Renaissance for Leaders

Reference library exploring leadership & human performance

Category: Money & Wealth Page 4 of 5

IOUSA

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On March 17, 2009

In Money & Wealth

April 26, 2017 > Update > Wow, watching this video again eight years later is an eye-opener. The US Federal debt has climbed to almost $20 Trillion. Clearly, the core issue of too high spending and too low income has not been solved.

Government finances operate on the same principles as business and personal finances, with the exception that we don’t work for the stockholders, and don’t serve the interests of all citizens. It is possible to predict the future by looking to the past. get ready for another crash. Check out the US Debt Clock > here.

March 17, 2009 > This video is very well done. I.O.U.S.A. boldly examines the rapidly growing national debt and its consequences for the United States and its citizens. The graphics are awesome and the content is very well presented. The full version is available (highly recommended) on DVD from PBS.

Financial Crisis: What to Say to Your Loved Ones

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On March 17, 2009

In Money & Wealth

Many people have their self-worth hardwired to their net-worth. I referred to this phenomenon in Towers of Glass, Feet of Clay.  Perhaps this is the single biggest reason it is a good idea to build a glass tower around yourself in the first place. So, what happens when the waves of impact touch your reality and this tower is about to blow apart from the tension, shattering everything within its shadow?

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Thoughts about Money

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On March 6, 2009

In Money & Wealth

Many of us would agree that our results in life are created by our actions, and our actions are preceded by thoughts, and our thoughts are created by our feelings.  The challenge is that most of us have thoughts and feelings that are hidden deep in the subconscious mind – out of our conscious awareness. The easiest way to see what is in our subconscious is to look at our results.  Our results will reflect the inner workings of our mind.

Over a lifetime, we hear thousands of comments about money and observe the money behavior of the people closest to us:  our parents, relatives, teachers, friends and colleagues.  Many of these comments reinforce patterns of thinking and beliefs that over time become buried in our subconscious.  Our day-to-day experiences confirm and validate that these thoughts and beliefs are true and accurate.

In order to change the relationship we have with money, we have to reprogram our subconscious mind.  This requires replacing negative thoughts and feelings that are inaccurate with positive thoughts and feelings that give us the results we want.

Most people would like to increase their income, however negative thoughts about what they have to do to make more money often counters their intention.  For example, if you have the belief that you have to be dishonest to make money – and you see yourself as an honest person – you will avoid making lots of money so you don’t compromise your status as an honest person.  However, this belief is not true.  You can make as much money as you want through honest means and all the while maintain the highest levels of honesty and integrity.

Making a list of your most negative thoughts about money will help you to bring these deep-seated thoughts and feelings to the surface so you can view them and choose a replacement thought and feeling.

Many years ago, I sat down with a note pad and created two columns.  In the left column, I listed my most negative thoughts about money.  In the right hand column, I wrote a positive affirmation that would reprogram the negative into the positive.

This process totally transformed my relationship to money.  I highly recommend that you make your own list and pay attention to the thoughts that come up as you read the list below.  Feel free to use any of these and add them to your list.

moneythoughts11moneythoughts2

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Confront and the Financial Crisis

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On March 3, 2009

In Money & Wealth

With the financial crisis deepening, many of our worst fears are being realized.  With the Waves of Impact continuing to wash over us, we are being confronted by financial losses on a never-before-seen scale. Entire industries are at risk of being wiped out. Previously invulnerable mega-corporations are being brought to their knees. Hidden weaknesses are being exposed.

As individuals, we are being faced with the complete loss or at least dramatic reduction in the value of our retirement accounts. It can feel like we are being confronted on all sides. How do we cope with the uncertainty?

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Towers of Glass, Feet of Clay

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On February 25, 2009

In Money & Wealth

royal_bank_building-smallI have been reflecting further about the “financial crisis,” and recalling a book I read in 1982 called Towers of Gold: Feet of Clay – the Canadian Banks, by Walter Stewart.

