Financially successful people that are fulfilled avoid parasitic weaknesses such as insecurities, bad habits, self-doubts and disgruntlement. Yet our economy feeds off of human weakness - You must live the dream, you must reach higher up the ladder to have a higher standard of living, you need to have an Ipod with video, and that house with more square feet that will make you feel a cut above your friend.
The economy gives us easy credit, more credit cards, and all types of wonderful debt building tools. As a culture, we have less savings, work more hours and have increased our debt load. We upgrade from conventional to plasma, Pentium 3 to Pentium 4 to dual core, Ipod to Ipod with video and the bank says that we can finance our new home with zero down payment! We can lease our car for $500 dollars a month for four years and after four years, lease another care for four more years!
We are a culture of consumerism.
Fulfilled and financially successful people use conscious reflection.
Who are these millionaires that are wealthy and fulfilled? How do they live? What are their values? What are their goals? Their biggest wealth tool is to spend less than they earn. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? It isn’t. Changing habits and making them sustainable takes plenty of energy. It begins with your thoughts and emotions, and finally ending with your actions. And don't forget about conscience and imagination.
Your thoughts, emotions and actions are all offshoots of that gift we call conscience. Wikipedia defines conscience as;
the faculty power, or inward principle which decides as to the character of one's own actions, purposes, and affections, warning against and condemning that which is wrong, and approving and prompting to that which is right;
Your conscience is at work while you are drooling over that new Ipod.
You look at an Ipod video and your thought is, “I want this, it will make me happy.” Your emotions will be uplifted because you are imagining having your favourite music videos always available.
Your action will be to buy it. Possibly on credit.
Not really using your conscience are you? Allowing instinct and imagination to take over.
But what if your thought is, “Do I really need this or just want it?”
My emotions are now held at bay at a yellow light.
By posing that question you are using conscious reflection.
Your action might be to leave it.
In theory it’s simple to spend less than you earn. In theory it’s simple to live within your means. Many people do. Many fulfilled millionaires do. But for many people it’s hard to change years of bad habits. It’s a challenge to avoid the pitfalls of consumerism and to use conscious reflection to decide whether something is good for us.
Thoughts.
Conscious reflection.
Emotions.
Conscious reflection.
Better actions.
Becoming more conscience means removing the shackles of ignorance and taking the time to reflect on decisions no matter how big or small. Our conscience separates us from the rest of the animal world. Our conscience is that split second we have before we make a terrible decision. Be that yelling at our kid, buying that Ipod or going to war.
Our conscience is the nemesis of our imagination. Our imagination gets us in trouble all the time.
Wikipedia defines imagination as;
Imagination is accepted as the innate ability and process to invent partial or complete personal realms within the mind from elements derived from sense perceptions of the shared world
In a nutshell, the better you understand your mind and how it guides you, the easier it is to break bad habits.
Take the time to think about the times your imagination let you down or when you completely ignored your conscience and did something stupid.
We are complex, yet we can change.
We have been giving this amazing gift of conscience, yet it we constantly dismiss it.
Now you know what to do the next time you want to tack another few hundred dollars to your credit card. Use some conscience reflection.
Or don't.
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