Team Alpha 375

"If love is the answer, could you please repeat the question?"

Lily Tomlin

Love Is the Final Answer
By Noah St. John

There are only two ways to go through life: coming from Love and coming from Fear.

Coming from Fear simply means believing in "not enough" -- that there's not enough money, not enough opportunity, not enough health, not enough love, not enough food, not enough water, not enough energy, not enough good people.

It's easy to look at the world and believe in "not enough." After all, much of the world's population will sleep under a blanket of "not enough" tonight.

This is often referred to as scarcity thinking.

The opposite of scarcity thinking is usually referred to as having an abundance mentality.

However, if you examine the problem more closely, we really don't have a scarcity problem or an abundance problem. We have a distribution problem.

In fact, nearly every problem we face -- as individuals, as a nation, or as a planet -- boils down to a distribution problem.

At first, I didn't believe this. That's because I had plenty of evidence for "not enough."

After a series of poor decisions -- all stemming from my belief in "not enough" -- I found myself $35,000 in debt, broke and alone, working out of my parents' basement.

I remember thinking, "How did I end up in this lousy situation?" As I traced it back, I realized that I had been acting from Fear, from a belief that I wasn't enough and I wouldn't have enough.

Then and there, I made the decision that I would start coming from Enough, even if my physical surroundings and outer reality did not yet reflect that.

I woke up every morning and thanked God for the gifts of my life.

I started focusing on what I had, rather than what I lacked.

And I started to take classes to learn how to make the thing called money.

In other words, I didn't focus only on my Inner Game or on my Outer Game. I focused on improving BOTH.

Here's what happened:

Less than 8 months after making the decision to come from Enough -- even though my outer circumstances hadn't yet changed -- I had earned enough money to move out of my parents' basement to a lovely home.

In less than 14 months, I had paid off 100% of my debts and become completely debt-free.

And in less than 18 months, I had signed a six-figure book deal with a major New York publisher.

4 Steps to Come From Love, Even If It Doesn't Seem to Make Any Sense to You Right Now

1. Realize what you HAVE.

It's easy to focus on what you don't have. We all don't have lots of things. But what about the things you HAVE?

Dale Carnegie once wrote, "Would you take a million dollars for what you have?" Then he listed your hands, your arms, your legs, your eyes, your brain. Would you give a million dollars for those things you take for granted every day?

Every morning, be grateful for all that you have. Every night, be grateful for all you've been given.

2. Become "Thank you."

Thich Nhat Hanh wrote, "If the only prayer you ever pray is 'Thank you,' it will be enough."

I recommend that you not only SAY "Thank you," you BECOME "Thank you." That means to truly realize how precious and fragile this life really is.

We often don't realize what we have until it's gone. Don't wait for things to be gone to recognize what you have and be grateful.

3. Discover your true Value.

Those first two steps deal with your Inner Game of Enoughness (Love). These last two deal with your Outer Game.

If you want more of the thing called money, you have to first discover the Value you add to others. Because money is only given when Value is perceived.

What is the main Value you love to give? That's your first clue as to how you're going to make more money doing what you love.

4. Communicate your Value to others.

We're often told, "Do what you love and the money will follow." But if that were true, everyone would be paid for lying on the beach!

Here's the way it REALLY works:

• You start by doing what you love and getting really good at it.

• You show people how, why, and that THEY will benefit from you doing what you love.

• Then, and only then, does the money follow.

That second bit is called MARKETING. And it's the foundation of the Outer Game of Money.

That's why it's important to apply what the marketing experts tell us -- so we can show other people how, why, and that THEY will benefit when we share our gifts.

While it may be easy to come from "not enough," it's really not any fun.

And while it might take a little more effort to come from Love, do it anyway. You'll find it's more than worth it!