Because I am a voracious reader, in my blog posts you will see many inferences to books I’m currently reading or previously have read. Many of the books I read fall under the self-help or how-to genre. As an adolescent, I read fictional novels and could easily get lost in a book. It was my personal way of escape. It is also what allowed me to dream for bigger. Recently I’ve gotten back to fiction, reading for fun, to enjoy a great story as a way to wind down from my day.
This morning’s thought comes from something I read in the book Perception, which is about business marketing (not fiction at all). The section I’m reading is discussing your personal perception. We’ve all heard the phrase, “Perception is reality”. How you can be the most qualified, but if your bosses (or clients) don’t perceive you that way, you’ll not be the person they’re looking to promote. I think a more accurate phrase would be, perception influences reality. Oftentimes we work only on surface perceptions. For example, we want you to see us as wealthy because of what we wear or drive. The idea of wealth is so much deeper than that. I challenge you to go further. Because wealth is your birthright, why not do the real work and become actually wealthy, so that it is more than a perception but your reality? What is wealth? We all get the opportunity to define wealth for ourselves. Give it some thought. Decide what wealth is for you. Get a crystal-clear picture in your mind. Then decide you will no longer live beneath your privilege.
In the book Atomic Habits, the author talks about identifying with who you want to be. This is going further than perception. Perception is an image that can be accurate or not. Identifying is much weightier. For example, going past being fit to identifying as an athlete. This is more like transcending the image to solidifying physical prowess in the physical realm. This starts by doing tasks that increase your believability about who you are and every time you do so, it’s a vote for who you want to be. This vote is for you. And every vote makes the identification that much easier.
Since this is a Purpose and Money blog, you can start by determining that you want to go way past the perception of wealth to identify as wealthy by taking the first step and defining wealth and what that looks like for you. I made that decision long ago. And while I have not yet reached the pinnacle of my definition of wealth, I certainly identify as wealthy. For me that means, buying back my time. I haven’t had an employer in coming up on seven years. Because of that, I’m able to use my gifts, talents, efforts, and resources to position people for Purpose. This pays me well and allows me to employ others who support me in fulfilling my dreams. The fact that I get to spend my most valuable asset, my time, doing work that I love and changes people’s lives forever, brings satisfaction, peace, joy, and contentment to my life. From this space, I get to put on family events, travel the world, explore other cultures, and experience foods in other nations. I also get to fulfill my highest dream of leaving a lasting legacy that exceeds my lifespan and will cause family members that I’ll never meet to know me and what I’ve done to improve their life trajectory.
I say often that poor is loud, rich is clamorous, and wealth is silent. As our minds change about our earning ability and our impact on the world, I think the sounds we make in the world change. What sound is your money or financial positioning making now? When we’re initially coming out of poverty, it’s loud because our zip code and quality of purchases change. Your increased financial stability is obvious to the people who have been with you on your journey, and it becomes a conversation for many. Loud is the noise of your newfound money. As you improve in your financial habits and giving, your financial positioning is clamorous because some of your circles are changing and there is a bit of a sound associated with that. By the time you get to the point of wealth, your circles are established, you have what you need and want and you’re usually living a life of service from abundance. This is quieter. Almost silent.
Somewhere in this cycle, you find Purpose. Whether it’s the beginning or the end, is not important. The key is identifying and maximizing it because it is the only reason you’re still alive.
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