Me and Money

The Edgewater Beach Hotel

In 1923, at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago, eight of the world's wealthiest financiers met. These eight men controlled more money than the United States' government at that time. They included:

The president of the largest independent steel company;
The president of the largest gas company;
The greatest wheat speculator;
The president of the New York Stock Exchange;
A member of the President's cabinet;
The greatest "bear" on Wall Street;
The head of the world's greatest monopoly;
The president of the Bank of International Settlement.

Certainly, one would have to admit, that a group of the world's most successful men was gathered in that place; at least, men who had found the secret of "earning money."

Now let's see where these men were twenty-five years later:

The president of the largest independent steel company, Charles Schwab, lived on borrowed money for five years before he died bankrupt.

The president of North America's largest gas company, Howard Hopson, went insane.

The greatest wheat speculator, Arthur Cutton, died abroad, insolvent.

The president of the New York Stock Exchange, Richard Whitny, was sent to Sing Sing Penitentiary.

A member of the President's cabinet, Albert Fall, was pardoned from prison so he could die at home.

The greatest "bear" on Wall Street, Jesse Livermore, died a suicide.

The head of the greatest monopoly, Ivar Krueger, killed himself.

The president of the Bank of International Settlement, Leon Fraser, also died a suicide.

Each of these men learned well the art of earning money, but it would seem that not one of them had ever learned how to live the "rich life", which was their birthright.

It is stories like this one that have caused many well meaning, but ignorant people to say, "See, I told you it is not good to have a lot of money, it's bad," or, "It just goes to show you that rich people really aren't happy;" but of course, that is just not true. For although these eight men would appear to have "slid off the track," there are many wealthy people who are very happy, and who do a tremendous amount of good with their money; they live healthy, well-balanced lives.

Consider this-money will have a greater influence on your life than almost any other commodity you can think of. Indeed, the sudden loss or acquisition of money will affect your attitude to a tremendous extent. Therefore, you must agree that everyone should have a deep understanding of exactly what money is, and of the laws governing its attraction. Yet, the sad fact is that not one person in ten does. Ninety-five people out of a hundred settle for whatever they get, wishing they had more all the way from the cradle to the casket, never understanding that they could actually have had all they wanted.

Let me digress for a moment-as you journey through this book, you might have a tendency to let your mind wander off, either thinking about someone you know who has earned a great deal of money or possibly about someone who has gone into bankruptcy. But I want to suggest that you attempt to keep focusing only on yourself, because what someone else has or does not have, is not going to affect you and it is your financial situation that you want to improve.

Money Is Important

One of the most prevalent misconceptions concerning money, relates to its importance. For example, how many times have you heard people say in conversation, "Money isn't everything." or "Money isn't important." or "I don't care about money." Well, the people who say these things might not care about money, but I'll bet their car dealer cares about it; their grocer does; and so does the person who holds their mortgage. In truth, there can be no denial of the fact that money is important to any person living in a civilized society. Therefore, to argue that it is not as important as this or that, is absurd. For nothing can take the place of money in the arena in which it is used!

Money Is A Servant

Now that I have affirmed the importance of money, let me backtrack to add this one word of caution- always remember, money is a servant; you are the master. Be very careful not to reverse that equation, because many people of high intelligence have already done so, to their great detriment. Unfortunately, many of these poor souls loved money and used people, which violated one of the most basic laws governing true financial success. You should always love people and use money, rather than the reverse!

Another myth many people like to accept about money is that it only comes as a result of "luck" or "good fortune." For instance, whenever people gather to talk about someone they know who has been financially successful, there is always someone among them who will say, "Harry was just lucky," or "Harry was just in the right place at the right time." But I want to assure you in no uncertain terms, that although "luck" obviously plays some part in financial success, it is never sufficient in and of itself. Money is an effect and it must always be earned. Believe me, there are no free rides in this life and the only people who are making money the easy way either work in the mint or are on their way to jail, if they have not already arrived there. Therefore, always bear in mind that while "good fortune" is a factor in financial success, it must always be coupled with effort and hard work!

