On Financial Intelligence

One man's views on financial intelligence, Robert Kiyosaki's reflects on his "Rich Dad's" thoughts about financial intelligence:


"Financial wisdom is not about how much money you make, it's about how much money you keep and how hard that money works for you."

Yet as time went on, he refined his definition of financial intelligence. He once said, "You know your financial intelligence is increasing if as you get older your money is buying you more freedom, happiness, health, and choices in life." He went on to explain that many people made more money as they got older, but their money only brought them less freedom - less freedom in the form of having bigger bills to pay. Having bigger bills meant the person had to work harder to pay for them. To rich dad this was not financially intelligent. He also explained that he saw many people making a lot of money, but their money did not make them happier. To him, that was not financially intelligent. "Why work for money and be unhappy?" He said, "If you must work for money, find a way to work and be happy. That is financial intelligence."

When it came to health he would say, "Too many people work too hard for money and slowly kill themselves in the process. Why work hard sacrificing the mental and physical well-being of your family as well as yourself? That is not financially intelligent." When it came to health he also said, "Three is no such thing as a sudden heart attack. Heart attacks and other diseases such as cancer take time to develop. They are caused by lack of exercise, a poor diet, and not enough joy in one's life over extended periods of time. Of the three, I think lack of joy is the greatest cause of heart attacks and disease." He said, "Too many people think about working harder rather then about how to have more fun and enjoy this great gift of life."

My rich dad went on went on to explain that financial intelligence gave a person more choices in life by saying, "Money is power because more money gives you more choices. But it was his lesson about happiness that he stressed more and more the older he got. As he neared the end of his life and had more money than he had dreamed possible, he restated again and again, "Money does not make you happy. Never think that you will be happy when you get rich. If you are not happy while getting rich, chances are you will not be happy when you do get rich. So whether you are rich or poor, make sure you are happy."

-Robert Kiyosaki, "Rich Kid, Smart Kid"

When Is The Best Time?

Something to reflect on:


The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago.
The second best time is today.

-Chinese Proverb

Rudeness

"If you are right, but rude, you're wrong."
- Loosely quoted from Rick Warren.

This saying was mentioned during a wedding sermon I heard on the weekend and I liked it. A lot. No matter how bad, evil, or "ignorant" someone is, if you become rude in you're response to them, you are automatically in the wrong. Doesn't matter what it is. Nothing justifies you (or I) being rude - ever. As it says about Love in 1st Cor 13, "it is not rude." How much is rudeness a problem for you?

Risky Inspiration

Here are a few inspiring thoughts on risk, to go with my last post:


You'll always miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
- Wayne Gretzky

He who risks and fails can be forgiven. He who never risks and never fails is a failure in his whole being.
- Paul Tillich

The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing, and becomes nothing. He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn and feel and change and grow and love and live.
- Leo F. Buscaglia

Prudence keeps life safe, but does not often make it happy.
- Samuel Johnson

The more chance there is of stubbing your toe, the more chance you have of stepping into success.
- Author Unknown

Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.
- Robert F. Kennedy

Progress always involves risks. You can't steal second base and keep your foot on first.
- Frederick B. Wilcox

To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself.
- Soren Kierkegaard

Why not go out on a limb? Isn't that where the fruit is?
- Frank Scully

On Mysticism - G.K. Chesterton

"Mysticism keeps men sane. As long as you have mystery you have health;
when you destroy mystery you create morbidity. The ordinary man has
always been sane because the ordinary man has always been a mystic.
He has permitted the twilight. He has always had one foot in earth
and the other in fairyland. He has always left himself free to doubt
his gods; but (unlike the agnostic of to-day) free also to believe
in them. He has always cared more for truth than for consistency.
If he saw two truths that seemed to contradict each other,
he would take the two truths and the contradiction along with them.
His spiritual sight is stereoscopic, like his physical sight:
he sees two different pictures at once and yet sees all the better
for that. Thus he has always believed that there was such a thing
as fate, but such a thing as free will also. Thus he believed
that children were indeed the kingdom of heaven, but nevertheless
ought to be obedient to the kingdom of earth. He admired youth
because it was young and age because it was not. It is exactly
this balance of apparent contradictions that has been the whole
buoyancy of the healthy man. The whole secret of mysticism is this:
that man can understand everything by the help of what he does
not understand. The morbid logician seeks to make everything lucid,
and succeeds in making everything mysterious. The mystic allows
one thing to be mysterious, and everything else becomes lucid."
- G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

Thoughts from Rick Warren

On understanding life . . .
"You were made by God and for God, and until you understand that, life will never make sense.”

