Killing Sacred Cows Blog

How To Influence the External Economy With Internal Decisions

Every expert in America agrees that our economy is under serious strain. We even hear speculation that the U.S. is headed for another Great Depression. The government bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will cost taxpayers $5.3 trillion. The proposed $700 billion bailout of other notable financial firms is a Band-aid approach to a gaping-wound quandary.

So what is the long-term solution? Does the current crisis represent the end of America as we know it? What can you do to contribute to a more secure and prosperous economy? Is it possible for you to prosper in economic downturns?

The first step to identifying solutions is to accurately diagnose the problem. While the reasons are diverse, our current predicament is the product of three primary factors, on three different levels: 1) the government manipulates the economy with the money supply, creating artificial demand and warping natural market forces, 2) corporations have been guided by shortsighted greed, and 3) average Americans consume more than they produce.

Since corporate behavior and government policy represent individual action, the only long-term solution to America’s economic woes is for individuals to be the change they wish to see in the world; to focus more on their internal economy than on the external economy.

Internal v. External Economy

The external economy represents everything outside of you: GDP, the Federal Reserve, international trade, supply and demand, manufacturing, etc. Your internal economy is the sum total of the value you offer to others minus the factors that limit your production. It is your human life value—your knowledge, skills, abilities, relationships, confidence, etc. It is what happens within you that determines your material and spiritual prosperity, or lack thereof.

Our pressing crisis hasn’t happened in a vacuum; it’s the result of a steady shift in culture, based on personal, internal decisions. We can blame the government and corporations all we want, but government agents and corporate executives are common Americans like you and I, doing common things. There’s little you and I can do to influence government policy during this crisis, but there’s an infinite number of things we can do to ensure security and prosperity regardless of what happens in the external economy.

Do you want to learn and grow, or complain and wallow in the misery? If you choose the former, then it’s time to grow your internal economy. But how, exactly, is this done? Your personal economy will be strengthened and vitalized by living the following five principles:

1. Entitlement is the enemy of prosperity.

Stop waiting for someone else to solve your problems and give you economic security. Contrary to New Deal lies and cradle-to-the-grave propaganda, the only things you’re entitled to are life, liberty, private property, and the pursuit of happiness. The government owes you nothing but the protection of your unalienable rights. Corporations can give and take benefits as they please.

Your suffering during hard economic times will be directly proportionate to the degree to which you feel entitled to “security” and benefits from any person or institution. You’re entitled to the fruits of your own labor and ingenuity—nothing more or less. Don’t abdicate your responsibility to prosper to funds that you don’t understand, investments that you can’t control and that are not collateralized, and managers that you don’t know. Take full responsibility for your money and your life.

2. Produce more than you consume.

The average American—while complaining about the federal budget deficit—spends more than $1.20 for every dollar that he earns. Contrary to the crippling myth that “consumer spending drives the economy,” production drives the economy. Production—creating value for others in a way that they compensate you for it—is what gives any individual or entity the ability to consume.

You can’t control government spending. But you can control your own. Spend less than you earn. Never, ever borrow to consume. Pay off consumer debt as fast as you are able. Cut up your credit cards if that’s what it takes. Increase your production through education, better marketing, a career change, etc. Save and invest ten percent of your income. Do whatever it takes to ensure that your home economy produces more than it consumes; this is the best way to fight inflation.

3. Value creation comes before desire fulfillment.

Who has more money—you, or other people? Obviously, other people. How can you get others to give you money? By providing something to them that they value more than their money. Greed and selfishness are at the basis of so many of our current problems. The wise understand that they can only get what they want by first focusing on what other people want; they are still self-interested, but they are not selfish.

What do you have to offer that other people want? What suffering exists in the world that you have the ability to alleviate? What do other people need and how can you provide it efficiently? Dollars follow value—creating value for others is the only legitimate way to meet your own needs.

4. Integrity is worth its weight in gold.

Corporate executives are being caught in lies like flies to honey. But what about you? Are you going to unfairly take advantage of others in the name of “Everyone else is doing it?” Or will you take the road less traveled and be a person of your word, a person who others can trust in and rely upon? Does your private life reflect your core values?

When times are hard, people look for stability. Integrity provides stability of character, drawing others toward you. Integrity alone is a magnetic marketing tool and will boost your ability to influence and serve others, and therefore profit in spite of crises.

5. Find and live your Soul Purpose.

Soul Purpose is your unique set of talents, abilities, values, and passions applied productively and effectively, making tremendous impact upon the world and bringing the highest levels of joy and fulfillment to you and everyone you touch.

You were born for something wonderful. Are you doing it? Do you love to get up every morning? Are you energized by your career? Does it continually stretch you to achieve your fullest potential? Are is it time for you to choose something different?

Prosperity is much more than dollars, investment accounts, and toys; it’s the internal joy that you experience by applying your best work to pressing problems. Soul Purpose is the best long-term investment.Find what you were born to do and do it—your prosperity will increase exponentially.   


