The Definition of Money in 1884

Here is an article I uncovered in the archives that gives us a little information about what the word "money" use to mean back in the 19th century. During this time in history the United States had already suffered a bad experience with government printed paper "Fiat Currency" in the Continental Notes, Greenbacks and Bank Notes. So they decided to stick with what had worked for thousands of years prior, which are metals (silver and gold). Today little is known about true money do to the Federal Reserve System that has been forced upon us for the last 100 years. Here is a little food for thought that you will not find in our history books today. 

Use the advice you would give your kids. Follow your dreams...

It was late evening as a busy day was whining down and I was sitting in my chair relaxing. My son who was seated across from me asked me a question that caught me by surprise. He said, "Dad, what did you want to be when you grew up?" Stunned by such a deep and thought provoking question I didn't know how to respond. The first thing that came to mind was, "a lot of stuff". Because it was bed time and I didn't want to go down a long list of things I wanted to do when I "grew up" I left it at that. Because my son loves to ask a lot of questions I hurried him up and off to bed before he asked me to name one.  I should have known that question wouldn't have just stopped right there because here I am now hours later with some thoughts I feel would be worth sharing.

It's been years since I have been asked that question that takes you back down memory lane. That question of "What did you want to be when you grew up?" always seem to conjure up all types of crazy as well as creative fantasies that at one point seemed ideal. One point in my life when I was just a boy I wanted to be a firefighter, later on I wanted to be a US Marine, as well as a police officer. The list goes on and on of careers I thought would be fun. Looking back at why I would have wanted to choose those careers was not hard to figure out. I knew someone who was a firefighter, Marine and a police officer. I wanted to be those heroic figures because I had exposure to that line of work directly.

It seemed like the older I became the more my fantasies shifted from heroic and adventurous to what the world considers realistic and conventional.  So I settled with the idea that I would just play in the NBA and make a lot of money instead.  Well, fast forwarding to this present day I never got around to playing in the NBA or making the type of money I preferred, but I can say I got close enough.

Before I started off on the journey to professional sports I knew what the end goal would be. I wanted to make money playing basketball. For me to answer that question now makes it a little bit easier to say, I accomplished one thing I wanted to be, well at least partially.

I wonder how encouraging and inspiring my advice to my son would be if I never tasted the feeling of a single dreamed fulfilled? I would hate to use an excuse to cover up my lack of drive or inability to persist.  As a parent could I really look my son in the eyes and say, "You can be anything you want to be if you put your mind to it," and not have lived my own advice. I assume it is every parent’s goal to be able to use their life as a testimony to their kids of what living your dream could look like.  I once read a quote in the past that says something around the lines of, "A kid will not listen to what you say, but they will follow what you do instead."

So the question is what if you've never done anything in the form of realizing your own dreams? What credentials or lessons learned would you have for telling someone to follow their dreams and you didn't follow yours? Would you be mad if the kid thought you were lying to him? What if he said, "Well you said you wanted to be a doctor when you were a kid so what happened?" The first words out of your mouth might be, "uhhhhhh" or "When I had you....." followed by the rest of your reasoning.

The point is to not give up on your dream no matter how old you are or whether life has thrown you a few curve balls. It will be a lot easier to show your dream to your kids or even look yourself in the mirror than to tell them what your dreams were. The last thing you want is to have your kids being asked the same question and give the same response they heard from you. Remember kids are more inclined to believe you if you live it rather than just saying it. So tap back into a dream if you've been ignoring them over the years. It's never too late to dream especially if you have kids whose watching.

The 80% Club: If Money wasn't an issue, what would be different?

Here's a statement I bet you could agree with. If money wasn't an issue you wouldn't do or be concerned with approximately 80% of the things you currently are.

Out of the 80% I am referring to, here are a few things I would be willing to guess might be on that list.

1. Your job
2. Your geographical location
3. Your house
4. Your car(s) you drive
5. Your clothes and shoes you wear
6. Your food you eat
7. Your time
8. Your priorities
9. Your responsibilities
10. Your future

The list above are just a few of the things I could think of but definitely more could be added if I gave it more thought. Of course for every individual the list would look different, but the premise is the same. It's the need of money that guides most, if not the majority, of what and why behind what we do.

