this trip, it will almost be tent weather back in Florida. Although I'm not yet in a position to build myself a room, I can totally set up my huge tent in the backyard and make that my writer's den for the winter. I'm learning that if we have things we should use them, not hoard them; so that tent is definitely getting used this year, and not just for my annual camping trip!
Let's see how the numbers work themselves out today:
$24,000 Motherpearl Enterprises is steadily raking in royalties from books and CDs!
$ 2,500 God's Money to the Performing Arts Center building fund
$ 5,000 Wealth Building Account (Total $80,000)
$16,500 Vacation Home Fund (Total $61,500) Almost time to start picking a spot!
OK, it's your turn! How will you spend your $24,000 today?
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Prosperity Project Day 23
Years ago ... no, decades ago, when the Florida Lottery first began, I spent some time thinking about what I would do if I won the lottery. How would my life change? I was working as a secretary at the time, work I had already been doing for over a decade. The work paid the bills, but wasn't entirely satisfying. I realized that if I won the lottery and had enough money to do anything I wanted, that I would quit my job and go back to school. I've always loved learning, and to me going to college sounded like the perfect life for me. After dreaming about school ... visualizing myself there, carrying books, writing papers, walking around campus ... I began to realize that my dream was a small enough dream that I could easily make it happen for me even without winning the lottery. I applied for student loans, quit my job, and became a full-time student.
The same thing has happened to me here on the Prosperity Project. My dreams, apparently, are again very small. Again, I'm realizing that everything I've dreamed here on these pages I can make a reality for my life, even without magic money. All of us posting here seemed to run out of dream long before the end of the second week. In our dreams, we grew to a certain point within our imaginations, and then the extra money we were getting every day seemed to became almost meaningless.
I'm starting to think that dreams are like stepping stones. We get one small dream at a time; only when we've managed to materialize our current dream are we granted a vision of what lies beyond. Before we started this project, I would have told you that I had some big dreams. After steadily working through this experiment, however, I'm realizing just how small my dreams really are. I'm realizing, once again, that everything I've dreamed about here on these pages I have the power to manifest into my life NOW.
The workspace that I described here on these pages, the one I built onto my boyfriend's current home in my imagination, manifested right here in my mountain vacation get-away home. For a week I am happily and productively working in a room that very closely resembles the workspace I created here in this game. Since we've been here in the mountains, I've gone out and bought the walking shoes and all-weather jacket that I imagined myself buying on the very first day of the game. I've planned to go to Maine to see my friend in a few months; and although we won't get to spend as much money as I imagined, we will undoubtedly have just as much fun. I've realized that if I find a used pop-up camper in good condition it will serve the purpose of the motor home I've described here, and will be well within my current financial reach. I've got friends with vacation homes, and those can feel like mine until I've saved up enough money to buy my own. Or, I can rent nice homes by the week and just pretend they're mine. I do, after all, have a very powerful imagination!
$23,000 Oh, look. I've won the lottery again!
$ 2,000 God's Money goes to the Performing Arts Center construction fund
$ 5,000 Wealth Building Account (Total $75,000)
$16,000 Vacation Home Fund (Total $45,000)
What will you do with your $23,000?
The same thing has happened to me here on the Prosperity Project. My dreams, apparently, are again very small. Again, I'm realizing that everything I've dreamed here on these pages I can make a reality for my life, even without magic money. All of us posting here seemed to run out of dream long before the end of the second week. In our dreams, we grew to a certain point within our imaginations, and then the extra money we were getting every day seemed to became almost meaningless.
I'm starting to think that dreams are like stepping stones. We get one small dream at a time; only when we've managed to materialize our current dream are we granted a vision of what lies beyond. Before we started this project, I would have told you that I had some big dreams. After steadily working through this experiment, however, I'm realizing just how small my dreams really are. I'm realizing, once again, that everything I've dreamed about here on these pages I have the power to manifest into my life NOW.
The workspace that I described here on these pages, the one I built onto my boyfriend's current home in my imagination, manifested right here in my mountain vacation get-away home. For a week I am happily and productively working in a room that very closely resembles the workspace I created here in this game. Since we've been here in the mountains, I've gone out and bought the walking shoes and all-weather jacket that I imagined myself buying on the very first day of the game. I've planned to go to Maine to see my friend in a few months; and although we won't get to spend as much money as I imagined, we will undoubtedly have just as much fun. I've realized that if I find a used pop-up camper in good condition it will serve the purpose of the motor home I've described here, and will be well within my current financial reach. I've got friends with vacation homes, and those can feel like mine until I've saved up enough money to buy my own. Or, I can rent nice homes by the week and just pretend they're mine. I do, after all, have a very powerful imagination!
$23,000 Oh, look. I've won the lottery again!
$ 2,000 God's Money goes to the Performing Arts Center construction fund
$ 5,000 Wealth Building Account (Total $75,000)
$16,000 Vacation Home Fund (Total $45,000)
What will you do with your $23,000?
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Prosperity Project Day 22
Greetings, prosperous friends. Today we have $22,000 to spend, invest, or give away, as our spirit dictates.
I have enjoyed this recent influx of revenue, and am happy about the way that I have been using the money that has come my way. Money, like everything else, seems to come in waves. It ebbs and flows, like the surf. There is a time for spending, a time for saving. When our relationship with money is a healthy one, we allow money to come and go without letting it make us fearful. I believe that money is energy, in the same way that the chi that is our life force is energy, in the same way that love is energy. All energy comes from the same Universal Source, and we are all connected with all of it and with all of each other. All of the abundance in the entire universe flows from that Universal Source, and belongs to us, and we to it. There is no lack anywhere. We have nothing to fear.
During the course of this game, I've been learning some things about the proper use of money. When the money is flowing freely, we are generous with it. We share our good fortune with those we love, and we use some of it to make the world a better place. When the money is flowing freely, we allow ourselves to flow with it. Money allows us to fully express our most cherished dreams. We've used the money to create a space for ourselves where we can do the kind of work that brings us the the most joy, which allows us to add value to the rest of the world, which in turn causes money to flow our way again. The cycle of money seems to be a cycle whose byproduct is joy ... more life for all, as Wattles would put it. This joyful and free feeling toward money is a far cry from my former life, in which the subject of money always seemed to make me cringe in worry and fear.
We have been generous with our share of money without being reckless with it. We have lived within our means. Each of us has been careful to put aside a bit of money. That seemed odd to me at first, because I was under the impression that we would always be getting $1000 more each day than we had gotten the day before. It seemed ridiculous not to spend it all. Yet, saving some money had also seemed right. Now, I'm beginning to understand the wisdom of saving money. First, developing a habit of saving money also develops the very healthy habit of living well within your means. People who save money tend not to be the same people who acquire debt. Second, letting money pool into an ever-growing fund of cash is how we acquire that wonderful thing known as capital. With capital, our money can work on its own to bring us revenue, freeing up our time for more leisurely pursuits. Third, having money set aside acknowledges the reality of the cyclic nature of money's energy. It comes, it goes. The secret is to enjoy it freely as it flows in, and to trust and be unafraid if it seems to be flowing away.
I like that each of us playing the Prosperity Project game stayed in our original home. With all the money we had been getting we could easily have moved into a fancier house, but instead we chose to stay right where we started. I particularly like that our lifestyles did not grow along with our incomes. If the money does not flow as freely in the future as it has been, we have nothing to fear. We did not acquire any debt, and our lifestyles have stayed smallish. Our tools, homes, and cars are paid for, and we will continue to be just fine.
