Subject: Lifescope TIPs & QUIPs [20] "Work and Money, Part 2: What is Money?"

I have apparently stumbled upon a hot topic, judging by the number of 
comments I got back about last week's content. Some people responded by 
agreeing just how applicable and important it is to them, to redefine 
the meaning of Work. Others shared how they continue to struggle in 
work situations which have become, for them, a daily contest of values.
And happily, a few provided proof that striving to find the right 
formula for them has allowed them to "reclaim their lives."

So it is on this basis I anticipate even greater response from today's
email. Because while some folks have eased their anxiety specific to
their Pursuit of a Paycheck, broader issues around Money are universal.
What, why, and how do you think about Money? Which aspects of it hold
meaning for you? What do you seek with it: security? love? power?
As we did last week with Work, this week we will begin to dispel the
unconscious myths we have about Money. 

(We pause for this brief commercial break.)
While we're on the topic of Money, permit me to mention that we accept 
all major credit cards for any of the 100s of items we sell. Today's 
Suggested Resource is well worth the life energy you expend for it -- 
I guarantee it. (We now return to our regularly scheduled program.)

May you grow to be healthy, wealthy and wise.    -- Lee Lukehart

TIPs & QUIPs, the free occasional email of helpful hints and quotes (and
sometimes challenging suggestions) for getting the most from life.

In this issue:
     *** WiseWords
     *** This Issue's Theme
     *** Suggested Resources
     *** Thrive On! Recommended Site


*** WiseWords ***                                     [TOP]
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"The chief value of money lies in the fact 
 that one lives in a world in which its value is overestimated."
  --H. L. Mencken
  
"Teach us that wealth is not elegance, that profusion is not magnificence, 
 that splendor is not beauty."
  --Benjamin Disraeli
  
"Creating money is just like creating anything else in your life.  
 It involves not being attached to it, 
 and not giving it power over your life in any way."
  --Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

(For a collection of some of our favorite WiseWords, see our web page at
<http://www.lifescope.com/pages/WiseWords.html>.)


*** This issue's theme:  WORK AND MONEY: What is Money?       [TOP]
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(excerpted from "Your Money or Your Life")

What is Money?
Normally, when we talk about money, we are really talking about what to do
about it.  How to get it, spend it, invest it, save it, pay (or avoid
paying) our taxes with it, and ensure that we'll have plenty of it in our
old age.  Hate it or love it, money itself is a fact of life.  Yet most of
us understand it far less than we do those other "facts of life." And
almost none of us has stood in its presence the way we might with a
redwood, a Rembrandt or a starry desert night.  We may worship it, pay
homage to it or sacrifice our lives for it -- but we don't contemplate it.

What, then, is money?

To answer this question we have to widen our horizons.  We must observe not
only the material level of money but, going beyond "stuff," the non-material
aspects as well.

THE FOUR PERSPECTIVES OF MONEY
Let's illustrate this broader perspective by taking a little trip to
see the landscape of money from ever-higher perspectives.

1. The Practical, Physical Realm

   This represents the everyday, "pedestrian" perspective of money.  It
   has to do not only with the physical pieces of paper and metal but
   also with all of our financial transactions from cradle to grave.
   From our first allowance to shopping for a mortgage to buying and
   selling stocks to tax planning to trust funds to wills. From the
   simplest information to the most sophisticated formulas, this
   perspective represents the whole range of financial transactions we
   encounter during our lives.  Most books about money educate us on how
   to navigate this street level more skillfully and more profitably.  It
   is here that we dance to the beat of the "more is better" mambo,
   rarely, if ever, listening to that different drummer.
    
2. The Emotional/Psychological Realm

   There are books and even therapists to help us understand our
   particular money personality and to correct the dysfunctional patterns
   of our money behavior.  We can readily see that understanding this
   first non-material aspect of money could help us make better choices
   back at the street level of money.  Knowing your financial psychology
   is another level of sophistication about money.
   
   This second perspective of money also encompasses what money means to
   us, our money mythology.  We should be aware as we explore these
   deeper myths that our rational minds may deny what our behavior
   reveals.  We may say we're not superstitious, but we still walk around
   ladders.  We may say that money is simply bits of paper and metal that
   we manage either well or poorly, but our actions speak louder than
   words.  We each live in an intricate web of beliefs about these bits
   of paper and metal.
   
   What are some of your personal myths about money?

      Money as Security 
      Is money security for you? Seeing money as security-a buffer between
      our fragile, vulnerable selves and the cold, cruel and often
      unpredictable world-is one of the most common perceptions. For many
      people, financial security means emotional security.  We see people
      using money to defend against unpleasant emotional states like fear,
      worry, anxiety and loneliness through buying companions, bodyguards,
      accountants, friends, memberships in the right organizations and, when
      all else fails, therapists to clean up the mess.
      
      Money as Power
      Money seems to bestow a power to do what you want to do and go where
      you want to go, when you want to.  Money also gives the power not to
      do something you don't care to do -- you can pay someone else to do
      it. But if money is power, how do you account for the power of someone
      like Gandhi? The kind of power that freed India from the British had
      nothing to do with money, but with what Gandhi labeled 'satyagraha' or
      "soul force." Money had no potency when faced with the indomitable
      will of Gandhi and his followers, people who lived a life of what we
      would call poverty and yet experienced irrepressible joy and exerted
      tremendous influence. While in our culture there is some validity to
      the notion that money is powerful, if we act from this myth we miss
      the many opportunities to exercise "soul power," and are vastly weaker
      for the error.
      
      Money as Social Acceptance
      The urge to be part of a group is a deep one.  To be excluded is
      experienced, on an unconscious level, as a threat to survival.  The
      desire to keep up with the Joneses may not be grounded solely in
      ostentation and competition, but also in a profound desire for
      acceptance by others.  Let's look at another form of social
      acceptance: dating and mating.  Historically and cross-culturally we
      know that money (or cows or goats or plots of land) almost always
      figured in the marriage contract.  But what about our liberated
      society? Does money play a part in romance? Do we, on some level,
      still hold some belief that money represents success with the opposite
      sex? As with the other misconceptions about money, operating from the
      myth that money equals acceptance seems to have some merit. It becomes
      dangerous only when we lose sight of the fact that companionship,
      friendship and intimacy are all available free of charge to people who
      sincerely extend their love to others. It's when we equate money with
      social acceptance that the distortions begin. It's like going to a
      fine restaurant which serves many delicious entrees and eating the
      menu rather than the meal.  There's no joy in that, just as there is
      no joy in spending money to gain acceptance but never experiencing
      true intimacy.
      
      Money as Evil
      Perhaps you live in a world where money is seen as bringing sorrow and
      pain. In your personal mythology, is money evil? What does your
      behavior say? Does it say that money is dirty, dehumanizing or a tool
      of repression? Do you keep a mental catalog of the sins money has
      committed? A moment of reflection should be enough for us to see that
      money doesn't hurt people -- people hurt people.  Money isn't evil --
      people sometimes choose to do evil things with money.  Money isn't
      dirty -- people do dirt to each other, and sometimes do it using
      money.  Money is morally neutral.  It is our addiction to what money
      can buy that leads us into deeds harmful to life.

   What About You?
   
   Take a few minutes now to see where you stand with money.  What is
   your money personality? What are your thoughts about money? Your
   personal belief systems? What are your money quirks and myths? How
   have your relationships with others been influenced by your economic
   pride and prejudice? How does money relate to your personal sense of
   worth?
   
   There is great value in healing the wounds that our money psychology
   and mythology may have inflicted on us and on others. But there's more
   to do on this journey of discovering the truth about money.  We still
   don't have a universally and consistently true definition of money.

3. The Cultural Realm

   Even though we refer to it as the almighty dollar, there's nothing
   sacred about money.  Money is a human social invention, a mere 4,000
   years old. in families, we (normally) don't charge for our household
   tasks of sweeping, dusting, cooking, child care and gardening.  Nor do
   we pay for each meal we eat. It was once like that in clans and tribes
   as well.  Eventually, however, transactions became too complex for
   straight barter.  So, "on the eighth day" humans created money as an
   IOU for goods or services received.
   
   This perspective of money surveys not only the history of money and
   the principles of economics but the sociology and anthropology of
   money as well.  Here we come to understand that our definition of
   money has been conditioned by many cultural forces -- and this insight
   allows us even greater distance from it.  For example, as North
   Americans we share some common assumptions about money and
   work -- assumptions that an Italian or a native of the Amazon rain 
   forest might well not share.
   
   It is at this level that we find a number of economic bogeymen:
   inflation, cost of living, recession and depression. As many of us
   discovered at the beginning of the 1990s, however, Our Lady of
   Perpetual Growth hasn't brought us the security and happiness we
   trusted would be ours for believing in her.
   
   This is the level we learn about at Harvard Business School or on Wall
   Street.  While education on this level is illuminating, this
   perspective still doesn't give us a universally and consistently true
   definition of money, one that we can count on to apply in any
   situation.  Understanding the many faces of money doesn't necessarily
   lead to truth.

4. Personal Responsibility and Transformation

   Now it's time to step back; to let go of all you think you know about
   money.  Empty your mind.
   
   The definition of money we discover in this realm of personal
   responsibility cuts through the entangling web of thoughts, feelings,
   attitudes and beliefs. it is a qualitatively different definition, one
   that is universally and consistently true, and it returns to us the
   power we have unconsciously given over to money.
   
   All our false notions about money thus far have one common flaw: they
   identify money as something external to ourselves.  It is something we
   all too often don't have, which we struggle to get, and on which we
   pin our hopes of power, happiness, security, acceptance, success,
   fulfillment, achievement and personal worth.  Money is the master and
   we the slaves.  Money is the victor and we the vanquished.

   What, then, is the way out? What is the one consistently true
   statement we can make about money that will allow us to be clear,
   masterful and powerful in our relationship with it?
   
   MONEY IS SOMETHING WE CHOOSE TO TRADE OUR LIFE ENERGY FOR.
   
   We will repeat this because you may have missed its full significance:
   
   MONEY IS SOMETHING WE CHOOSE TO TRADE OUR LIFE ENERGY FOR.
   
   Our life energy is our allotment of time here on earth, the hours of
   precious life available to us.  When we go to our jobs we are trading
   our life energy for money.  This truth, while simple, is profound.
   Less obvious but equally true, when we go to the welfare office, we
   are trading our life energy for money.  When we go to Reno, we are
   trading our life energy for money (we hope).  Even windfalls like
   inheritances must in some way be "earned" to actually belong to the
   heir -- life energy must be exchanged.  Time is spent with lawyers,
   accountants, trustees, brokers and investment counselors to handle the
   money.  Or time is spent in therapy working out the relationship with
   the deceased or the guilt at receiving all that money.  Or time is
   spent investigating worthy causes to fund.  All this is life energy
   traded for money.
   
   This definition of money gives us significant information.  Our life
   energy is more real in our actual experience than money.  You could
   even say money equals our life energy.  So, while money has no
   intrinsic reality, our life energy does-at least to us.  It's
   tangible, and it's finite.
   
   Life energy is all we have.  It is precious because it is limited and
   irretrievable and because our choices about how we use it express the
   meaning and purpose of our time here on earth.

YOUR Life Energy
What does "money = life energy" mean to you? After all, money is something
you consider valuable enough to spend easily a quarter of your allotted
time on earth getting, spending, worrying about, fantasizing about or in
some other way reacting to.  Yes, there are many social conventions
regarding money that are worth learning and abiding by, but ultimately you
are the one who determines what money is worth to you.  It is your life
energy.  You "pay" for money with your time.  You choose how to spend it.

If you are forty years old, you can expect to have approximately 329,601
hours (thirty-seven years) of life energy left before you die. Assuming
about half of your time is spent on necessary body maintenance
 -- sleeping, eating, eliminating, washing and exercising -- you have
164,800 hours of life energy remaining for such discretionary uses as:

   * your relationship to yourself
   * your relationship to others
   * your creative expression
   * your contribution to your community
   * your contribution to the world
   * achieving inner peace and...
   * holding down a job

Now that you know that money is something you trade life energy for, you
have the opportunity to set new priorities for your use of that valuable
commodity.

After all, is there any "thing" more vital to you than your life energy?

FINANCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FREEDOM
Financial Independence is an experience of freedom at a psychological
level.  You are free from the slavery to unconsciously held assumptions
about money, and free of the guilt, resentment, envy, frustration and
despair you may have felt about money issues.  You may have these feelings,
but you have them the way you have an article of clothing -- you can try it
on, but you are free at any time to take it off.  You are no longer
compelled by the parental and social messages you received as a child --
messages about how we should relate to money in order to be successful,
respected, virtuous, secure and happy.

You are free of the confusions you had about money.  You are no longer
intimidated by balancing your checkbook or by deciphering your broker's
babble about no-load mutual funds and annuities.  You never buy things you
don't want or need and are immune to the seductiveness of malls, markets
and the media.  Your emotional fortunes are no longer tied to your economic
fortunes; your moods don't swing with the Dow Jones Band.  The broken
record in your mind stops, the one that calculates hours till quitting
time, days till payday, paydays till you have a down payment for a
motorcycle, costs for the next home improvement project and years till
retirement.  The silence, at first, is thundering.  Days and even weeks can
go by without your thinking about money, without your mentally reaching for
your wallet to handle life's challenges and opportunities.

When you are financially independent, the way money functions in your life
is determined by you, not by your circumstances.  In this way money isn't
something that happens to you, it's something you include in your life in a
purposeful way.  From this point of view, the normal drama of "nine to five
till you're sixty-five," of making a dying, of getting ahead, of being rich
and famous -- all these brass rings we automatically reach for -- can be
seen as just one series of choices among many.  Financial Independence is
being free of the fog, fear and fanaticism so many of us feel about money.

If this sounds like peace of mind, it is.  Fiscal bliss.  And if this
sounds as unattainable as being rich, it isn't. It's been the experience of
thousands of people who have followed the approach to money described in
this book, who have done the practical steps and made the simple
observations recommended.

--excerpted from "Your Money or Your Life" by Joe Dominguez & Vicki Robin
[Excerpt authorized as Fair Use under Copyright Act of 1976, Section 107]


*** Suggested Resources ***                                       [TOP]
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YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE
Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial
Independence, by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin.  The purpose of this book
is to transform your relationship with money. That encompasses more than
just your earning, spending, debts and savings; it also includes the
meanings money has for you and the time these functions take in your life.
To transform something is to change its nature or function. Once you do
this with your relationship with money, through following the steps in this
book, you will reach new levels of comfort, competence, and consciousness
around money.
    (softcover book) Item# H1248-BK
        SRP$12.95 -- Your Price (see link for special price)
Buy this title online now at Lifescope.com or Amazon.com. 
*** Your satisfaction is absolutely assured with our RISK-FREE Guarantee!


*** Thrive On! Recommended Site ***                              [TOP]
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7 SECRETS TO ACHIEVE YOUR MONEY DREAMS by Tony Cook
<http://pathfinder.com/money/features/seven/>
To help you maximize your wealth and make your financial dreams come true,
MONEY Online has distilled the traits of the wealthy Americans documented
in the book 'The Millionaire Next Door' into seven easy-to-follow rules. In
essence, the keys to achieving millionaire status are extreme thriftiness;
disciplined, prodigious investing; an aversion to debt; serious tax
sheltering; help from at least one sharp financial adviser and hard
work--ideally at your own business. 

One of the more clearly descriptive tidbits from the site, is the
observation that Texans have a term for a person who lives a flashy
lifestyle but has no real wealth: "big hat, no cattle".


DISCLAIMER
The contents herein are solely the opinions of Lifescope editors, and should 
not be considered as a form of therapy nor advice. There is no guarantee of 
validity or accuracy. Lifescope therefore assumes no responsibility for injury
and specifically disclaims any warranty, express or implied, of fitness or 
merchantability for a particular purpose. Besides, actual mileage may vary.

Copyright © 1998-2007 by Lifescope Inc. 
Permission is granted to reproduce or distribute this newsletter 
only in its entirety and provided copyright is acknowledged.

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