Money Must Circulate

A third thing you should know about money is that it is valuable only as long as it is being used. Once it has been taken out of circulation, it becomes as worthless as the "old newspapers" or "empty beer cans" that have been stashed away in the attic. To understand the truth of this principle, consider the following story. On a bookshelf, in my home, I have a silver beer stein that was given to me as a gift for a speech I made. Now, whenever I go into my house, I take all the change from my pockets and put it into the cup. Then, when the cup is almost filled, I give it to one of my children, or one of two young cousins. Each of them takes turns receiving the cup and of course they eagerly anticipate their turn. The point I want you to notice, however, is that while the cup is being filled, the money in it has absolutely no value whatsoever; it just sits there, serving no useful function and not even drawing any interest.

However, as soon as the cup is filled and the money is turned over to one of the kids, it literally "flies into action." For instance, just last week, T. Jay, one of my young cousins, received the money. He immediately took it from my hand, rushed off to a golf school and purchased several golf lessons with his inheritance. Now, I can't honestly say what the golf pro did with the money once he got it, but I do feel fairly safe in saying that he didn't just return it to a cup on his book shelf! No, there really isn't any dispute about it; money is not meant to be taken out of circulation-rather, it is meant to be used, enjoyed and circulated!

This brings me to an even more dramatic illustration of the same principle: namely, the story of "old Mr. Chapman." Mr. Chapman was an elderly gentleman who lived a few doors down the street from our family when I was just a boy. Although there was a tremendous age difference between us, Mr. Chapman and I became fast friends and I often used to watch him pushing his small junk cart up and down the block. You see, Mr. Chapman worked as a junk dealer and he made his living by picking up the things other people had thrown away. As the years went by, however, Mr. Chapman became more and more stooped from his arduous labors and one day, shortly after World War II, he passed away. Since he lived alone and apparently had no close relatives living nearby, the police entered his house to take stock of his possessions. Not surprisingly, they found the house littered with many old furnishings and assorted memorabilia from Mr. Chapman's past. However, much to their amazement, the police also discovered over one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) in old bills packed in boxes throughout the house!

Quick to pick up on so unusual an occurrence, the Toronto Daily Star carried a front-page story the next day about Mr. Chapman, in which it asked the obvious question: why would an individual worth well over $100,000, choose to keep his money stashed away in old boxes strewn haphazardly throughout his house?

Although I was still quite young at the time, I asked myself a similar question: namely, why would a person like Mr. Chapman choose to live like a veritable pauper, when he had so much money at his disposal? He could have used his money for his own enjoyment. He could have invested it to earn a return for himself and to help create jobs for other people; or he could have just deposited it in the bank and earned interest on his money. But instead, he chose to put it in a "jar on the shelf," and he thereby rendered it absolutely useless. No, my friends, there isn't any doubt about it -money is not meant to be hoarded. Rather, it is meant to be used, enjoyed and circulated. So please, whatever you choose to do with your money, don't make the same mistake that poor old Mr. Chapman did!

Please note that when I suggest that money should be kept in circulation, I do not mean it should be squandered. There is a world of difference between those two concepts and if you haven't found out what the difference is yet, I would suggest you find out as soon as possible.

Prosperity Consciousness Exercise

Now that we have touched upon some of the characteristics of money, let us turn briefly to a simple "technique" which you can begin using immediately to start attracting the amount of money you desire. The first thing that I want you to do is to picture yourself, in your mind's eye, sitting in a room with several of your friends. Then, I want you to visualize yourself announcing to them your intention of becoming wealthy; at least, wealthy enough to live the way you choose to live. Now, imagine how that would make you feel. If you are like most people, you would probably feel very uncomfortable. Perhaps you would feel so uncomfortable, that you might even retract what you had said by informing your friends you were only joking. You should understand, however, that people who are wealthy never feel uncomfortable when the subject of money is brought up. "Why don't they," you ask? The most obvious answer would be, because they already have "lots" of it. But that is not the correct answer. You should realize that people don't feel comfortable about money because they have it; they have it because they feel comfortable about it. In other words, one of the reasons that wealthy people have money is that they have developed that state of consciousness we will hereinafter refer to as, a "prosperity consciousness." Therefore, it follows, if we wish to attract money to ourselves, we must begin to foster a prosperity consciousness as well.

