Moneylove As Philosophy
Some People “Get It”, Some People Don’t
A lot of folks think I’m just another one of those prosperity gurus talking and writing about how to get rich, how to get rich quick, how to get rich and hold onto it. They miss the point, and even Warner Books in the paperback of Moneylove, by putting Think, Get Rich on the cover, missed the point.
Believing and Feeling Are More Important Than Thinking
Okay, here’s the deal. Of course, all positive action leading to positive results starts with thought. But that is just the first spark, the real power comes from believing you will achieve your goals, which of course influences your actions–and feeling your own power and your own possibilities. Without these, you can think until your brain explodes, and you won’t be attracting anything worthwhile.
One of the reasons I am planning to revise, expand, and annotate the original book is because this is something I would love to see other authors do with classic works. I’ve mentioned before that I would love to know what Napoleon Hill would say that’s new–he certainly would have had a lot more ideas since writing Think And Grow Rich (and by the way, his book also was about a lot more than thinking–go back and read it). This project also gives me the opportunity to revisit Moneylove all these years later, and think anew about some of what it contains.
I am also looking at it for the next audio program for The Moneylove Club, which will feature ten statements or ideas from the book, and what I think and feel and believe about them now. One of these is the following quote from Frank Goble’s The Third Force, about the work of pioneering psychologist Abraham Maslow, and his studies of self-actualized people. Maslow was important because he was one of the first to say: let’s study healthy, successful people rather than focus on the sick and disturbed.
Because of their courage, their lack of fear, they are willing to make silly mistakes. The truly creative person is one who can think ‘crazy’; such a person knows full well that many of his great ideas will prove to be worthless. The creative person is flexible–he is able to change as the situation changes, to break habits, to face indecision and changes in conditions without undue stress. He is not threatened by the unexpected as rigid, inflexible people are.
A Quote That Can Change Your Life
Oh, I believe this to be absolutely true. If you studied the above paragraph and adopted and adapted it to your life, I have no doubt that your results would be very rewarding indeed. For me, facing indecision without undue stress is a big one, and I admit I still need to work on it. I think I have flexible down pat, and certainly maintaining my optimism and robust expectations while serving a 12 year prison sentence indicates I am not threatened by unexpected changes in conditions. Self-actualization is an ideal–very few of us will achieve it to perfection, but perfection is not the goal.
What actually constitutes a successful life, I believe, is a constant forward movement toward our highest goals, so you can look back at the end of a day and say, “I’m a little bit closer today than I was yesterday.”
Jerry
Nice to see the Frank Goble quote. Goble also hand-transcribed all of Maslow’s journals–some 1000 pages–from handwriting. This was no easy task.
Note that Maslow spoke of “metapay” which was a measure of value received from work. This translates “How much would you pay to work with nice people?” or “How much would you pay to work at Big Sur?” etc.
Important to fold in values of job and not just $, which always seems to belong to someone else anyway. There are more people taking it away from us than there are helping us, so it’s important to think of how much we exchange for values, such as “Is the employer vaguely interested in me, or am I expected to be Maslow’s “well adjusted slave.”
You might take a look at Maslow’s “Eupsychian Management” for the look and feel of a new capitalism. Colin Wilson said of the book, “It’s Maslow’s answer to ‘Das Kapital’.”
Also, one of Maslow’s seminal works is his “Theory Z” which was brand hijacked (unintentionally) by Bill Ouchi. In “Theory Z” Maslow points to two kinds of self-actualizers, which I will let you discover. Once you see the focus on these two types, lots of things make perfect sense.
Best Wishes
I have heard of Maslow, but after reading Sam’s comment above, I’m checking out one of his books from my library. His work looks extremely interesting. Prior to this post, I only knew of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
Jerry, the comment about “craziness”, lack of fear, and flexibility being a prereq for success is spot on. When I was 25, I experimented with being homeless because I was tired of holding down jobs that had no meaning. I spent two years on the streets and I actually enjoyed it! I read personal growth books all day and always found a clean place to sleep and food to eat. I had little worries back then. Unfortunately I went back into the real world, got a well paying job, and bought into materialism. Thankfully I’ve moved past all of that nonsense.
Looking forward to reading more of your posts.