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Fulfilled, millionaire minds avoid parasitic weaknesses such as insecurities, bad habits, self-doubts and disgruntlement. Yet our economy feeds off of human weakness: You must live the dream; you must reach higher up the ladder to have a higher standard of living; you need to have an Ipod with video, and that house with more square feet will make you feel a cut above your friend.

The economy gives us easy credit, more credit cards, and all types of wonderful debt building tools. As a culture, we have less savings, work more hours and have increased our debt load. We upgrade from conventional to plasma, Pentium 3 to Pentium 4, Ipod to Ipod with video and the bank says that we can finance our new home with zero down payment! We can lease our car for $400 dollars a month for four years and after four years, lease another care for four more years!

We are a culture of consumerism.

How about if we buy our car, pay it off after four years and live without car payments for a few years! And then sell it!

Fulfilled millionaires use conscious reflection.

Who are these millionaires that are wealthy and fulfilled? How do they live? What are their values? What are their goals? I believe their biggest wealth goal is to spend less than they earn. Sounds simple, doesn't it? It isn't. Changing habits and making them sustainable takes plenty of energy. It begins with your thoughts and emotions, and finally ending with your actions.

I look at an Ipod video and my thought is, 'I want this.'
My emotions will be uplifted because I'm imagining having my favourite music videos always available.
My action will be to buy it. Possibly on credit.

But what if my thought is, 'Do I really need this or just want it?'
My emotions are at a yellow light. I am using conscious reflection.
My action will be to leave it.

In theory it's simple to spend less than you earn. In theory it's simple to live within your means. Many people do. Many millionaires do. But for many people it's hard to change years of bad habits. It's a challenge to avoid the pitfalls of consumerism and to use conscious reflection to decide whether something is good for us. We are such complex creatures. But with good habits, clear values, and a clear definition of meaning and purpose we can change. We can even feel appreciation, love, beauty, and freedom along the way.

Thoughts.
Conscious reflection.
Emotions.
Conscious reflection.
Actions.

Our thoughts and emotions are anchored by our values and goals -- especially our values.

We live in an abundant society, with plenty of available wealth. We all want to have a comforting savings account to live the life we want. Savings means freedom.

Savings doesn't mean consumerism.

Ultimately, we want to be wealthy and fulfilled.

I want to be wealthy and fulfilled.

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