The question you should now be asking yourself is this: "How do I go about developing this prosperity consciousness for myself?" Let me explain. The best way to develop a prosperity consciousness is to start seeing yourself, in your mind's eye, already in possession of the amount of money that you desire. The reason this is so is that since the subconscious mind cannot distinguish between the actual possession of money and mere visualization, you will soon become very comfortable with the "idea" of money. As a result, you will start attracting it to yourself.

This may sound like a game you are playing, but let me assure you, it is one of the wisest things you can possibly do. For when you succeed in convincing your subconscious mind that you are wealthy and that it feels good to be wealthy, your subconscious mind will automatically seek ways of making your "imaginary" feelings of wealth manifest themselves in material form.

If these last few lines seem like sheer fantasy to you, just ignore them for the time being and continue reading. We will be dealing with prosperity consciousness at different points in the book and I guarantee you that before you finish this book, those lines will start to make a lot more sense to you.

Fear Not

Now that I have touched upon a "technique" which will help you acquire greater wealth, let me offer this further word of warning. If you want to have money, one thing you should never, never do, is worry about whether or not you will get the money you desire, or whether you will keep it. Let me elaborate.

In the Bible, Job, the great sufferer of biblical times, makes the following remark: "Behold, the thing I fear has come to visit upon me." Now, stop and ask yourself -if you will-what those biblical words mean to those of us concerned about money today. Well, one thing they certainly mean is that if we insist upon constantly worrying about not having enough money, or if we habitually worry about losing the money we do have, then we are absolutely guaranteed not to worry in vain. For just as surely as Job was afflicted by his many maladies, so too shall we be afflicted by the lack or the loss of money.

To take a more contemporary example, let us again consider the tragic case of "poor old Mr. Chapman." As you will recall, he was the elderly gentleman who never spent any of his hard-earned savings. But the question is, "Why didn't he?" Most likely it was because he was afraid that if he spent his money, he would become poor and hence would be forced to live like a pauper. The irony was, however, that because of his fear, he lived like a pauper anyway! Or, to be more biblical about it, "The thing that he feared most came to visit upon him."

In a later chapter you will be given a fuller explanation of the paradox of why we attract into our lives the very things we least desire. But for now, suffice it to say, worrying about money is always extremely counterproductive. This principle holds true, even if you rationalize your worry with the old platitude that you are "just saving a little for a rainy day."

I must put forward one other caveat at this time: if you really want to significantly increase the amount of money you are presently earning, the first thing you must do is learn to pay substantially less attention to what others around you are saying and substantially more attention to what that "quiet voice" that speaks within you, is saying. Put more prosaically: you must strive to become much less susceptible to influences outside of yourself and much more inclined to trust the instincts and feelings that lie within you. Let me elaborate.

Most people who fail to accumulate enough money to live in the style they choose are the same people who are most easily influenced by other people's opinions. For instance, they are often the people who let the writers of economic doom and gloom-whether in the newspapers or on news broadcasts -do their thinking for them. But, as Napoleon Hill pointed out in his great book, Think and Grow Rich, opinions are the cheapest commodities on earth. In fact, almost everyone has a flock of them ready to be foisted upon anyone who is willing to accept them. Therefore, if you know you have been unduly influenced in the past by other people's opinions, make up your mind right now-before you read any further-that from here on in, you are going to heed your own counsel, while keeping an attentive ear open for God's counsel. Remember, if you do, there is absolutely no reason why you cannot become financially successful within a very reasonable period of time.

Understanding vs. Memorization

As you read on through the pages in this book, you will develop an ever-increasing awareness of the talents and abilities that lie deep within you. You should realize, that with the proper instruction, you can begin using these undeveloped talents to attract the good that you desire. But let me caution you once again-no amount of reading or memorizing will bring you the success you seek. It is only the understanding and application of the ideas in this book that will make the difference for you. Therefore, don't be in any hurry to finish the book, because a complete reading should not be your objective. As stated previously, understanding and applying what you read is the objective. So if you are able to properly digest only one page a day, that might be all that is necessary for you to arrive at your goal. If you are wondering why this book is meant to be "sipped and tasted," rather than "devoured" at one reading, bear in mind it is based upon over twenty years of careful analysis of the methods of both the very successful and the very unsuccessful.

