Category Archives: love of money

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Your Money or Your Life – YES!

Why can't you have both?

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Did you hear about the depressed man who was mugged? A robber pulled a gun him and said, “Your money or your life!” The man hesitated so the thief said, “Didn’t you hear me? Your money or your life!” To which the depressed man replied, “I’m thinking it over!”

Regardless of the amount of money you make (or how depressed you are), your money is not worth more than your life.

You’re worth more than your net worth.

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Still, it doesn’t stink to have money, does it? Why can’t we have more money and more life? Why does it have to be one or the other?

It doesn’t.

I’ve been poor enough that my wife called me crying because she got a parking ticket. She wasn’t sure how we were going to pay it.

I’ve been rich enough to give money to a friend who needed a lawyer, provide meals to families going through hard times and to go on life-changing trips with my family.

Big insight coming…Being richer is better! You’re welcome.

I want to give as many people as possible my free eBook, 5 Steps to Finding Your Purpose. Please forward this to a friend who needs it. If they click here, they can get the free eBook.

Some people’s beliefs about money keep them from earning more. They think:

Limiting belief about money #1) Money is the root of all evil.

Sorry, the Bible says “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil” and it’s talking about making money your idol.

So don’t do that.

Money is a terrible master but an excellent servant. –P.T. Barnum

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Limiting belief about money #2) Only greedy people who exploit and cheat others make a lot of money.

Did Steve Jobs or Bill Gates do that to get rich? Did Michael Jordan do that to earn his money?  The vast majority of high income earners serve their way to tremendous wealth.

Zig Ziglar had it right when he said, “You can get everything you want in this world if you just help enough other people get what they want.” 

The only way to become truly successful is to serve your way to success. You create quality products or services that people want and they will line up and happily give you their hard earned money. If you try to exploit them, you won’t last long and you won’t become successful.

“It’s not the employer who pays the wages. Employers only handle the money. It’s the customer who pays the wages.”
–Henry Ford

Limiting belief about money #3) If I get rich it will change me.

Money simply makes you more of what you are. If you’re a nice person, money lets you be nicer. Imagine how much you can help people, families and charities with more money.

If you’re a jerk, you might become an even bigger jerk.

So don’t do that.

Limiting belief about money #4) I will have to become a workaholic and ignore my family to make a lot of money.

Some people take that route. It goes to point number one about keeping the love of money in perspective. If you don’t, you’re truly giving up your life for money.

Some people want it so bad it becomes the focus of their lives. They plan out their major in college based on what has the highest earning potential. They go for the job with the best pay. They put in long hours to get the promotion. They put in even more hours to become partner. They are earning a great paycheck and then they realize they’re miserable, divorced and they don’t even know their kids.

So don’t do that.

Is there another way? Yes!

Making money at something you love makes you rich and filled with joy. You don’t have to work at the exclusion of play and family time.

Action steps:

  • Find your Passionate Purpose
  • Create your goals – including monetary goals
  • Develop your plan to get there
  • Take actions on your plan every day
  • Pursue other passions that bring you and your family happiness

You might be surprised how much you end up making and how much you’re helping others while doing it.

“What we really want to do is what we are really meant to do. When we do what we are meant to do, money comes to us, doors open for us, we feel useful, and the work we do feels like play to us.”
–Julia Cameron

 Let’s GO!

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How to Avoid Becoming Too Successful

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One of the biggest obstacles to success for some people is what they were taught as children. Quite often society, our parents, and our schools teach us to limit our dreams or, worse yet, that too much success is bad.

OK, right now you’re thinking to yourself, “Self, Greg has gone cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs again. No one says that too much success is a bad thing.” Au contraire mon frère. You hear it all the time. Look at what’s said about CEOs and corporations. Things like, “That guy makes too much money,” or, “That company makes obscene profits,” or, “No one is worth that salary.” All of those statements are saying that too much success is bad.

We have a weird situation in America where we like to see the little guy go from rags to riches, as long as the riches don’t get too great. Once he hits a certain level, he suddenly becomes someone who’s exploiting the people.

Why do we want the little guy to make it – but not make it too big?

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Those ideas can lead you to being double minded about success. On the one hand you want to be successful in your career and earn a great income. On the other hand you’re worried that to achieve your dreams you’ll have to step on people and become a greedy jerk. No one wants to turn into that guy, so you sabotage your success and hold yourself back from all you could do and become.

Quite often, those thoughts remain in your subconscious and you’re not even aware of how and why you’re undermining your own success.

The truth is you can live the extraordinary life of your dreams and help people at the same time. In fact, that’s the only way to true success.

Of course, there are people who step on others, act unethically – or even illegally – to get ahead. Most of the time, they eventually have things collapse around them. Their businesses go under, they get divorced, maybe they even go to jail, and their life becomes miserable. My dad has a saying about people who behave that way: Time wounds all heels.

But most people who succeed do it the right way. They end up getting what they want by providing other people with what they need and want. They run their affairs with the Golden Rule as their guide. They provide great products and services, create jobs, and make the world a better place. Those are all great things.

A false belief that all successful people are jerks will lead you to sabotage your success.

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Money Is Not the Root of All Evil, and the Bible Doesn’t Say It Is

Much of society teaches that money is bad or evil. The people who make a lot of money are uncaring and coldhearted, we are told. Some people use the Bible to justify this. They claim it says money is the root of all evil. But that’s not what it really says.

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

–1 Timothy 6:10, NIV (emphasis added)

The Bible is clearly saying that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. When you love money more than you love God, more than you love your family, more than you love what is right, that’s when you’re going down the wrong path. You’re turning money into your idol, your god. But money itself is neutral. The pursuit of money and the use of money can be good or evil.

  • When the leadership of Enron cooked the books to make it look like they had a better financial statement than they did, their love of money was evil.
  • When politicians take bribes or unethical campaign contributions, their love of money is evil.
  • When lending officers gave subprime loans to people they knew could not afford them and borrowers took loans they knew they could not pay back, their love of money was evil.
  • When a mechanic makes unnecessary repairs on a car just to get a little more cash, his love of money is evil.

But money can be used to do wondrous good works. It can lead to starting or growing a business that provides jobs and income for countless families.

Money can equal charity, medicine, food, clothing, shelter, schools, books, and much more. Money can help get you everything you need to physically survive and to help others. It can provide you time to do what you love.

Money makes everything you want to do, have, and be easier.

Profits made by companies big and small can be used to expand the business and create new jobs, to give their current employees raises and stock options, and to donate to worthy charities in the community.

You need to change your mindset on success and money so you don’t sabotage your own dreams.

Action Steps:

1) Meditate on the idea that money can be used for great things and the best way to create it is to help other people. You are going to become a beneficent millionaire.

2) List all the ways you will help other people on your way to your success.

3) List all the great things you will be able to do with the extra money you earn. Who will you help? What will you do? How could it change your family tree?

4) How will you use your success to help others become more successful? Who could you mentor? How could you pass your success on to the next generation?

What could be better than becoming rich by helping other people and becoming an even better human being than you are right now?

Let’s GO!

(If this post resonated with you, share it with a friend and check out my book, GO! How to Find and Pursue Your Passionate Purpose, available in paperback and audiobook.)