In a conversation about this with my colleagues I happened to say towers of glass, and perhaps 27 years later, Glass is more descriptive. In 1982, I was working in the oil and gas industry in Canada and this book was written about the Banking Industry, the mortgage crisis and the oil prices. These themes are again relevant in 2009.

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Waves of Impact

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On February 24, 2009

In Money & Wealth

underwater3

Nearly everyone is feeling the financial crisis, not all at once, but rather in waves.  These waves or fluctuations go in and out like the ocean. Each one brings more insight, more truth, more change, and with each contact, ever greater connections that impact our reality. The illusions and ideas that we took for granted are eroding.

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DOW Jones Over One Week Versus Six Months

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On February 21, 2009

In Money & Wealth

dowjones_oneweekvsoneyear

Check out this chart!  What I find interesting is that the one-week view of the Dow Jones Industrial Average looks very similar to the six-month view. The chart shows a slow decline, then a cliff, then a slow decline again. The down trend looks at first glance to be very similar.

Some conclusions:

  1. All data must be read within a larger context.
  2. Patterns are clearly repeating.
  3. The trend appears to be downwards.
  4. Have we hit bottom yet? Tell me when you figure that one out!

What Is the Credit Crisis?

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On February 21, 2009

In Money & Wealth

Check out the below video about the credit crisis, what caused it, how it is escalating and what the connection is between house owners, brokers, bankers and Wall Street.

Even if you understand the dynamics of the crisis, this video can help you to explain it clearly to others.

Financial Stress

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On February 15, 2009

In Money & Wealth

I noted an interesting statistic today.  The most popular post on this BLOG relates to dealing with stress.  This has got me thinking… Since October 2008, what is on most people’s minds is the financial crisis and how this continuing crisis is going to impact our companies, our investments, our finances and our personal lives.

What does financial stress have to do with leadership?  Everything!  If you are feeling nervous, anxious or even outright terror at the thought of not making ends meet, the first person for you to lead is yourself.  It is very difficult to be creative, resourceful and confident when you are dealing with the various mind-numbing hormones we experience as fear.

So how do you lead yourself?

Often (but not always) our mind speculates as to what could happen and we conjure up images of the worst case scenario, which in most cases turns out to be worse than reality.

Leading yourself requires objectivity.  If you consider the worst case scenario versus the best case scenario, first figure out ways you can live with the worst case. Then from this place, you can calmly consider possible courses of action that you could take to avert the worst case.  And in most cases, reality tends to be somewhere in between the worst and the best case.

On the other hand, if you avoid the worst case, pretend it won’t happen (denial), and go on as if nothing is going to happen… you have a very good chance of going through the worst case scenario in reality!

So accepting the worst case allows you to let go of the fear and to think calmly of what can be done with the resources at hand.  Once you have a number of items that you can take action on immediately, a strange thing happens.  Fear turns to confidence… confusion is replaced with clarity.

Having a plan – any plan – is far better than no plan at all.  At least with a plan you have certainty of what you can do.  And if it does not work, you can at least be confident in the knowledge that you succeeded in finding out what does not work.  Then you can try another approach, and another… until you succeed. Accepting the worst case and then having a plan will reduce your stress, especially when you take action on your plan.

Another possibility is to look at the financial crisis as an opportunity. This will empower you to make changes that you would not otherwise make. Oftentimes, when things don’t flow, we have an opportunity to examine why they are not flowing.  Whereas, when the money is easily flowing, we would continue on unchanged and not question what we are doing.

So the financial crisis is an ideal opportunity to re-examine what is flowing and what isn’t so we can make different choices.

Over the next few days and weeks we will write more about stress, the financial crisis and how to cope with it.  Stay tuned.

Havingness – and the Upper Limit

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On February 9, 2009

In Money & Wealth

Most people have an upper limit of what they feel worthy receiving. Once this upper limit is reached, they will reject or unconsciously sabotage in order to get rid of whatever it is they are receiving. You would think that receiving more would make you feel good; however, this upper limit causes us to feel worse and worse about ourselves as we receive more.

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