On humility . . .
“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less.”

On dependence . . .
“You never know God is all you need until God is all you have.”

On the Church . . .
“You don’t judge the strength of an army by how many soldiers sit and eat in the mess hall, but by how they perform on the front line. Likewise a church’s strength is not seen in how many show up, but in how many serve in the ministry.”

On Arranged Marriages . . .

An Indian once compared love with a bowl of soup and marriage with the hot plate of a stove and said: "You Westerners put a hot bowl on a cold plate and it grows cold slowly. We put a cold bowl on a hot stove and it warms up slowly."


I liked this quote. It catches the spirit of why arranged marriages can actually work, and often work well. In most Western marriages, couples attempt to experience most of the best parts of marriage before they get married. Sex, cohabitation, domestic sharing, even children. Yet they are not fully committed. Try before you buy. Experiencing and embracing all of these things without the safety and security of a firm marriage commitment is not just anti-Christian, but creates huge emotional/attachment issues. It is no wonder that so many Western marriages end in disillusionment and divorce. Yet their strength is that there is freedom and consent, and often some form of love.

The strength of arranged marriages is their foundation of commitment. Arranged marriages definitely have severe drawbacks (especially when you don't have the enthusiastic consent of both parties). They usually do not start on a foundation of love (or even "like"), which seems to be a foundational necessity. Arranged marriages focus too strongly on the commitment aspect and are weak on love, something that is just as necessary for a marriage to grow and flourish. Although cultural norms do not encourage those in arranged marriages to divorce, many of these relationships are cold and lifeless.

Commitment and love must both be present and in high amounts in order for marriage to survive and thrive. Although it is best and most fulfilling to have these at the start of a serious relationship there is still much hope for those who didn't have one or both of these. And that is why I do what I do . . .

The Wisdom of Lao Tzu

When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.
Lao Tzu

Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power.
Lao Tzu

Great acts are made up of small deeds.
Lao Tzu

Be Content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.
Lao Tzu

Those Irritating People!

"Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves."

Carl Jung

Quote Of The Day

I love this:

"When you blame others, you give up your power to change."
-Robert Anthony

P.S. The image is "Blame Game 3" by artist Donny Hood.

How To Influence People

Gerry shared this John Maxwell quote with me yesterday and I found it quite profound:

“People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
- John Maxwell

As a counselor I have a lot of theory, experience, and "knowledge" about how to help people with their life issues. As a parent, friend, and Christian I also have wisdom that can enrich and help people. But if I don't show people first that I care, my understanding is difficult to hear. Caring for others in a natural precursor for them to listen to us when we want to impart into their lives. The quote is a good reminder for me - and maybe it will be for someone else out there.

The Skeleton At The Feast Is You

Anger is so bad for us. It's bad for our health, our relationships, and our feelings of self-worth. Need some incentive to deal with your anger problem? Or maybe a little inspiration? Here's a few of my favorite anger quotes and proverbs:

"If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow."
-Chinese Proverb

“Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.”
-Proverbs 16:32

"Men are like steel: when they lose their temper, they lose their worth."
-Chuck Norris

"Consider how much more you often suffer from your anger and grief, than from those very things for which you are angry and grieved."
-Marcus Antonius

"He who angers you conquers you."
-Elizabeth Kenny

"Two things a man should never be angry at: what he can help, and what he cannot help."
-Thomas Fuller

"Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be."
-Thomas a Kempis

"If a small thing has the power to make you angry, does that not indicate something about your size?"
-Sydney J. Harris

"Of the Seven Deadly Sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back--in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you."
-Frederick Buechner