There is a cosmic irony to this law of the universe: the more we try, the more likely we are to fail. This law is true in sports, art, dating, earning money and just about everything else. The more we force effort, the more we repel the thing we want. The more pressure we put on ourselves, the more nervous we get and the more mistakes we make.
Forced effort isn't sustainable. Mounting pressure does not help us perform. And for some reason, the universe demands that we act without trying, achieve without striving for achievement, and get without wanting.
When we are relaxed, effort comes naturally. When we are present, we think clearly. And when we are enjoying ourselves in the work, we are more likely to get the date or promotion.
In today's episode, I talk about money — how we can get it, how we can lose it, and most importantly how we can get it without losing our soul/mind/mental health/inner peace/physical health.
Please enjoy other episodes where Todd shares meditation techniques, tips and spiritual lessons from around the world for peaceful and stress-free living. Remember to subscribe to stay up-to-date.
*****
If you ever feel like my words brought a change in your life, and want to show your SUPPORT for what I am doing, click here.
Find all of my BOOKS for wherever you are on your spiritual journey: https://www.eastwesticism.org/spiritual-meditation-books/
Want to gift a book to a prisoner? Go here.
There is a cosmic irony to this law of the universe: the more we try, the more likely we are to fail. This law is true in sports, art, dating, earning money and just about everything else. The more we force effort, the more we repel the thing we want. The more pressure we put on ourselves, the more nervous we get and the more mistakes we make.
Forced effort isn't sustainable. Mounting pressure does not help us perform. And for some reason, the universe demands that we act without trying, achieve without striving for achievement, and get without wanting.
When we are relaxed, effort comes naturally. When we are present, we think clearly. And when we are enjoying ourselves in the work, we are more likely to get the date or promotion.
In today's episode, I talk about money — how we can get it, how we can lose it, and most importantly how we can get it without losing our soul/mind/mental health/inner peace/physical health.
Please enjoy other episodes where Todd shares meditation techniques, tips and spiritual lessons from around the world for peaceful and stress-free living. Remember to subscribe to stay up-to-date.
*****
If you ever feel like my words brought a change in your life, and want to show your SUPPORT for what I am doing, click here.
Find all of my BOOKS for wherever you are on your spiritual journey: https://www.eastwesticism.org/spiritual-meditation-books/
Want to gift a book to a prisoner? Go here.
0:02
Welcome to path to peace with Todd Perelmuter. I'm your host, Todd Perelmuter our world is a projection of our collective consciousness. The more peace we bring into our lives, the more peace we bring into this world. So let the transformation begin. Hello. Welcome to path to peace with Todd Perelmuter. I'm your host, Todd Perelmuter.
0:29
And today, the question is, how to earn money without being possessed by it. And this is really such an important question in such a huge question, because the answer doesn't just apply to earning money.
0:47
The answer applies to how do we love without fear of losing love? How do we enjoy things without fear of losing things? How do we fight injustice, without letting that fight destroy us?
1:13
So often, the things we consume consume us. And so often, our goals, our work, our plans that we strive for, can easily take us over with fear, panic, stress, worry.
1:39
And if we're not careful, those emotions can turn into anger, greed, and hatred. So one thing we can do is we can look to the martial arts. In martial arts, we are the lucky witnesses of two people fighting externally and internally, maintaining perfect presence, perfect peacefulness, perfect control, self control.
2:20
And the way they do this is through practice, they have a practice, that is, in ancient times, both spiritual and physical, learning to control their mind, control their body, and prepare their body to react in the optimal way.
2:46
under stressful circumstances, this repeated practice over and over again, gets deep into the subconscious of the fighter.
3:00
So that there is no thinking that takes place, they are flowing with the present moment. If for one moment, they become lost in their thoughts, they lose. If they start thinking about the next fight, they lose. If they think about the last fight, they lose, if they think about who they can fight next, and where their career can go next, and how this fight will affect their career.
3:34
And they're consumed by this insatiable drive to win and get bigger and be a huge success. Instead of focusing on this moment, completely, they lose.
3:53
And earning money is really no different. Because while we need a goal and a vision, and a plan, once we have set those factors in our mind, and once we've set our intentions, then we need to set that aside and get to work on what needs to be done right now and give it our full attention. Because the destination is not the most important thing.
4:52
And so mindfulness and paying attention and being fully present sent is the key to achieving what we wish to achieve. We may even have a vision in our mind of a certain future.