You might be wondering how I came up with that 80% figure, well if I was to take a few of the things from the list above and weighed them in correlation to my statement they might calculate out to numbers that I've listed below:

1. Your job/career: 50%
I don't have any official statistics to back this up, so this is my opinion. I would be willing to guess that half, if not more, of the currently employed population would probably be able to say that they don't have a dream job. With the number of career shifts increasing do to job instability, the economy and a drastic shift of industrialized jobs to technological. So I'm pointing to the fact that majority of people might not be in a job they enjoy. Factor in that from the time you finish formal education until retirement over half your time alive will be spent working. (25 - 65 years) If money wasn't a necessity this category would be irrelevant.  Since more than half of our lives will be spent working, I think that over half of that 80% would be included in my initial statement above.

2. Your time: 15%
This is a number that in reality is likely a lot higher. I put it so low just to keep it simple. Right after the job category would have to come the Time category. If money wasn't such a determinant of what we do then we would definitely invest our time differently. Think about all the things you do with your time because of the need of a dollar bill? I am willing to bet you could write a list of 100 things that has to do with money which requires you spending your time first. Time is one of our biggest assets along with our talent and it's the one thing we don't get to reuse. If you could buy back all the time you spent on things you had no real concern over because of the need for doe you would live forever. Time is definitely a major factor in the 80% of the things you would allocate differently if you could I'm sure.

3. Your future: 15%
I am not sure about you, but I can definitely speak in regards to this category. If your future isn't on the forefront of your mind then maybe you're not one of the people I'm referring to. When I was younger I usually made decisions based upon the moment, but the older I get the more calculated and thought out my decisions become. So my actions today are heavily focused upon my expectations for tomorrow. Unfortunately, money plays a major part in my desire to step up my efforts in being more proactive with my life choices rather than just reactive. How much money I do and don't have helps me answer a lot of tough questions that I must be willing to answer. One of those questions is, "Is what I am doing today going to get me where I want to be tomorrow?" This is a major question worth considering for yourself if you can relate to my 80% statement.

To wrap it up, the three categories above equate to 80% of the things that would be done differently if money wasn't an issue. Whether you agree or disagree with the percentage, the one thing you can't argue about is that money determines a lot of your decision making. Even if you wouldn't change anything or can't relate to any of the things on the list above, one thing I bet you could agree on is that something would be different.

The best indication of the point I am trying to make is the reason why millions of people play the lottery daily. They are hoping and dreaming for the day when money isn't an issue, so they can start living a life of their choice.

So my question for you is this. What would be different in your life if money wasn't an issue? What would be the percentage of things you wouldn't do if money wasn't an issue? Is my 80% to high or too low for you?

No Team, No Dream: A Lesson Learned from Cee Lo Green

Today while surfing the net I stumbled across a video interview about the life of Cee-lo Green that caught my eye. It's funny that whenever I see Cee-lo Green I am curious to see or hear what he has to say.

Looking back over his career, I am amazed at how he started off in a no name group that ended up going main stream in the late 90's to disappearing from the music scene and now back in the lime light at the top of his game. He has become the epitome of a “rags to riches” story in my opinion.

While always a fan especially when he came back on the scene in 2006 as Gnarles Barkley, he has taken the word entertainment to a new level from his good ‘ol hood days. I guess what sparks my interest the most these days is his loud and bright style of entertainment that is one of a kind. Truly he has taken music and entertainment to new heights and there is no wonder why he has his own Las Vegas headliner called Loberace.

This interview I'm referring to was a behind the scenes look at the career and new found success which led to him to his own Vegas show. During the interview he mentioned how surreal it was to have his own show and that it's amazing how he is one of a small few that have had the privilege to do that. To make it even better he has even brought his crew from the old days, The Goodie Mobb, along for the ride as well.

During the interview there was a statement he mentioned that was a major contributor and reason for his success. When asked his opinion on what it means to be in Vegas amongst the greats, he said, "It takes a team in order to reach a Dream" which is the realest statement I've heard all week.

After reflecting on that statement I realized that no one can make it to the top of the mountain by him/herself. Just like a singer needs fans, an athlete needs a coach. You and I also need others in our daily lives in order to be our best at anything.

Here is one thing that I would be willing to say is a fact that can't be disputed. No one can fulfill a dream by themselves. Unless your dream affords you the chance to live in isolation, more than likely you'll need somebody. If your dream is anything that requires you serving yourself to others then surely you will need people. So what's my point?