Now, it's time to allocate today's funds:
$22,000 Royalties and profits from Motherpearl Enterprises continue to cover the cost of my staff, as well as enough extra to keep me living comfortably.
$ 2,000 Space Coast Performing Arts Center building fund
$ 5,000 Wealth Building Fund (Total $70,000)
$15,000 Mountain Home fund (Total $29,000)
I've been enjoying the motor home. We've stayed in it while we've been touring the Carolina mountains. It has allowed us the freedom of trying out different towns so that we will know when we will have found "home." I'm not sure exactly what I'm looking for yet, but I'll know it when I see it.
So, how will you spend your $22,000?
I have enjoyed this recent influx of revenue, and am happy about the way that I have been using the money that has come my way. Money, like everything else, seems to come in waves. It ebbs and flows, like the surf. There is a time for spending, a time for saving. When our relationship with money is a healthy one, we allow money to come and go without letting it make us fearful. I believe that money is energy, in the same way that the chi that is our life force is energy, in the same way that love is energy. All energy comes from the same Universal Source, and we are all connected with all of it and with all of each other. All of the abundance in the entire universe flows from that Universal Source, and belongs to us, and we to it. There is no lack anywhere. We have nothing to fear.
During the course of this game, I've been learning some things about the proper use of money. When the money is flowing freely, we are generous with it. We share our good fortune with those we love, and we use some of it to make the world a better place. When the money is flowing freely, we allow ourselves to flow with it. Money allows us to fully express our most cherished dreams. We've used the money to create a space for ourselves where we can do the kind of work that brings us the the most joy, which allows us to add value to the rest of the world, which in turn causes money to flow our way again. The cycle of money seems to be a cycle whose byproduct is joy ... more life for all, as Wattles would put it. This joyful and free feeling toward money is a far cry from my former life, in which the subject of money always seemed to make me cringe in worry and fear.
We have been generous with our share of money without being reckless with it. We have lived within our means. Each of us has been careful to put aside a bit of money. That seemed odd to me at first, because I was under the impression that we would always be getting $1000 more each day than we had gotten the day before. It seemed ridiculous not to spend it all. Yet, saving some money had also seemed right. Now, I'm beginning to understand the wisdom of saving money. First, developing a habit of saving money also develops the very healthy habit of living well within your means. People who save money tend not to be the same people who acquire debt. Second, letting money pool into an ever-growing fund of cash is how we acquire that wonderful thing known as capital. With capital, our money can work on its own to bring us revenue, freeing up our time for more leisurely pursuits. Third, having money set aside acknowledges the reality of the cyclic nature of money's energy. It comes, it goes. The secret is to enjoy it freely as it flows in, and to trust and be unafraid if it seems to be flowing away.
I like that each of us playing the Prosperity Project game stayed in our original home. With all the money we had been getting we could easily have moved into a fancier house, but instead we chose to stay right where we started. I particularly like that our lifestyles did not grow along with our incomes. If the money does not flow as freely in the future as it has been, we have nothing to fear. We did not acquire any debt, and our lifestyles have stayed smallish. Our tools, homes, and cars are paid for, and we will continue to be just fine.
Now, it's time to allocate today's funds:
$22,000 Royalties and profits from Motherpearl Enterprises continue to cover the cost of my staff, as well as enough extra to keep me living comfortably.
$ 2,000 Space Coast Performing Arts Center building fund
$ 5,000 Wealth Building Fund (Total $70,000)
$15,000 Mountain Home fund (Total $29,000)
I've been enjoying the motor home. We've stayed in it while we've been touring the Carolina mountains. It has allowed us the freedom of trying out different towns so that we will know when we will have found "home." I'm not sure exactly what I'm looking for yet, but I'll know it when I see it.
So, how will you spend your $22,000?
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Prosperity Project Day 21
Greetings, prosperous friends, and welcome to Day 21 of the Prosperity Project.
Today marks the end of our third week of playing this visualization game, so again it is time to look back on all that we've created and see that it is good.
All of us posting here on the website seem to have reached the end of our growth phase. We've built our studios and workshops, we've helped friends, we've sponsored music projects. Most of all, we have been enjoying our fully funded lives and have been spending our imaginary days using the tools we have purchased to create beauty and provide value to the world. It has been a good exercise.
I've always heard that it takes 21 days to develop a new habit; if you have been with us since Day 1, you have developed an incredibly powerful habit of daily visualization of your perfect life. If you have been posting your visions here or elsewhere, you have also developed the daily habit of journaling your hopes and dreams. I hope that long after this game is finished you continue both of these activities; your life will surely blossom if you do.
We will be playing this game for one more week. On Day 28, we will take stock of all that we have accomplished with our money. Since playing this game, we've had the luxury of knowing that there will always be more money tomorrow. Now, we will add a new element to the game: knowing that at some point the money will stop flowing, even if only temporarily, and we will need to live off of what we've accumulated until it starts back up again.
When God rained manna down on the Israelites wandering around in the dessert, he instructed them on the sixth day to collect twice as much as they needed, so that on the seventh day, when God rested, they would still be able to eat. So this next week we are entering into a gathering phase. We will fund our wealth building accounts so that we can live off the interest; we will fund our vacation accounts so that we can still travel as we had planned.
Most of all, though, we will explore our feelings about it all. Does knowing that the money will stop flowing make you panic a little? Do you feel that you need to hoard whatever money is left so that you don't starve when it stops? I sure hope not. I hope that we have learned to generously let money flow through us, trusting that the Universe will take care of us. Because it most certainly will. If your imagination is really good, you could choose to imagine that your money continues to flow, even though the game is over!
So here is today's accounting:
$21,000 Motherpearl Enterprises is thriving, and money is flowing in from all the various streams.
$ 2,000 God's Money goes to Riverside Presbyterian Church, Vernon Boushell music series, where my singing therapy began.
$ 5,000 Wealth Building Account (Total $65,000)
$14,000 Goes toward buying my first vacation home in the Carolina mountains.
I took the $39,000 I saved up for the motor home and managed to get an incredible deal on a used fifth wheel that can go in the back of a pickup truck. It is big enough for me and the boyfriend to travel comfortably, and because it fits in the back of a truck, we always have easy local transportation when we get where we're going. We are staying in it as we hunt for the perfect mountain property to buy as our second home. He is a very talented woodworker, so we can buy an old shack at a good price that he can turn into a dream home.
OK, your turn. How do you plan to spend your $21,000?
Today marks the end of our third week of playing this visualization game, so again it is time to look back on all that we've created and see that it is good.
All of us posting here on the website seem to have reached the end of our growth phase. We've built our studios and workshops, we've helped friends, we've sponsored music projects. Most of all, we have been enjoying our fully funded lives and have been spending our imaginary days using the tools we have purchased to create beauty and provide value to the world. It has been a good exercise.
I've always heard that it takes 21 days to develop a new habit; if you have been with us since Day 1, you have developed an incredibly powerful habit of daily visualization of your perfect life. If you have been posting your visions here or elsewhere, you have also developed the daily habit of journaling your hopes and dreams. I hope that long after this game is finished you continue both of these activities; your life will surely blossom if you do.
