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Suppose I was standing on the corner, and I walked up to you and said, “Excuse me, I have some problems paying my bills. Could I have some money?”
You’d probably think, I’ve got my own problems. Get out of here!
Or what if I came up and announced, “You know, I’ve got some kids I need to put through college. Can I borrow some money from you? Will you help me out?”
You’d probably answer, “Look, I’ve got my own kids.”
But imagine if I was to tell you, “Three years ago my wife and I had a child. Our baby was born with a deformity. We were unprepared for the massive life change this brought us, and we’re still often in shock. We were beating ourselves up and wondering what we’d done to attract such a challenge. All kinds of things ran through our minds.
“Then we realized that this could be a gift. This could give us a cause to which we could dedicate our lives. We decided to create a foundation and do what we could to research this deformity—what caused it, why this might happen in families’ lives, and how to prevent and treat it. As a result, we’ve now dedicated about 60 percent of our savings and 10 percent of our present income toward supporting this effort. Would you love to contribute in some way to try to keep children from having deformities when they’re born?”
If I were to ask you that, you’d probably be more apt to contribute, because I invoked a bigger reason than just my immediate personal needs.
When your enterprise is simply yourself, you’ll find few willing to support it, but if your goal involves something beyond yourself, you’ll more easily find contributors. The larger your cause, the greater the opportunities you’ll receive in relation to it. This applies not only to charitable organizations and ideas, but also to your personal life: If there is a greater purpose to your wealth, you’ll attract greater opportunities for acquiring it.
You’re also wise to ask yourself when you’re developing your cause, If I don’t know what I’m going to do with the money I accumulate, why would the universe give it to me? That is, if you’d love to make a million dollars, you need to write out what you’d do with every dollar. If you dream about $10 million, you’d record exactly what you’d love to do with every single bit of it. The same principle applies to desires for $100 million or $1 billion: Make an explicit plan for how each cent would be allocated. If you don’t know what you’d do with the money and aren’t sure how to manage what you’d receive, then why would the universe give it to you?
This is an important principle: Make sure you have a purpose larger than your immediate needs, or you’ll become challenged in attempting to rise beyond your current circumstances. The greater your cause, on the other hand, the greater your potential wealth can be, since more people will want to support your plan, be a part of it, and invest in it.
Also, be certain that you know what you’re going to do with the assets you already have. Why would you get a promotion at work if you couldn’t manage the responsibilities you already had, let alone the new level of accountability? Similarly, why would you get an upgrade in wealth if you don’t know how to handle what you had, let alone the new level? Those who manage money more wisely get more to manage; those who deal with it poorly receive less.
One of the secrets of this process is making sure that you have a great intention that abundance can flow to: the Law of Greater Cause. You won’t find any person of vast fortune who doesn’t have a larger purpose, so make sure that you plan beyond yourself.
WORDS OF POWER
I have a great cause for great wealth.
My cause is far beyond myself.
I know what I would love to do with every single dollar of my wealth.
I see each dollar of my wealth used for a cause greater
than my immediate self.
It is not just about me. My purpose grows far beyond myself.
Daily, I serve others and myself.
I am on a mission.
MY WORDS OF POWER
MY REFLECTIONS
How can I use the Law of Greater Cause today to fulfill my life’s
purpose, dreams, and objectives?
