By Leanne Jacobs, MBA, author of Beautiful Money
The new wealth is here: Holistic Wealth. I am a fierce advocate for a new and more harmonious financial model that is worthy of teaching our children. The elephant in the room is that our money-making formula isn’t pretty and it isn’t working. The grand dilemma we face is that we absolutely know this but but we have no idea what to do with this truth. Never in history have we been more broke, burnt out and physically broken. We’re living in a frazzled state of rushing and we’re addicted to being busy (and broke). I believe one of the key reasons we’re so busy being busy is that we are actually keenly aware that our formula isn’t working but we’d prefer to be busy than face the music.
It’s time to face the music with grace, confidence and courage. It’s time to start making beautiful money. Holistic wealth at it’s core is fuelled by heart-centered, compassionate and authentic leadership. Like most, I had to learn the value of Holistic Wealth the hard way – by being crushed into fine wine. I had to learn through experience that the hustle, chase and overdrive might get me more money but wouldn’t get me the happiness, fulfilment and connection I deeply desired. Like many friends and colleagues, the chase for money and success came at a great cost: complete disconnection. Symptoms show up in failed relationships, failed health and complete emotional distress but at the core is disconnection. When we embark on the obsessive chase for more, we miss the point of it all – the moments of our life.
Here are four simple strategies for creating a more vibrant and holistic wealth plan.
1.Net Worth and Self Worth go hand in hand
Our individual relationship with money is always an external projection of our internal relationship with ourselves. How we treat, respect, discuss and manage money is a real-life measure of our own self-worth. The more powerfully and authentically you lead in your life, the greater financial returns you will reap. This requires setting clear goals and intentions and also requires you to commit to letting go of habits and thoughts that are misaligned from your desired destination. There is a leadership crisis in the world today. The world needs you to courageously lead with authenticity and grace. Use your Net Worth as a fun yet powerful measure of your leadership development each year. As you lead with greater grace and courage, your money will follow in your footsteps.
2.Authenticity and Wellbeing are magnets for money
We are magnetically drawn to people who beam brightly with radiance and wellbeing. Not only do we want to be around them, we want to work with them (and hire them!). Radiant wellbeing is the new business card. I have made it a practice to energetically ‘feel out’ the leader in the room. When I attend a conference or meeting, I can instantly identify a tribe builder. They have a special light and energy about them. They’ve made it a habit to let their authenticity and wellbeing be their ticket. They don’t need business cards as they magnetically attract business and clients everywhere they go. Give me some of that! By valuing and loving ourselves more, we become much better at setting boundaries, valuing our time and asking for help from others and asking for money. Make it a daily practice to shed all that no longer serves and you to stand powerfully in your own truth. Toss the people-pleasing and learn to gracefully speak your truth. Implement strategies and habits that lead to putting yourself and your wellbeing first. The best way to inspire others is to commit yourself to action. Be the change. It’s easy to make our lives look pretty on social media but let’s remember that our actually lives should be pretty too! Is there an app for this? Make small changes in your own life towards simplicity, mindfulness and wellbeing. Your body and your bank account will thank you. Simple changes implemented with commitment and consistency, lead to true transformation.
3.Leverage your way to the top
It took me a while (about two decades) but I finally kicked my ‘I have to do it myself to do it right’ mantra. This practice was not only exhausting but expensive! Why? Because it keeps us distracted from living our genius. It drowns our time and our gifts in the trivial and meaningless. Learn to leverage that which you understand but have no desire to master. You may be good at something but if it isn’t your genius, be mindful of haemorrhaging too much time. Remember that you can leverage more than your money. Learn to get really great at leveraging time, people and other people’s genius. You don’t need to know everything, you just need to get really good and really creative at finding out who does. Don’t try to be perfect, just be imperfectly you. The world needs you to be. The great thing about leverage is that it’s also the secret to wealth creation. Creating more systems and networks in your business and personal life are keys to creating holistic wealth.
4.Design a life and a legacy
The trouble with traditional wealth creation is that we got caught up following someone else’s plan for our lives. We let ourselves fall victim of the opinions and judgements of others. In order to create holistic wealth, we must fully embrace the driver’s seat of our own life. We must become a visionary. We must set clear goals and intentions that are not only going to benefit us today but decades from now. Learning to make decisions today that benefit the long term is a skill I continue to develop daily. Short term gratification can no longer be an addiction. We must learn to discipline ourselves into making healthy, aligned and harmonious lifestyle and financial choices. One of the most critical pieces to lifestyle and legacy design is healthy cash flow. Not prioritizing cash flow is one of the key reasons people give up on designing their dream life and on creating a legacy. When we’re chronically stuck living paycheck to paycheck, it drains our souls and our dreams. Make it a priority to become a cash flow queen (or king). Other strategies include; automating wealth creating activities, saving more than you spend, and learning to sleep wealthy (making money while you sleep).
When we get down to basics, it’s absolutely important to have the right vehicles for creating wealth. If you’re financially capped each year regardless of how much time you put it, it might be time to consider graduating to your next lifeclass.
My deeper desire for you is that you learn quicker than I did- that letting go of fear and guilt will leave you with a vastness of beauty, space and abundance in your life. This is true freedom. I’m not sure why we cling to fear so tightly, but it is extremely expensive.
About the Author:
Leanne Jacobs worked in sales and marketing for several Fortune 100 companies, including Johnson & Johnson, Nike, DuPont, and L’Oreal, until she had an epiphany: while her life looked successful on paper, she had been living a lifestyle she was brought up to believe was important, but that made her unhappy, unhealthy, and disconnected. She quit her job the next day and overhauled her entire life. She has an MBA from Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, Canada, and leads seminars on personal finance, entrepreneurship, leadership, spirituality, and holistic health. An 8-time marathoner, amateur surfer, and Reiki healer, Jacobs is working with her husband to create a health and wellness charity dedicated to the care of children. She is the author of the new release BEAUTIFUL MONEY: The 4-Week Total Wealth Makeover. Learn more at http://leannejacobs.com/.