By Alexis Neely, America's Personal Family Lawyer®
The road to wealth isn’t always lined with sweet smelling roses and crystal clear paths on which to travel. In fact, I’d say it’s exactly the opposite. In my experience, the road to wealth has been paved with potholes, roadblocks, stinky piles of gunk and confusing forks in the road.
Nice imagery, huh? But, it’s true, wouldn’t you agree? In fact, I’ve yet to meet one truly wealthy person who has said to me “oh no, it’s been a breeze.”
The truth is that life happens and very often the circumstances that confront us along the path through life (especially if we are not willing to settle for mediocre) may appear to be less than ALL GOOD.
For example, did you know that many people who are super wealthy today have experienced personal bankruptcies in the past? Here’s a list of famous people who have been through bankruptcy. And of course, there’s Donald Trump, Mark Victor Hansen and Bill Bartmann too, each of whom have bounced back from the brink and come back better than ever.
My point is NOT to tell you to court bankruptcy – not at all, it’s to help you see the ALL GOOD in something even as painful as that.
If there’s one common denominator among all the truly wealthy people I’ve met, it’s that they manage to find the ALL GOOD in every circumstance, even something as apparently bad as a bankruptcy, foreclosure, business closure, or even divorce.
How do they do that and most importantly, how can you?
The key is to be able to step back out of your current circumstances and see the bigger picture. For example, let’s say you are facing foreclosure of your home or your business going under, what would happen if you looked beyond your immediate circumstances and instead saw beyond what you can see right now?
You might see that losing your business is the best thing that could ever happen. Perhaps, it’s this loss that will teach you what you need to know to go on to build the most phenomenal business that will impact millions. Or maybe giving up your home is what’s necessary for you to discover how to make the right decisions going forward for your family. Or it could be that whatever is happening right now in your life will force you to ask for help in a whole new way and you’ll meet the person who changes everything for you.
Accept that you may not know what’s coming and, in this moment, have faith and trust that whatever is happening right now in your life is ALL GOOD and for your highest good and take action from that place. When you do, true wealth is right around your corner.
Because it can sometimes be hard to see it in our own lives, this famous zen story may help bring it home. Enjoy!
There is a Taoist story of an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit.
“Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically.
“We’ll see,” the farmer replied.
The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses.
“How wonderful,” the neighbors exclaimed.
“We’ll see,” replied the old man.
The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune.
“We’ll see,” answered the farmer.
The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out.
“We’ll see” said the farmer.
You don’t have to wait and see. In this moment, become aware that whatever is happening is ALL GOOD. You may not see it now, but breathe through it now and when you look back upon this time of your life, you may just find it was the time of greatest growth and opportunity to bring you towards more wealth.
Alexis Martin Neely is America's Personal Family Lawyer®, an outside the box business coach who helps business owners mine the acres of diamonds in their business, and the Intrepid Mompreneur. Alexis is also the CEO and founder of the Family Wealth Planning Institute, a company that guides families and business owners to align their values and establish boundaries for maximum wealth. The Institute has trained hundreds of lawyers throughout the United States to work with families and business owners in a whole new way. The bestselling author of Wear Clean Underwear! A fast, fun, friendly - and essential - guide to legal planning for busy parents and a regular legal commentator for CNBC and BetterTV, you may have also seen Alexis featured on the Today Show, Fox and Friends, O'Reilly Factor, and Oprah & Friends radio. To follow Alexis' journey running her business and raising her kids, subscribe to Alexis' personal blog and to the Mommy Business channel. You can also follow Alexis on Twitter or friend her on Facebook.
