Words are powerful - stop calling it money!

 

Words are powerful. It is very important to choose your words correctly when you can. Groups that want to control you often use words in misleading ways. that is why it is critically important to use the word money correctly. What most of us call money today is actually currency.

Currency is:

1. A medium of exchange - it can be freely traded for goods and services
2. A unit of account - Bills have numbers on them to indicate how many dollars that particular piece of paper represents. Accounting systems are based on this unit.
3. Portable - it is easy to transport
4. Durable - it doesn't wear out
5. Fungible - every one's money has the same value (the dollar in my pocket is the same as the dollar in your your pocket).
6. Divisible - it can be divided into smaller units

Money is all those things PLUS it is a store of value over a long period of time.

This is clearly not the case for dollars, euros or any other currency in common use. The dollar lost half its purchasing power since 1988 and 95% it value since 1913 (the year the Federal Reserve came into existence).

People make many, many decisions based on this declining purchasing power. As a retailer in the 1990s, I agonized over a supplier price increase that forced me to raise my candy price above 50 cents for a standard-sized bag of M&Ms. Recently, I put a quarter in a machine and got 6 M&Ms. This is inflation in action.

There are hundreds of examples of fiat currencies (those not backed by a durable asset) in the last 5000 years. All of them have gone to a value of 0. Mike Maloney covers this important Money vs Currency distinction in a lot more depth.

Key take-aways:

1. True wealth is your time and freedom - not money and even less so any currency. 
2. Start freeing yourself from economic voodoo! Stop calling those Federal Reserve Notes in you pocket and bank account money. Call it currency.
3. Words can bind you. Choose them carefully if you want to make changes!

Will you take the challenge to get in the habit of calling dollars currency?

Roles vs Titles

Curtis Guilbot has a great post that describes the top roles in a business organization. These roles are different than titles. Check it out.

I discuss roles vs. titles in Change Agent: Visions. This is a good example of what I mean.

Next post: Thoughts about South by Southwest.

Become a Change Agent: Part Two: Visions Free Download this weekend!

There is a massive amount of change going on in the World today.  In order to navigate this change, you need to know where you want to go.  Without it, you get whipped around by all the forces of change or cling to the eroding shores of things that “UsedToBe”.

Become a Change Agent: Drive the Positive Change You Want for Yourself and the World! Part Two: Visions introduces you to the first and arguably most important pier of the Framework. Vision is like the rudder and keel of a sailboat. They provide relative stability and force that encourage movement in the desired direction.

You can download itfor free this weekend (March 9 and 10)

       

You can download a free Kindle reader for most popular devices

 

 

 

TEDxAustin FearLess was exceptional

The event happened on Saturday, February 9. It was a day of ideas, some of them interesting, some transforming.

Here is a link to the talks

Here are my personal stats:

• Pages of notes taken: 7.5
• Old acquaintances seen  4
• Fascinating new acquaintances met 6+
• New business cards collected 35
• Visionary ideas presented - a lot
• Ideas that I didn't get - a few
• Engaging conversations - countless
• Favorites - The "Wire" and "100 days of rejection"
• FearLess athletes met - 2

We owe Nancy and crew an unmeasurable amount of gratitude for the day!
And when can I have my invisibility cloak?

Do you have a TED memory to share?

Exerpt from my upcoming book on Vision

Here is an exerpt from my upcoming book, Become a Change Agent: Drive the Positive Change you want for yourself and the World  Part Two: Visions. Enjoy!

Why in the World Do I Need a Vision?

 

Where there is no vision, the people perish.

~ Proverbs 28:18

 
There are benefits to having a Personal Vision. There are costs or consequences for living without one.

Benefits

The first group of benefits helps the Change Agent choose the correct actions.

1.       A Personal Vision keeps the Change Agent focused on what really matters.

2.      A Personal Vision allows the Change Agent to make choices more effectively and confidently.

The second group of benefits helps the Change Agent retain focus.

3.      A Personal Vision helps the Change Agent flesh out what is important.

4.      A Personal Vision keeps the Change Agent on track in a crazy world.

5.      A Personal Vision cuts through the haze and confusion.

The third group of benefits helps the Change Agent find happiness.

6.      A Personal Vision helps a Change Agent love life.

Costs

Without a Personal Vision, it is easy to make bad choices.

1.       You get involved with people, activities and projects that you should avoid.

2.      You waste time and energy due to a lack of focus.

Without a Personal Vision, it is easy to be directionless and ineffective.

3.      Day to day life is focused on urgencies, crises and chaos.

4.      You do not have an independent voice and it becomes easy to get “run over”.

5.      You are unable to set true guidelines or boundaries.

6.      Life seems rudderless and directionless. There seems to be no map or future other than spinning your wheels.

Without a Personal Vision, life is one of waste and regret.

7.      You squander your talents.

8.     You dread growing old.

9.      You look back with regret and forward with fear.

10.   You are unhappy and have feelings of being overwhelmed, depressed and sad.

DO NOT LIVE THIS WAY! GET A PERSONAL VISION! Start to change your life with a Positive Personal Vision. 

What is your Personal Vision?

5 Characteristics of Weak Leaders (and How Not to Be One)

Micheal Hyatt's Intentional Leadership Blog is a though-provoking series of posts on leadership.  This particular post is one that I wish I had written myself.

Here are 5 characteristics that any leader or future leader should mindfully eliminate.

If there is a sixth point, it would be a failure to understand when you are in over your head and therefore failing to seek help. My favorite Aunt calls this leadership failure "being a dummy". Ego can make even very smart people dummies.

Visions from TEDx Austin - looking back and looking forward

I am excited about attending TEDx Austin’s FearLess conference this weekend. It will be a day where I see example after example of how Personal Visions that are activated make positive changes for the World.

Last night’s “preshow”  Happy Hour was a fantastic series of conversations with other Change Agents on topics including complexity theory, education, gamification, ecommerce and solar power for Africa. Most of the time, I was in a group of 4 people. I got so engrossed in conversation that I never found the cheese tray.

Last year’s conference centered on the theme “Beyond Measure". It opened with Chris Riley saying, “We are going to share amazing stories with the world today!” and it was true beyond measure. Here are just a few of the speakers with messages that I loved:

·         A guerilla guide to improving urban landscapes. Jason Roberts – How to build a better block.

·         Emergency Shelters. A revolutionary design for those displaced by natural disasters by Michael McDaniel.

·         Preemptive Love – Violence unmakes the World. This can be fixed one person at a time. Jeremy Court discovered that something like 1 in 7 Iraqi children are born with a broken heart, litterally. These are birth defects can be corrected surgically by Turkish doctors (Turkey and Iraq are historical enemies). US Iraqi war veterans are seeing it in their children, too. This guy would have recieved the Nobel Peace Prize if I were awarding it.

·         There were so many more amazing presentations Check out the playlist.

If you only have time to watch one, please watch Jeremy Court, Preemptive Love. This story has so much heart and is an example of how ancient hatreds can be bridged.

What is your favorite TED Talk?