Killing Sacred Cows Blog

By Chris Miles  

This is an essay I recently wrote about independence which I feel pertains to our discussion of overcoming myths and becoming financially free.

Could independence be no more than freedom from oppression and domination? Conversely, is independence merely unobstructed freedom to do anything we desire with no fear of intentional or unintentional consequences? Absolutely not! The more freedom we expect, the more responsibility we inescapably accept.

Today, we see a pandemic paradigm governing humans to blame anyone when things go awry. Thomas Jefferson proclaimed, "Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty." Why do we shrilly scream for independence and utter whining whispers at the first sight of responsibility?

To many, independence means to be "in dependence." They fancy others slavishly sowing so they can slothfully reap. They "fight" for freedom, but ultimately, beg for bondage. They want what has never existed - freedom from consequence. Indisputable independence is the freedom to pioneer one's path and be accountable for the destination.

My challenge is to consider what areas of our life and finances are we not taking on responsibility. Are we blaming market events, investors, financial institutions, oil companies, politicians, etc for our problems rather than creating solutions? Why can we see so clearly others' errors which are somtimes trivial and are so blind to our own destructive faults? What possibilities would arise if we focused the energy we waste complaining and repeatedly pointing out others' mistakes towards production and creating greater happiness and financial freedom through discovering soul purpose? What blessings are we failing to see because we focus more time and energy on the lack thereof? I challenge each of us to objectively ponder these questions, journal our responses, and identify ways to further focus on our financial independence.

“Riches secured on the competitive plane are never satisfactory and permanent; they are yours today, and another’s tomorrow. Remember, if you are to become rich in a scientific and certain way, you must rise entirely out of the competitive thought. You must never think for a moment that the supply is limited. Just as soon as you begin to think that all the money is being “cornered” and controlled by bankers and others, and that you must exert yourself to get laws passed to stop this process, and so on; in that moment you drop into the competitive mind, and your power to cause creation is gone for the time being; and what is worse, you will probably arrest the creative movements you have already instituted.” - Wallace D. Wattles

How does your paradigm affect how you treat yoursef and others?

Scarcity is characterized by adversarial, win-lose relationships. When people compete in scarcity they try to do so at the expense of others. Those in scarcity say or believe things like, "It's a dog-eat-dog world," or, "If you want a piece of the pie, you have to take it from other people." They feel they have to take from others to get what they want. They believe that there are never enough resources to serve all human desires.

In abundance, however, you fulfill your needs and wants by helping others to fulfill theirs; it’s always win-win. In abundance all your thoughts, speech, emotions, and actions are motivated out of love and faith. You look for opportunities to serve and give, rather than to take. You know that helping others to get what they want is the best way to get what you want. You know that there are always enough resources to fulfill all human desires.

Scarcity leads to pride, jealousy, envy, selfishness and covetousness. Abundance, on the other hand, leads to humility, confidence, and service. You cannot be jealous or envious of someone’s looks or money in abundance because you know that there are infinite forms and expressions of beauty, and infinite wealth to be accessed and utilized.

Those in scarcity often feel threatened or insecure when people disagree with them. Those who are the most secure are enjoying a high degree of the abundance paradigm. When you are in abundance, you don’t feel insecure about anyone disagreeing with your views, even if they are wrong and are at direct odds with principle.

The more abundant you are the more secure you are, and when you feel secure you are more able to get outside of yourself and listen to and deeply understand others. This in turn dramatically increases your ability to get others to listen to you. As James Allen said, “The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater his success, his influence, his power for good…The strong, calm man is always loved and revered.”

Become a "strong, calm" man or woman by ridding yourself of scarcity thinking and embracing the abundance paradigm.

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett was once talking to a group of college students and told them, “I am really no different than you. I may have more money than you do, but money doesn’t make the difference…

"If there is any difference between you and me, it may simply be that I get up every day and have a chance to do what I love to do, every day. If you want to learn anything from me, this is the best advice I can give you.”

If you’re unhappy with your life, the chances are that you are not providing a fraction of the value that you’re capable of. Happy people who focus on developing their unique gifts always produce more value for others and alleviate more suffering in the world than those who are routinely unhappy.

What will it take for you to live the life you love? What will be the effect in your personal life? What will be the effect on the world at large? How many more people can you impact by living your ideal life and doing what you were born to do? How many problems exist and how many people are suffering if you're not?

Getting Rich Your Own Way, written by Srully Blotnick, details a study that began in 1960 of 1,500 people representing a cross-section of middle-class America.

Throughout the twenty-year study, they lost almost a third of participants due to deaths, moves, or other factors. Of the 1,057 that remained, 83 had become millionaires.

When Mr. Blotnick’s team interviewed participants at the beginning of the study, the most widely shared impression they found was that “great wealth can come to you only as a result of doing things you don’t want to do.” They also noted that from the start, most participants assumed that chance would play a decisive role in determining who became wealthy.

They found that the 83 successful people shared five characteristics: They were persistent, they were patient, they were willing to handle both the “nobler and the pettier” aspects of their job, they had an increasingly noncompetitive attitude towards the people with whom they worked, and their investment activities—aside from their main career—consumed a minimum of their time and attention.

Writes Blotnick, “We originally expected the people in our sample to become wealthy by taking the money they earned at work and investing it wisely, in such things as stocks, bonds, and real estate…we thought there’d be no way for [them] to become rich unless they used their surplus income to generate more income…It didn’t work out that way…More often than not they made little or no money investing.”

In short, what the study unveiled was that the main source of wealth for the successful participants was that they found something they loved to do and they did it well. “In case after case,” says Blotnick, “they did increasingly well occupationally, while their pursuit of investment profits proved to be largely a waste of time. in the long run, it was their work which made them rich.” Blotnick concludes that investing in yourself, what you do, and with whom you do it are the most important determining factors of wealth.

Are you living your Soul Purpose ? If not, it's highly unlikely that you will achieve financial freedom.

Would you still be doing what you're doing today, or would it be different? What would it be? Why? What's preventing you from doing it today, right now?

Now is your time to be your ideal self and live your ideal life . If money is the main thing keeping you from being who you dream of being, then now is the time to break through that tyranny of the mind.

There are problems waiting to be solved that only you can solve. There is value to be created that can only materialize in your unique way. As Gandhi said, "The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems."

What would it take to get you to do what you would do if money were no concern today?

Have you ever thought something like, "If only this would change, then I would be happy?"

Our happiness and success in life have nothing to do with our external circumstances and everything to do with our internal thoughts and choices. Happiness and success are not if/then conditional events; they are internal decisions that we have control over at any given moment, regardless of circumstance.

One of the most destructive lies is that we are a product of our circumstances. This belief is an easy way out of taking responsibility for our thoughts and actions. It's a good way to live a miserable and expectant life, always waiting for that elusive "ship"ми?? to come in that will save us from all our troubles.

You are a product of your thoughts and your choices. You have the power to make your life miserable, or to make it happy and fulfilling. What do you choose to be: a victim, or a hero?

Recommended Reading:

Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl