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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016
Radical formula transforms your money and spiritual growth into global change The Awakened Millionaire is a practical manifesto guiding you to new dimensions of personal wealth, spiritual growth, and as a result, global transformation. Crafted by Dr. Joe Vitale, a famed millionaire, best-selling author, and star of the blockbuster movie "The Secret," you'll discover a controversial formula that accomplishes what few believe possible: combining money and spirituality together to bring you more of both, while transforming you into a force for good in a world that desperately needs it. This book is a call to action, pushing you to wake up, stand up, and transform yourself into a powerful expression of your passion, your wealth, and your desire to make a difference. It is an invitation to become a true Awakened Millionaire, starting today. While most consider money and spirituality a blasphemous duo, Dr. Vitale shatters these social norms and shows you the true nature of money empowered with soulful purpose. At turns inspirational, motivational, and conversational, this page-turner ultimately narrows in on practical steps anyone can use to see instantaneous results, regardless of your past failures, current financial situation, or future goals. But his mission is not to simply transform you. Dr. Vitale's mission is to create a swarm of Awakened Millionaires transforming the world with every action they take, while enjoying personal luxury and soulful fulfillment new levels of money and spiritual growth can give them. The book reveals: * How to turn your passion into wealth * How to transform money into a spiritual tool * How to create a soulful mission that changes the world If you desire both wealth and spirituality, this book finally reveals how.
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Contents
Cover
Series Page
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Promise Yourself
The Awakened Millionaire Creed
Foreword
Introduction
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Section One: We
Chapter 1: The Truth
Chapter 2: Awakened Millionaires
Passion + Purpose = Mission
Soul + Money = More Soul + More Money
Chapter 3: One Awakening
Chapter 4: What's Real?
Chapter 5: Counterintentions
Chapter 6: The Formula
Passion
Purpose
Chapter 7: The Mirror
Chapter 8: The Mission
Chapter 9: The Forgotten Penney
Chapter 10: Stretch!
Improvement
Reinvention
Discovery
Chapter 11: The Secret Ally Inside
Chapter 12: The Sole Purpose of Money
Chapter 13: Forget Selling, Start Sharing
Chapter 14: How Much Is Enough?
Chapter 15: Never Ever Fail Again
Feedback = Opportunity
Chapter 16: The Win–Win–Win
Chapter 17: The Big Idea
Section Two: You
Chapter 18: Who You Can Become
Chapter 19: Decision
Decision
You Begin
Chapter 20: Money
Money
Chapter 21: Obstacle Gold
Your Greatest Obstacle Hides Your Greatest Opportunity
Chapter 22: Empty Full
Empty Like a Master, Full of Power
Chapter 23: The Three
The Light of Three
Chapter 24: Money Soul
The Soul in Money
Chapter 25: Invest in You
Invest
Chapter 26: Your Inner Guide
Your Guide
Chapter 27: Where to Begin
Begin in the Movement
Epilogue
Bonus Section
The Awakened Millionaire's Prayer
The Abundance Manifesto 10 Principles
Conversations with Awakened Millionaires
The Seven Blocks
Butterflies and Your RAS
Help Paris: The Power of Group Intent
The Fourth-Dimension Process: Triggering Hypermanifestation for Wealth
Inside the Creed
Your Next Step
Resources
Bibliography
About the Author
Index
End User License Agreement
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Begin Reading
Part 1
Chapter 1
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“Joe Vitale is a true marketing, sales, and promotion genius.”
—Dan Kennedy, in his book No B.S. Marketing to the Affluent
“Just when you think you understand how the world works Joe Vitale comes along and takes you to a whole new place. He's engaging, entertaining, enlightening and—oh boy—does he ever stretch your thinking.”
—Ian Percy, Reg. Psych. and member of both the U.S. and Canadian Speaker Halls of Fame
“No one else I know of could help someone come up with a Barnum-like Big Idea and then help them take it to fruition, becoming a huge phenomenon, which means big money, fame, recognition, and unique world positioning. See Joe Vitale's outrageous list of accomplishments to know this is the real deal.”
—David Garfinkel, copywriter, author, consultant
The Awakened Millionaire
A Manifesto for THE Spiritual Wealth Movement
Joe Vitale
Cover image:Cover design:
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Copyright © 2016 by Hypnotic Marketing, Inc. All rights reserved
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Names: Vitale, Joe, 1953- author.
Title: The awakened millionaire : a manifesto for the spiritual wealth movement / Joe Vitale.
Description: Hoboken, New Jersey : John Wiley & Sons, 2016. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016001658| ISBN 9781119264163 (cloth) | ISBN 9781119264187 (epub) |
ISBN 9781119264170 (epdf)
Subjects: LCSH: Wealth—Religious aspects. | Well-being—Religious aspects. |
Success–Religious aspects.
Classification: LCC BL65.W42 V58 2016 | DDC 650.1—dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016001658
Dedication
To you, the Awakened Millionaire
Fortune sides with him who dares.
—Virgil
Promise Yourself
To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel that there is something worthwhile in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful expression at all times and give a smile to every living creature you meet.
To give so much time to improving yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud word, but in great deeds.
To live in the faith that the whole world is on your side, so long as you are true to the best that is in you.
—The original Optimist Creed, written by Christian D. Larson in his 1912 book, Your Forces and How to Use Them
The Awakened Millionaire Creed
Awakened Millionaires are driven first by their passion, purpose, and mission.
The Awakened Millionaire uses money as a soulful tool to make a positive impact.
The Awakened Millionaire is persistently empowered, believing in themselves absolutely.
The Awakened Millionaire is committed to grow, improve, reinvent, and always discover.
The Awakened Millionaire is unshakably bold, takes risks, and does not hesitate.
The Awakened Millionaire is guided by the soulful resonance of their intuition.
The Awakened Millionaire knows wealth is everything they have, not just money.
The Awakened Millionaire holds a deep gratitude for all they have and achieve.
The Awakened Millionaire is permanently connected to Universal abundance.
The Awakened Millionaire is generous, ethical, and focuses on the good of others.
The Awakened Millionaire champions the win–win–win.
The Awakened Millionaire soulfully shares their entrepreneurial gifts.
The Awakened Millionaire leads by example as the catalyst for transformation in others.
WHATEVER may be said in praise of poverty, the fact remains that it is not possible to live a really complete or successful life unless one is rich. No man can rise to his greatest possible height in talent or soul development unless he has plenty of money; for to unfold the soul and to develop talent he must have many things to use, and he cannot have these things unless he has money to buy them with.
—Wallace Wattles, The Science of Getting Rich
Foreword
This is my opus. This manifesto is 30 years in the making. I've never felt more convinced about anything I've taught or shared before.
The Awakened Millionaire movement isn't just to build your future, rising up and succeeding both financially and spiritually. This is about all of our futures. What you can become as an Awakened Millionaire is beyond your own profound success. It's about what you can give back to the world, to a world that needs it. It's about you becoming a force for good, for change. It's about you making a difference. And to do that, you must succeed both financially and spiritually. That's how you will become the powerhouse that is an Awakened Millionaire. You must thrive, for all our sakes.
The world needs you to succeed.
The vision is far-reaching, the call to action is strong, and the stakes are high. So I want to make it crystal clear why you should listen to me—for every success I've had, every challenge I've overcome, and every dream I've achieved has led me to this moment, here, with you.
I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth. In fact, during my time living on the streets of Dallas, Texas, a silver spoon would've been my salvation. Instead, I lived in poverty for 10 years. Every challenge to your own success I've likely experienced. And in the depths of my poverty, the challenges we all face are amplified to a deafening level.
Today, I've built a lifestyle that transcends what my homeless self would've considered possible. I am a multimillionaire blessed with the level of wealth and freedom I want for you. But I'm also deep on my own spiritual path, devoted to growing more, experiencing more, and awakening more. It is a life-long journey. I love every moment.
It's taken decades to get to where I am today. And I'm genuinely proud of the accomplishments I've achieved. I'm sharing these not to brag, but simply to prove that I walk what I talk and I live what I teach.
Whether it's flying out to Kuwait as a guest of a princess, paid six figures to speak at her event, or whether it's the son of the man who produced the Beatles wanting me in a movie and television show he's producing...
Whether it's the almost 50 books I've written, including international best-sellers such as The Attractor Factor or The Secret Prayer...or it's the record-breaking self-help programs sold by publishers like the famous Nightingale-Conant...
Whether it's pioneering Internet marketing, writing one of the first books ever published about it, using the Internet to outsell a Harry Potter book...or selling a high-ticket training program making half a million dollars in three days...
Whether it's traveling around the world, speaking in countries as diverse as Russia, Peru, or Poland...Or being a keynote speaker at major events in the United States for the National Speakers Associations and megawealth events with Donald Trump and Tony Robbins on the same bill...
Whether it's inventing Hypnotic Writing, Hypnotic Marketing, Buying Trances, The Secret Mirror, The Secret Reflection, Miracles Coaching®, Wealth Trigger, Hyper-Wealth, and much more...or simply knowing how to generate ideas, package them, and market them to the masses...
Whether it's attracting national media exposure being on everything from Larry King Live (twice) to Donny Deutsch's Big Idea TV show, to being on ABC, Fox, CNN, CNBC, and more...or being in 15 movies, with The Secret being the most famous...
Whether it's bringing the spiritual healing system called ho'oponopono to the world, through my books Zero Limits and AT Zero, reaching an estimated 5 million people...or following the spiritual urge near the age of 60 to myself as a musician recording 15 albums at last count...
Whether it's developing a spiritual approach to wealth, ignoring cutthroat methods and always focusing on a balanced, healthy approach to success, based on passion and purpose...or knowing how to create win–win–win negotiations and conduct business from the heart...
Whether it's listening to virtually anyone for about 20 minutes and seeing or creating a unique money-making idea specific to them...or creating Operation YES, a movement to end homelessness, raising funds for those in poverty, or teaching those who struggle with homelessness to think big, confront limitations, and go for their highest ideals...
Whether it's discovering a “missing secret” in self-development, the idea of counterintentions and teaching others how anyone can overcome and accelerate their results...or becoming an expert on the Law of Attraction, knowing how to use it, teach it, and go beyond it....
I have achieved financial success. I have tasted spiritual awakening. And I've taught millions of people the path to get there. This is the next level.
These successes have become my legacy. But I tell you them to earn your trust, as the path ahead will require it.
I have something to teach you. I want to inspire you to go for and achieve your dreams. And I want you to do it by following your passion. When you learn how to turn your passion into profit, and to make a difference in the world by expressing the uniqueness that is you, your life will become miraculous. You will have discovered Spiritual Wealth.
And, at that point, you will become an Awakened Millionaire.
This manifesto is my tool to accomplish that noble dream for you.
As you'll see, the book itself is slightly unorthodox. But it serves a specific strategy: to awaken your logical and emotional selves, two sides that must unite as you start your path to becoming an Awakened Millionaire.
This manifesto is a rallying cry for you to join a movement.
Please read it, absorb it, reflect on it, and put it into action.
I'm on a mission to help elevate the world from the needless struggles we face. It begins by helping you transform and achieve the financial and spiritual dreams you hold.
This is for you. This is for us.
Will you join me?
Joe VitaleAustin, Texaswww.awakenedmillionaireacademy.com/begin
Introduction
Vishen Lakhiani
I've been a Joe Vitale fan for as long as I can remember. I first discovered Joe's books when I was a college student at the University of Michigan and his books opened my eyes to the idea that I didn't have to go through the traditional path: get good grades, graduate, find a 9-to-5 job, earn a living. Rather, his books opened me up to the idea that there was more to life than just this path that everyone else goes on. This is why I'm honored to be writing this preface.
Joe's particular book The Awakened Millionaire serves an important purpose because it's a manifesto for the globe. It's about profiting; it's a wake up call to save people from going down a traditional path in life that is the path of working hard to get a job, to slave away from 9:00 to 5:00, to get some money so you can pay the bills, so you can survive. Most people are in survival mode when what we should be is in thriving mode. So this book could very well save you and shift you to a path where you are actually living a life of meaning.
