A very lively, and highly productive Cabal session yesterday.
I coached one of the members on pricing her artwork, which went rather well.
Within minutes, she went from ‘I’ll raise my prices next year’ to ‘I want to be selling my works at $25K before 6 months are up’.
Obviously there’s no guarantee things will go that fast, but by changing her goals and timeframe, things are bound to speed up.
But that’s when things got really interesting:
Another member spoke up, and asked some tough questions about the value and meaning of money.
Partially summarised in: “When is enough, enough?”
A very fair question, to be sure.
Because if you’re reading me, I’m pretty sure you’re like me:
Definitely not in it for the money.
But where it comes to that ‘what’s enough’ question, my answer is: there will never be enough.
Because I’m greedy?
Because I love money?
No x2.
I like money as much as the next person who wants to buy bread and go on a holiday now and again, but I’m not attached to it, and I’m not greedy.
So then, why is there no ‘enough’ number for me?
Several reasons.
For one thing, I have big, big, HUGELY ambitious plans, and they are going to require investments.
Building ecological villages is only the first step, if you were to ask me about my Big Hairy Audacious Goals.
And I’ve not done any numbers, but I expect the cost of building eco villages to be rather high.
And after that, I want to make an even bigger difference to the world.
So that’s one reason I don’t have an ‘enough-number’.
Another one is of a more transcendental nature:
I don’t see any difference between money, and something like a compliment, or someone saying ‘thanks for the work you do’.
To me, it’s just another form, another expression, of the same thing.
That ‘thing’ being: the impact I wish to have on the world and the people in it.
The more I put myself out there, try to serve, try to cause positive change, the more I see people acknowledging that.
Sometimes verbally, sometimes by giving me a hug, and sometimes by giving me money.
It’s all the same to me.
(Except for the fact that my baker won’t give me bread no matter how many hugs I want to pay him with).
So here’s the takeaway:
Would you ever – EVER – tell the world: “That’s enough thank yous, stop it now”?
You wouldn’t, would you?
As long as people happy with your work, let the compliments and gratitudes flow in, right?
Of course.
So then why would you put a cap on how much money you earn?
Why would you have an ‘enough-number’?
Sure, there’s one for ‘how much you need in life’.
But beyond that, where it comes to the value you provide and create… and the returns people give you for it… why would there be a limit?
That money, the ‘more than enough’ amount, that’s just another scorecard number of how much you affect the world.
More money?
Then apparently you’re creating more value for people. Yay you!
And what you do with that money?
Well, if you’re like me, you’ll probably put it to use so that you can amplify the positive effect you’re having.
And there’s never enough of positive effect that you could have.
So don’t put a cap on what you could earn.
Instead, know how much you need – modestly or not – and decide what you’ll create with whatever amount is above that.
Alright?
On another note:
The Cabal has become a totally awesome place.
Or, in the words of Paula Mould:
“I F*ing love this group!”
There are currently only 4 seats left, so if you want to join in the fun and be part of this team, go here to apply: https://martin283.typeform.com/to/Tu3zmZ
Cheers,
Martin