Strength Through Sharing

One more word of advice. Since very few-if any-people become great at anything by themselves, I would suggest you attempt to find at least one other person with whom you can share and discuss the ideas presented in this book.

Prosperity Consciousness

I believe you will agree it is an observable truth that human beings will never enjoy anything they are not yet consciously aware of. For example, we did not enjoy the luxury of traveling in airplanes at tremendous rates of speed, until the Wright Brothers became consciously aware of "how to fly." Thomas Edison developed the conscious awareness of the moving pictures and introduced us to a brand new form of entertainment. Dr. Jonas Salk became consciously aware of how to develop a serum that would combat the dreadful disease of infantile-paralysis-more commonly referred to as polio-and as a result of Salk's new awareness, you very rarely hear of anyone contracting that disease today. Alexander Graham Bell became consciously aware of how to transmit the human voice over metallic wires and, as a result, we all now enjoy the use of the telephone.

Needless to say, I could go on and on citing example after example. However, the point I want to bring to the forefront of your mind is that these inventions-or the knowledge bringing about these inventions-have always been here. In fact, all the knowledge there ever was or ever will be, is evenly present in all places at all times. But it took an individual to bring those thought-patterns together and form ideas which developed into what we call consciousness, before we could begin to benefit from them.

We are floating in an "ocean" of thought-energy, where all the knowledge there ever was or ever will be, is present. We are also surrounded by abundance. Indeed, everywhere we look in nature, our eyes come in contact with abundance; for nature knows no such thing as "failure." Therefore, there never has been, and there never will be, a lack of anything, except conscious-awareness. But if you are going to begin to penetrate this world of wealth, it is absolutely essential that you begin to think. In other words, you must open your mind to the stream of thought-energy which will create an image, or a consciousness of prosperity, in your mind.

You are well aware there are literally thousands upon thousands of honest, good, hard-working people who labor diligently for their entire stay on this planet, yet never become wealthy. For those individuals, life is a constant grind from sun up until sun down. But the ideas presented on these pages have been put here in the hope they will jar your mind and inspire you to open it up to this new type of thinking.

Consciousness is, and always has been, developed through thinking, and regardless of what your present situation in life may be, if you ever hope to improve it and truly become wealthy-as this book suggests you can-you must begin thinking of prosperity in your mind, now. Not when you finish the book. Not when you finish the chapter. Not tomorrow, next week, next month or next year. It must be done now. Thinking is the highest function of which a human being is capable. Yet, unfortunately, very few people "think." They merely trick themselves into believing that because there is some mental activity taking place in their mind, they are "thinking." But the truth is, most people are simply exercising the mental faculty called "memory." They are playing old movies, so old pictures just keep flashing back on the screen of their mind.

It is imperative that you begin this new way of thinking at this moment, because as you do, every fibre of your being will become filled with this new thought-energy. Your body is comprised of millions upon millions of cells and each one of them is influenced in its movement by thought impulses. So the second you begin entertaining relaxing thoughts, your body becomes relaxed. The instant you begin entertaining worrisome, fearful thoughts, your body becomes rigid and tense. As you begin to hold thoughts of prosperity and begin thinking of yourself as a very wealthy, prosperous individual who is surrounded by an ocean of thought energy, swimming in a sea of plenty, your body and mind will instantly move into a prosperous vibration and you will begin to attract-just like a magnet-everything necessary for you to become wealthy.

I know to the uninitiated, these ideas are just about as bizarre as anything a person could think of. Nevertheless, they are true. For mental awareness of prosperity always precedes wealth in your material world. It is not difficult, therefore, for children today, born into families of great wealth-like the Kennedy's or the Bronfman's-to think these prosperous thoughts and to have this prosperity consciousness, since that is the only type of thinking they were subjected to, right from birth. We say they have been conditioned in, or to, prosperity.

However, the majority of people have not been born into that kind of an environment and so they were not surrounded by that type of thinking. We must, therefore, develop an understanding of:

1. how we have been conditioned  

2. why we are getting the results we are getting, and 

3. how we can change our way of thinking or our conditioning.

