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| Wed Nov 15, 2006 2:38 am 2 articles from The Certain Way |
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Favorite articles from The Certain Way
Financial Plumbing 101
or, How Finding and Fixing a "Money Leak" Immediately Saved Me $2,142 and How YOU Can Do It, Too!
By Rebecca Fine
Not long ago I had the opportunity to meet and learn (a LOT!) from Dr. Maria Nemeth, the author of the terrific book, The Energy of Money. And what a gift that was!
Now, Maria has a list of credentials as long as your arm that make it abundantly clear that she knows what she's talking and writing about. But when she stands up to speak, the REAL proof shines through. You cannot be long in her presence without recognizing that here is one smart, funny, articulate, and wonderfully caring person who has "been there, done that," and knows how to get right to the heart of our confusion and denial about the place and power of money in our lives.
Better yet, she knows how to help us see for ourselves what needs doing and shows — not just tells — us how to go about it.
So today I'm pleased to get to share with you (in a longer than usual edition) just a tiny bit of Maria's practical wisdom.
And then I'll tell you about that $2,142 and point you toward more great stuff from Maria!
Now, you may be wondering about that title, The Energy of Money. But if you'll stop to think about it, you'll see that it fits right in with our understanding of what Mr. Wattles writes -- that everything is created from the one "formless substance."
There are other kinds of energy, of course — like creativity, spiritual power, physical vitality, enjoyment, relationship, and others. And, as Maria puts it, in each of these areas we can either be frustrated or fulfilled.
So the question becomes:
How can we be "conscious conduits of energy" in order to bring our dreams out of the formless realm of ideas and into physical reality?
See if Maria's illustration helps you as much as it does me. First, what do we mean by "conduit?" Well, a conduit is something that allows energy to move in an orderly way from one place to another. For example, a water pipe moves water from the well or reservoir to your faucets.
So, in your mind's eye, picture a body of water on the left side, and the water tap in, say, your kitchen on the right. Now connect the two with a pipeline. Now the pipe can move the energy of water in an orderly way from the source to the outlet.
And that's what WE want to do with the energy of money: Move it in an orderly way from the Source, which we know is unlimited, to the place where it can "water the garden of our goals and dreams."
But in the normal life of a conduit, what happens? Sludge accumulates and leaks spring up. When we're not aware that’s happening, of course, our usual response is simply to turn the tap further — to call for more. But when more energy tries to come through, the leaks just get bigger and the sludge builds up more and increases the pressure until ... the pipe may burst.
And now we've got a real mess on our hands.
See, the SOURCE is unlimited, but the physical CONDUIT is another story!
Many of us are in just this state of disrepair as money conduits. We’ve got loads of SLUDGE built up that's keeping the energy from getting through. And that sludge shows up in the form of UNFINISHED MONEY BUSINESS.Ugh. Most of us have a little or a lot of sludge like this:
Do you have a will and other necessary legal documents to protect the financial interests of your loved ones? Yes? Great! No? SLUDGE.
Are you free of debt (or on a plan to pay it down)?
Are all your financial records neat and up to date?
Is your checkbook balanced to the penny?
How about your taxes?
Do you owe any $$ to friends or family that you've just sort of "forgotten" about (but that is hanging over you like a black cloud?)
Is your home office neat and tidy? (How about your garage? Yes, it's related!)
Any other questions you can think of?
OK, take a deep breath and relax. We'll get to solutions in a minute, but first let's look at the LEAKS. Now, I know YOU probably never do any of this, but I've known some of these quite intimately:
Spend money on stuff we don't need or even really want (for a whole truckload of "reasons" that would take several editions of this newsletter to cover!)
Spend money without even being aware of it, perhaps just out of unconscious habit.
Give money we don't really want to give — just because we think we should, or to "look good," or for other not truly generous reasons.
Lend money, often for the same reasons as just above and often to people who we know in advance won't pay it back.
Pick up the check so everyone will think we're cool (for about five seconds) or do similar things to "buy" affection, etc.
And I'm sure you can add to this list!
So here we are — leaky, sludgy pipes all. And meanwhile we’re busily creating our mental images of what we WANT our lives to look and be like, expressing gratitude for what we have already, learning to be creative rather than competitive, and affirming and/or praying for MORE.
But remember the image of the WATER pipe? "When more energy tries to come through, the leaks just get bigger and the sludge builds up more and increases the pressure until ... the pipe may burst. And now we've got a real mess on our hands."
Yikes! What's wrong with this picture?
Could it be that "thinking and acting in the certain way" also means that we must be responsible for learning the skills necessary to make best use of the money and other resources we are given?
Could it be that if we TRULY understand the power of gratitude and want to express it authentically, we must also be careful not to WASTE what is already coming to us?
