Cash Spending and Spirit

One  basic  thing  that  I've  learned,  through  reading  and personal  realization,  in  my  journey  to  financial  freedom  is  that  it   all  begins  with  a  change  in  mindset  and beliefs.
 
A  fundamental  belief  in   the   past   was   that  financial  growth  and  prosperity   is   the  opposite  of spiritual growth,  an   'OR'   dilemna.   Financial/material  progress   or    spiritual   progress  or enlightenment. Then  I  discovered  for  myself   the   power  of   'AND'.  Financial  prosperity  and  spiritual  growth;  abundant  life   which   includes  both.

In  his  book " Money  and  Spirit" ,  Frederick S.  Brown  explores  and  expounds  on  the  ideas  that  "personal  fiances  is  directly  connected  to  one's  spiritual  life",  " a  balanced checkbook as  a  reflection of  spiritual  balance"  and  "equating your  savings account to your  spiritual  worth"  -- the   last  two  ones being  dangerous  and  to  be  taken  with  extreme  care  and caution --  but   not   if   one  believes  that  the  spiritual   life  is  supreme.

Anyway,  this  statement   from his  book , I  think,   holds  a  lot  of  truth  and  a good  point   for  personal cash   management -- - " In motivating them to take  better  control of their cash, I remind  them that  their cash spending affects not just  their  pocketbook but  their  spirit. When they spend unconsciously, they often buy  things that don't bring  them  real  satisfaction."

Changing Mindsets - Lessons from the Rich

For the last  five  years  I  have been  actively  and  consciously  changing  my  mindset  about  money, wealth  and financial  freedom  reading  books  and  web  materials   and  attending  seminars. It's  been  a slow journey,  considering  the  decades  of  poverty  mentality  that  has  been  drilled  into me  and  which  my  mind  unconsciously  imbibed. But  the journey in  the  direction of  wealth  and  abundance  still  goes  on...

Excerpt below   is  from  Financial  Finess.  The lesson  that  jumped  out  to  me  from  this  article is :

"The rich know you can have anything you want if you approach the challenge with a mindset rooted in love and abundance.”

• "Many people think money is the root of all evil, but rich people think that poverty is the root of all evil.  Money provides opportunity; poverty produces all kinds of unwanted outcomes and behaviors.  I have, because of my job, met a very large number of wealthy people over the last 20 years.   Most of them have been incredibly hard working, family-oriented perfectionists who made great personal sacrifices in order to build their wealth.  Their fundamental belief that not money, but poverty is the root of all evil is a driving force.  I know in my life, the fear of being poor is what drove me to further my education and put in long hours at work.  If we all picked up this line of thinking, our personal financial lives could be better."
• "Most people have a lottery mentality, but the wealthy have an action-oriented, problem-solving mentality.  I’ve seen this up close and personal with many of my friends and family members who get very excited when the lottery jackpot gets very big.  They seem resigned to the fact that they are locked into their current financial state with no hope of anything different.  I tend to be the “dreamer” or “idealist” of the family and always think that I’m just one great idea away from being one of the rich.  Unfortunately, I always have the next great idea right after I buy the product that solves the problem I want to solve…But, I’ll keep thinking!"
• "Most people focus on saving, but the rich focus on earning.  Siebold theorizes that the wealthy focus on what they’ll gain by taking risks, rather than how to save what they have.  Informed risk taking is the basis of entrepreneurship and a major reason that the wealthy are wealthy and how they differ from the rest of us." “The masses are so focused on clipping coupons and living frugally they miss major opportunities. Even in the midst of a cash flow crisis, the rich reject the nickel and dime thinking of the masses. They are the masters of focusing their mental energy where it belongs: on the big money.”  Personally, this is one area where I could use a little tweak to my thought process.  I am focused on saving for retirement, saving for college for my kids, and saving money on day to day expenses and it’s possible that I have missed major opportunities.  In fact, I know I have.  In the midst of a real estate collapse, there are many wealthy people picking up properties at a bargain basement level price while many people are focused on getting a mortgage modification or worried about buying and seeing the price go even lower.  Risk taking is the way the wealthy earn significant sums of money at once. 
• Many people believe they must have EITHER a great family OR be rich.  Rich people know you can have both.  The idea that the wealth always comes at the expense of family togetherness or happiness is misguided, Siebold says.  “The masses have been brainwashed to believe it’s an either/or equation.  The rich know you can have anything you want if you approach the challenge with a mindset rooted in love and abundance.”