We will be playing this game for one more week. On Day 28, we will take stock of all that we have accomplished with our money. Since playing this game, we've had the luxury of knowing that there will always be more money tomorrow. Now, we will add a new element to the game: knowing that at some point the money will stop flowing, even if only temporarily, and we will need to live off of what we've accumulated until it starts back up again.
When God rained manna down on the Israelites wandering around in the dessert, he instructed them on the sixth day to collect twice as much as they needed, so that on the seventh day, when God rested, they would still be able to eat. So this next week we are entering into a gathering phase. We will fund our wealth building accounts so that we can live off the interest; we will fund our vacation accounts so that we can still travel as we had planned.
Most of all, though, we will explore our feelings about it all. Does knowing that the money will stop flowing make you panic a little? Do you feel that you need to hoard whatever money is left so that you don't starve when it stops? I sure hope not. I hope that we have learned to generously let money flow through us, trusting that the Universe will take care of us. Because it most certainly will. If your imagination is really good, you could choose to imagine that your money continues to flow, even though the game is over!
So here is today's accounting:
$21,000 Motherpearl Enterprises is thriving, and money is flowing in from all the various streams.
$ 2,000 God's Money goes to Riverside Presbyterian Church, Vernon Boushell music series, where my singing therapy began.
$ 5,000 Wealth Building Account (Total $65,000)
$14,000 Goes toward buying my first vacation home in the Carolina mountains.
I took the $39,000 I saved up for the motor home and managed to get an incredible deal on a used fifth wheel that can go in the back of a pickup truck. It is big enough for me and the boyfriend to travel comfortably, and because it fits in the back of a truck, we always have easy local transportation when we get where we're going. We are staying in it as we hunt for the perfect mountain property to buy as our second home. He is a very talented woodworker, so we can buy an old shack at a good price that he can turn into a dream home.
OK, your turn. How do you plan to spend your $21,000?
Monday, October 5, 2009
Prosperity Project Day 20
Greetings, fellow prosperous ones! It is day 20 of the Prosperity Project.
My income has way surpassed my outgo by now. I could afford a bigger house and a much larger lifestyle than I currently enjoy. I find, though, that I'm very hobbit-like in my living habits. I like my homes smallish and filled with books. I like my homes paid for, as well. I decided early on in this experiment that I wouldn't buy anything I couldn't buy with cash. With an income like mine, banks are constantly hounding me to take out loans. Realtors call me every day trying to sell me gorgeous homes, but I would have to take out a mortgage with one of those bankers, and I'm not willing to do that. The home I live in with the boyfriend is perfect now that I've added my room to the top floor. I have privacy up there, and feel totally at peace in that space. I have no urge to upgrade, since my life is already perfect just as it is.
Let's talk about my imaginary room for a minute, because I'm starting to get a hint at how powerful our daily visualizing really is. In my dream room, I go up a winding flight of stairs into a space that has a writing desk with bookshelves. There is a sleeping area at one end, because I love napping. There's a TV up there so I can take General Hospital breaks during the day. It's cozy and perfect.
In the real world I'm vacationing with friends up in the mountains. The house here is big enough that we can all have our own rooms. Let me describe my room: I didn't get a bedroom like the others; I got the room they call the Playroom. I go down a winding flight of stairs into a space that has a writing desk with bookshelves. There is a sleeping area at one end, where I enjoy napping every day. There's a TV in here where I can watch General Hospital during the day without annoying the cabin-mates. It's cozy and perfect.
Yesterday I realized that I had manifested on my vacation the very room that I had imagined here in the Prosperity Project. That really excites me! Like the student in Wallace Wattle's example, I think maybe I didn't ask enough. I've always had a dream that I've never said out loud seriously. Even here on the Prosperity Project, where we've had more money than I ever dreamed possible, I didn't feel worthy of speaking it. But now I think I do.
I've always wanted homes scattered all over the world. You see, being equally both right- and left-brained, I tend to have conflicting desires. The right-brained side of me wants to travel, flittering about the planet like a long-distance butterfly. The left-brained side of me wants to nest, burrowed in one place like a hobbit. So in my wildest dreams I have several homes: here in Florida, of course, because all the people I love live here; and also one in Maine on a lake, where I live in June and August. Billie takes care of that one when I'm not staying there. Her family uses it when they want to get away, and her kids absolutely love playing on the water. She rents it out for me from time to time, so it brings in enough money to be self-sufficient. I also have a vacation home somewhere on the coast of Northern California, where I like to live in August and September, when it's too hot to live in Florida, and too cold to still be enjoying the Maine lake house. My neice, Rebecca, vacations there with her friends when she's not off on her own planet-hopping adventures. And of course I have one in the Carolina mountains, just a day's drive away from my Florida home. My daughter loves this place.
Each of these homes has a writing desk and a library. When I find a book I want to own, I always buy enough copies for each library. My friends think I'm a bit eccentric, but then they always did. Each of them also has a piano, and a fully wired computer network with music software. I've been writing music lately, and once I'm on a roll I like to take advantage of it. The place in California has a grand piano in it, in a room with windows looking out onto the surf. I write good music there. Each home also has clothes already in the closet, with wardrobes suitable for that specific climate. Each also has a fully stocked kitchen, the kind that just invites you to bake pies.
I love having all these homes, because no matter how much I flit about, I am always at home. No matter where I am, I have a place where friends can gather. If my friends want to get away for a while, they are always free to stay in one of my vacation homes. It's a very happy life.
$20,000 I've been more disciplined about writing, and so am able to send yet another book to the publisher. Here is an advance.
$ 2,000 There is a strong need in my town for a Performing Arts Center so that all of the amateur choruses, bands, and orchestras have a reliable space for rehearsals and performances. It is time for me to funnel money toward that project. God's money goes here because music is what saved my life.
$ 5,000 Wealth Building Account (Total $60,000)
$13,000 Motor Home Fund (Total $39,000). Until I've gathered enough money to buy my dream homes, this motor home will be my travelling vacation home.
My income has way surpassed my outgo by now. I could afford a bigger house and a much larger lifestyle than I currently enjoy. I find, though, that I'm very hobbit-like in my living habits. I like my homes smallish and filled with books. I like my homes paid for, as well. I decided early on in this experiment that I wouldn't buy anything I couldn't buy with cash. With an income like mine, banks are constantly hounding me to take out loans. Realtors call me every day trying to sell me gorgeous homes, but I would have to take out a mortgage with one of those bankers, and I'm not willing to do that. The home I live in with the boyfriend is perfect now that I've added my room to the top floor. I have privacy up there, and feel totally at peace in that space. I have no urge to upgrade, since my life is already perfect just as it is.
Let's talk about my imaginary room for a minute, because I'm starting to get a hint at how powerful our daily visualizing really is. In my dream room, I go up a winding flight of stairs into a space that has a writing desk with bookshelves. There is a sleeping area at one end, because I love napping. There's a TV up there so I can take General Hospital breaks during the day. It's cozy and perfect.
In the real world I'm vacationing with friends up in the mountains. The house here is big enough that we can all have our own rooms. Let me describe my room: I didn't get a bedroom like the others; I got the room they call the Playroom. I go down a winding flight of stairs into a space that has a writing desk with bookshelves. There is a sleeping area at one end, where I enjoy napping every day. There's a TV in here where I can watch General Hospital during the day without annoying the cabin-mates. It's cozy and perfect.
