Is Money a Struggle for You?
Are we human beings having a spiritual experience or are we spiritual beings having a human experience? This is an old philosophical question. Yet, it made a lot of sense to me in class that I am taking. The instructor asked do we need to “do to have to be” or do we need to “be to have to do”. Instantly, I thought of a lot of financial advice about debt. Many think that we need to do something (reduce debt – or work) to have something (money) to be something (rich). Yet, it is actually reversed. We need to first focus on who we are (child of our creator – God, Buddha, Allah, etc.) and think about the person we want to be.
When we are that person, we give off a higher energy that is noticed by a boss, employer, friends and family and changes will start to happen. When we focus on doing, we dread going into work and concentrate on the struggles on life. We then give off an energy that is picked up by others that is at a lower frequency. If you were a boss, who would you hire and promote? Is it someone who loves life because he focuses on who he is and is giving 110% at what ever he does or someone who dreads getting up in the morning because he focuses on the struggle? And we wonder why the struggle continues.
A lot of what we think is based on our past beliefs about money. For example, some common financial beliefs are “money does not grow on trees” (need to work hard) or “money is evil” (so to be good we need to disown money). Yet, money is just energy. We give and receive it. When we concentrate on whom we are (the being), we are giving of ourselves at 110% and open ourselves up to receive. When we concentrate on doing (the struggle), we only give what we think we are receiving (e.g., min. wage) because we do not want to be taken advantage of during this struggle. Yet, we end up getting less because we are giving less.
When I talked a little about a class that I am teaching, someone came up to me afterwards saying that she wants to take it. She said that she started to understand why money is a struggle for her because she has so many gifts that she is holding back on and not giving the world, thus the give and receive cycle was being limited on her end and showed up as financial struggle.
So what are you doing to keep the struggle around finances going?
For more information read Beliefs & Budgeting
|
|
Topic Menu |
|
|
Blog |
July 24th, 2006 at 11:55 am
[…] Pete presents Is Money a Struggle for You? posted at My Financial Awareness. […]
July 24th, 2006 at 8:19 pm
“…we only give what we think we are receiving (e.g., min. wage) because we do not want to be taken advantage of during this struggle. Yet, we end up getting less because we are giving less….”
Very interesting point and something that I have observed in my own life.
I sometimes think that I will devote X hours to a particular job because the pay rate is Y. I enjoy those X hours and sometimes invest X+1 or 2, but generally do stick to an amount that I feel matches the compensation. So far, this hasn’t come back to haunt me and in fact, I feel that it’s helped me budget my time. It’s always possible, though, that this thinking has held me back from benefits of which I’ve been unaware.
Question: what is the right balance between putting in “just enough” and knocking yourself out for a job, particularly for those jobs which are “bottomless pits”? That is, there are some jobs where no matter how much you do, you can always do a bit more. Where is the line between the satisfaction you derive from a job well done and being overworked (and underpaid)? And what is underpaid?
July 25th, 2006 at 4:18 am
Lasertroly, you always ask good questions. Yet, they tend to not have a straight forward answer to them. Unfortunately, we will never know what could have been if we made another decision (e.g., gave a little more, gave a little less or decided to take another job). All I know is that my past jobs created who I am today. Because I gave them 110% effort (most of the times), I learned a lot about business and life that I apply today as a coach. If I quit my job 5 years earlier (as I considered), I would not have the same outlook and insights as I do today.
I also hope that you are not doing a job just for the money. I hope you are doing it because it gives you something else back (a way to express your love and/or joy). A job is not always about the money but about giving joy or love. A friend once told me that he manages his life by giving 110% to what ever he is doing, whether it is working, driving home or being with family. Thus, the question is more about time allocation. And, if work is about not being at home, then you need to look at why you are working in the first place. If you feel deprived at work, you are probably just doing it for $ and not other reasons. Thus, look at why you work and what gives you joy in life and see if you can create it at work.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to work less and be at home more. I have made this decision twice in my life. I have also decided to work more and be at home less. It is all a balance and not about feeling cheated. If your job feels like a “bottomless pit”, look at how well you are with setting boundaries in life and about being determined (to say “no”) when appropriate.
July 26th, 2006 at 7:28 am
Good points - and more that I’ll need to think about for awhile -
I know I bring up some tough questions - but I think the issues you raise are very worthwhile and deserving of more exploration - they’re problems I think about myself, in continually creating the life I want to lead - I also know you can handle the tough stuff
July 26th, 2006 at 10:05 am
[…] Carnival of Debt Reduction with “Is Money A Struggle For You?” […]