Archives For Psychology

066 DSR – The Currency of Gratitude

November 30, 2012 — Leave a comment

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grateful

Look around at all the people in your life and let them know how grateful you are for them. Gratitude is a currency a lot like love. It circulates from one person to another but only if you keep it moving. Kind of like pay it forward, right?

Be mindful of who/what you have in your life instead of just focusing on bringing more into your experience. This is the hardest lesson to learn.

When we learn to be grateful for what already is, we’re ultimately learning that who we are is more than enough. Nothing more needs to be added unto you.

I’m forever grateful to John Cummuta of Transforming Debt Into Wealth. His influence on me ultimately led to the birth of Debt Shepherd and fueled my passion to teach financial wellness.

Resources:
Erin’s Testimony

Give us a call on our voicemail feedback hotline at 615-200-7189 or drop Greg an email at:
greg [at] debtshepherd [dot] com

In Motivation, Psychology , , ,
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065 DSR – Broke But Not Poor

November 25, 2012 — Leave a comment

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broke
Broke is temporary. Poor is a state of mind and often may be permanent. The difference between the two is huge. I used to say when I met my wife I was broke or “temporarily unfunded” as we now like to joke.

Even saying “I’m broke” is a habit we should work to end. Why? The word broke is the word broken. When you say you’re broke what’s really coming out is, “I’m broken.” Not an affirmation I want to repeat, how about you?

We’ve been led to believe if we don’t have any money, somehow it makes us less whole as human beings. I say we should all know what it means to be broke, but not poor. Just as we should learn to be alone but not lonely. The distinction is massive because we’re talking about state of mind.

Your bank account is not who you are. Your clothes aren’t who you are. Michael Tsarion has this to say about fashion, “The hidden purpose of fashion is to decorate our inauthentic lives.” Are you decorating your life with more clothes, money, etc? Why?

We judge others by the amount of money they do or don’t make and do or don’t leave their heirs upon death. What do you think when you hear, “He died penniless?” We often make a massive assumption the person was reckless or maybe even lazy.

The most important thing we should ask ourselves is, “Who am I without money?” A good place to start learning to ask that question is in the book I’ve recommended below.

Resources:
The Man Who Quit Money

In Money, Psychology , , ,
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063 DSR – Standard of Living vs Quality of Life

November 16, 2012 — Leave a comment

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SOL

Are you running on the treadmill wondering why you can’t catch the proverbial carrot? It’s because we’re chasing stuff thinking it will make us happy. Give it up. Stop while we’re ahead. Early grave is where we’re headed if we don’t.

“Most of your possessions are actually in the way of your happiness. And it’s much easier to find the path toward happiness once you’ve cleared the debris.”
– Joshua Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus (The Minimalists)

Your soul is seeking security. Security from the feeling of disconnection from God. If you’re drowning, things are like a life preserver thrown to you. They may solve a temporary problem but won’t teach you to swim.

We’ve confused substance with source. We confused the animated with the animator.

Give us a call on our voicemail feedback hotline at 615-200-7189 or drop Greg an email at:
greg [at] debtshepherd [dot] com

In Motivation, Psychology , ,
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062 DSR – Money: The Magnifying Glass

November 9, 2012 — 1 Comment

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Magnifying Glass

If I had more money, my life would get better. I could do what I really want to do. I’d change. I wouldn’t be mad at the world anymore. People would finally respect me. They’d love me. I could impress people. They’d think I was smart.

If I won the lottery I’d tell my boss to stick this job up his butt. I could finally give some money to charity. The scenarios go on, don’t they?

If you’re an idiot making $20k/year you’ll be an even bigger idiot making $200k/year. I hear you having that lame conversation in your head right now, “No, not me. I’m different. And even if I’m still miserable with more money at least I’ll be miserable AND comfortable.” Comfortable is dangerous. It keeps you from kicking your own ass.

Money is the great equalizer, isn’t it? It levels the playing field when you’re out looking for a mate. It’s like perfume that attracts prey. Make a mistake and money can cover it up. Live recklessly and money can bring order out of chaos. Get arrested and buy your way out of it. Rich people do it all the time, don’t they?

It’s easy to think if we just had some more money we could really start living life. There’s only one problem. Whether you’ve got money or not, you’re still living life. How are you living $10/hr and what would magically change about who you really are if you started making $100/hr?

