The biggest struggle that I’ve ever had – and continue to battle in varying degrees is the mentality around money.

Infectious mind viruses that have weaseled their way into my subconscious have even crippled me. Many times, they are innocent little nuggets of ‘wisdom’ that have been passed down from generation to generation.

“Save your money for a rainy day.”

“Don’t waste your money on that!”

“We can’t afford that.”

“Careful what you wish for.”

“Money doesn’t grow on trees!”

“Look at all those rich people – how unhappy they are.”

“He focuses on money too much.”

“Why did she go and buy that? That money could’ve been spent so much more wisely.”

and the list goes on. To embrace abundance, people have GOT to release these paradigms and internalize new thought patterns.

I would have to say that the one paradigm that infests most of humanity is “money is the root of all evil”. It shows up in people’s lives in the most stealthiest of ways… in tiny little things that don’t look like a mentality problem on the surface… but deep down, it somehow covertly promotes the idea that money is the root of all evil.

Miniature poisons like,

“Shrewd businessman”

“That person is so caught up with his business, he doesn’t have time for his family.”

“They waited to have children because they wanted to be financially free before that… now – look at them… they’re too old to have children.”

“He’ll screw over anyone who gets in the way of his business.”

Have you ever caught yourself thinking this way? I know I have.

Probably one of the most influential paradigm shifts in my life came while reading a passage in the book, “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand. There is a point in the story when at a high-profile party, a man mutters under his breath that ‘money is the root of all evil’ and that a certain businessman of the day was ‘the typical product of money.’

Unbeknownst to him, the accused hears it and turns to them ‘with a gravely courteous smile.’ Here begins his response.

“So you think that money is the root of all evil?” said Francisco d’Anconia. “Have you ever asked what is the root of money? Money is a tool of exchange, which can’t exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them. Money is the material shape of the principle that men who wish to deal with one another must deal by trade and give value for value. Money is not the tool of the moochers, who claim your product by tears, or of the looters, who take it from you by force. Money is made possible only by the men who produce. Is this what you consider evil?

…

“Have you ever looked for the root of production? Take a look at an electric generator and dare tell yourself that it was created by the muscular effort of unthinking brutes. Try to grow a seed of wheat without the knowledge left to you by men who had to discover it for the first time. Try to obtain your food by means of nothing but physical motions – and you’ll learn that man’s mind is the root of all the goods produced and of all the wealth that has ever existed on earth.

“But you say that money is made by the strong at the expense of the weak? What strength do you mean? It is not the strength of guns or muscles. Wealth is the product of man’s capacity to think. Then is money made by the man who invents a motor at the expense of those who did not invent it? is money made by the intelligent at the expense of the fools? By the able at the expense of the incompetent? By the ambitious at the expense of the lazy? Money is made - before it can be looted or mooched – made by the effort of every honest man, each of the extent of his ability. An honest man is one who knows that he can’t consume more than he has produced.

…

“Only the man who does not need it, is fit to inherit wealth – the man who would make is own fortune no matter where he started. If an heir is equal to his money, it serves him; if not, it destroys him. but you look on and you cry that money corrupted him. Did it? Or did he corrupt his money?….”   – Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand

And the monologue continues. If you haven’t read the book, it may do you good… This paradigm shift was only one of several that I underwent and can say that anyone who is the pursuit of finance as an entrepreneur will greatly benefit from the philosophies embedded within it.

Share your thoughts. Does the character have a point?

Next post, I share what I have come to learn about money in a video, using a real cool, modern-day analogy.

Spirit of Faith, Man of Action

I told a story about a CEO forgiving his employee over a million dollars worth of accumulated bailouts and helping hands.

Then I talked about how he was blaming all the circumstances around him for his troubles.

Last post, I started talking about the mentality of victimhood, and how it basically leeches faith from our lives and we fall into a state of despair. A mind left unchecked like this eventually gives up responsibility and thinks it’s the unjust circumstances that cause all the problems.

Spencer had some good thoughts on entitlement – very related to victimhood. People sometimes think that they’re entitled to something good after all the bad.

This post, if you haven’t guessed it already, deals with the responsibility needed to apply faith.

See, if you allow circumstances to effect you, you forgo the universe’s most powerful force of fulfillment and prosperity. Faith.

You become a victim, and in that state, you cease to search for ways out, and wait for someone to have pity on you.

