Why Prosperity Work Often Doesn't

I see a lot of "Prosperity Work" going around - people teaching classes, communities doin events, books, television shows, etc. But people consuming it aren't getting rich. Or even making enough money to thrive.

Why is that? What is it that holds us back from having more money?

I can't say I have The Answer. But one of the most overlooked thing about money is: our relationship to it. Most people assume that they want more of it so they are going to do something, primarily an emotional thing - like prospereity work - to try to make it happen. First of all, this has to be accompanied by real world actions or it's virtually useless - unless you're teaching the class.

In using the approach of prosperty work, it assumes that whatever the issues is we need money to fix it. That also assumes things like it can be fixed and that we know the solution. Is that true or accurate or even useful?

Let's look at this from another angle. If you have difficulty with digestion and are suddenly hungry, is the answer more food?

Well, maybe. But we don't know.

The answer is to figure out what nourishment you require, acquire it, prepare it and make time to sit down and consume it. Having more food won't fix the issue, it won't nourish you and it won't prevent hunger or create a solution for addressing future needs that won't also irritate your digestive track. Your missing information, clairty and action.

There's a similar idea for relationships. If you have a difficult relationship with yoru parents, is the way to fix it to have more time with them? Sometimes. Maybe. I don't know.

The point is that just having more of a thing is over-simplistic and doesn't usually meet the needs of the seeker.

The thing that is generally missing from the equation is clarity. Most people have a twisted relationship with money or the things they use money for and so it's assumed that money, and only money, will fix a problem.

That way of thinking creates a level of scarcity and emotional constriction going into the situation that prevents clear thinking and therefore decisive action. You've created desperation and fear before you've even bagan. If you were afraid you'd never eat again, what would your next meal look like? And if you were afraid you'd never see your Mom again, what would that visit look like?

The question to ask yourself is: do you have clarity about your relationship with money? Have you so contricted and twisted up how you feel about money that you're not using your resources appropriately and so it's unavailable? Is there some way that you could be more honoring of money so that when it is available you can use it to it's fullest?

Just like planning meals is both necessary for running an efficient household (especially with kids!), creating a money plan is necessary for effective use of currency and resources. Planning focuses on clarity, intentions and goal setting as well as decisive action and review. This creates a space for money to be, a container to put it in (literally sometimes like accounts and investments) and a direction for it to flow.

If a plan is not available and active, all the asking in the world is not going to draw money to you, there's no space for it and no where for it to go.

I'm not saying "don't aquire more money" or even "stop doing prosperity work." The point is to get clear about what you're looking for and why, so that you make space to have the money that would really serve your needs.

Money and Food - Is it True we Don't Have Enough?

I only get two physical magazine subscriptions these days. One of them is National Geographic and the other one is Yes Magazine. Their tag line used to be something like "the magazine of positive futures". And I loved that - I was inspired to pick it up at the US Social forum back in 2007. They've changed the tag line, but not their style. They have a national and global look at what's going right in activism and movements and how you can connect and get involved locally with making a difference. Making a difference and watching others make a difference is inspiring.

I am into food security activism (which is not about using guns to secure food but rather to make sure that people have enough to eat) and this month they have a great article on Belo Horizonte, Brazil. They have implemented a food for all policy making sure their people are fed which includes many methods: from using public space for farming and that food being sold below market cost, to People's Restaurants where whole good foods are sold cheaply to feeding children in nursery schools 3 meals a day. It's brilliant.

They reduced their hunger and child mortality rates dramatically in just a couple of years (which is one measure of nutrition). And they do it all for about a penny a day per person. Holy cow!

I love this work. Frances More Lappe, who wrote the article also founded Food First and wrote "Diet for a Small Planet."

If you know or want to know nothing else about food security activism, I encourage everyone to read the 12 Myths About Hunger. It explains the difference between the hunger issue and the policy issues. I believe that all humans deserve to eat food every day as a right of being alive and this piece of writing was one of my great inspirations for that belief. Hunger is a matter of policy not food quantity and that made it clear to me that scarcity really is all about how we think about it. Go read! And tell me what you think!