Join me in Part 2 and we'll see how we can take simple and authentic action RIGHT NOW to clean up the conduit and get the energy of money flowing free!
Part 2:
"Miracles Will Happen"
OK, grab your wrench and let's get to work plugging up some leaks and clearing out some!
Of course, before we can fix our money leaks we have to find the little devils. So here's a great suggestion from Maria on ...
Plugging the leaks
Get yourself a small notebook or notepad that will fit in your pocket or purse and keep it with you constantly for the next 30days.
Keep track of EVERY SINGLE PENNY — or whatever the smallest unit of currency is where you live — that you spend at the moment you spend it. (No, don't tell yourself you'll write it down later. You won't; you're human and you'll forget.)
Buy a cup of coffee? Write it down. Pay your mortgage or other bills? Write 'em down. Everything.
And each time, IN THE MOMENT, ask yourself this question:
Am I consciously spending this money right now or am I LEAKING it?
You are likely in for a most surprising 30 days! (Actually, Day 1 alone may knock you for a loop.)
OK, now let's deal with ...
Clearing away sludge
Take a look at that list of sludge questions back up in the main article. Now choose ONE item that needs doing. See if there's one that particularly appeals to you because you need and want to get it done. Don't start with the biggest and most difficult. Start small, and choose one that you know you CAN do and that will feel WONDERFUL to have done.
Next, figure out the steps to get it done, and ...
Take the first step!
And then the next, and so on, and then you'll be done. (Ah, it feels great to have lowered your "financial cholesterol," doesn’t it?)
Here's something else Maria taught us about the plugging and the clearing: The very minute you START to take action, energy is released. And you may ultimately find that it's "enough to do what you are here to do and to have the fun you are here to have."
Maria notes that you may even find out that you have all the money you actually need and want. (Many have!) Or, you may find that you truly do want more and you can now "go after it with alight heart."
She adds that when you do this, "Miracles will happen." And, my friend, just being able to think about your finances "with alight heart" is a miracle in itself, isn't it?
All this is just the tiniest hint of the powerful insights and effective actions you will gain from this wonderful woman. (I also especially loved learning the hugely important distinction between truth and honesty. Wow!)
If Dr. Maria Nemeth's "Energy of Money" workshop is being offered anywhere near you, I strongly encourage you to attend. My partner and I drove three hours on each of two days through unbelievable rush hour traffic to get there and we'd both do it again in a heartbeat.
Because from what we learned the very first evening of the workshop, we realized that a plan we were about to embark on for our business was unnecessary — and that we didn't even WANT to do it.
We cancelled it, and before the two-evening workshop was even over had saved the (more than) $2,142 the planned action was going to cost us AND a lot of headaches and not-so-good feelings, too!
Without what we'd learned there — without Maria — we'd never even have known that was a leak. Bingo! It was high time for us become more "conscious" conduits of the energy of money.
Time for you, too, perhaps?
Maria says:
"The easy life is the life we lead when we are willing to see our lessons sooner rather than later. Would it be all right with you if life got easier?"
'Til next time, my friend, many, many blessings — and, of course ...
EXPECT Success!
Rebecca
P.S. You can get Dr. Maria Nemeth's book, The Energy of Money, in most bookstores and many libraries or through the Science of Getting Rich web site:
http://tinyurl.com/kemdq
And you can visit Maria's site and learn more about her workshops and seminars, recommended by Carolyn Myss, Dr. Christiane Northrup, and many others. (I'm going to the four-day "You and Money” one. Maybe we'll get to meet there!)
http://www.youandmoney.com
(Be sure to click on "Special Quote" to read "Symptoms of Inner Peace." You'll enjoy it!)
http://www.energyofmoney.com
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Rebecca Fine is the founder of The Science of Getting Rich Network where you can download your free copy of the amazing 1910 forgotten classic, The Science of Getting Rich. http://tinyurl.com/kemdq ©2000 Certain Way Productions.
You may use this article in your own publications or web sites as long as no changes are made to the text and the "Resource Box" above is included in its entirety.
Favorite articles from The Certain Way
How A Discredited Fascist Theory
Can Accelerate YOUR Success
By Rebecca Fine
In the late 1800s, an Italian sociologist and engineer, Vilfredo Pareto, became known for his controversial theory that alleged the superiority of the "elite" class. That unfortunate (and now discredited) theory was used to shore up the ideology of fascism which brought misery to millions.
But he was also known for applying mathematical principles in the realms of sociology and economics, and while his now-refuted "law" of the "trivial many" and the "significant few" holds no meaning for us in terms of the value of human beings, at least one of Pareto's ideas does still hold water in other areas.
You may know "The Pareto Principle" by its more familiar name, "the 80/20 Rule."
