Does Money Enable Freedom?

June 2, 2008 | Leave a Comment

It may well be that money is the root of all evil and that it can’t buy you love; its true time is more valuable than money. Then again, there are those who have a different view.

“A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of“– Jane Austen (Mansfield Park)

“Whoever said money can’t buy happiness simply didn’t know where to go shopping.” – Bo Derek

“Money, if it does not bring you happiness, will at least help you be miserable in comfort.” – Helen Gurley Brown

In this month’s Calm Space topic of Freedom I say I’m all for being miserable in comfort :) but more significantly, money does enable freedom. Freedom to formulate choices and the opportunity to make them.

From the woman trapped in an abusive marriage to the woman who reckons she needs 500 pairs of shoes in every colour of the rainbow; from the child dying of starvation to the child who’s deciding which private school he should attend.

Here are a small selection of titles on money as an avenue to the procurement of this genus of freedom.

The Money Club

Sheba Investment Network (SIN) is a group of women who meet once a month to have fun and make money. Money ClubNine years ago, only one of them had ever owned a share before. Now, they hold stockmarket investments that have a 30%-35% return - an excellent investment by anyone’s standard. They taught themselves how to do it, and in The Money Club they show readers how they, too, can set up their own money club.

The group was an offshoot of a book club. Its members thought, ‘If we can have fun together reading and discussing books, why don’t we expand our skills, acquire an understanding of investment, and make some money!’ And so they did. With almost half of all Australians now dabbling in the stockmarket, this subject continues to be of interest to the general public.

The book is a great, lively read - as you would expect from a group where the social aspect is as important as the money. In it, the women tell their stories, both their successes and their mistakes. It includes all the administrative aspects of running such a club as well, so all readers have to do is copy the Partnership Agreement, or follow the prompts on keeping accounts. It couldn’t be easier.

The Martha Rules

Martha Stewart is an undeniable force in the business world. One of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs, she Martha Rulesturned her personal passion into a billion dollar business. Now, for the first time, Martha Stewart shares her business knowledge and advice in this handbook for success.

Tapping into her years of experience in building a thriving business, Martha will help readers identify their own entrepreneurial voice and channel their skills and passions into a successful business venture. Her advice and insight is applicable to anyone who is about to start or expand a venture of any size, but also to individuals who want to apply the entrepreneurial spirit to a job or corporation to increase innovation and maintain a competitive edge.

Featuring Martha’s top principles for success, as well as stories and anecdotes from her own experiences, The Martha Rules is sure to appeal to business readers, fans and anyone who has a great business idea of their own.

Don’t Bitch Just Get Rich

Knowing how to get rich is easy; knowing why you don’t just get up and do it is the hard bit. Seven ordinary Don't Bitchpeople addicted to bitching about their struggles to make ends meet and convinced that their lives will never be much more than sheer slog, enrol in a personal development course that changes their lives.

A philosopher-cabbie, a cynical hard-nosed English woman and her estranged husband, a middling salesman and his boss, a cafe manager and a hairdresser find themselves at the mercy of a teacher who refuses to pamper them with the usual, empty get rich prattle. Mixing fiction, experience and teaching, he leads them through ruthless self-examination, preparing them to break through the Bitch barrier to the richer world beyond.

Eventually, they face the most serious choice of their lives; either they will make the one, unbreakable, lifelong promise that will radically change the directions of their lives or they will remain forever in a state of self-induced inertia. Not all make it. Packed with common sense, original insights into human change, management and practical advice about money matters. Toney Fitzgerald keeps his own promise in the book; by the time you get to the end, you will no longer have an excuse to bitch.

The Rules of Wealth

Money - it makes the world go round. We all secretly believe that it can make us happy. After all, wouldn’t Rules of Wealthit be great to have enough of it so you don’t need to worry? Enough to buy that dream house, car, or simply enough so you don’t have to think about what you’re spending? So how do the wealthy get rich? Is it luck? Or do they know something we don’t? Yes they do, they know The Rules of Wealth.

The rules of acquiring it. The rules of growing it. The rules of keeping it. And the rules of spending it. Richard Templar is back and this time he will make you richer. Forget practical “how to reduce your weekly outgoings”, forget “how to choose a mortgage”. In his inimitable, wry style, Templar delves deeper, revealing the simple, golden rules for creating and growing wealth. Are you ready to discover the Rules to becoming a richer you?