5:41
We often look at life, like there's some destination to get to. But the more we realize that this is a journey, this is an adventure game, the less we wait for some future outcome, to bring us that moment of victory. And the more we realize that it's the process of the game, that is the fun, that is the meaning that is the purpose. And to enjoy. That is the goal, not reach that destination, which for all of us, is the same. And not exactly something we're all racing to get to, which is that wooden box, six feet under.
6:34
And yet we act like we're racing, we act like there's some finish line we're trying to get to, even though we're so afraid of that finish line, that we resist thinking and talking about it, and we have a fear of it that permeates all other fear.
7:58
And this is very common. And it often leads to us doing one of three things. We internalize all that stress and resistance, and then we drink it off at night, or we develop chronic pain or other illnesses.
8:19
And the second way we deal with that stuff is to just procrastinate and put off our goals and not focus on each little moment. And instead, we focus on that big dream. And it feels too big to achieve. And so we just keep putting it off and putting it off because all we see is that big outcome. And we're not focusing on those very little easy, doable steps to get there. And the third response to just not wanting to do those essential, boring, mundane, but essential steps to building a company or building.
9:51
Where we may be making a product that is subpar compared to competitors who are fully focused on making the best product. And internally, we are creating a habit and mental pattern of believing that the present moment is not important that escaping is better. And that some future imagined time and destination will be where we can finally relax and be happy.
10:32
The only problem is, even if that day does come, we have spent our entire life learning to do the complete opposite, to resist the present moment to keep putting off our own happiness so that even when these imagined conditions are just perfect, we're still unable to enjoy the present moment to enjoy our own rewards for our hard work. And beyond just reaching our dreams, once we have achieved our dreams are once we've noticed that things are taking off and that things are going in the right direction.
11:19
We still may have this issue where we're possessed by money and the need for more. It doesn't stop ever, until we deal with that and address it because having possessions possesses us. And when we have money. Now we fear losing money. When we have nice things, we fear, losing them. And so we build a higher fence and we buy a big safe and we hire a security team. And we have to put an alarm systems and every single achievement comes with it this fear and negativity.
12:12
And this is just another way that money and possessions have this insidious nature of possessing us. We can't just appreciate and feel grateful, because there is this underlying fear of loss because we want temporary things to be permanent. And we become so attached to things and size of our bank account, and power or fame.
12:50
All of these fleeting things that are constantly changing hands coming and going. And yet we cling so hard, that we become possessed that we will do anything to protect it to keep it and we fall right back into that possessed, panicked, irrational, fearful, paranoid, minds mindset.
13:21
And oftentimes, in these states of fear and panic, we make decisions that cost us those things we're trying to hold on to and protect with dear life. This is when stockbrokers panic and sell everything in a little dip, or buys of very overvalued stock because their fear of missing out. And strangely enough, the greatest stockbrokers are very detached.
13:56
They are not emotional, they stay calm, rational and logical. And the best ones do this in times of panic. And they can wait out the crash and by at rock bottom, you know, they don't ever react unconsciously to the markets, they always respond consciously, with patience and wisdom. And this is really a metaphor for life. Because most of the time, we are unconsciously reacting. We are not mindful of ourselves and our situations and our mental state. We are completely lost in them and we are acting impulsively instead of intentionally. And when that kind of thinking takes over, whether it's in business or in relationships, if we lose our mindful awareness
15:17
And like martial arts. Like that famous song Love is a battlefield. And we can see that when we're dealing with relationships, if we are stressed, fearful, panicked, or if we are desperate and needy and clinging, we push people away.
15:42
When we are present, confident, thoughtful in control, we become much more attractive.
15:53
It's like that neediness is so repulsive to the universe. And whether it's earning money, you know, potential customer can smell that desperation of a salesman and just easily say, no potential partner can smell that desperation, and reject the romantic courtship.
16:25
And if a martial artist starts to get worried, and fearful, and feel rushed, or panicked, that's game over. And these are the same emotions that sweep us away.
16:44
When it comes to money, and the way to not get swept away, is to stay present, to stay mindful, getting swept away by these heavy emotions we have around those things, we've been working our whole life towards money, relationships. Losing ourselves here means that we lose our presence, that we've lost awareness of ourselves.
