Money – It's a beautiful thing that supposedly makes the world go around, and to a degree it does, but when it comes right down to it, it's great to have but it leaves a hole in our soul.
The purpose of life is to leave a mark on the world. When we are are six foot under we want people to remember us fondly and think 'They made a difference in the world, they made it a better place.' We don't want them thinking 'yep, they made a lot of money.'
Financial success is dependent on others; the markets, the economy, the buyers, and death. When we die we are no longer making any money.
Compare that with becoming significant and leaving your mark on the world. Your name lives on long after you are gone, your words are quoted, your smile is remembered, your actions actually changed someones life.
So is it better to become significant or make money?
Well, I suppose you can do both, but your heart has got to be in the right place from the start. There's no point in saying I will make money and change people's lives at the same time. You've got to start from a place of 'I want to make a difference in this world.' And then, without you actually seeking it, the money can flow to you as well, but it's not a primary goal. We want to essentially nourish our soul and feel we are making a difference in the world.
7 Ways to Feed Your Soul
1. Start from the Heart
Outside your job whenever you do anything, do it with a good heart, meaning you do it for the right reasons. Help people because they need help, not because there might be some monetary gain from it, or some reward or recognition.
2. We're all on our way out
It might be scary to some people, but we're all going to die someday. Personally I am looking forward to my death, I can't wait to find out what happens and if my actions in this life will make any difference. We should think about death more, not in a weird, unhealthy way, I mean think about it to push us forward in life and to make a difference in the lives of others.
3. Start connecting
Once you really start connecting with people; a smile on the street, a good morning to your neighbours, a coffee with your colleagues, then you are potentially making a difference in someone else's life.
4. Write a thank you note
How many times have you said 'I'll need to remember and thank them for that.' and then forget about it. As soon as someone does something for you either verbally say thank you, from the heart, or write a quick note to them to say thank you. A thank you is hugely powerful in anybody's life. I so wish I had thanked my parents more often when I was younger, but I was selfish as a teenager, it was all about me me me. Thankfully, I have every day to say thank you to my parents and tell them how much I love them.
5. Stop watching/reading/listening to the news
You've probably heard me saying this before lots of times, but it really can make a huge difference in your life. The news is so unbelievably biased towards bad news that a lot of us believe that the world is not a good place to live in. It's the majority of people that make the world an amazing place to live in, but unfortunately it's the minority who are reported in the news.
This doesn't include the financial news, sports news or news in your industry, we're talking about mainstream news here that is reported at prime slots during the day and in the evenings.
The gossip newspapers are even worse and should be trashed, unless you want to turn your mind into pulp and fill it with nonsense that nobody should care about.
6. Read inspirational stories
How many times have you read or watched something inspirational and tears have started welling up inside of you, that's the souls way of releasing love. The more we read inspirational stories the lighter we feel, the more connected we feel. Have you ever read a crime thriller and felt uplifted, have you ever read about a murder and felt tears of joy? We hear too much about the bad stuff in the world, balance it out with the good stuff, the amazing stuff, the beautiful stuff.
7. Start with one person
To change the lives of the 7,279,637,249 people of the world you have to start with one person. Start with a thank you, start with a phone call to say 'I love you', start with a word of appreciation, start with a smile, start with a great big hug, start with the thought that you want to make a difference.