Why We Want You to be Rich

The world is facing many challenges and one of them is financial. The entitlement mentality is epidemic, Whycreating people who expect their countries, employers or families to take care of them. Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki, both successful businessmen, are natural teachers and have joined forces to address these challenges. They believe you cannot solve money problems with money. You can only solve money problems with financial education.

Trump and Kiyosaki want to teach you to be rich. “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” They each could have written a book on the subject, but they chose instead to write a book together because of their shared passion for education and their desire to bring emphasis to the importance of financial education.

In addition they have designated a portion of the profits from each book to be donated to charitable and educational organisations that also support financial education.

Posted by marjorie | Filed Under June 08, Reading Space 

Freedom from Possessions

June 2, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Freedom is an evocative word. At the sound of it I take a deep breath. I sigh. I am calm and peaceful and free. And I realise freedom is about choice.

I am lucky. I am free to choose where I live, what I eat, what I study and read, how I look, what work I do, what I can write, what I believe in, and with whom I associate. I have led a charmed life, not always perfect, but a life of my choosing. Life is easy for me when I don’t have to struggle for shelter, food, clean water, safety, education, work. I am free.

There are some in this world who are not free. They do not have what I have, and sometimes take for granted. Here’s a thought for those of us who do enjoy freedom…

“That which you cannot give away, you do not possess. It possesses you.” - Ivern Ball

When working with clients on decluttering, I find it helps to keep in mind what really matters in this world.

Freedom, above all else, really matters.

Posted by angela | Filed Under June 08, Organising Space 

A Lasting Freedom

June 2, 2008 | Leave a Comment

What is it to be free? In it’s simplest form you could say it’s simply free will. Physical, mental and spiritual free will being a base human experience of Freedom.

Sustainability is all about lasting indefinitely. Anyone or anything oppressed or without freedom is not likely to have a sustainable existence. Be it a species, a minority group or you stuck in a life you may not fully and wholeheartedly love.

To obtain a sustainable existence socially, economically and environmentally you really need to operate from a space of freedom. It’s actually not that hard to get to this point, a big piece of it is seeing what it is that oppresses you.

Freedom from Benchmarks

Do you suffer from keeping up with the Jones syndrome? Are you climbing the corporate ladder? Are you constantly comparing yourself to other people you know or read about in magazines? Well if you are doing these things you are benchmarking yourself. Benchmarking might be owning you, enslaving you.

Have you ever met someone who doesn’t care what people think of them, their extrovert behaviour, their eccentric character? It’s refreshing, it has a freedom and a full of life feeling around their existence. A sustainable existence in character you might say.

If you constantly listen to that shoulder devil saying “you should have achieved X by Y and U haven’t” then let it go! Tell that shoulder devil to get lost. Be powerful about it. Freedom often comes from being powerful. A few people like Gandhi and Nelson Mandela spring to mind.

Have yourself operate above the level of the rat race. You will probably operate a little slower, with a little more relaxed attitude. No doubt you will consume less, need less, want less. This way of living will have you spending more time with family. For some it means working with the environment not consuming it. For others it’s about more time for yourself, living your life for yourself and not for everyone else sucking energy and life from you. Ironically as you gain more time for yourself, you find yourself wanting to help others in need, the environment, people and causes. You can create a very sustainable life, you are the creator.

The Freedom of Self Expression

Why do you have to do the job you are doing? Why do you have to wait for retirement to learn to paint? You don’t. Expectations of things needing to be a certain way, of life happening a certain way, of your story of your life going a certain way can stifle your self expression and oppress you to a point of never creating a revolution in how you live your life.

The rat race can steal your time away from you. Choosing to be self expressed in your choice of career, in your hobbies, sport or artistic endeavours can lead to a job that you love. All of a sudden you might just find yourself making a living doing something you love, that you are passionate about. Your work becomes your play, your work life balance becomes sustainable.

Make sure you’re the puppet master of your life. Recognise when others are pulling your strings or if it’s your shoulder devil benchmarking you against everyone else around you.

Freedom of conscience

Underneath many of us know we can do better in creating a sustainable life. I covered this in last month’s article. When you can operate your life knowing you aren’t a drain on other people, the environment or your bank account you will feel the sustainable existence that can bring happiness and self expression to your life. Making sure you don’t live at the expense of others, that you buy ethical goods, that you don’t throw the potato peels in the bin instead of the compost, will give you a freedom of conscience every day. Knowing you are being true to yourself, allowing your ’self’ to ‘express’ can and will alter your life.

Posted by marc | Filed Under June 08, Sustainability Space 

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