I have been stuck for the past few months on the idea that because money is a benchmark of success, it is also the destination. I just broke through that barrier. Hooray! Feels great. I suspect some other people out there are also stuck on this, as money is pretty sticky stuff. Here’s how I finally got there, after months of trying to talk myself into it with no success.

 

I was reading an article on Erica.biz (recommended to me by Pete Michaud), and Erica mentioned how she would set a financial goal and then work to figure out what was standing in her way–even if it was resistance within herself. When I got to the end of the article and her dream to earn $40,000 per month was realized, I had this brief moment where I thought, “Ah, how disappointing! Money is all she got?” Wait a tick. Figuring out how to make money is the reason I read this article! What happened to my goal?

The article spelled out step by step how Erica set her goal to earn $40,000 per month, and then reached that goal by acting as if it were already reality. She cleaned out old stuff (because someone earning $40k per month doesn’t need to hang on to old stuff) and generally cleaned up and pared down and focused her life to get in line with making that goal a realistic possibility. It happened. But after taking a miniature journey with her in this blog post, my “aha” moment at the end was that money isn’t my goal at all!

Now, don’t get me wrong. I have all kinds of plans for my money in the future. I’m not saying I’m not aiming to make some money: In fact I have plans that stretch out to several million dollars. What I’m saying is that I just realized that if I set my goal as earning several million dollars, I will be disappointed. That’s good information to know about myself.

My goal is my passion: to change the world by writing and speaking truthfully with love. How I will do this is still hazy. Part of it begins with the fiction trilogy I’m working on, which packs one wallop of painful, beautiful, hopeful truth. But I’m also writing a blog on green frugal parenting that I love, and I love to teach people how to live efficiently and game the system to make their money work harder for them and get ahead. I love love love to be in the start-up/small business world and work with people who are on the leading edge of media innovations. How does this all come together? I don’t know yet. I’m still in a “try out several good ideas” phase. But I’ve learned along the way that I’m a teacher, not an entertainer. And I love to help people become the people they were born to be and not settle for less. I love to be around honest and passionate people. Those are guideposts.

My realization? I’m not setting out to be a king: I’m setting out to be a king-maker–the authentic, spiritual kind. That shifts my perspective enough that I need to seriously rethink the actions I’m taking to make it to my goal. What a crazy week it has been, and was it all for this nugget of truth? It feels like I’ve found hidden treasure.

Could it be that money isn’t your goal either? What are you really aiming for with your life?