| Measure: | Strong cash flow from million-dollar portfolio |
| Emotions: | Calm; patience; clarity |
| Cost of staying here: | Critics; isolation; loss of passion |
| Focus needed: | Trust and promise |
| How did I get here? | Risk management; asset management; detachment |
| How do I move up? | Trump Your Trust; Capitalize Your Currency; Connect Your Community |
The most frightening experience I have ever had was on a trip to New Zealand. A friend took me to Nevis, which at the time had the highest bungee jump in the world. I remember standing on the platform, looking four hundred meters down to the rocks of the river below. The long rope tied to my ankles weighed against me. I was scared to death.
That’s when the guide said to me, “Don’t think of this like you’re jumping. Think of it like simply letting go. Gravity will do the rest.”
He was right. I had to let go of what I was holding on to in order to experience a new freedom. Yes, I was terrified, but if I let go, I would make a quantum leap in what I was willing to experience.
And so I did. And in return, I experienced what it felt like to fly.
When we started this journey, I told you about my first quantum leap in the way I was thinking the night my car was repossessed in Singapore, and I resolved to get out of Infrared and put in place the first steps of what became the Millionaire Master Plan. The rest of my climb did not require what I call my quantum leaps like the one that night or the one I had before I jumped off the bungee platform. Or did they?
The scientific definition of quantum leap is “one in which electrons jump from one quantum state to another.” Do you remember in science class drawing atoms of different elements with rings of electrons? Each ring represented a different quantum state. Electrons jump from one ring to another when there is a change to the atom.
The most common example of this in the universe is the nuclear fusion in stars when two hydrogen atoms collide to form one helium atom. The result is that the two nuclei fuse into one, and an electron goes through a quantum leap, giving off a photon of light. Billions upon billions of these quantum leaps occur every moment, producing the light of our sun and the sparkle of stars in the night sky.
It’s easy for us to think that quantum leaps happen only occasionally in life and forget that we are the result of quantum leaps and live in a world lit up by quantum leaps. Every day when I wake up, I remind myself that I am a part of this incredible world of light. Every day I have the choice to stay stuck in the same state, or I can take a quantum leap and be a part of the light. It’s another day in the lighthouse.
You have seen how every level of the lighthouse requires a dramatic shift in the way we listen, think, and act. Each level forces us to look at things differently as our flow grows. Each level is like a radio station, connected on the dial to all the others but each at a different frequency. A simple shift of the dial, and the music we hear is entirely different.
Making it this far up the Wealth Lighthouse has also required letting go, just as I let go on the bungee jump platform. Sometimes it meant letting go of what you just learned weeks or months before to get you to the next level. If you were part of the majority of people in the world, you started in the Foundation Prism (at Infrared, Red, or Orange Level) and had to give up the freedom of choice or movement you earned there. You had to unlearn the steps that got you to one level to climb up to the next. Holding on to either freedom of choice or freedom of movement and what you attach your self-worth to at the previous level is how you get stuck at that level.
So you learned to let go, and in return you gained wealth, achieved so much success, and gave back more than you might have ever imagined. You are now among the minority of people in the world who have moved into the Enterprise Prism. And if you have moved through to Blue Level, you have earned the right to move beyond this stage, to the creation of the music itself: the third prism, the Alchemy Prism.
Blue Conductors have mastered the art of designing social leverage. We know how to create teams to manage our streams and are enjoying the freedom of movement this provides. We have little need for others to love our ideas, for working hard, or for interfering in the endeavors of our leaders. We attach our self-worth to the growth in our resources, which includes the high-level influencers we are now connected to.
When we reach Blue Level, the higher calling to be a Trustee for our industry or cause inevitably arrives. Now you need to decide whether you are willing to step up as a leader and role model for your industry or your cause. To move to Indigo Level and into the Alchemy Prism means letting go once more, specifically to the attachment you have to your freedom of movement, and to connect your self-worth to the legacy you will leave in your circle of impact.
