What do you really need?

Societies tell us that our ability to accumulate wealth is often directly related job and career options. Jobs viewed as "dangerous" supposedly pay more than jobs that aren't.  Stressful jobs are supposed to compensate people for their specialized skills, and being willing to put their own life on the line.  Take a closer look a your reasons for choosing certain jobs. Knowing that you create your beliefs and perceptions, notice whether job choices are really that you seek.     

From the perspective of a country or givernment, skilled labour is viewed as an asset or form of wealth.  Consider many Western nations are desperate for more tradespeople.  These nations are hiring more foreigners for mining and other areas where they note a shortage in their labour force. What does this say about desirable career choices, other kinds of wealth, and job markets?

Ironically perhaps, trade schools have been virtually phased out of Western education systems. High schools still offer some technical courses, but structured apprenticeships became harder to find to train for paying jobs.  The status quo and governments believed more people should have opportunities to attend university, and it became a business. More students were lured into colleges on the premise that jobs would await them upon graduation. They accrue debts only to be disillusioned. Job markets are changing and students must still find work to pay their debts.  

Attitude can be a form of wealth or it can undermine your efforts to create wealth.  For example, many people develop an attitude that trades are "beneath them" and that true intelligence would only be reflected by higher- paying jobs of the moment.  Suddenly, globalisation led many traditionally, higher-paying jobs being outsourced offshore (such as medical tourism, legal services, IT and anything doable over computers, among many others). Material wealth is no longer simply attainable by following routes to key professions. In fact, the larger homes in your city may already belong to tradespeople or people you wouldn't expect.

Sources of wealth can come from unexpected places. Increasingly, you realize qualified plumbers, electricians, builders, mechanics (refriegeration, motor and others) are in demand and thus, choose their prices. Trying to find tradesmen when you need one in Western countries often means long wait periods.  Professionals trained in Western countries are becoming more mobile and moving to where they consider to find better circumstances. They determine what they think they need, ignore shortages of skills in their areas and go where they choose.

The result is changing views on what you need to do to create wealth. Tax bases are shrinking in Western countries. Young people move away and aging populations mean less people are working. The overall picture is governments have less money to use to help people and create infrastructure.  Career paths which were once assumed to be well-paying are not staying that way and career paths that were once low-paid are now gaining respect and higher salaries. Avenues which we once thought were effective ways to create wealth are no longer guaranteed.

So, what are the solutions to these issues? What do we really need?

Maybe we need to change our attitude about how and where wealth can be created. How often do you limit your own options?  The Internet is being used to create wealth in new ways that many of us don't think about.  Should we? Or, should we rethink our whole concept of wealth?

We could also increase numbers of trade schools and promote this career path as a well-paying and respected livelihood, rather than impose value judgments which may deter people from realizing their dreams. Why assume one kind of path leads to the most or the best kind of wealth?

Another idea is to require professional people who train in one geographic location to work there for a certain number of years in order to pay enough taxes to justify the subsidy of their education and reduce stress on the system.   Another idea is to evolve from the current economic-based system into some other more sustainable, global system. 

How can you expand on your ideas of wealth-creation. Does it go beyond work for you? Notice the mind defines what you think you need. The heart  feels all needs are already satisfied.

Affluence

Each of us perceives some things in abundant supply in our lives. However, visible and invisible sources of affluence exist.  Whether or not you appreciate everything remains to be seen.

A writer is never at a loss for words.  Ponder how you express words with and without judgment.  Notice words adopt the connotations you give them.  Alone and quiet, they mean nothing.  The question is, what is the intention behind a writer's words?

An experienced builder offers a wealth of insight to architects and city planners.  The question is, does such a builder acquire knowledge for his own benefit or does he have an altruistic side?

An investor can build a large property portfolio.  The question is, is this investor working purely for himself (i.e. is he self-interested), or does he have a wider vision for whom he is or can help?

A missionary tends to overflow with religious ideas.  The question is, are people always persuaded that his perspective on the world is as valuable as he thinks it is?

