Hi Michael,

I just received your email after having my first coaching call.
Getting clear is an amazing feeling. It’s not just what’s possible for yourself but for so many other people. For all the other ripples that spread out that we don’t even know about.

My vision is to make finances fun. To empower people so that they don’t dread another bill in the mail. That they understand what’s important about money and what isn’t.

Thank you for your Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun - it gets me smiling even when I think I’ve forgotten how to smile

Big hug,
Karen

I’m not so sure this good kind of “truth to one’s self” is really “selfish” and maybe that word, while cute, gets in the way. In financial thinking people often cite the principle “pay yourself first.” That’s the concept of putting a portion of your check away immediately into savings. It’s critical to put a portion of the good, strong energy we each have toward our own purpose and our own renewal or we’ll have nothing left, nothing grown for the next season and we’ll be of no good to anyone.

What is Great Work for me is building thise 7,000,000 dome homes for homeless around the world! YES!

Thanks for your inspiration Michael.

Just before his death the French philosopher Michel Foucault did some fascinating historical work looking at how Greeks worked with Self. Foucault noted that in Western civilisation we are familiar with and have absorbed the notion of “Know Thyself”, but for the Greeks equally important was the practice “Care of Oneself”.

It’s nuanced, but I think it’s important: “know thyself” implies an end-state, something which can be done and completed. “Care of oneself” is a practice and suggests ongoing selfishness as a path to..well let’s practice and see what comes up! So my favourite quote is Brad Brown’s (www.moretolife.org) “Practice, practice until it becomes your practice”.

A number of years ago I had a very clear vision of what my work was meant to be. The set of circumstances that made it possible for me to create that business looked a little different than I had imagined, but otherwise arrived as if on cue. It absolutely thrived (as did I) for about 8 years–everyone had a blast.

You are absolutely right about how having that clear vision makes all the other decisions easy. I could deal with a hundred details (or more) a day then, because everything either supported or didn’t “the big picture”. And I cared for myself then too, physically and mentally, because I needed to be feeling good in order to be able to make those good decisions, which supported my customers, staff, vendors, etc. that kept everything flowing. I received a lot of recognition within my industry, especially for my marketing techniques, and kept wondering why all the people who had done this business for much longer would be asking me about what I did! But I didn’t look at what others had already done, I just made my choices based on what I knew was right for the vision.

In the present marketplace that exact vision no longer works, and I have spent a few years recovering from some personal setbacks, but I daily seek the next great vision, because that is where great work comes from, and it is much more fun to do great work than to do OK work.

Your column comes at a crucial time in my life when I am asking the tough questions of what I truly want in my life. I have wondered many times, why are we not taught this in school? To empower ourselves and really figure out what we want? Then go get it, vs being in situations that may not totally serve us and then figuring it out.

Keep up the great work Michael!

In every message, there are always at least a few words that strike at my heart and mind. Thanks again

It’s amazing to me that I have finally figured this out. I am on the planet to spread peace and love through the words and music that Spirit creates by means of me. And I’ve known that for probably 20 years. But what I have learned is this — I am happiest, and most on track, when I do that in the form of a benefit concert, so that IN ADDITION to sharing the music that helps others, and brings me joy in the process, I am also raising money to help people heal. This is the package that works best for me, and I’m always looking for places to create it! (Any venues in NJ who’d like a great benefit concert?)

I am slowly coming to the realisation that the ultimate act of selfishness is giving. When you give away what you no longer want or need you are enriching the lives of others and your own at the same time. When you give of yourself, your skills, talents, joy and enthusiasm, there is a multiplying effect in others and also a development of your own capacity in more than one area. When you decide on your Great Work… It highlights what you have and what is important to you. It is entirely linked with having fun. And fun is also much better when it is shared!

Adele, you’re on to it. And when you give away what you really want for yourself, you’ve discovered true humility. When you give of yourself, you’re not really giving of yourself; you’re merely joining in. It’s actually the way human beings behave, naturally, when they’re not distressed. It’s part of the Grand Plan which is so obvious (but so obscure) that nobody notices.

Hi Michael,

Your 4 mistakes article hit home for me as I have been a very ‘busy’ person and have not appreciated how truly fantastic my freinds and family are. this year I will deffinelty stop running and start breathing (and by breathing I mean appreciating my freinds, family and life. Have a good Christmas