The Alchemy Prism is where all the rules of the game are made. In the last hundred years, we have largely delegated how the rules of the game are made to large institutions and governments. This was not always the way things were.
In the days of the Renaissance, private families, scientists, artists, and architects made the rules. In the early days of America, the pioneers and entrepreneurs made the rules. In each case, they moved from being the Trustee of their movement to the Composer of the next. They rewrote the music when it went out of tune. Today, with the growth of the Internet and global economy, we are again seeing change makers and leaders choosing to step up and make the rules of the game on the global stage. Crowds are attracted to and following these new pioneers and leaders more than governments and corporations.
The steps to move to and through the Alchemy Prism to be part of this transformation cannot possibly be captured in the pages of this book. It is not that it can’t be done—though few have the perseverance and focus to reach this level—it is that I am learning the climb myself today. You have just as much opportunity to move up to the Alchemy Prism as me! Because I can tell you what needs to be done: Once again, there are just three steps out from Blue Conductor to Indigo Trustee.
Moving from Blue Conductor to Indigo Trustee, where you lose a part of your freedom as you become accountable to the cause that you represent, is a step that both Peter Diamandis and Richard Branson were moving to when I met them.
I first met Peter Diamandis when I traveled from Bali to the NASA center in Silicon Valley, where he had set up Singularity University with Ray Kurzweil. When I met Peter, he was already used to dealing in millions of dollars. He had set up the X Prize as a way to encourage space travel with a $10 million award to the first person to send a rocket into suborbital space and return safely.
He did this before he had the money; he was driven by a mission to push forward the frontiers of space travel. In the eleventh hour, he raised the $10 million from the Ansari family, and following Burt Rutan’s winning flight, the X Prize became a driver for the future, incentivizing inventors to compete to solve our grand challenges. Using his Blaze Genius to connect with futurists, pioneers, and entrepreneurs, Peter has become a Trustee for our future, attracting the smartest minds and the deepest pockets in the industry.
A year later, thousands of miles away in the British Virgin Islands, I spent a week with Richard Branson on Necker Island. He talked about his own venture into space with Virgin Galactic and how he connected with Burt Rutan on his prizewinning flight, at the invitation of Peter Diamandis, to start his new space-traveling venture. Despite already being a billionaire, Richard has also been stepping into his role as an Indigo Trustee, being a role model for the world’s entrepreneurs with his books, talks, videos, and blogs.
Now, many Blue Conductors choose to stay at Blue Level, which gives a life of luxury and wealth without the need to be accountable for the world’s challenges. Increasingly, however, we are seeing Blue Conductors take responsibility for solving our grand challenges and moving to Trustee Level to lead. An Indigo Trustee makes the music possible, like a theater trustee who provides the name and resources for the composer and performers to make the music in the concert hall.
Here are the three steps that Peter and Richard took when they chose to move to Indigo Level:
Why had I been investing time with Trustees like Richard and Peter? Because I had earned the right to be a Blue Conductor, but I didn’t know these three steps to move up to Indigo Trustee. As a result, ten years ago I made some missteps attempting to move from Blue Level to Indigo.
Back then, I had a vision of “World Wide Wealth” where we could unite social entrepreneurs to create more and contribute more. I put my efforts and resources toward a network that grew and flourished but ultimately failed to sustain itself. I wasn’t ready for the politics and conflicts within the community we grew. I wasn’t prepared for the critics and growing pains that having a greater cause attracts. And I hadn’t invested the necessary time to learn from Trustees who were forging their own journeys and had already weathered similar growing pains.
As at every level in the Wealth Lighthouse, it is a quantum leap to an entirely new experience at the next level. That’s why I needed time with Trustees like Peter and Richard: to learn the language of the Indigo Level. Having learned from my failures and invested time to connect with and learn from those successful Trustees, I am on a renewed journey to shine a light on a cause: growing financial literacy for both our current and future generations.
For me to achieve my path, and for you to achieve yours, takes trust: a natural trust that links to our genius.