The problems we face are big—which means that there’s now more opportunity than ever to create value by alleviating suffering. Big problems require bigger solutions, and bigger solutions pay bigger dividends. The positive side of the financial meltdown is increased awareness; there is now enough pain for us to course-correct and overcome the economic myths of the last century.

The solution isn’t to elect new leaders any more than changing drivers on a broken car makes the car run better. The solution is for common Americans to reform the economy from the inside out by eliminating the entitlement mentality, producing more than we consume, creating value for others, developing impeccable integrity, and living Soul Purpose. If you don’t know what to invest in—especially during hard economic times—your best bet is to invest in yourself through education. After all, the external economy is nothing but a reflection of the aggregate of internal economies.

By Chris Miles

One of my clients recently asked me a question regarding whether or not someone needed passive income to truly be financially free. I believe that many of those striving for financial excellence have asked this same question and debated it.

In response to this question, I would ask "What is passive income to you?" How you define passive income will determine whether or not it can really exist and sustain itself.

Passive = No Direct Value Creation

Many believe passive income to be earning income on investments without having to do anything to earn it. Or, in other words, provide little or no value to receive a lot of value. However, if one owns a rental property and gets paid rent, is that really "passive?" Did you really do nothing for it? If you do nothing, will the income last?

Consider having a business as another example. If you provide tremendous value in a business for months, or even years, so that you create conditions to make money while you sleep, was that a passive event, or were you active in creating it? Do you still have to maintain it?

Do you think Garrett Gunderson put minimal time or value into Killing Sacred Cows to help it sell? If he decided to put little effort and time into it by cutting corners and using no research, what kind of "passive" income do you think he would receive from book sales?

On the other hand, if passive income means working smarter and leveraging your abilities, passions, and talents (Soul Purpose), and others' as well, could that kind of income continue for a longer period of time?

The Law of the Harvest

We violate the Law of the Harvest (sowing and reaping) when we believe that we somehow can reap where we have not sown. If one ever feels that they are getting paid to provide little to no value, that income will not likely last. As a result, it becomes a state of bondage due to uncertainty of the returns rather than financial freedom.

When I have had income streams in the past where I was not certain why I was receiving so much income for providing little or no value, the passive income never lasted longer than a few years. The only income streams I have been able to count on are the ones where I have significant control and contribution.

Some may consider maintaining control and applying one's human life value bondage, but is it really? Who is paid more -- one who provides value for others in a way that few can or one that gets paid doing virtually nothing and has a difficult time understanding why they get paid so handsomely?

With regards to passive income creating freedom, did our Founding Fathers say, "Once we are ‘out of the rat race' then we will begin to fight for freedom?" They declared their independence when they were still subject to King George's rule.

What is Financial Freedom?

Is freedom a state of having or a state of being? Could one ever have enough money to buy freedom? Can freedom be purchased with money? Is it possible that many that have passive income could be slaves to doing investments or businesses that they do not enjoy? If you do real estate investing only to make money, how is that different than a job? Would you call doing an investment or business only for money "freedom?" If that were the case, couldn't one work a typical full-time job and still be free?

I do not believe that living financially free can be purchased. The only ones I have met that believe this theory are the ones that have never had money. I have had times where I have felt more enslaved with more money than living paycheck to paycheck.

Granted, our minds can be put at ease if we are wise stewards with our resources. We may choose to create conditions that cause more stress and worry, such as living on more than we have means. However, the only way to have financial freedom is to live a life of based on purpose, not a life based on our pocket books.

Freedom is a state of being, not a state of your account balance.

I challenge each of us to put money in the proper perspective as a tool to be used to serve others through our soul purpose rather than money being a master that will command us when we will be free.

In your journey to financial freedom, do you identify wealthy people and try to do what they did, or do you try to think like they thought?

The actions of people are value neutral; what gives all actions value are the thoughts and intents behind them. Two people could perform the exact same action but have different reasons for doing so, and the results would also be completely different.

Financial freedom isn't about doing; it's about thinking. Spending your time doing without understanding how to think is like a rat running on a wheel in a cage. Don't look for the right things to do, identify the right way to think .

Do you ever find yourself wanting something different than you're getting out of life?

The only way to change what you get out of life is to change what you put into life. The Law of the Harvest is that we reap what we sow, or we harvest what we plant. We get out of anything exactly what we put into it.

Most people want to change their life's "harvest" without changing what they "plant." But the place to begin any change is with our thoughts, for that is the garden from which all results flow. A poet once said, "Sow a thought and you reap an act, sow an act and you reap a habit, sow a habit and you reap a character, sow a character and you reap a destiny."

What will be your destiny? You can know it with certainty by looking at which thoughts you give you energy to. What you put your energy into now will manifest later as your results.

Recommended Reading:

As a Man Thinketh by James Allen