Yesterday I realized that I had manifested on my vacation the very room that I had imagined here in the Prosperity Project. That really excites me! Like the student in Wallace Wattle's example, I think maybe I didn't ask enough. I've always had a dream that I've never said out loud seriously. Even here on the Prosperity Project, where we've had more money than I ever dreamed possible, I didn't feel worthy of speaking it. But now I think I do.
I've always wanted homes scattered all over the world. You see, being equally both right- and left-brained, I tend to have conflicting desires. The right-brained side of me wants to travel, flittering about the planet like a long-distance butterfly. The left-brained side of me wants to nest, burrowed in one place like a hobbit. So in my wildest dreams I have several homes: here in Florida, of course, because all the people I love live here; and also one in Maine on a lake, where I live in June and August. Billie takes care of that one when I'm not staying there. Her family uses it when they want to get away, and her kids absolutely love playing on the water. She rents it out for me from time to time, so it brings in enough money to be self-sufficient. I also have a vacation home somewhere on the coast of Northern California, where I like to live in August and September, when it's too hot to live in Florida, and too cold to still be enjoying the Maine lake house. My neice, Rebecca, vacations there with her friends when she's not off on her own planet-hopping adventures. And of course I have one in the Carolina mountains, just a day's drive away from my Florida home. My daughter loves this place.
Each of these homes has a writing desk and a library. When I find a book I want to own, I always buy enough copies for each library. My friends think I'm a bit eccentric, but then they always did. Each of them also has a piano, and a fully wired computer network with music software. I've been writing music lately, and once I'm on a roll I like to take advantage of it. The place in California has a grand piano in it, in a room with windows looking out onto the surf. I write good music there. Each home also has clothes already in the closet, with wardrobes suitable for that specific climate. Each also has a fully stocked kitchen, the kind that just invites you to bake pies.
I love having all these homes, because no matter how much I flit about, I am always at home. No matter where I am, I have a place where friends can gather. If my friends want to get away for a while, they are always free to stay in one of my vacation homes. It's a very happy life.
$20,000 I've been more disciplined about writing, and so am able to send yet another book to the publisher. Here is an advance.
$ 2,000 There is a strong need in my town for a Performing Arts Center so that all of the amateur choruses, bands, and orchestras have a reliable space for rehearsals and performances. It is time for me to funnel money toward that project. God's money goes here because music is what saved my life.
$ 5,000 Wealth Building Account (Total $60,000)
$13,000 Motor Home Fund (Total $39,000). Until I've gathered enough money to buy my dream homes, this motor home will be my travelling vacation home.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Prosperity Project Day 19
Welcome to Day 19 of the Prosperity Project!
Are you becoming more aware of how you really feel about having money as you play this game? As I write this, I'm sitting in the downstairs office of a mountain "cabin" that is four times the size of the house that I live in. There are signs of prosperity here. All of the rooms are impeccably appointed, and it has an amazing kitchen that is just calling for me to make some apple pies. This incredible place is someone's extra house. It is a house that just sits here most of the time, unless someone wants to use it for vacation, as we are now. All of that just screams money to me.
How do you feel when confronted with signs that someone else has gobs more money than you do? The answer to that question reveals volumes about the current state of your relationship with money.
Are you contemptuous? Envious? Uncomfortable? You might have those reactions if you were taught, as I was, that if someone has a lot of money they must have done something immoral to get it. If that is your core belief about money, then you would resist attracting money. Think about it: we want to be good people; if we believe money only comes to the corrupt, then we will always sabotage any chance of money being attracted our way.
Or, you might be having thoughts like, "I wonder who she slept with to get that?" or, "Looks like she married well." or, "She must be a drug smuggler or something." In this reaction you feel somehow superior to the person with money, because YOU managed to stay pure an uncompromised, even if it meant you had to stay poor. The underlying sense of this reaction is that the person does not deserve the money that they have. Hmmm, do you think maybe that means you feel that YOU don't deserve to have money?
Of, if you know that the person has a legitimate high-paying job, you might feel jealous that they got some breaks that you didn't get. You might start playing the "if only" game: if only I had known the right people, or gotten the right breaks, or if only my family could have afforded college. The brand of jealousy that lives in this reaction is poisonous and destructive to your spirit. If you have this reaction you might be tempted to hate the person for having more than you. You might also be tempted to steal from them or to break something out of spite, just to get them back for having more than you. It's not fair! If you have this reaction, you would not be able to enjoy a vacation in a fancy second home because the obsessive jealousy would spoil your chance of being present and revelling in the abundance. I'm thinking that if this is your reaction to people having way more money than you, it is a good chance that money will not be attracted to you. If you hate people with money to the point that you want to do harm to them, again it's a good bet money will run from you.
You could, on the other hand, have an envy that is more of a longing to have what they have. In this reaction you don't begrudge the person their riches; you are able to be happy for them that they have made a success of their lives. Instead of hating them for having money, you could be wishing you were like them. You could be looking at them in their fancy car, with their beautiful clothes, or you could be vacationing in their gorgeous second home just imagining yourself as the owner, enjoying the luxuries that money can buy. If this is where you are, chances are you are beginning to attract money your way. After all, this is exactly what we're doing here at the Prosperity Project, isn't it?
Or, you could be feeling gratitude. Yes, even if the wealth you see belongs to someone else, you could be grateful that you can have the opportunity to experience abundance first-hand. You could see it as a sign that you are beginning to attract wealth into your life, even if it is someone else's wealth just at the moment. Feeling gratitude, appreciation, and love for the finer things in life are a wonderful way to attract the wealth that you are appreciation.
So as you go through your day, pay attention to your reactions concerning money. Don't judge yourself good or bad for how you feel, just pay attention.
Now let's spend some money of our own.
$19,000 Motherpearl Enterprises is raking in the royalties from books, CDs, and public speaking.
$ 2,000 God's money goes to buy instruments for promising young music students
$ 5,000 Wealth Building Account (Total $55,000)
$12,000 Motor home fund (Total $22,000) I want this so I can take long road trips exploring this beautiful country, visiting friends, doing book tours and speaking engagements and still feel like I am at home.
Now it's your turn. How will you joyfully spend your $19,000 today?
Are you becoming more aware of how you really feel about having money as you play this game? As I write this, I'm sitting in the downstairs office of a mountain "cabin" that is four times the size of the house that I live in. There are signs of prosperity here. All of the rooms are impeccably appointed, and it has an amazing kitchen that is just calling for me to make some apple pies. This incredible place is someone's extra house. It is a house that just sits here most of the time, unless someone wants to use it for vacation, as we are now. All of that just screams money to me.
How do you feel when confronted with signs that someone else has gobs more money than you do? The answer to that question reveals volumes about the current state of your relationship with money.
Are you contemptuous? Envious? Uncomfortable? You might have those reactions if you were taught, as I was, that if someone has a lot of money they must have done something immoral to get it. If that is your core belief about money, then you would resist attracting money. Think about it: we want to be good people; if we believe money only comes to the corrupt, then we will always sabotage any chance of money being attracted our way.
Or, you might be having thoughts like, "I wonder who she slept with to get that?" or, "Looks like she married well." or, "She must be a drug smuggler or something." In this reaction you feel somehow superior to the person with money, because YOU managed to stay pure an uncompromised, even if it meant you had to stay poor. The underlying sense of this reaction is that the person does not deserve the money that they have. Hmmm, do you think maybe that means you feel that YOU don't deserve to have money?
