The 4th article of a series of articles.

Core money valuesIn the previous article I showed you how to psychologically deal with any negative thought patterns that your psyche has been spinning when it comes to money. And, I encouraged you to vocally affirm positive thought forms so as to override any lingering self-sabotaging thoughts that stand in the way of your claim to wealth.

EVERY DECISION you make about money from this day forward needs to be rooted in positive and worthy mentally derived values that promote good health’”should YOU commit to creating your best financial life. Below is a brief list of POSITIVE CORE VALUES for you to start making choices from in terms of how to use, treat, and handle money. Read the list of values and decide how they are applicable to your life. You can also brainstorm your own list of values to anchor your money decisions in. The list:

1. Love: Money is neutral energy. Stop (right now) hating it, being angry at it, or making yourself feel worthless because of your lack of it. Learn to develop an intimate relationship with money and love it. Love paying your bills. Love RECEIVING money. When you love money (energy), you attract money to you. A financially successful friend of mine sings to himself the following affirmation that I encourage you to happily shout every day:

‘œI LOVE MONEY AND MONEY LOVES ME ‘” I’M ON THE ROAD TO PROSPERITY!’

2. Trust: Trust yourself to make RESPONSIBLE CHOICES in terms of how you use money. For example, look at the types of products that you spend money on. Do you use money to support chemical shampoos that are toxic to the body and environment or do you spend money on organic cleaners that are safe when applied to the body and are environmentally friendly?

3. Integrity: Set up a money system and stay true to it. Don’t cheat yourself when applying your money system. For example, when you get paid, HONOR YOURSELF by paying yourself first. Pay into your investments. Pay your bills on time. Do not jeopardize your credit by going further into debt. Control yourself from impulse buying, instant gratification purchases, and spending money just to impress the neighbors.

4. Self-Worth: Invest in your biggest asset’”yourself! Plug your money into MANIFESTING YOUR LIFE VOCATION. For example, if you are a chef, research all of the avenues to opening your restaurant in the way that you dream of, and then DO IT. If you are a singer, spend your money on enhancing your voice, recording music, song writing lessons, CD production, and so on. In other words:

FOCUS YOUR MONEY ON DEVELOPING
AND SUPPORTING YOUR PASSION’”
WHAT YOU LOVE TO DO’”
AND YOUR SUCCESS WILL GROW.

5. Health: Budget money to support your PERSONAL GROWTH AND HEALTH in terms of nutrition, emotional well-being, mental health, and spiritual development. The more enlightened you are, the more positive energy you’ll radiate so as to attract success and abundance.

6. Environment: Practice the art of GOOD STEWARDSHIP using your money. In other words, the home you are living in should be set up to support you. The place needs to be clear of toxins, geopathic stress, and noise pollutions. This place is your temple to rest, reflect, entertain, work, and live. What are you paying to live in: a toxic waste dump or a feng-shui designed haven?

Just as we can, by choice, create good or bad health for ourselves, we can also, by choice, manifest our home environment’”polluted or clean. The external reality is just a mirror to our inner state of being. Once you really get this concept, then what you need to do to change your outer reality is heal the conflict within.

For example, if your take home paycheck falls in the low income bracket and you are living in a run down toxic apartment complex then the complex and the other poor people are’”metaphorically’”a reflection of your inner turmoil. Should you decide to heal the starving subpersonalities inside of you, along with the homelessness archetype, and let’s not forget the victim mentality than you will radically shift your external reality toward the direction of abundance. This is how the Universe operates. Like Gandhi said:

‘œBe the change you wish to see in the world.’

7. Nutrition: Invest your dollar in nutritious foods and liquids. Ideally, all people should strive to be SELF-SUFFICIENT in terms of food (i.e., build your own garden). Cattle meat sold at the markets have been injected with steroids. Genetically modified foods are also hijacking the grocery store shelves, depleting consumers of vital nutrients. Foods are not as safe as you are led to believe. Support healthy farming businesses that provide you with toxic-free foods.

