The Two Motivations That Ensure Your Financial Success: 10th Letter to BodyChance Students

In a series of letters, I have been exploring how to achieve financial success as a BodyChance teacher of Alexander Technique. I have basically covered three critical steps:

1. 1.     Realize you are becoming small business owner;
2. 2.     Find people who will pay for a service you can offer;
3. 3.     Put making money as one of your primary motives.

Today I continue writing about the importance of making money…

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SUBJECT: Find Two Motivations That Ensure Your Financial Success...

Dear Seito-san,

It took me 36 years to realize how important money was – until I did, I was in constant struggle. I used to veer all over the place, like a child being lured by bright, shiny objects. Then one day I heard this statement:

Successful people are quick to make decisions, but slow to change their mind. Unsuccessful people are slow to make decisions, but quick to change their mind.

Which one are you? Of course, success needs to be defined. From the start of these letters, I included in my definition of success the ability to make enough money to support a family of 5, take an annual holiday, run a car, pay a mortgage and make savings.

Success is a function of clarity – clarity about many things, but primary to all of them is your motivation. Initially, I was motived for many different reasons, chief amount them: creativity and respect. Money was a long way down my list. Therefore, I made crazy financial decisions, believing the respect of others, or having fun, more important than almost anything else. It didn’t serve my financial health, which in turn resulted in anxiety and stress.

Once I put making money as one of my top priorities, all that started to change. So I urge you to get clear about what you really want. You don’t have to want money, I am not saying that, but I am saying that if you want to have a successful career, as I defined it above, then making money has to be one of your two top priorities. As soon as it goes to third or lower priority, money simply won’t come.

Money as a motivation alone is not good either. It needs to be offset by your passion, by your truest motivation – whatever that is. Take a look at this list of different things that could be motivating you…

• ·      To reform the world
• ·      To be respected by others
• ·      To be seen as the best
• ·      To be different, original
• ·      To know more than anyone
• ·      To seek justice
• ·      To have fun, be creative
• ·      To build an empire
• ·      To make peace

Now write them down from the most important to the least important. Now add “making money” and place it somewhere in the list, where you feel it now currently sits as a motivator for you…

So what number does it go near? If you didn’t want to put it at the first or second spot, your decisions will not be governed by financial common sense, but by other factors that may or may not support you financially.

Keep working with this list. Find out your true motivation and then ask: how could I make money doing that? Is there an ethical, legal and moral way that I could make a living? I am sure there is – but it’s you that needs to be convinced of it, not me.

cheerfully

Jeremy

PS Do share any thoughts, questions or complaints you have on my FaceBook page. You can join my circle of friends by putting in a request at this link:  www.facebook.com/chancejeremy