Simply put, the 80/20 Rule — as we use it today — says that 80% of your return will come from 20% of your effort. For example, in business this can mean that 80% of your income derives from 20% of your customer base. Or that 80% of your revenue can be traced to just 20% of your sales force.
Think about all the ways the 80/20 Rule applies: About 80% of all small businesses fail within their first couple of years, so you could say that 80% of all small business SUCCESS comes from 20% of all new small businesses. (And the subject of WHY so many fail is something we'll cover in the near future. My view is that most fail before they even begin, lacking knowledge and understanding of the principles we've discovered in The Science of Getting Rich.)
How about in your own job or business — or in other areas of your life? Can you see that 80% of the results come from 20% of your input? I don't know if Wallace Wattles (the author of the amazing forgotten 1910 classic, The Science of Getting Rich) had ever heard of Pareto, but let's take a look at how the 80/20 Rule might be useful in implementing Mr. Wattles' notion of "Efficient Action." First, though, some more fascinating 80/20 facts.
Back in the 1960s, thousands of insurance salespeople for Metropolitan Life, a big company here in the U.S., took part in a study that demonstrated this rule. The study found that, yes, 20% of the agents produced 80% of all sales.
But they took the study a step further and scrutinized that top 20%. And guess what? The rule held there, too. In fact, the top 20% of THAT top 20% of all salespeople were making 32 times as much as the average of the sales reps in the bottom 80%!
And what do you think they found out about the top 20% of that group making 32 times the average?
The people in THAT top 20% were making 54 times more than the people in the bottom 80%!
What was it that made the difference? It wasn't that this cream of the crop was 54 times smarter or worked that much harder. And they obviously didn't have 54 times as much education or experience.
What made the difference was that the people reaping the biggest rewards had learned to pay attention and keep track of WHAT WORKED and made them effective — and what didn't. They made it a point to do more of the effective things and get rid of the time-, energy-, and resource-wasters.
They were spending 80% of their time on the 20% of their work that produced the biggest results!
Most of them had probably never heard of Mr. Wattles or his work, but they were, nonetheless, practicing Efficient Action regularly. Daily. All the time.
Here's the thing: If you'd prefer to find yourself in the top 20% (and, yes, you can do that without sinking into competitive mind), take a good, close look at how you spend your time and energy. Without a doubt you'll find that the most productive, effective, profitable activities ARE probably getting only about 20% of your attention. Which means that you're spending 80% of your resources on the things that are unproductive, ineffective, and unprofitable.
And by "time" I mean not only the time you spend actually working at your income-producing activities but the time you spend on thinking and acting in the certain way: holding to your clear vision with faith, purpose, and gratitude. Let's take a quick look at just a couple of the high points in "Efficient Action" — Chapter 12 in The Science of Getting Rich — and see where we stack up.
Are you "more than filling" your present place — or are you doing only enough to get by? It's been said that many bosses pay their employees just enough to keep them from quitting and that many employees work just enough to keep from getting fired. If you find yourself in either of those positions, you are NOT ready to rise to a higher level of reward.
"Giving more in use value than you take from others in cash value" applies to employees selling their services to their companies as well as to those selling goods or services to customers.
Are you making the mistake of trying to do too much? These days, being way too busy is almost a badge of honor, but Mr. Wattles warns: "You are not to overwork or to rush blindly into your business in the effort to do the greatest possible number of things in the shortest possible time. ... The more things you do, the worse for you, if all your acts are inefficient ones."
Are you plagued by the dream-killer, procrastination? "If there is something that may be done today and you do not do it, you have failed insofar as that thing is concerned. And the consequences may be more disastrous than you imagine."
Are you neglecting things that may SEEM small and unimportant? "You cannot foresee the results of even the most trivial act. ... Your neglect or failure to do some small thing may cause a long delay in getting you what you want."
Are your actions strong or weak? Mr. Wattles notes that "when every one is strong, you are acting in the certain way which will make you rich. Every act can be made strong and efficient by holding your vision while you are doing it and by putting the whole power of your faith and purpose into it."
Over the next 24 hours, why not make it a point to pay attention to where your time goes ... how you spend your energy ... where you focus your thinking, feelings, and action ... and how you notice and respond to the opportunities presented? Make notes throughout the day, keep track, and at the end of the day, see for yourself just how true the 80/20 Rule is — at work, at home, everywhere.
Now, my friend, here's to your "Totally TOP Twenty Percent" day today and LOTS more of them to come!
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Rebecca Fine is the founder of The Science of Getting Rich Network where you can download your free copy of the amazing 1910 forgotten classic, The Science of Getting Rich. http://tinyurl.com/kemdq ©2001 Certain Way Productions.
You may use this article in your own publications or web sites as long as no changes are made to the text and the "Resource Box" above is included in its entirety. |
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