David Finkel's Wealth Blog: June 2007

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

What’s most important to you?

Subject: What’s most important to you?

Hi everyone,
I know it has been close to three weeks since my last email, and I wanted to write to you to explain, and to share some important information.My grandfather, Morey, at age 94 passed away a few weeks ago and the last few weeks I’ve spent with family. I know you’ve all had experiences of loss in your life—we all have. And yet there is something remarkable that happens when you and your family gather together to celebrate the life of and heal from the passing of someone you love. It’s as if the space and distance and past differences that separated you from each other disappear.

That is how it has been for my family. I spent a week out in California with my grandma and it meant the world to me. I’ve reconnected with my sisters, which has also meant the world to me.

And I find myself thinking about what am I most passionate about doing with my life. I don’t “have to” work, but I still find I have much to say and a real passion for sharing on the subject of building wealth. Being a small part of empowering you to succeed in your financial life (and beyond) gives me great satisfaction.

So this week, in my letter to you, I wanted to talk about this notion of “passion” as it relates to how you go about building wealth.

But first, I want invite you to give me your direct input on the areas YOU are most passionate about learning about. I’ve set up a short survey (only 3 questions) for you to answer and give me the areas you are most interested in learning about in the field of wealth creation. Then over the months to come, I’ll do my best to write about the areas that are most important to YOU. But you’ve got to let me know exactly what those are! Here is that link to the survey again. SURVEY.

Bringing Passion to Your Wealth Building
When you are building wealth, it’s got to be about more than just the money. I know some of you might say, “Yeah, just give me the money and I’ll manage the other part on my own.” That is a trap. I’ve worked with over 200,000 clients over the past decade in the areas of investing in real estate (residential and commercial), building thriving businesses, and financial fluency/personal finance, and one thing I have learned from my years of study and work in this field is that money without meaning leads to failure.

If you were to create a multi-million dollar fortune, but to do it in a way that was stripped of meaning, the money would be empty. Worse, it would lead to pain and isolation.
But the money WITH meaning will help you live the life of your dreams—to build a true Maui Millionaire™ lifestyle.

So how do you inject meaning into the money? Simple, by getting very clear on 3 things.

First: The money is only a means to an end. What is the end towards which you are working so hard? Is it to care for your family? Is it to have the freedom to travel? Is it to live in a beautiful and uplifting neighborhood? Is it to have the money to share with causes that matter to you?
For me, the money is the means by which I am able to enjoy real choice in my life. This freedom to work because I want to, not because I “have to”, and the freedom to design my life the way Heather and I want, not constrained by financial necessity, is my “why” behind the money.
What is your “why” behind the money?

Second: How will your money bless the lives of other people? It’s been my experience that most people will work far harder and derive far more “juice” and satisfaction out of helping other people than they will just working for their own selves. It’s important as you build wealth that you get very clear on how your creating wealth will positively impact the lives of other people.

For me this has meant that I’m able to raise millions of dollars for charitable causes (and I have some very ambitious goals to raise millions more for positive purposes.) It’s also meant the freedom to spend time with people I love, and spend a good part of my working life “donating” my time to causes that will touch people’s lives. And finally, I’ve chosen a life’s work (helping generations of wealth builders to grow, sustain, enjoy, and share great wealth) that directly impacts the lives of tens of thousands of people, and indirectly touches the lives of millions. How could I not feel powerfully called into action with a meaning for the money like this?
How will your money, and the way you go about building your wealth, touch the lives of other people?

Third: How does your pursuit of wealth in some meaningful way connect to something you are passionate about? For example, if you are passionate about art, how have you tapped into your artistic passions in some way with your building wealth? If you love houses and real estate, how have you brought that passion in in some way to your wealth building? If you love animals, how have you brought that passion into your business or wealth activities?
My passions have always included writing. As a little kid I used to bang out a “newspaper” and “books” (gibberish at the time) on my mom’s old manual typewriter as I pretended to be a writer. I think you can see how I’ve incorporated that passion into my business life.
How will you incorporate one or more of your passions in some way in your business life or wealth creating ventures?

There you have it. The three keys to adding meaning to the money.

In the months ahead I look forward to writing to you about more ideas and strategies on the areas of building wealth that matter most to you. Please make sure you take two minutes and go to the SHORT SURVEY I’ve set up for you to share exactly what you are most interested in.

I know you are busy, but by taking a moment to share your opinion and desires with me you will be rewarded a hundred times over as I write articles and eletters to you on exactly those subjects. Going on past experience, only one out of 10 of you will step up to the challenge of doing this. That means that for those of you who do, your answer will count as TEN TIMES larger!

In closing I wanted to thank you all. The past ten years of working with you (I know that some of you have just joined to this and the Maui community much more recently than this) has meant the world to me. And as I look back on my life I see what a tremendous blessing you all have been to me.

Thank you and I cherish our connection.

I wish you a great week ahead, and a lifetime of money PLUS the meaning.

David

P.S. Don’t forget to take a quick moment and fill out that three question survey! Just Click Here!

P.P.S. Check out the new Maui Millionaires website which is up at www.MauiMillionaires.com. While the official launch is still 2 weeks away (we have a few more bugs to work out), I think you’ll love some of the free articles and ebooks available on the site. Enjoy!

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