Of, if you know that the person has a legitimate high-paying job, you might feel jealous that they got some breaks that you didn't get. You might start playing the "if only" game: if only I had known the right people, or gotten the right breaks, or if only my family could have afforded college. The brand of jealousy that lives in this reaction is poisonous and destructive to your spirit. If you have this reaction you might be tempted to hate the person for having more than you. You might also be tempted to steal from them or to break something out of spite, just to get them back for having more than you. It's not fair! If you have this reaction, you would not be able to enjoy a vacation in a fancy second home because the obsessive jealousy would spoil your chance of being present and revelling in the abundance. I'm thinking that if this is your reaction to people having way more money than you, it is a good chance that money will not be attracted to you. If you hate people with money to the point that you want to do harm to them, again it's a good bet money will run from you.
You could, on the other hand, have an envy that is more of a longing to have what they have. In this reaction you don't begrudge the person their riches; you are able to be happy for them that they have made a success of their lives. Instead of hating them for having money, you could be wishing you were like them. You could be looking at them in their fancy car, with their beautiful clothes, or you could be vacationing in their gorgeous second home just imagining yourself as the owner, enjoying the luxuries that money can buy. If this is where you are, chances are you are beginning to attract money your way. After all, this is exactly what we're doing here at the Prosperity Project, isn't it?
Or, you could be feeling gratitude. Yes, even if the wealth you see belongs to someone else, you could be grateful that you can have the opportunity to experience abundance first-hand. You could see it as a sign that you are beginning to attract wealth into your life, even if it is someone else's wealth just at the moment. Feeling gratitude, appreciation, and love for the finer things in life are a wonderful way to attract the wealth that you are appreciation.
So as you go through your day, pay attention to your reactions concerning money. Don't judge yourself good or bad for how you feel, just pay attention.
Now let's spend some money of our own.
$19,000 Motherpearl Enterprises is raking in the royalties from books, CDs, and public speaking.
$ 2,000 God's money goes to buy instruments for promising young music students
$ 5,000 Wealth Building Account (Total $55,000)
$12,000 Motor home fund (Total $22,000) I want this so I can take long road trips exploring this beautiful country, visiting friends, doing book tours and speaking engagements and still feel like I am at home.
Now it's your turn. How will you joyfully spend your $19,000 today?
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Prosperity Project Day 18
Good morning my prosperous friends, and welcome to an abundant new day. Today we will deposit $18,000 into our imaginary checkbook, as we continue to create a perfect life for ourselves.
What does that look like for you, a perfect life? So far we've focused on making workshops, and studios, and offices for ourselves, so it's safe to say that in our perfect life we are working at something meaningful. We are enjoying the freedom that money gives us to live our lives as fully as possible, and we are finding fulfillment through our work and through using the money to help others.
I sold off the pool store so that I didn't have to go into work every day, and then turned around and used yesterday's money to buy myself an office outside the home so I could have a place to go to work. The irony of that is not lost on me. I enjoy the leisure of working at home, but I also enjoy having a separate workspace elsewhere. The upstairs suite that I made for myself here at home is ideal for my solitary writing and musical pursuits, but I don't want my staff working out of my home. I need a separate office for that. And I definitely need staff, because otherwise I would have to do everything myself.
My perfect world definitely contains a professional staff, all experts at what they do. I've thought about this a lot; in my perfect life I'm not so BUSY all the time. Oh, I work constantly, but my work is play and I don't waste any of my time taking care of busy work. There are things that need to get done, but not necessarily by me: cooking, cleaning, shopping, filing, phone calls, scheduling, emailing bios, fulfilling web orders, accounting, lawyering, more filing, letter writing, phone calls, dishes, shopping, more shopping, yet more filing, more phone calls. It's a wonder I ever get any writing done at all. It would be a miracle if I ever find time to play music with my friends at this rate. And wouldn't it be nice just to be still? My staff makes that possible for me.
I am grateful for the new office, and for the wonderful people who work for me so that I can spend my days being creative. I enjoy travelling, but I also enjoy the time that I spend at home being still and enjoying my friends. I have found a way to balance my activities so that I live a full life without being harried. I am calm, centered, and grounded. I am happy.
$18,000 The first book was a success, and Hay House is negotiating the terms of a three-book contract. Here is a small advance to fund the book-signing tour. I wonder if I'll run into Bob on the road?
$ 2,000 God's Money goes to the Brevard Children's Chorus
$ 5,000 Wealth Building Account (Total $50,000)
$ 1,000 New clothes to wear on tour
$10,000 Towards buying a motor home. Hmm, I wonder who will be my driver?
So, what does your perfect life look like, and how will this $18,000 help you to get there?
What does that look like for you, a perfect life? So far we've focused on making workshops, and studios, and offices for ourselves, so it's safe to say that in our perfect life we are working at something meaningful. We are enjoying the freedom that money gives us to live our lives as fully as possible, and we are finding fulfillment through our work and through using the money to help others.
I sold off the pool store so that I didn't have to go into work every day, and then turned around and used yesterday's money to buy myself an office outside the home so I could have a place to go to work. The irony of that is not lost on me. I enjoy the leisure of working at home, but I also enjoy having a separate workspace elsewhere. The upstairs suite that I made for myself here at home is ideal for my solitary writing and musical pursuits, but I don't want my staff working out of my home. I need a separate office for that. And I definitely need staff, because otherwise I would have to do everything myself.
My perfect world definitely contains a professional staff, all experts at what they do. I've thought about this a lot; in my perfect life I'm not so BUSY all the time. Oh, I work constantly, but my work is play and I don't waste any of my time taking care of busy work. There are things that need to get done, but not necessarily by me: cooking, cleaning, shopping, filing, phone calls, scheduling, emailing bios, fulfilling web orders, accounting, lawyering, more filing, letter writing, phone calls, dishes, shopping, more shopping, yet more filing, more phone calls. It's a wonder I ever get any writing done at all. It would be a miracle if I ever find time to play music with my friends at this rate. And wouldn't it be nice just to be still? My staff makes that possible for me.
I am grateful for the new office, and for the wonderful people who work for me so that I can spend my days being creative. I enjoy travelling, but I also enjoy the time that I spend at home being still and enjoying my friends. I have found a way to balance my activities so that I live a full life without being harried. I am calm, centered, and grounded. I am happy.
$18,000 The first book was a success, and Hay House is negotiating the terms of a three-book contract. Here is a small advance to fund the book-signing tour. I wonder if I'll run into Bob on the road?
$ 2,000 God's Money goes to the Brevard Children's Chorus
$ 5,000 Wealth Building Account (Total $50,000)
$ 1,000 New clothes to wear on tour
$10,000 Towards buying a motor home. Hmm, I wonder who will be my driver?
So, what does your perfect life look like, and how will this $18,000 help you to get there?
Friday, October 2, 2009
Prosperity Project Day 17
Greetings, prosperous friends!
Today is Day 17, and we are here to spend our daily allowance of $17,000. Do you get the feeling that money is flowing more freely now? I do. I've stopped worrying about money in my daily life, and am beginning to develop a very calm and abiding faith that everything I need and want is mine for the asking. There is no need to compete, and definitely no need to worry. All is well in my world.
I'm also noticing another very interesting phenomenum. I'm creating very vivid memories here on the Prosperity Project of things that have not "really" happened. I can see the remodelled house I live in, and I routinely go upstairs to my imaginary room and work there in my head. I go visit Bob in his workshop, and Robyn in both of her insurance offices. I've got wonderful memories of the time I spent with my friend Billie in Maine, and of the incredible cruise I took with the boyfriend.