Money is like a magnifying glass. It distorts the image and blows it up so you can see all the small details of the object you’re examining. More money shows the world all the small details of who you really are. Where/how you spend is an expression of what’s important to you.

Money is an excuse we use to live lives of mediocrity. I can’t because I’ve got bills. I can’t because I’ve got a mortgage payment. Once we get some money we’ll live our dreams. No matter how much money you’ve got, you’re living your dream right now. If you aren’t happy with what you’re dreaming, you screwed up somewhere in this equation. You just use lack of money as an excuse. And the hamster on the treadmill marches on.

Money is a magnifying glass showing the world the real you. Money is a mirror that shows you the real you. Don’t like what you see? Buying a bigger mirror isn’t going to solve the problem. You can’t change the mirror. You can change you.

Give us a call on our voicemail feedback hotline at 615-200-7189 or drop Greg an email at
greg [at] debtshepherd [dot] com

In Money, Psychology ,
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061 DSR – Letter to America

November 1, 2012 — Leave a comment

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forever-stamp

Wake up America. You’ve slept in a TV entranced, pop-culture orgy of a stupor too long. See the track marks on your arms from needles of hyper consumerism? See the dark circles under your eyes from lack of sleep? You struggle to stay awake in your hideous nightmare of plastic existence you mistakenly call life.

Your intellectual womb polluted, you’ve forgotten how to produce anything of beauty. Blinded by the razor scalpel of misguided self sacrifice, you can’t see your folly.

Outsourcing
You’ve outsourced the right of passage of live birth to surgeons, outsourced the raising of your children to strangers in public education, outsourced care of your elderly to nursing homes, and outsourced the right of passage of burying your dead to funeral homes.

You’ve outsourced your relationship with God to churches, pastors, & gurus. And you wonder why you feel disconnected.

Identity
Addicted to a false sense of identity perpetuated by imperialism, you disguise it as patriotism. Others die globally at the hands of your war machine. Both you and your elected leaders lack the guts to spill innocent blood yourselves. You pay hired soldiers to do the dirty work for you and worship them for doing their “duty.”

You cloak yourself in the American flag to stay warm and safe from what’s really happening around you.

Are you evil or a sinner? No. You’re a magnificent spiritual being who remains in a state of amnesia. Something inside you tells you things aren’t right. Something inside you screams at the top of it’s lungs to rise above the smoke of lies and deceit. You crave to once again breathe the fresh air of your natural being. You desperately want to be set free from a prison you’ve unwittingly constructed with your own mind.

The only crisis you suffer is one of identity. You don’t know who you are anymore. Not only have you forgotten who you are, you’ve forgotten that you’ve forgotten.

You’re already free. You just don’t know it yet. You’re too busy blaming while you give your power away to people you call politician, white, black or foreigner.

You will allow others to abuse you only slightly more than you abuse yourself. Your body is a vessel, not a temple to be worshipped. Stop butchering yourself with breast enhancements, nose jobs, and liposuction.

Responsibility
The time has come to stop breast feeding on ignorance and misguided ego. No one in this life owes you a damn thing. Stop waiting for your check to come in the mail. Government and lawyers aren’t your saviors. You are your savior.

You don’t owe anyone anything America. Stop soothing your guilt with self hate. The time has come to eat the solid food of personal responsibility. Clean up your own mess as you go along. Don’t expect your children to do it. No one can do your work for you.

Money
Standard of living is not the same as quality of life. Money doesn’t create consciousness. Consciousness creates money. Your checkbook is a window to your soul. Where you spend your money tells the world what is most important to you. Your greatest currency is love. Learn to give it and you’ll feel deserving to receive it.

Spirituality
Question everything you’ve ever been taught, including religion. It is your source of spiritual bondage. God is too big to fit into one belief system.

You’re already on God’s “A” list due to the fact you showed up on planet earth. Stop seeking approval from God and your fellow human beings. Until you learn to love yourself, you will never rise above your current level of consciousness.

You are not afraid of dying. You are afraid of living.

God created man in it’s own image. You are a part of God and freedom is your birthright. You are powerful beyond measure. Start acting like it.

Give us a call on our voicemail feedback hotline at 615-200-7189 or drop Greg an email at:
greg [at] debtshepherd [dot] com

In Get Personal, Psychology, Spiritually Speaking , ,
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057 DSR – Football: What is a Fan?

