Money for Nothing, Wealth for Free

In my last post I spoke about how Sonia Simone's perspective on focus highlighted my multiple thumbs-in-pies malady. I didn't always lack focus; in fact my training novel and second novel were completed with a great deal of self-discipline, including, as I've mentioned previously, giving up reading fiction for a year. I'll come back to the topic of how I lost my focus in an upcoming post. First I want to fast-forward to January this year and talk about the series of videos that electrified me and have helped to launch me onto the trajectory I thought I should have been on but couldn't justify until now.

Those videos were made by an internet marketer called Eben Pagan to launch his course called Self-Made Wealth. That (two grand!) course is now closed, but as of this writing the pre-launch videos are still up and well worth watching.

The first thing that stuck in my mind from one of Eben's videos was the concept of Fiat Money. I'd heard this concept before, but Eben put it really simply: basically, cash money is worthless; it only has value because we (or governments really) say it does. Extremely wealthy people do not hold their wealth in cash; they invest in assets that appreciate in value. Simple.

Then he added to that thought with some examples about investing and included an anecdote about someone with a thriving business, and the perspective that this person would be best off investing any profits back into his business and not into other shares or investments. (Now, I don't completely agree with this because I'm of the eggs-and-baskets mind-set. Nevertheless...)

The idea that really hit me upside the head, though, was almost a throw-away line or two (because this course is about getting out of a debt mindset, not how to launch a business, so it wasn't the core idea of the videos). Eben said that the way to create wealth is to create something of value that people want to buy. Create something out of nothing, in other words.

Create something of value that people want to buy.

Again, not a new idea. But it was the way all these ideas (and more that I'll share later) came together in my mind.

It was the word "create" that got me. Eben was talking about creating info-products. The internet marketer's golden goose. But "create" means something totally different to me, and, if you're an artist or writer or in another creative field, you'll understand this mental leap immediately.

My next thought went to people like JK Rowling and Stephen King. Create something out of nothing: well they certainly did that, and, yes, they re-invested and diversified what they created and it generated wealth for them. Ha! Understatement.

Eben Pagan also mentioned the famous Star Trek James Kirk/Kobayashi Maru anecdote, making the point that sometimes you don't have to put up with the program that someone else has written for your life. If you think outside the box, you can write your own program. Writers, in particular, are often trapped in the no-win mindset that attempting to go the route of self-publishing could sabotage your chance for traditional publication, while waiting for your traditional publication lottery numbers to come up might mean a long wait that costs you readers and income.

Finally, I got a real emotional lift. Due to societal training that teaches us to buy into this fiat money illusion, I've long thought of myself as inferior because I don't earn an income. It's like being part of a business but not being a shareholder: your vote doesn't count. I'm a stay-at-home mum dabbling in website content and affiliate marketing while trying to find some time and energy to write down the fiction threatening to leak out of my brain. I thought that's what I should do; it's a rare writer who doesn't supplement her fiction income using other writing avenues, if not an actual day job. But what is wealth, really? Well, it's not money. It's not income, or "working for The Man". Wealth is reflected in assets and in the creation of something that others want to buy or trade for.

What greater asset than one's mind when that mind can create works of fiction that people want to read?

What greater wealth than imagination?

Money for Nothing, Wealth for Free
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2 thoughts on “Money for Nothing, Wealth for Free

  • Wednesday at 12:10 AM
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    You’re preaching to the converted here. No greater wealth than the imagination. It is a shame, however, that it can take such a long time for that creative force to be transmuted into an asset. I believe persistence and diligence do pay off in the end, though. In some form.

    Real food for thought in this post. Thank you.

  • Thursday at 11:23 AM
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    Persistence and diligence are important. But I also think the reason it takes some of us so long is the multiple dents to confidence and self-esteem due to all sorts of crap that happens. Some people are lucky; others have a lot of wading to do.

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