These imaginary memories are getting all jumbled up in my mind with "real" memories. Come to think of it, they're also getting jumbled up with dream memories I have ... sometimes I fly, and the memories I have of flying in my dream are just as real to me as my imaginary trip to Maine and things I remember from being a kid ... or from last week, for that matter. Now, when Billie and I are talking, we have to ask each other if what we are talking about is imaginary or real! The other day she told me that her father was building her a house, and I thought she was playing the game. She had to say, "No, Valerie, he's building me a real house right now!" It's getting really confusing, but in a fun way.
I've always heard that our subconscious can't tell the difference between thoughts about things that happen in the physical world and thoughts about things that happen only in our head. I'm starting to experience what that means, and it excites me. By spending money every day in our imagination, we are reprogramming our subconscious mind to be very comfortable with the idea of us having the things that we desire. We are training our subconscious to believe in abundance rather than lack.
So let's spend some money!
$17,000 Money is streaming in now from several revenue sources. Rather than being surprising and isolated, these daily deposits are now routine. They funnel in from many different streams of income that join to form a raging river of money flowing right into my bank account. They come from the website, book royalties, royalties from the musicals both on stage and in CD sales, speaking engagements, and personal life coaching sessions. I've formed a corporation, Motherpearl Enterprises, through which all this money flows, and am now in need of corporate office space so this staff I've hired doesn't have to be working out of my house!
$ 2,000 God's Money: Cocoa Beach Jr./Sr. High School music program
$ 5,000 Wealth Building Account (Total $45,000)
$ 2,000 Weekly paychecks for the staff: Personal assistant, chef, housekeeper, gardener
$ 8,000 To rent and furnish a small corporate office space and build a corporate website. Tomorrow I'll have to think about what staff I will need to run my enterprise so that I can stay free to write and speak. And to sing.
OK, now it's your turn. How will you spend today's $17,000?
Today is Day 17, and we are here to spend our daily allowance of $17,000. Do you get the feeling that money is flowing more freely now? I do. I've stopped worrying about money in my daily life, and am beginning to develop a very calm and abiding faith that everything I need and want is mine for the asking. There is no need to compete, and definitely no need to worry. All is well in my world.
I'm also noticing another very interesting phenomenum. I'm creating very vivid memories here on the Prosperity Project of things that have not "really" happened. I can see the remodelled house I live in, and I routinely go upstairs to my imaginary room and work there in my head. I go visit Bob in his workshop, and Robyn in both of her insurance offices. I've got wonderful memories of the time I spent with my friend Billie in Maine, and of the incredible cruise I took with the boyfriend.
These imaginary memories are getting all jumbled up in my mind with "real" memories. Come to think of it, they're also getting jumbled up with dream memories I have ... sometimes I fly, and the memories I have of flying in my dream are just as real to me as my imaginary trip to Maine and things I remember from being a kid ... or from last week, for that matter. Now, when Billie and I are talking, we have to ask each other if what we are talking about is imaginary or real! The other day she told me that her father was building her a house, and I thought she was playing the game. She had to say, "No, Valerie, he's building me a real house right now!" It's getting really confusing, but in a fun way.
I've always heard that our subconscious can't tell the difference between thoughts about things that happen in the physical world and thoughts about things that happen only in our head. I'm starting to experience what that means, and it excites me. By spending money every day in our imagination, we are reprogramming our subconscious mind to be very comfortable with the idea of us having the things that we desire. We are training our subconscious to believe in abundance rather than lack.
So let's spend some money!
$17,000 Money is streaming in now from several revenue sources. Rather than being surprising and isolated, these daily deposits are now routine. They funnel in from many different streams of income that join to form a raging river of money flowing right into my bank account. They come from the website, book royalties, royalties from the musicals both on stage and in CD sales, speaking engagements, and personal life coaching sessions. I've formed a corporation, Motherpearl Enterprises, through which all this money flows, and am now in need of corporate office space so this staff I've hired doesn't have to be working out of my house!
$ 2,000 God's Money: Cocoa Beach Jr./Sr. High School music program
$ 5,000 Wealth Building Account (Total $45,000)
$ 2,000 Weekly paychecks for the staff: Personal assistant, chef, housekeeper, gardener
$ 8,000 To rent and furnish a small corporate office space and build a corporate website. Tomorrow I'll have to think about what staff I will need to run my enterprise so that I can stay free to write and speak. And to sing.
OK, now it's your turn. How will you spend today's $17,000?
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Prosperity Project Day 16
Good day, my prosperous friends!
It's day 16 of our game, and today we have earned $16,000. If we worked an 8-hour day, we are earning $2,000 an hour. If we were to make this much money every single day, we would be making $5,840,000 a year! That's a lot of money. So far, we have spent $120,000, and between us we've done some amazing things. We haven't even started getting into the big money yet, but already I'm sensing from each of us that we are finally settling in to our new lifestyles and are looking around at where to share the wealth.
In my first few weeks of playing this game, I've done a lot of fun stuff. I've taken many vacations, and spent quality time with excellent friends. I've built a room and filled it with the tools I need to do the kind of work that makes my spirit sing. My friend Bob has done the same thing with his woodshop, and Robyn with her insurance agency. All of this shows me that Wallace Wattles is right when he says that the purpose of having money is so that we can have all that we need for the living of all the life that we want to live.
I think it's natural, when you first come into a lot of money, to want to use it to play. Many people, when they win a large fortune in the lottery, blow all of their money right away because they are probably doing just that. On one South Park episode Eric Cartman, one of my favorite teachers of human nature, inherits $1,000,000 when his grandmother dies, so he buys an amusement park he names Cartmanland. It's his own personal playground. Being Cartman, it doesn't really turn out well for him, but that's his path, not mine.
The last few days I've been feeling a bit like Cartman, and I have the urge to slow down now and settle comfortably into the space that I've built to do some meaningful work. I'm tired from all the travelling I've been doing. The cool weather has finally hit Florida; October has always been my favorite month to live here, so for the next few weeks I want to stay close to home. I want to work in the yard, cutting back all the greenery that has gone wild in the humid summer weather. I want to sit out in my Secret Garden, swing in the hammock, and watch the outdoor kitties playing in the yard. I have a strong urge to be very still.
The pool store is running so smoothly and making so much money that we were approached with an eager buyer. The boss-shaped creature gladly sold the store. He has enough money now that he can do anything he wants. When I started working there his house was already paid for and his lifestyle was small and affordable. Between all the money he's saved over the years and the chunk he got as a down payment on the business, he can go sit on the beach in Cancun for a few weeks until he gets bored, and then find a new game to play. He likes to work way too much to just stop; this time, though, he'll find something to do that won't tie him to a retail store six days a week. He is so grateful to me for giving him his life back that he has given me a nice chunk of the pool store money as his way of saying thank you. I've enjoyed my time there, and we have become friends. Even he teared up when we parted ways.
$16,000 Thank you gift from the boss-shaped creature.
$ 3,000 God's money goes to the choruses and band that I've performed with over the years. It is the beginning of their season, and they are actively out looking for sponsors. $500 each goes to The Brevard Chorale, The Brevard Community Chorus, The Community Band of Brevard, and The Space Coast Oratorio Society. $1,000 will go to the new Space Coast Symphony Orchestra to help them buy percussion instruments.