That is not an easy thing to do. It takes much discipline. It takes a tremendous desire. It takes a lot of diligent effort, which is the probable reason so few people ever actually change. Yet I want you to know that regardless of how difficult it may be, it can be done and it can be done in a relatively short period of time. The compensation you will receive for your effort will delight you. I know because I have done it and I know many, many other people who have done the same thing. Now it is necessary for you to do it.

The very fact that you have picked up and started reading this book is all the proof you will ever need, that you truly do have a desire to change. Moreover, there is a way-a sure way-for you to receive your desired good, and this book will outline the way for you.

There Is Real Power Within You

Below the level of your consciousness is the great treasury of your subconscious mind and that is the part of your personality we want to begin to influence through our new thought-patterns. In order to make the issue definite and concrete, consider the following statement: any idea, plan or purpose may be planted in the subconscious mind by repetition of thought empowered by faith and expectancy. You might be asking: "Can this statement be demonstrated to be true through experimentation and observation or, is there any known method or technique by which the proof may be secured, and if there is such a method or technique, is it available to everyone?" These questions can all be answered with an emphatic yes. As you read, test, and experiment with the ideas that will come to you in the following pages, you will answer all of these questions for yourself. And, it is necessary that you answer them for yourself, because as human beings, we will not truly believe something until we actually discover it for ourselves.

This book was written in the sincere hope that it would lead you to the many discoveries that lie within you by the repetition of these prosperity ideas. You must begin to see money as an obedient, diligent servant, that you can employ to earn more money, and that you can use to provide services far beyond the service that you could ever physically provide. It is necessary that you feel comfortable when you talk about money, because you have truly been "Born Rich." You have all the mental tools necessary to attract the thoughts you are surrounded by, to create the consciousness that you must create in order for you to have the wealth you choose to have. Lack and limitation can only exist when we make room for them in our minds. But prosperity consciousness knows no lack and no limitation. Resolve to completely remove the lid from your marvelous mind, with respect to your own earning-ability, and understand that the wealth you are seeking is-and always has been-seeking you in return. So open wide the doors of your conscious mind now, and begin to receive it.

Mental Money

Begin immediately to play a mental game with yourself-get into the habit of visualizing yourself in the possession of great wealth. Think of some of the things you would do with that money and then mentally start doing them. Since your subconscious mind cannot tell the difference between actually doing something and visualizing yourself doing it, this exercise will very quickly help you to develop a prosperity consciousness. Remember, it is an absolute law of your being, that you must have something mentally before you will ever have it physically!

Also understand that everyone talks to themselves mentally-in fact, some people even do it out loud. Therefore, whenever you are carrying on your private conversation with yourself, always talk about how good it feels to be wealthy. Congratulate yourself on becoming wealthy and hear others congratulating you as well. You should realize that although this might appear to be a game you are playing, you are doing one of the wisest things you can possibly do-you are working from a higher to a lower potential.

You are embarking on a program of self-development. You are about to learn that there is much more to your self than meets the eye, and you must apprehend this "hidden factor of your personality," if you are ever to develop yourself properly. In truth, you will never see the greatest part of your being because it is nonphysical in nature. In fact, you will soon become aware that you are constantly living simultaneously on three distinct planes of being: you are spiritual, you have an intellect and you live in a physical body. To understand this abstraction better, you must keep in mind that you are living simultaneously on three distinct planes of existence.

1. The Spiritual Plane of Thoughts (Highest Potential) 

2. The Intellectual Plane of Ideas (Middle Potential) 

3. The Physical Plane of Results (Lowest Potential)

Therefore, by doing what I have suggested you do, you are merely using your "divine nature" to choose the thoughts (i.e. "Money is good," "I love people and I use money," "Money is a servant; I am the master,") which will build an idea. In our case, the idea happens to be that of "Great Personal Wealth," or "True Financial Success." Be very aware that ideas, such as the idea of "financial success," never form by themselves; the human personality must always enter into the process, by thinking the thoughts which can then be used to build the idea. That is the very thing that makes the human being "godlike," or you could say, a creative creature-the highest form of creation! So by holding this beautiful idea, or picture of financial success in your mind, you will ultimately be able to cause the idea to manifest itself in your life (i.e. in your results). As you progress through this book, you will see how this actually occurs!