To move from Blue Conductor to Indigo Trustee is to move from growing capital to mobilizing trust. In fact, most wealth creators at Indigo Level have trusts to own their assets. The trust you build in your market is linked to your industry and allows you to be a voice for change. But what we are trusted for varies according to our genius.
You tapped your creative spirit as a Dynamo Genius to move through the Foundation and Enterprise Prisms. Provided that you persevere, you will find in the future that the track record you build will earn you the right to become a Trustee of your cause in the future.
Dynamo Geniuses like Richard Branson or Bill Gates are trusted for their creativity. Each has used a pioneering spirit to create new markets and to think globally about solving big challenges. Through their ventures they have built a track record of innovation, so when Richard Branson says he is going up in space or Bill Gates says he will eradicate polio, people believe them.
You will follow your Blaze path to success through your natural leadership skills. This will earn you the right to be a voice in your own community as you grow your connections, respect, and reputation. It’s just a matter of time.
Blaze Geniuses like Peter Diamandis and Oprah Winfrey are trusted for their ability to bring the best people together. Both have used their ability to connect and bring out the best in people to grow their own influence and reputation. They have then leveraged this trust to move their communities, whether it is Oprah being a force for good through her Oprah’s Angel Network or Peter pushing forward innovation with the X Prize and Singularity University.
You followed your Tempo Genius path by taking care of the small things, building your track record as dependable and compassionate. This will earn you the right through your actions in the future to speak with a trusted voice of authority on the cause you champion.
Tempo Geniuses like Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa were trusted for their ability to serve. Both used their natural sensory acuity to be an advocate for change through compassion. Gandhi used his training as a lawyer to lead India to independence. Mother Teresa used her path as a missionary to help the poor in India. Neither needed to spend much time being creative or connecting with others as the quality of their words and work defined them. The care they showed in their day-to-day actions led to a level of trust in each of them that spread around the world.
You followed your Steel Genius by using your analytical skills and systematic thinking. This will earn you the right to propose bigger, more complex, world-changing missions in the future. Having the trust of others to deliver will give you the power to make a big difference in the world once you move to Indigo Level.
Steel Geniuses like Larry Page and Salman Khan are famous for their systems thinking and attention to detail. Each has built a track record for his ability to create complex global platforms that look simple, and both have used that trust to gain support for global projects to give rather than to get. Larry is collecting all the world’s information online with Google. Salman is growing Khan Academy to provide education to students and adults around the world. Both are providing this knowledge for free to the public.
When you look at the inspiring leaders in the world, you will notice that many of them are not saying things or believing in a future that much different from what you may be saying or believing. The difference is that they have invested the time to earn the right to lead. They followed their genius path to the top of the lighthouse.
But they are still on the same path that you are. By seeing them as different from yourself, you give up hope that you could make the difference that they are making. By seeing them as simply being on a different step of the journey but using the same GPS, you can connect the dots and see that all that separates you from them are the steps in between. We may be different colors, but we’re all part of the same rainbow.
To reach the top levels of the Wealth Lighthouse takes perseverance and commitment. Yet everyone who has reached the Alchemy Prism will tell you that it wasn’t because of “me.” They will tell you they are fortunate to be there, and they will credit a large part of their success to luck, saying something like I was in the right place at the right time.
The truth of it is, we create our own luck. When we set up a rhythm for our time and we open the space to get out of stress and into flow, we open up the space for magical time. When professional athletes feel this way, we say they are “in the zone.” They are attracting the ball and scoring opportunities more often and are ready for those opportunities when they arrive.
How can we grow our own luck? A simple way to look at it is by breaking down luck into LUCK: Location, Understanding, Connections, and Knowledge.
In sports, knowing that the game is only on when you’re on the field means showing up in the right place for the game. That includes setting up the space for your five energies and means showing up where the resources you need are in play. Every industry has a place where influencers and leaders connect with each other. If you’re not in that place, you’re not in the game.
Being on the field doesn’t mean you end up scoring. Understanding you’re there to kick the ball instead of watching the game changes your focus. It means you start looking out for the opportunities coming your way. You stop chasing the ball and begin positioning yourself based on where everyone else is and where you can be of most value. That’s what it means to fill a gap in the market. Where you can be of most value to others is where the money will flow to you. This understanding changes your awareness of where flow is already occurring.
You can be on the field, passing and ready to kick the ball. But if there are no team players on the field with you, you will be waiting a long time for that ball to come back. Connections are about knowing that flow grows the more you are connected to others playing the same game as you the right way. The more you share opportunities and resources with others, the more they will share them back (as long as they are the players on the field and not the spectators in the stands).
Even by being at the right place at the right time, with your team delivering you the ball, you still won’t score if you don’t know how to kick it. This doesn’t happen by reading a book. It happens by practice: To know and not to do is not yet to know. Each level of the Wealth Lighthouse leads you to a higher level of competence in kicking the ball, until scoring comes naturally.
Having a rhythm every week that builds your Location, Understanding, Connections, and Knowledge builds your luck. It also builds your fortune. In fact, the word fortune comes from the Roman goddess Fortuna, who is the guardian of luck. When we follow our flow, we find our fortune, which means three things:
To that end, in the Alchemy Prism, your genius becomes your legacy. Each of the four geniuses leaves a different legacy.
We all have greatness inside us and the potential to leave a legacy of our own. When we triangulate fortune and see our luck, our wealth, and our legacy linked to each other, we can spot the signs when we are moving toward and away from our flow. We can increase the magical moments in our lives and turn those magical moments into quantum leaps.
We are now seeing a new group of change makers who have earned their way up the Wealth Lighthouse and are leaving their legacies. They are coming up with new ways to solve our big challenges. They are coming from a deeper level of understanding and have earned a greater degree of trust. Every one of us can rise to this level. Simply by taking one step at a time, you can step up to this level. Because even up here it is just about three steps.
Bill Gates is an example of someone who has moved from Trustee to Composer as a Dynamo Genius using these three steps to move from Indigo to Violet Level:
While a Violet Composer makes the music, the Ultraviolet Legend is a symbol of our time. A legend on a map is the set of symbols that are used in place of words. When your mission becomes your life, and your life becomes a symbol for a generation, you reach Legend status.
Violet Composers do not take the three steps to Ultraviolet alone. They are lifted up the steps by the movement they have created:
That last step is the reason Ultraviolet is the final—one might say ultimate—level of the Wealth Lighthouse. From Infrared to Ultraviolet, there are nine levels in all. These are the nine levels in which all humanity flows. We are all part of the same quantum leaps that make up light. Only when we divide it up can we see the steps and see that we are all part of the same rainbow.
At the three levels in the Alchemy Prism, your Genius will shine through. The Trustees, Composers, and Legends of our time shine brightly through their Genius. At Alchemy Level, your Genius becomes your legacy.
Dynamo Legends like Thomas Edison and Leonardo da Vinci have left a legacy in their creativity. The innovations we have today have come from a life of ideas that have given us new ways of doing things. As a Dynamo Genius, the innovations you leave can change the course of humanity.
Blaze Legends like John Lennon and Martin Luther King Jr. have left a legacy through the power of their message. We have changed the way we think and what we are willing to believe and strive for as a result of their words. As a Blaze Genius, your message can shape a movement and lead to lasting change.
Tempo Legends like Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa have left a legacy through the way they lived their values. We have changed the way we act and the values we live by through their example. As a Tempo Genius, your ability to live your truth through all adversity can shift the actions of a generation.
Steel Legends like Andrew Carnegie and Isaac Newton have left a legacy in their body of knowledge. We have changed the way we think and the theories by which we understand the world through their IDEAS. As a Steel Genius, the way you make sense of the world can lead to a shift in a nation’s thinking.
On the Millionaire Master Plan, we use these Legends on the map to help us navigate our way. They are like landmarks orienting us on our journey—until we become landmarks and Legends ourselves.