$ 7,000 Wealth Building Account (Total $40,000)
$ 6,000 I've been wanting to build an outdoor kitchen. The boyfriend and his friends always hang out in the wood shop out back, and we have lots of cookouts here. I'm grateful that they all stay out of the house, yet I enjoy the fact that our home is a social hub. Our friend's kids are getting old enough to be interactive, and their mom is an excellent cook. Building the kitchen will keep all of them busy while I sit in the Secret Garden, on the other side of the property, and start my new book.
It feels good not to have to show up at the pool store every day. Although I enjoyed working there, I enjoy working from home even more. This next book should be a good one, and I'm eager to see what it is that I have to say. It's always a surprise.
So, what plans do you have for your $16,000?
It's day 16 of our game, and today we have earned $16,000. If we worked an 8-hour day, we are earning $2,000 an hour. If we were to make this much money every single day, we would be making $5,840,000 a year! That's a lot of money. So far, we have spent $120,000, and between us we've done some amazing things. We haven't even started getting into the big money yet, but already I'm sensing from each of us that we are finally settling in to our new lifestyles and are looking around at where to share the wealth.
In my first few weeks of playing this game, I've done a lot of fun stuff. I've taken many vacations, and spent quality time with excellent friends. I've built a room and filled it with the tools I need to do the kind of work that makes my spirit sing. My friend Bob has done the same thing with his woodshop, and Robyn with her insurance agency. All of this shows me that Wallace Wattles is right when he says that the purpose of having money is so that we can have all that we need for the living of all the life that we want to live.
I think it's natural, when you first come into a lot of money, to want to use it to play. Many people, when they win a large fortune in the lottery, blow all of their money right away because they are probably doing just that. On one South Park episode Eric Cartman, one of my favorite teachers of human nature, inherits $1,000,000 when his grandmother dies, so he buys an amusement park he names Cartmanland. It's his own personal playground. Being Cartman, it doesn't really turn out well for him, but that's his path, not mine.
The last few days I've been feeling a bit like Cartman, and I have the urge to slow down now and settle comfortably into the space that I've built to do some meaningful work. I'm tired from all the travelling I've been doing. The cool weather has finally hit Florida; October has always been my favorite month to live here, so for the next few weeks I want to stay close to home. I want to work in the yard, cutting back all the greenery that has gone wild in the humid summer weather. I want to sit out in my Secret Garden, swing in the hammock, and watch the outdoor kitties playing in the yard. I have a strong urge to be very still.
The pool store is running so smoothly and making so much money that we were approached with an eager buyer. The boss-shaped creature gladly sold the store. He has enough money now that he can do anything he wants. When I started working there his house was already paid for and his lifestyle was small and affordable. Between all the money he's saved over the years and the chunk he got as a down payment on the business, he can go sit on the beach in Cancun for a few weeks until he gets bored, and then find a new game to play. He likes to work way too much to just stop; this time, though, he'll find something to do that won't tie him to a retail store six days a week. He is so grateful to me for giving him his life back that he has given me a nice chunk of the pool store money as his way of saying thank you. I've enjoyed my time there, and we have become friends. Even he teared up when we parted ways.
$16,000 Thank you gift from the boss-shaped creature.
$ 3,000 God's money goes to the choruses and band that I've performed with over the years. It is the beginning of their season, and they are actively out looking for sponsors. $500 each goes to The Brevard Chorale, The Brevard Community Chorus, The Community Band of Brevard, and The Space Coast Oratorio Society. $1,000 will go to the new Space Coast Symphony Orchestra to help them buy percussion instruments.
$ 7,000 Wealth Building Account (Total $40,000)
$ 6,000 I've been wanting to build an outdoor kitchen. The boyfriend and his friends always hang out in the wood shop out back, and we have lots of cookouts here. I'm grateful that they all stay out of the house, yet I enjoy the fact that our home is a social hub. Our friend's kids are getting old enough to be interactive, and their mom is an excellent cook. Building the kitchen will keep all of them busy while I sit in the Secret Garden, on the other side of the property, and start my new book.
It feels good not to have to show up at the pool store every day. Although I enjoyed working there, I enjoy working from home even more. This next book should be a good one, and I'm eager to see what it is that I have to say. It's always a surprise.
So, what plans do you have for your $16,000?
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Prosperity Project Day 15
Today marks the beginning of our third week on the Prosperity Project. I've heard it said that it takes 21 days to form a new habit. I'm suspecting that the habits we are forming here every day as we play this game run deeper than we can even suspect. I'm really excited as I see the changes beginning to happen in each one of us. Our circumstances may not be any different out in the real world, but we are rapidly becoming different people. We are becoming the kind of people who can attract $15,000 for one day's pay. I like it!
$15,000 The tickets sales are brisk for the first annual Attitude of Gratitude Conference!
$ 6,000 God's Money gets a boost today, as we are led to top off the $20,000 needed to start production on Lee's Tropical Motivation festival. I will see Lee later today as we meet for a writing session on the new play. He will be so pleased to know that we were able to raise the money he needed in only one week.
$ 3,000 Wealth Building Account (Total $33,000)
$ 5,000 Goes to the boyfriend, to help him pay off some personal debt.
$ 1,000 Goes to Billie, because she really needs a good computer.
I'm feeling exceptionally generous today, because I know that all of my needs will be met. Just for today, I think I'll help out my friends.
What will you do with your $15,000?
$15,000 The tickets sales are brisk for the first annual Attitude of Gratitude Conference!
$ 6,000 God's Money gets a boost today, as we are led to top off the $20,000 needed to start production on Lee's Tropical Motivation festival. I will see Lee later today as we meet for a writing session on the new play. He will be so pleased to know that we were able to raise the money he needed in only one week.
$ 3,000 Wealth Building Account (Total $33,000)
$ 5,000 Goes to the boyfriend, to help him pay off some personal debt.
$ 1,000 Goes to Billie, because she really needs a good computer.
I'm feeling exceptionally generous today, because I know that all of my needs will be met. Just for today, I think I'll help out my friends.
What will you do with your $15,000?
Prosperity Project Day 14
Greetings, prosperous friends! Today marks the end of our second week on the Prosperity Project, so it's a good time to look back and appreciate everything that we have created with all of the money that has flowed our way.
This week, working together with Robyn, we were able to raise just over half of the $20,000 my friend Lee needs to produce his Tropical Motivation festival. This festival will do a lot to raise awareness of local musical talent, plus it will help my friends make some money to help pay for the house they just moved into. The success of the musical that Lee and I wrote should help to draw quite a crowd to the event.
I hired staff this week! This one is huge for me, because it has bought me gobs of free time. I immediately used that free time to do some travelling. I took the boyfriend on a first-class cruise of the Eastern Caribbean, and spent two weeks at a lake house in Maine visiting my friend Billie. I love this imaginary world, because I managed to fit a three-week vacation into one week. Talk about buying time!
The boyfriend made out even better. He got back from our week-long cruise and then headed off to Costa Rica for a month of surfing. For someone who says he doesn't like to travel, he sure is doing a lot of it. (Why doesn't the boyfriend have a name, you wonder? He's asked that I don't talk about him online. Since that is impossible, I just don't say his name. Girls are sneaky.)
