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It is easy to understand the importance of finances in supporting and enriching the other areas of life. Finances occupy a significant portion of our time and energy.
They are difficult to get right, both because of the discipline required, and because the rules keep changing. It is important to put finances into perspective, because if you place too much emphasis on money, it can make your life miserable.
Peter Drucker, one of the greatest thinkers on management and life/work balance of our time, said that of the people he knew whose main goal was to make money, without exception, they were all utterly miserable.
Money should be part of the plan, a means to an end, not an end in itself.
Playing the right game at the right level
Wealth creation has many things in common with sports. There are spectators who pay to watch the game, and there are players who get paid to play. There are players at the amateur level, and players in professional sports, all the way up to the world stage. The investment, risks and rewards are vastly different, depending on the level at which you play.
In business and in sports, if you want to be a player, it is critical that you select a game for which you have some natural talent. The game must also be rewarding enough that you will stay with it long enough to achieve your aspirations.
Roger Hamilton, author of Your Life Your Legacy, created a system called Wealth Dynamics which helps you determine your path of least resistance to wealth creation, and the strategies which are most likely to help you achieve it.
Roger Hamilton studied the most successful and wealthy entrepreneurs of our time, and profiled their strengths into 8 types, Creator, Star, Supporter, Deal Maker, Trader, Accumulator, Lord, Mechanic. It is not enough to follow the approach recommended by a successful person. The way in which they created their wealth may be a proven concept for them, yet it might hold no interest or possibility of success for someone with a different wealth profile.
These 8 types are positioned on a Mandala-like matrix. The strengths and weaknesses, as well as business models and partnerships patterns can all be deciphered from the Wealth Dynamics Square. If you want to master wealth creation, a good place to start is to learn more about Wealth Dynamics, and how you can use it to find your flow.
Learning about business and economics
While Economics has been called the dismal science, when you view it with a flexible focus perspective you see how it is connected to everything else. This transforms it into something interesting and relevant. The fact that governments, bankers, and business people so often get it wrong proves that it is far from an exact science. Select and read from the books, magazines and news sources which help you make sense of the economy and business. Be sure to read from a balanced menu, and take it all with a grain of salt. The experts are often wrong.
Remember that wealth creation is not just about cash flow. It is more about creating and leveraging value, and this can often be done by barter and collaboration, without any cash exchanging hands.
The Mandala Chart helps as a tool for flexible focus, and also serves as a reminder that the world we experience depends on our interaction with it. It is best to keep positive expectations, and search for solutions rather than problems.
If you value wealth, then you should invest the time to read about wealth creation. Here is a list of 8 of my favorite books on this topic. These books cover the fundamental principles of finding your path of least resistance to wealth creation and preservation.
- Your Life Your Legacy, by Roger Hamilton
- 50 Prosperity Classics, by Tom Butler-Bowdon
- Found Money, by Steve Wilkinghoff
- Wink and Grow Rich, by Roger Hamilton
- The Five Rituals of Wealth, by Tod Barnhart
- A Kick in the Assets, by Tod Barnhart
- 60 Days to Change, by Peter Dunn
- The Other 8 Hours, by Robert Pagliarini
Download a Mandala PDF on The 8 Frames of Life: Finances, with a list of my favorite books about wealth creation.
In the end, money is a form of energy which is widely recognized for its exchange value. It can be a source of happiness or misery, of harmony or conflict. It’s constant presence at both polarities of our existence has led to some wonderful wisdom and humor on the subject of money, captured in quotes such as the following.
If your outgo exceeds your income, then your upkeep will be your downfall. ~Bill Earle
A wise person should have money in their head, but not in their heart. ~Jonathan Swift, 1667-1745, Anglo-Irish Satirist
Download a PDF of my Favorite Quotes on Money, for an extended philosophical and humorous perspective on this serious topic.
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