Now, let's take a couple of steps backward. You will remember that I wrote, in a previous paragraph, that you are working from a higher to a lower potential. What I meant by this is that you are working from-

Thoughts ... (Spirit)
to
Idea ... (Intellectual)
to
Thing ... (Physical)

rather than working from -

Thing ... (Physical)
to
Thoughts ... (Spirit)
to
Idea ... (Intellectual)

as you have probably done in the past and as the vast majority of people will continue to do in the future. That is to say, most people will look at a result in their life and then let that result dictate the Thoughts they will then use to build their Idea. For example, if they see that their bank account is empty (a result), they will choose to think thoughts of lack or loss and then they will use those thoughts to build the idea of poverty. However, since the idea they are holding in their mind must manifest in their future results, they are actually bringing about a repeat performance of the very thing which they say they don't want: namely, an empty bank account. It thus becomes a self-doom-fulfilling cycle they are living, and clearly, this is not the way our Maker has intended for us to live!

You might very well be saying to yourself that this is an absurd argument; for if a bank account is empty, it's empty. It just isn't realistic to look at an empty bank account and be able to visualize great wealth. But I want you to know, this is the very kind of reasoning which perpetuates poverty and keeps poor people impoverished!

You must begin to understand that the present state of your bank account, your sales, your health, your social life, your position at work, etc., is nothing more than the physical manifestation of your previous thinking. If you sincerely wish to change or improve your results in your physical world, you must change your thoughts and you must change them immediately.

If you take the time to really think through the information which is being presented, you will conclude that what has just been said makes perfect sense. In fact, anyone who truly understands the "creative process," will tell you what I have just said is not only right, but it is a natural law of your being- it is the way God works with and through the individual. This is also called prayer in some "circles" ("prayer" being the movement that takes place between spirit and form, with and through the individual). God has given you the ability to build any idea which you desire. You were "Born Rich" and your abundance is contained in thought. So be good to yourself, choose magnificent ideas, and cease permitting your physical world to control your thinking.

You can readily understand, by now, how everyone makes the "great mistake." In Emerson's essay on Self-Reliance he said, "Envy is ignorance." In other words, to look at another person's "Accomplishments," or "Results," and then to envy them, is truly unwise. For those people first chose their thoughts, in order to build the picture in their mind of the good that is now manifest in their life; and they chose those thoughts from the infinite source of supply which is available to all of us-you as well!

That is what the great artist, Vincent Van Gogh, meant when he was asked how he did such beautiful work. He said, "I dream my painting, and then I paint my dream." In other words, he saw the picture in his mind first and then he made a replica on canvas-in oil, of the original in his mind. In truth, there has never been an "original" "Van Gogh" sold! As I am writing this I can see you reading it, and can almost hear you thinking, "That makes a lot of sense-now I see."

A few years ago Mary Snyder from California sat in one of my seminars with her husband Oscar. She gave me a quote by Lincoln which I truly love and which I have shared with thousands of people. Lincoln said, "To believe in the things you can see and touch is no belief at all; but to believe in the unseen is a triumph and a blessing." Isn't that beautiful? Thanks again, Mary.

Hopefully by now you understand the wisdom of some of these mental exercises I have been suggesting. So keep repeating: "I am prosperous, I am wealthy, money is good." See yourself in your mind's eye, doing what you will do when you have the manifestation of your new attitude or consciousness. Visualize this great wealth and feel yourself already in possession of it. Remember though, money is the servant; you are the master-you love people and you use money.

Before you continue on to the next chapter, re-read this chapter, "Me And Money," because re-reading it will help you release that old idea about money, which causes an uncomfortable feeling whenever the subject of money is raised. Repeat to yourself, several times each day, "Me And Money," until you become totally aware of how good you feel thinking about wealth.

Refrain from talking to a lot of people about this new idea concerning money, until you have a firm grip on it yourself and feel confident about explaining what you have learned to others. Remember, hearing negative comments from people who do not understand the truth will not do you any good-if it does anything, it will only cause you to doubt yourself. You must not permit this to happen, because when you think about "Me And Money," you want a beautiful picture to fly onto the screen of your mind!

"The good life is expensive.
There is another way to live
that doesn't cost as much
but it isn't any good".
- Spanish Distillers

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 Copyright © 1997, 2002 by Bob Proctor.  All Rights Reserved.