On the home front, I finished my room addition, which ended up being a whole second story suite. Instead of having just one room, I now have a studio with a separate napping area, following the same footprint as the downstairs. The boyfriend made me an amazing custom desk, built to my very unique specifications. He also built cabinets and countertops to make the space as functional as I could want it. While I was on vacation I had Mark Griffo at All Florida Computer Repair come in and set up a network that connects all the computers in the house. While he was at it, he also set up the boyfriend's new flat screen tv so he can use it to watch all his stuff on internet TV as well as broadcast. Now when the boyfriend comes back tired from his surfing safari, he'll be able to lay around in the downstairs living room and watch all the TV he wants. He'll be in boyfriend heaven!
I bought a new digital piano and music software this week, so now my upstairs office doubles as a music studio. I'm sure I remembered to soundproof it in the process, so that I can sing and play without interfering with any TV enjoyment or napping going on downstairs.
I didn't get a whole lot of work done this past week, but I did get to spend some excellent quality time with two of the people I love most. I feel happy and fulfilled, ready to do some serious writing.
So, let's get busy!
$14,000 Advance from Hay House on my first book.
$ 1,500 God's Money to Tropical Motivation (Total from me $8,000 + Robyn $5,000 for a whopping total raised of $13,000. Just a few more days to go!)
$ 6,500 Wealth Building Account (Total $30,000)
$ 6,000 Will be just enough money for the boyfriend to finish building the kitchen cabinets and drawers. Although I don't actually cook, I love puttering around in a nice kitchen, and it will be such a treat to finally be able to put everything away. I love the way the house is looking, and we are so happy living here. Life is really good.
Now it's your turn. What thoughts do you have about your second week here on the Prosperity Project? And however will you spend your $14,000 today?
This week, working together with Robyn, we were able to raise just over half of the $20,000 my friend Lee needs to produce his Tropical Motivation festival. This festival will do a lot to raise awareness of local musical talent, plus it will help my friends make some money to help pay for the house they just moved into. The success of the musical that Lee and I wrote should help to draw quite a crowd to the event.
I hired staff this week! This one is huge for me, because it has bought me gobs of free time. I immediately used that free time to do some travelling. I took the boyfriend on a first-class cruise of the Eastern Caribbean, and spent two weeks at a lake house in Maine visiting my friend Billie. I love this imaginary world, because I managed to fit a three-week vacation into one week. Talk about buying time!
The boyfriend made out even better. He got back from our week-long cruise and then headed off to Costa Rica for a month of surfing. For someone who says he doesn't like to travel, he sure is doing a lot of it. (Why doesn't the boyfriend have a name, you wonder? He's asked that I don't talk about him online. Since that is impossible, I just don't say his name. Girls are sneaky.)
On the home front, I finished my room addition, which ended up being a whole second story suite. Instead of having just one room, I now have a studio with a separate napping area, following the same footprint as the downstairs. The boyfriend made me an amazing custom desk, built to my very unique specifications. He also built cabinets and countertops to make the space as functional as I could want it. While I was on vacation I had Mark Griffo at All Florida Computer Repair come in and set up a network that connects all the computers in the house. While he was at it, he also set up the boyfriend's new flat screen tv so he can use it to watch all his stuff on internet TV as well as broadcast. Now when the boyfriend comes back tired from his surfing safari, he'll be able to lay around in the downstairs living room and watch all the TV he wants. He'll be in boyfriend heaven!
I bought a new digital piano and music software this week, so now my upstairs office doubles as a music studio. I'm sure I remembered to soundproof it in the process, so that I can sing and play without interfering with any TV enjoyment or napping going on downstairs.
I didn't get a whole lot of work done this past week, but I did get to spend some excellent quality time with two of the people I love most. I feel happy and fulfilled, ready to do some serious writing.
So, let's get busy!
$14,000 Advance from Hay House on my first book.
$ 1,500 God's Money to Tropical Motivation (Total from me $8,000 + Robyn $5,000 for a whopping total raised of $13,000. Just a few more days to go!)
$ 6,500 Wealth Building Account (Total $30,000)
$ 6,000 Will be just enough money for the boyfriend to finish building the kitchen cabinets and drawers. Although I don't actually cook, I love puttering around in a nice kitchen, and it will be such a treat to finally be able to put everything away. I love the way the house is looking, and we are so happy living here. Life is really good.
Now it's your turn. What thoughts do you have about your second week here on the Prosperity Project? And however will you spend your $14,000 today?
Monday, September 28, 2009
More Life for All: The Clue of Significance
As we visualize our dreams, enjoying the imagining of what it could be like to have money rolling in, we quickly begin to realize what it is that we really value. Every day on the Prosperity Project, as we imagine what we would do with a certain amount of money, we are really deciding in that moment what it is that we value most.
Playing this game every day is showing us WHY we want more money. I've always believed that our intentions for doing an act are way more important than the act itself. I've done some really dumb stuff in my life, but often I meant well. My intentions were kind, my actions just had unwanted circumstances. I believe that if we always act with good intention, even if we screw up, then eventually our judgment will catch up and we'll begin to make wiser choices.
This game is helping us practice. Today's clue, then, is the clue of Significance. As we spend our money, let's give some thought to the ways in which our having more money is providing more value to the people around us. Are we spending our money in ways that matter? What really matters, anyway? Are we being generous with our money? Are we remembering to bring along the people that we love? Are they sharing in our prosperity even though they may not share our vision? How is the world a better place because we have more money? Knowing the answers to these questions goes a long way in convincing our subconscious that we really are worthy.
In that Law of Attraction classic, The Science of Getting Rich, Wallace Wattles explains that all people who get rich do so by acting in a Certain Way. One of the main characteristics of that Certain Way is doing everything with the idea of providing More Life for All. That especially applies to the way we spend our money. As you spend your imaginary money every day, imagine all of the ways in which spending this money will provide More Life for All. Take some time to visualize all of the people whose lives will have added value because you spent that money. Certainly go into detail imagining how the money will help the people you love; but also give thought to all of the people you will never meet who will benefit because you have spent today's money.
It's a very powerful exercise. I wonder where it will lead?
Playing this game every day is showing us WHY we want more money. I've always believed that our intentions for doing an act are way more important than the act itself. I've done some really dumb stuff in my life, but often I meant well. My intentions were kind, my actions just had unwanted circumstances. I believe that if we always act with good intention, even if we screw up, then eventually our judgment will catch up and we'll begin to make wiser choices.
This game is helping us practice. Today's clue, then, is the clue of Significance. As we spend our money, let's give some thought to the ways in which our having more money is providing more value to the people around us. Are we spending our money in ways that matter? What really matters, anyway? Are we being generous with our money? Are we remembering to bring along the people that we love? Are they sharing in our prosperity even though they may not share our vision? How is the world a better place because we have more money? Knowing the answers to these questions goes a long way in convincing our subconscious that we really are worthy.
In that Law of Attraction classic, The Science of Getting Rich, Wallace Wattles explains that all people who get rich do so by acting in a Certain Way. One of the main characteristics of that Certain Way is doing everything with the idea of providing More Life for All. That especially applies to the way we spend our money. As you spend your imaginary money every day, imagine all of the ways in which spending this money will provide More Life for All. Take some time to visualize all of the people whose lives will have added value because you spent that money. Certainly go into detail imagining how the money will help the people you love; but also give thought to all of the people you will never meet who will benefit because you have spent today's money.
It's a very powerful exercise. I wonder where it will lead?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)