If You Want Money Don't Stress Over Money

A discovery I've made in my life in the past few years is that, "it's not about the money." It's not about stressing over money or responsibility. It's about finding a "thing" you love to do, getting out there and doing it hard each day, embracing uncertainty each day, believing in yourself and the Universe, and having fun.

Sumner Redstone, billionaire, head of Viacom, master negotiator and deal-maker, in his autobiography said, "It's not about the money. It's about winning." Winning is what he enjoys.

Richard Branson, billionaire, and the only man to have created billion dollar businesses in seven distinct industries says that it's not about the money. In fact in his book Screw It Let's Do It he goes further to say that the moment it becomes about the money, you're finished.

So, to help me with a business situation I'm in, and also just because it seemed like the thing to do, I bought Donald Trump's bestselling paperback, Trump: The Art of the Deal.

Moments ago I picked it up and began reading. Trump, the consummate deal-maker he is, is all about the money right? So what is the very first sentence of page 1, chapter 1?:

"I don't do it for the money."

"Damn! Here it is again!," I thought. "That's intriguing." I read on:

"I've got enough, much more than I'll ever need. I do it to do it. Deals are my art form. Other people paint beautifully on canvas or write wonderful poetry. I like making deals, preferably big deals. That's how I get my kicks.

Wow. Unbelievably, the thinking of Donald Trump, famous capitalist shark, is in line with Deepak Chopra, famous spiritual guide. (This thinking is also in line with Jesus, I might add.)

How are they in line? In Chopra's book The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, what I personally value as one of the most important books of our modern age, he discusses the concept of detachment:

"The sixth spiritual law of success is the Law of Detachment. The Law of Detachment says that in order acquire anything in the physical universe, you have to relinquish your attachment to it. This doesn't mean you give up the intention to create your desire. You don't give up the intention, and you don't give up the desire. You give up your attachment to the result...The moment you relinquish your attachment to the result, combining one-pointed intention with detachment at the same time, you will have that which you desire." (pp. 83, 84)

This is nothing more nor less than what Jesus called "faith." I believe this is what Jesus meant here:

"Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

"Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?...

"And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

"And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." (Matthew 10:25-29)

He didn't mean, "don't have desires and goals." He just meant, "Dude, put your desires out there, do your best thing, believe it will happen and quit stressing over it. You will have what you desire but you gotta let go of it first."

So, if true, and I believe it is, you don't get rich by being attached to money. Trump didn't. Branson (Virgin) didn't. Paul Newman (Newman's Own) didn't. Frank Gordy (The Varsity) didn't. Sumner Redstone (Viacom) didn't.

You have to let go and have fun.

Chopra explains that the opposite of detachment is attachment, usually manifested in people seeking security. But "the search for security is an illusion." Chopra:

"You might say, 'When I have X million dollars, then I'll be secure. The I'll be financially independent and I will retire. Then I will do all the things I really want to do.' But it never happens -- never happens." (p. 85)

He also explains that attachment to money and security comes from "poverty consciousness" and says,

"Without detachment we are prisoners of helplessness, hopelessness, mundane needs, trivial concerns, quiet desperation, and seriousness -- the distinctive features of everyday mediocre existence and poverty consciousness." (p. 85)

Does this describe you or someone you know?

On the other hand,

"To be grounded in [wealth consciousness] you have to be grounded in the wisdom of uncertainty."

A funny thing happens when you relinquish your attachment to your desire. You become open each day to all possibilities. Chopra:

"Uncertainty...is the fertile ground of pure creativity and freedom. Uncertainty means stepping into the unknown in every moment of our existence...Without uncertainty and the unknown, life is just the stale repetition of outworn memories. You become the victim of the past, and your tormentor today is your self left over from yesterday.

"Relinquish your attachment to the known, step into the unknown, and you will step into the field of all possibilities. In your willingness to step into the unknown, you will have the wisdom of uncertainty factored in. This means that in every moment of your life, you will have excitement, adventure, mystery. You will experience the fun of life -- the magic, the celebration, the exhilaration, and the exultation of your own spirit." (p. 86-87)

You may be thinking, "Okay, but that has nothing to do with Trump saying, 'it's not about the money.' That's quite a stretch."

Trump continues, first page, chapter 1 ("Art of the Deal"):

"Most people are surprised by the way I work. I play it very loose. I don't carry a briefcase. I try not to schedule too many meetings. I leave my door open. You can't be imaginative or entrepreneurial if you've got too much structure. I prefer to come to work each day and just see what happens."

Oh yeah, one more thing from the next page of Trump's book:

"If it can't be fun, what's the point?"

In Branson's book he has an entire chapter called "Have Fun!" The caption for the chapter reads,

"Life is too short to be unhappy." (p. 30)

Robert Redford said on Iconoclasts recently, "If it's not fun it's not worth doing."

Branson elaborates:

"Taxi drivers, journalists, radio interviewers -- all frequently ask what my secret is, how do I make money? What they really want to know is, how can they make money?...I always tell them the same thing. I have no secret. There are no rules to follow in business. I just work hard and, as I always have done, believe I can do it. Most of all, though, I try to have fun. I sincerely believe that work should be tempered by fun, and by that, I mean enjoying myself, not working and worrying and getting stressed out. I don't see the point of spending every walking moment working, sometimes to the point of exhaustion. Fun refreshes us; it's stimulating and vital on physical and spiritual levels. Knowing how to laugh and love and appreciate each other is what life is about." (p. 30)

So if Donald Trump, Richard Branson, Sumner Redstone, and even Jesus all tell you that it's not about being attached to the money, what the hold up is?

-Forsyth