See, the problem with the education system is that we ask people, “What do you want to be when you grown up?” And the nature of that question, and the nature of the idea itself, suggests that we grow up to take on a particular career, to earn money, to pay the bills, to survive.
But a better question might be, “What do you really enjoy doing that you might be able to turn into a gift for the world?” This is the question that this book has you answer. It's about spiritual wealth. It's about making peace with money. Not seeing money as something you have to slog to earn, but money as a reward for you doing good deeds for the world and fulfilling your mission.
And there's something amazing that happens when you work on something that you feel is a mission. It drives you. It inspires you. It motivates you. Life doesn't feel like an uphill climb. It almost feels as if you have the wind behind your back as you move towards this mission. When you do this, work dissolves. Work ceases to exist in your vocabulary because when you're working on your mission, nothing makes you happier. The money is just a beautiful side effect.
This book is the best of Joe's work so far—perhaps his greatest work out of 30 years and 50 books. It is designed to inspire people to stretch, to grow, to serve, to awaken. The first part of the book talks from a “we perspective” to help you realize that we are all one and because we are all one, what could be more important than creating a mission that serves a collective humanity?
The second part of the book is about you…it's from a “you perspective” to address your own personal call to action. It helps you identify your mission, how to make sure the mission is right, how to monetize your mission.
Just as few books in history have actually changed the course of history, this book, the manifesto, is designed to do the same for a new generation. Your generation. My generation. The time is now. The book is here.
Thank you.
Vishen LakhianiFounder, MindvalleyAuthor, Code of the Extraordinary Mind
Acknowledgments
Where do I begin? I have many people to thank. Without Mitch Van Dusen's enthusiasm, persistence, dedication, and passion, this book may have remained an idea that never hatched into being. He and his wife, Paloma Mele, were directly responsible for creating the foundation for this manifesto. Matt Holt and my friends at John Wiley & Sons, Elizabeth Gildea and Shannon Vargo, saw the value of this book and quickly offered to publish it. Dawn Kilgore at Wiley provided excellent editorial feedback. The Statbrook Group, consisting of Frank Mangano, Steve G. Jones, Paul Mascetta, and Glenn Cucurullo, always support my product ideas; together we have created an online product and a movement around this book at www.awakenedmillionaireacademy.com/begin. Suzanne Burns and Zion Chatelle have been with me a long time, as friends and assistants, without whom few of my projects would get done. Achieve Today, who run my Miracles Coaching® program, are all beautiful souls who help carry my work into the world. And of course, Nerissa, my love, is always there for me. I love you all and thank you all.
Prologue
A bizarre, schizophrenic battle is raging in your head.
You are at the front lines, a gun in your blister-stained hands, as you fire fanatically and continuously into a blinding haze of fog.
You cannot see beyond it.
But the enemy is there, menacing, a rabid dog. Occasionally you see a shadow shimmering through the haze —a flash of movement without a shape to define it. You want to say you see faces, bodies, and trees, but nothing is clear except the battle. The battle is a behemoth impossible to miss. The enemy must be a behemoth as well.
But all you really know of the enemy is the fog that hides it. The fog that never flees. It is as persistent as you are.
To your left and right, you see long lines of others, men and women, engaged with the same compulsion and vigor. Some yell ferociously, spraying waves of bullets into the fog. Some simply keep firing on, stoically committed.
No one looks like a hardened soldier or a trained fighter. You are all just people. Everyone looks hardened by exhaustion.
You are tired, your bones weary and your soul sagging. Callouses stain your hands. Dirt has woven itself into the threads of your clothes. Your shoulders are tense and contorted, the look of someone permanently embracing a rifle.
Still, no one dares rest. The enemy is there. The war is real. The stakes are desperately high. That's all you must know.
You don't remember when this war started.
You don't remember the face of the enemy you fight.
You don't remember the last time you laid down.
Doubts have tugged at you, but your soulful conviction has never left you.
You do not indulge the doubts. You are fighting for good. You are fighting for what's right. You are fighting for your own survival.
That's all you must remember, so you never let it go.
You must stay true and press on. So you do.
You pause a moment and rest your eyes. And then you feel the warm hand rest on your shoulder.