17:16
And basically, we our highest wisdom and intelligence, our conscious awareness that determines where we put our focus and attention and energy that those faculties disappear, that we become unaware, we are lost in thought instead of witnessing our thoughts.
17:43
And it is in these moments when the generals away that we allow for other things to possess us to take that role and fill in for that vacancy.
18:16
Other circumstances and situations. This is when we become overwhelmed with emotion, with doubt, worry, insecurity. And so just like the martial artist, we have to apply a practice to those things that cause us to lose ourselves.
18:40
And we simply do that by thinking deeply. Best if we can do this in meditation, where we are also very calm and relaxed. And we simply meditate on money. We meditate on our intentions, our goals, our plans, our greatest hopes.
19:07
We recognize and analyze how much is enough? What cost are we going to bear? What are we willing to sacrifice? And what do we want our lives to look like?
19:47
And so every day we can do this we can start the morning by setting our intentions for our lives for five years from now And for this day. And it's important to finish on this day, because we are setting our goals and intentions. And then we end with exactly what needs to be done in this moment.
20:22
And that is all that matters because we have aligned our intentions, and goals. With our plans, we become in full alignment, we understand the action, the thoughts behind that, and the intentions underneath.
20:47
And when we are fully aligned, when there is no internal conflict, when we expect an even embrace, difficulties, hardships and challenges, then we no longer get swept away, then nothing can take control of us because there is no vacancy that needs filling, we can let go of attachment to future outcomes. Because we know that if we do what we need to do in this moment with our fullest attention, and awareness, then the future will take care of itself.
21:36
Futures are created in the now. When we fixate on the future, we have fear, we have insecurity, we may have enough to survive today. But what about tomorrow.
21:56
And while being aware of the truth that life is uncertain, can motivate us to work harder to focus more deeply. But that fear of future if we are not mindful of that as well, then that fear of a imagined future possesses us. And this is where financial possession really takes hold. Because if we have money today, we can fear we may lose it tomorrow. If we have a fancy car, we worry it gets stolen tomorrow.
22:46
And we live in attachment to something temporary, instead of living in appreciation.
22:58
And when we attach to something temporary, we are setting ourselves up for future suffering because nothing lasts forever. Ups and downs. Cycles and constant change are the fundamental laws of this material universe.
24:04
And this is actually something that many athletes do. And it is a very powerful practice and it is the practice of visualization. Which is to think and feel like you're having an experience in your mind. And this creates the same neural network, the brain wiring as if you actually did the thing.
24:31
So athletes and martial artists, they will visualize an entire game or an entire match and they will visualize themselves performing at the optimum peak level. And this creates that muscle memory that automatic response system in the body to naturally do those movements. When we have to act and react quicker than we can think.
24:58
Buddhist monks some literally will meditate on death. And they will meditate on everyone they know and love dying and they will visualize it happening in everyone getting older and aging and decaying.
25:26
Now we don't have to go to such an extreme example what we can all do is when we get a new car, we can in meditation, visualize it getting stolen, getting vandalized, breaking down all of the worst fears that we may have about it, we can visualize losing our job losing all our money in a stock market crash.
25:56
And while it seems counterintuitive, what this is doing, is freeing us from that fear by facing that fear before it happens, then, it's not only less likely to happen, because we are operating, more relaxed, more confident, more stress free. But when it does happen, or if it does happen, we are not going to suffer as much, because we have let go of attachment already.
26:32
And this is one of the most profound practices for facing our attachments, for letting go of the things we cling to, so that we can strive and achieve without fear, without greed, without losing ourselves in any way so that we can reach our dreams. Enjoy the journey and enjoy the rewards.
27:10
This has been path to peace with Todd Perelmuter. I'm your host Todd Perelmuter. Peace and love.
27:18
You've been listening to path to peace with Todd Perelmuter. Being here and putting in this important and noble work is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself and others. If you found this podcast even a little helpful. Please make sure to leave a review so it can reach others who may be in need. And remember, the path to peace starts with a single step.
9:11
The future we're dreaming of, is that we disassociate. And we are not present while we do it. And this is when mistakes are made at building that foundation of this goal we have in our mind, and so it's built on faulty cracks and faulty foundations. And we are creating a habit of mindlessly working where we make mistakes, costly mistakes, where we may be working longer, but getting less done.
19:31
This may look different for every one of us. Each one of us has within our heart, the greatest source of knowing and intuition on what we need to do in each moment.