People in this category tend to seek out others in similar situations because they have a greater chance of receiving the affordable pity (empathy, pats on the back, “it’ll be ok”, “let go and let God”) than the pity from the extremely wealthy who understand that giving to those people will only feed their addiction for more pity.

Since we’re on the topic, nine times out of ten, those ‘rich snobs’ who aren’t sharing a red cent of their wealth with all the ‘poor people’ had to overcome that victimhood mentality, and know that alms just don’t do the trick.

Anyway, victims are people who maintain the mentality that someone other than them has to pay for the injustices heaped onto their lives. (passing responsibility)

Interesting thing, though. Victims never become victors.

So what should this employee do instead? To counteract this tendency of victimhood, he should hold faith in spite of circumstances. This is where responsibility comes in.

Think about it – If he applied faith… he’d be ignoring his unfortunate circumstances and take massive action to change them. He’d realize the reason he’s barely treading water financially is because of the various mentalities he’s had around money and the choices he’s made based on those paradigms. Taking responsibility, he could change his thoughts, be more keenly aware of the opportunities given him, and be more grateful for them. The gratitude alone would cause him to find even more opportunities that could potentially set his family financially free. With gratitude as his foundation of faith, he could easily find ways to make his entire family vibrantly healthy and none of them would ever suffer unnecessary illnesses such as cancer again.

But that takes a LOT of work. I’ve said before, holding faith in spite of appearances is the hardest work one can ever do.

Wanna know what’s really cool?

We are paid well for it. (Disclaimer: this is not because it’s hard work… but because it’s the hardest work.)

The blessings awaiting you when you’ve applied faith to your life – what areas could you show this kind of responsibility?

Spirit of Faith, Man of Action

Maybe the guy would’ve been grateful.

Perhaps, after pleading with his boss, using all the reasons why he and his family should not be forced to work to pay off over a million dollars of debt, and having the whole debt erased, there would be a 180 degree turn in the guy’s financial life and he’ll never have another hospital bill, vehicle breakdown, or a child that needs financial support again.

I doubt that though.

Find out about what I’m talking about here, and read about my first reaction to it here.

It’s natural to think that the boss was gracious to the guy – but I think the poor employee had some serious issues that no amount of money could fix.

That’s why last post, I made mention of all the blaming he was doing.

With his blaming, he made it very clear that he was the victim. Here’s what I mean.

• The world owed him something for all the hassle he went through for 20 years.

Notice how he used his circumstances as an argument against having to do things the CEO’s way.

Any person who studies the mind, and how to change one’s circumstance knows that the circumstances he was in all those years were the very justices he deserved for his frame of mind.

Saying all his circumstances were unjust just doesn’t follow the principles of prosperity (not to mention laws of Cause and Effect) – and is hardly objective or proactive about making improvements to his life.

• His life sucked so bad, it was imperative that his kids didn’t have the same life.

I could go on all day about this one, but I’ve condensed this down to just a few paragraphs.

If his life sucked, then what about all his co-workers who got the bonus check? Didn’t they work at the same job since the company’s inception?? Wouldn’t they all be victims of having a sucky life??

Of course not.

On that note, if his co-worker’s lives didn’t suck, why would his children’s lives have to suck by working there as well?

I’m thinking this guy had very little gratitude for the opportunity to help build the company from the ground up, to have a boss so gracious as to help him out in tough times, and to say that his children would be subjected to such a poor life if they were forced to work there….

Clear indication that his mindset is not where it should be. In a twisted way, he honestly believes that he’s been severely wronged in his life.

When the truth is, he’s been given so much more than the others around him (the trust of over a million dollars, remember?)

And if this victimhood and lack of gratitude is a mindset that his children learn from him, guaranteed, their lives are going to suck as well – no matter where they go to school, where they work, or how much money they make.

• The illness that fell upon his wife was so unjust, someone had to cover the mortgage payment.

When someone talks a lot about how hard done by they are, they are looking for some outside circumstance to suddenly change their lives. They think it would only be just that something really good should happen to them since something so bad has happened to them.

What demonstration of responsibility is this guy really displaying?

What about faith?

What are your thoughts? Please share them below. Subscribe to this blog (and get a free gift), because when I’m done talking about this employee, we’re going to have a rousing conversation about what I think about the CEO. You’re not going to want to miss it.

Spirit of Faith, Man of Action