You would've startled with shot nerves, but the soft touch is kind and disarming.
“Come with me. You must see something.” The woman's voice is soft.
She is dressed in plain clothes. No fatigues. No weapons. But you see the old callouses on her trigger hand. They are not like yours. They've softened.
There is something quietly compelling about her. She seems...good. A good person. Calm and collected. Her posture is sure, yet soft.
Why is she here?
You shake your head. You cannot abandon the cause. You cannot retreat from your post.
Yet you stand.
You lay your weapon down, step away from your bunker, and quietly follow. Your fellow fighters turn and stare with venom in their eyes.
Your body is still buzzing from the vibrations of your gun, your arms uncomfortable and awkward with no weapon to hold.
Guilt and rage flash to your face as the blood drains to your feet.
You feel traitorous and treacherous.
But she walks, and you follow.
Muscle spasms and weak knees...you are uncomfortable. You don't remember how long it's been since you've walked.
But she keeps walking, and you keep following.
As you walk by your fellow soldiers hard at war, you see a futility you've never acknowledged before.
We are not soldiers, you say to yourself. We are not soldiers.
You've lost yourself in your head before you realize you've reached the end of the ranks. Your guide has climbed up and out of the trench, and begun walking, without fear....
Why are we going towards the enemy lines?
Your pains and curiosities are replaced by dread and confusion. But you don't stop.
The fear rushes blood into your cheeks. You feel lightheaded. But you say nothing. You are petrified. But you keep walking.
Where is she taking you?
And then she stops. She points to a small hill to your right and gestures to it with an open hand.
You quietly climb the hill ahead of her. She walks beside you, comfortably walking at your strained pace. It feels kind and compassionate.
At the summit you turn around.
There it is. The battlefield. As you'd never imagined.
On the left, you see the sparkling light of muzzle flashes shrouded in fog, the guns of your fellow soldiers cracking with furious desperation.
On the right, you finally see beyond the fog.
There's nothing there.
No enemies, no gargantuan war machines, no frightful beasts.
Only a small forest of trees riddled with aimless bullets.
The involuntary gasp that escapes surprises you nearly as much as the site in front of you.
Every muscle in your body rattles with horror.
Your wide eyes pressed urgently against their sockets.
There is nothing there!
You grab her hand out of quick impulse and squeeze with ferocious confusion.
You mean to scream it out, but all that emerges is a strained whisper, “What have we been fighting for?”
She turns her head to you, with kindness in her eyes.
“For the love of money.”
Section OneWe
1The Truth
Money is not required to buy one necessity of the soul.
—Henry David Thoreau
True or false:
Money is the root of all evil.
Money is the great destroyer.
Money can't buy happiness.
Money can't buy peace of mind.
Money corrupts absolutely.
Money hardens the heart.
Money is our madness.
Money is our prison.
Money controls us.
Money changes us.
Money makes us greedy.
Money makes us poor.
We are at war with money. We don't know when it started, or even why. But it feels right. It is the right war to wage, because we are more important than money. Our souls are in danger. Money should have no power over us. But it does. So we sing the battle cry.
We curse it. We curse it with pleasure, with anger, with spite, with venom.
Our souls rail against it as if it is all that's rotten with humanity.
We hate the wicked control it commands over us.
We resent its spiteful disregard for the stress it breeds.
We scorn the greed it births.
We brood over the sly way it eats away at our health, our longevity, and our happiness.
We spite it for making us helpless victims to its power.
We whine like spoiled children for its gift of misery.
We would burn it gleefully, bill by bill, if we didn't love it so much.
Yes, we are in love with money.
Whatever this fabricated war might be, it can't touch this insatiable desire to have it, hold it, covet it and cherish it.
We dream of bulging pockets and oversized paychecks.
We lust for this magical money freedom.
We revere it with blatant disregard for the consequences.
We're convinced we need it to buy our happiness.
We're jealous of those that have it.
We moan when we lose it.
We rejoice when we gain it.
We beg for it, plead for it, fight for it, cry for it.
We would violently curse a man who gleefully burned it, bill by bill.
What madness! What a twisted way to move through life!