Well just like Cee-Lo mentioned, you need a team. A team can consist of a group or at a minimum one other person to help you reach the top. For me there's nothing better than having a life partner, better known as my better half. Over the last decade I've had a hell of a teammate in my wife. It's not a day that goes by that I don't realize and am thankful of her assistance in my climb to stardom.

My question for you is do you have a team on your journey? One of the realest and most rewarding ideas is that everyone needs someone if they plan on reaching for the stars. If not you might end up reaching, but not leave the ground if you're trying to do it by yourself.


To see the video click the link: Cee Lo Green Video

What you don't know won't hurt you. Will it?

Have you ever heard the saying, "What you don't know can't hurt?" In my opinion, whoever made that up was clearly uninformed, because the truth is, what you don't know can cause major hurt.

Think about the time you experienced your first encounter with fire. While you may not be able to remember the exact moment, I am sure you can remember the pain it left on your fingertips. It hurt. How about the time when you experienced your first heart break in school. The time when you found out that your boyfriend or girlfriend had a crush on your best friend. By the time one of them mustered up the courage to tell you, it felt like a dagger was thrust through your back. It hurt. Those are all situations where you didn't know before hand, but when you found out, it hurt.

Now as adults, how much do you think has changed? Not much. There's still a big'ol world out there with a lot of potentially hurtful things waiting to cross your path. I wish there was a way to be warned ahead of time but unfortunately there's not. We usually have to learn by trial and error or do we? Wouldn't it be nice to minimize the uncertainty or risk in being unaware or ignorant about something?

My advice: Get Informed

Take the time to get informed on what matters most to you. Take the time to access what you value most and get all the information you can.

Picture from http://www.exploremosaic.com/blog/understanding-pain/

There is also that phrase, “Ignorance is bliss.”  Initially, one might agree.  However, when “stuff happens” and people are uninformed they tend to panic.  If we are aware of some things ahead of time we have the opportunity to prepare for what may lie ahead.  It seems that the people who suffer the most when things “pop off” are the ones who act last simply because they were unaware and unable to respond fast enough.

Think about one of the most costly events in your life and how different it could have ended if you were informed. The "I wish I could've should've moments" we all have for example. If you had just a hint of information you would have been allowed to make a more thorough and informed decision that could have made a huge difference.

No matter what the subject, get informed. Stay brushed up on what matters to you with your kids, your money, your country or anything that stands to impact you negatively from ignorance on your part.

In the end it's the ones who didn't know that suffer the most so make sure it's not you...

Unclog Your Life By Using A Spiritual Laxative (The Word of God)

There's no worse feeling than being uncomfortable do to irregularity. Especially after several days have passed and you start feeling bloated and lethargic. It usually doesn't take long to realize that something needs to be done or else it could get a little messy.

In times like this without even having to ask for help you know that something needs to be done in order to unclog the pipes so things can flow smoothly again.  You recognize that there's a problem and you immediately seek the help of an over the counter drug or food that's known to unclog pipes.

No matter how often this happens you know that when your system is clogged up something is not working correctly and you get help. What if it wasn't your digestive track but instead your life? What if your life seemed to be clogged up by toxic relationships, unproductive habits, financial woes or you're just at a standstill in life?
When things aren't flowing properly and you feel unmotivated and miserable then maybe your life is clogged up.

Just like a backed up digestive system, you know you need something that can flush you out by losing the left over waste in your system. The same would apply to a stagnant and standstill life. You need something that can lose your debris and get you flowing again. When it comes to the body you grab a drug, but for your life you need the Word of God.

One of the similarities of having a naturally backed up system and a life standstill is that neither will unclog without help. In order to get things moving again you have to get help. There's no greater prescription for a life that's not moving forward than the Word of God. It is the greatest spiritual laxative for making things right when our decisions or circumstances cause a standstill or set back.

If your life is not moving full steam ahead in a direction that motivates and inspires you, then most likely you’re severely clogged up. No matter whether you're a "religious" person or not, if what you've been doing isn't working you better find something else fast. The best way to unclog your life fast before it implodes is by seeking help. Just like you'd seek help if your natural system was clogged; you must also seek help for your life when your life is clogged by reading the Word of God. 

Do you think the Word of God could unclog a persons life? I would be curious to hear your thoughts.

Your Money: Easy Credit, Cyprus Paper Crisis and Your Wallet

This is some food for thought on the Cyprus bank theft and the credit manipulation in the USA. During these hard economical times the best thing to do is to be aware and attentive to what's in your wallet. I would love to hear your take on the current economical crisis and the one to come.