You may have more than enough food to eat and consider you have enough to waste. After a dinner party, you may have so many leftovers, you compost for worms, leave some for the raccoons and throw some in the garbage.

A family may consider its pets to be its greatest source of wealth. How many people do you know whose cats, dogs, or other animals have become the centre of their universe?

Parents may feel their primary source of wealth is their children or other family members. The levels of love, affection and compassion shared may seem inexhaustible and unconditional.

Such examples remind you wealth is understood in different ways. It could take the form of money and material possessions. It could be something  measurable or immeasurable.  

In essence, you feel rich when you focus on what triggers joy in life. Wealth begins as a state of mind.  If you desire to create new kinds of affluence in your life, as you visualize it, then you'll be more likely to realize it. 

Deciphering ignorance

The Indian Patanjali suggests you need to return to school in order to rise above ignorance and achieve success.  According to him, we may all access useful knowledge in our minds.  It's what we choose to do with this that creates our version of success. Who is given the authority to determine what kinds of facts and skills are more important or more useful than others? What kinds of reasons do you have for accepting a particular hierarchy of steps to success?

If, by drawing from some of your skills, you're able to acquire more money and you desire this, then it may make sense to pursue this avenue.  However, if someone chooses to apply different kinds of knowledge at his disposal, which brings him less money, this individual is not ignorant, though certain cultures would have us believe that intelligence is measured by level of income.  For some people, success is based on feelings, such as a level of accomplishment or satisfaction.

Ignorance can be felt as what Wayne Dyer calls, "falsely identifying oneself as only of the ego-based world."  How can you reframe views of success such that you unlearn your thoughts to separate yourself from cravings and objects you desire? Ignorance prevents you from experiencing success and fulfillment so long as you continue to pursue what appears to provide it rather than find a sense of purpose and success within yourself without doing anything. 

Your senses may influence your view of success by tempting you with things you think you want but don't really need.  Success may involve overcoming certain self-destructive habits, such as over-eating, addictions, focusing on sources of grief, frustration and pain. 

Come waht may, remind yourself that you are not your experiences. You are not the person who thinks he chooses and controls them. A watcher exists beyond all that is perceived. Know values and habits arise as your own illusions. Reflect on your selected activities and what they reveal about your views on success. Ask yourself whether any belief about success is ever spot on.

Wealth without women?

Napoleon Hill says, "man's greatest motivating force [to create wealth] is his desire to please women." Do you agree or disagree? 

According to Hill, the only things that have changed from prehistoric times is man's methods for pleasing women.  Men who accumulate material wealth might also attain fame and power, but is this always basically to seek approval of women?

Hill also states that "it is this inherent desire of men to please women that gives women the power to break a man." The women who then understand a man's nature are therefore in no fear of competition from other women. Men may be powerful and competitive with other men, but Hill believes they are easily managed by the women of their choice. 

Some men admit they're being influenced by their women of choice--their wives, mothers, mistresses, sisters, friends, colleagues--but they refrain from rebelling againsts this influence.  The man who fails to recognize that the influence of the right women has done more to help men achieve success than all other forces combined, is losing out on a very powerful force.

Moreover, Hill expresses the view that women understand men better than men understand women.  He thinks men wish to be seen as stronger in public while women tend to run things like clockwork at home. The phrase, "who wears the pants in the family?" arises in jest.

Strengthen your concentration

What can you do to strengthen your concentration? Turn off the blaring music or change over to some more peaceful of meditative. Switch off the television. Put down the phone and turn on an answering machine if you have one.  Tear yourself away from those addictive computer games. Stop talking about doing things that are unrelated to the task at hand. Adjust your environment to suit your task or move yourself to a setting which will permit you to focus. Collect all the items  and information you need to accomplish your task. Put them together in one place and sort them.

It is never too late to revise your approach to concentration. You can start where you are. Decide if staying where you are in your current circumstances will enable you to move ahead.  If this is not the case, then it's time to take the necessary steps to accomplish more in new ways.