If we had the same kind of relationship with our lovers, it would be dysfunctional and emotionally abusive. I love you, I need you, I want more of you. You disgust me, you poison me. You're mine, all mine. You love everybody else, but not me.
We are in a relationship with money whether we like it. It's not going away. It will not die. We live with money and money lives with us. Yet we fight, and fight, and fight. Struggle, struggle, and struggle.
This vicious cycle seems to be our fate.
And yet, as we fight, struggle, love, and hate, there is a small group of people who have it, hold it, and don't need it. People soaked in prosperity, having everything they could want. Everything, including mission and purpose. People who taste profound success while money is the least of their passions.
They neither love it, nor hate it.
They neither struggle with it, nor fight it.
They command it, yet respect it.
They don't fight for it, but they give with it.
And somehow they keep making money.
But this enlightened approach is far from the norm. And we have no help from the world around us to gain this enlightenment, much less even recognize the potential for enlightenment. Let us see how the mental poison keeps away the enlightenment.
A man drives down Route 180 in St. Louis, Missouri on his way to work, when his 1993 Toyota Corolla suddenly begins belching smoke and vapor from under the hood. He doesn't have the money to pay for repairs, but if he can't make it to work, he won't get paid his hourly wage. Not having a credit card, or any other recourse, he quickly trots to the closest storefront that promises payday loans. In hours, he has a $500 loan, and gets his Corolla to a repair shop. Two weeks later, he gets his paycheck, but he can't quite pull the cash together to pay back the short-term loan. The debt turns into $644 in one day, and grows staggeringly over the course of the next few months. The payday loan company finally sues him, and he loses everything he has, including his job.
He concludes, Money is evil.
Two sisters convene at a lawyer's office to hear their mother's last will and testament for the first time. They learn that the elder sister has been left the majority of their mother's estate, and the younger sister has been left a smaller amount locked in a trust. Later, in the older sister's living room, the younger one angrily asks why she has been so poorly rewarded in the will. The older sister cautiously comments on the younger's problems with drugs and alcohol, as well as her absence at the hospital for the last few months. The younger sister flies into a rage, and so begins a fight so awful they cannot speak to one another. Even after they reconnect years later, the younger sister feels resentment. The older one forever feels guilt over keeping her full share, yet never offers her sister any financial assistance for fear of insulting her.
They conclude, Money is the great destroyer.
Every day for 23 years, a man starts his day at his local deli to get a coffee, a breakfast sandwich, and a lotto ticket. He doesn't have much, so he rarely splurges for a big ticket, but after spending thousands of dollars over the years on lotto tickets, he hits the jackpot. When given the choice of receiving the prize over 26 annual installments or in a lump sum, he goes for the lump sum. He wants to see $3 million in his bank account. Having been a kid who didn't know if there would be hot water when he turned on the shower, who was made fun of for wearing hand-me-down clothes two sizes too big, he decides to show everybody what he never had. He buys a house, a beautiful car, and a boat, and he meets his wife. He buys his parents a new house too. He lives from one extravagant vacation to the next. He donates money to neighborhood communities. In five years, his bank account is at zero. He sells the house, the car, the boat. His wife leaves, and eventually he goes back to work, and to a different deli.
The man concludes, Money can't buy happiness.
A single mother works two jobs to raise her kids. She can't remember the last time she wasn't working, cooking, or cleaning. Each month the bills pile higher, and each of those white envelopes with the glassine window she pulls out of her mailbox is another moment out of thousands when her heart sinks. There's no payoff. And as retirement looks more and more like a fairy tale her parents told her about, she cannot see an end to it all.
The mother concludes, Money is our prison.
A young man takes a job working for a company he doesn't like, selling a product he doesn't believe in, talking without joy or enthusiasm to potential customers. He suffers at work, fails to make income, and struggles to pay his bills. Over time, he loses his self respect, his family, and his health.
He concludes, Money makes us greedy.
A woman goes into business for herself. Not knowing her own hidden beliefs about money and success, she pours all her savings and all her loans into her business. As it fails, she borrows more, taps out her credit cards, and fights to survive. Without an awakening, she goes bankrupt.
She concludes, Money makes us poor.