October 11, 2012 — Leave a comment

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fan
Before you call yourself a fan of any sport, be sure you know exactly what the word fan means. It, of course, is short for fanatic. Let’s take a closer look at what it means to be a fanatic.

From dictionary.com:
fa·nat·ic, noun
1. a person with an extreme and uncritical enthusiasm or zeal, as in religion or politics.

Origin:
1515–25; < Latin fānāticus pertaining to a temple, inspired by orgiastic rites, frantic, equivalent to fān ( um ) temple + -āticus, equivalent to -āt ( us ) -ate1 + -icus -ic

The football stadium is a temple? Sports are orgiastic rites? I don’t know what sports are to you. What I’m encouraging you to do is look deeper at what you’re doing when you call yourself a fanatic.

Are you a person with an uncritical enthusiasm for sports? Have you taken a deeper look inside yourself and asked why do I enjoy watching controlled violence? And, while we’re at it, how much money do you spend on sports?

Gotcha’ thinkin’? I certainly hope so.

Resources:
Mandate – The Temptation and exploitation of a college athlete

Give us a call on our voicemail feedback hotline at 615-200-7189 or drop Greg an email at: greg [at] debtshepherd [dot] com

In Psychology , , ,
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055 DSR – Becoming Color Blind

October 3, 2012 — Leave a comment

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color blind

Getting rid of debt isn’t the only thing we can shed to live happier, simpler lives. We can get rid of some old ideas as well.

I was recently a caller on an online radio show called Ms. Cyndi. Click the play button above to listen in on some of that conversation. It speaks to how we label each other and how destructive it can be. The conversation also covers solutions.

We use a lot of labels to categorize people, places, and things. One of the most troubling labels we use is skin color. It causes division, friction, and a lot of heartache in our world. The cause of defining people by skin color is simple: Ignorance.

We can end racism now. We have to stop thinking we are the color of our skin. That goes for the oppressor and the oppressed. Finger pointing perpetuates the problem. God is no respector of color and isn’t narrow minded. We shouldn’t be either.

You are so much more than what shows up on the outside. You have power beyond measure. Everything we use as a label hides the true light that is within us waiting to shine out into the world.

Resources:
Listen to Ms. Cyndi on blogtalkradio.com

Give us a call on our voicemail feedback hotline at 615-200-7189 or drop Greg an email:
greg [at] debtshepherd [dot] com

In Psychology, Spiritually Speaking , ,
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054 DSR – Self-Invented Restless Dissatisfaction

September 26, 2012 — Leave a comment

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Are you suffering from Self-Invented Restless Dissatisfaction? First, let’s give credit where it’s due for this interesting “condition” I’m exploring. Joshua & Ryan use this term in their latest blog post Eschewing Advertising in Favor of Authentic Marketing.

So, what exactly is Self-Invented Restless Dissatisfaction? It means if we can’t seem to get our satisfaction and keep searching for it, it’s our own damn fault. We’ve invented our own unhappiness! And there are a lot of advertisers who would love to talk to us about it. Because they want to sell the instant solution (not) to our mysterious problem.

Sounds depressing, doesn’t it? There’s good news. Becoming aware you are the creator of your discontent solves 50% of the problem. Doing something about it is the other 50%, the solution. So what I’m saying is:

1) You are responsible for your unhappiness.
2) You can change it.
3) You can’t buy the solution.
4) It’s gonna take work.
5) You are 100% in control of your life.

Advertising serves a purpose. If you’re buying something you need to know if/where it’s available. Just ask yourself, “What am I buying and what problem am I trying to solve?” Always remember you can’t buy eternal life, skinny, rich, or instant happy. You’re already eternal. Skinny requires sweat. Rich requires sweat. And happiness is within.

Just take an honest inventory and ask why do I need so much? Stuff won’t fill the hole in your heart. Only love of self followed by love of others will. Stop with all the self sacrifice. If you can’t take care of yourself first, you can’t take care of anyone. Serve others, yes, but not to the detriment of your own wellbeing.

Resources:
Minimalism: Live a Meaningful Life

Give us a call on our voicemail feedback hotline at 615-200-7189 or drop Greg an email.

In Motivation, Psychology
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