8. Relationships: Money can be used to do good things. It’s staggering to think that in the year 1997, ‘œthe world’s 450 billionaires alone had combined financial assets greater than the combined annual incomes of half of humanity.’1 Practice the GENEROSITY OF TITHING (giving a percentage of your money) so as to nurture and assist other people/groups in their personal growth quest. That support creates a healthier planet Earth.

9. Debt-Free System: Here’s the deal: If you don’t have the cash to buy something then don’t buy it. Buying items on credit keeps you locked into the debt system. Try practicing this fourfold approach to money handling success:

  1. Eliminate your debt (e.g., by paying it off),
  2. Manage out-of-control spending so as to avoid creating more debt,
  3. PAY FOR ITEMS WITH CASH so as to not accrue debt, and
  4. Turn your attention toward building money prosperity (e.g., pay yourself first, invest your money, etc.).

10. Educated Risks: Invest your money in REASONABLY grounded risks for a decent fast return. For example, learn the stock market and options trading. When you are certain of a stock increasing its value, buy its option. You can set up a free account with Options Xpress (in Chicago). You can play their real time virtual trading system before using your real money.

Unlike stock trading that can be slow on returning prosperity, with options trading you can make a few hundred dollars in a few weeks’”if you KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING. For example, during my learning process using the real time virtual trade program on Options Xpress, I bought an Apple July Call Option for $200 at the end of May 2007 and within two to three weeks the option went up to $1000, making me $800 dollars. My EDUCATED PURCHASE was driven by the fact that Apple Computers was releasing a new phone in June’”iPhone’”so the timing was right to buy the option. When you invest in options trading (also called ‘œday trading’) you need to pick companies that you are capable of researching very well and you need to closely follow their developments. I learned to rely less on T.V. coverage of stocks for tips and more on the facts of the company that I was interested investing in.

Options TradingTo the right (click on image to expand) is an example of what my Apple options trade looked like from Options Xpress. You can see that I bought the options at $200 dollars and that it rose to $1000 dollars, profiting me $800 dollars (minus the trading cost which was about $14 dollars).

Investing your money in the stock market is only one type of risk. You can invest your money in other things such as property or businesses. You need to invest your money into things that feel right for you.

Capgemini MerrillLynch Circle11. Allocate Your Assets Smartly: For those seeking to chart their own course to millionairedom, the Capgemini/Merrill Lynch report broke out how the very rich allocated their assets. The millionaires put 34 percent in equities; 27 percent in fixed-income investments; 13 percent in real estate investments; 14 percent in alternative investments like hedge funds, foreign currency and commodities; and kept 12 percent in cash or deposits.2 (See pie chart at left – click on image to expand.) I advise you to DO WHAT SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE DO WITH THEIR MONEY, as described here.

Self-Help Exercise: Choosing Positive Core Values

Take time now and decide on your TOP FIVE POSITIVE CORE VALUES that will govern your financial choices. This means that every time you spend, make, or receive a dime (or two!) your money behavior will be aligned with your values. These values chart your prosperous financial path. Your decisions to remain true to your values keep you on this course. Write these values down, below:

1. _____________________________________

2. _____________________________________

3. _____________________________________

4. _____________________________________

5. _____________________________________

Next, I encourage you to sign the financial responsibility contract below so as to uphold your promise to making better choices when handling money:

On (date) ______________________,
I (name) ________________________,
promise to base all of my money decisions
on my positive core values that I’ve listed above.

In the next article we will focus on your MONEY DISTRIBUTION. I will show you how to apply an ancient spiritual system to managing and balancing your flow of green paper bills and coins. (In other words, we’ll BUDGET together.)

End Notes:
1. Korten, D. (Summer 1997). ‘œMoney versus Wealth,’ Yes Magazine.
2. Said, C. (June 10, 2005). ‘œNumber of Millionaires Rises in Bay Area, U.S. and World. Report Finds Rich Getting Richer By an Average of 8.2%,’ San Francisco Chronicle.

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For more information on Dr. Lana Marconi’s private therapy practice in the Orange County, California area, and to download her self-help books visit: www.drlana.com.