The Road to Lifestyle

According to Wikipedia, the term "lifestyle" was originally coined by Alfred Adler, an Austrian psychologist, in 1929. It is defined as the nuances--the attitudes, beliefs, habits, persona, economic level etc.--that constitute the mode of living for an individual or group. I buy that.

Britannica Online Encyclopedia tells us, "Each person develops his personality and strives for perfection in his own particular way, in what Adler termed a style of life, or lifestyle. The individual’s lifestyle forms in early childhood and is partly determined by what particular inferiority affected him most deeply during his formative years."

Man, I find that curious. Our lifestyle is "...partly determined by what particular inferiority affected [us] most deeply during [our] formative years?" OK... I buy that too. Because, admittedly, that's my reality (we'll get to that later) and in all likelihood, yours too. If you don't believe me just read T. Harv Eker's Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth and you'll see what I'm talking about.

But that word, "inferiority." It just... it just sounds so harsh; like there is desperation, pain, and conflict at the heart of it--at the heart of our mode of living. It might be unspoken, we might be unaware... but that doesn't make it any less real.

As my Millionaire Mentor (from here on out referred to as MM) muses, lifestyle is having money and time. The time to do what you please with the resources you have around you.

Most people are broke. You, yes YOU, are broke on either time or money. The effects of a mental poison that stems from a perceived inferiority perhaps? Or the misguided worldwide and collective belief that there is only "so much to go around" and abundance is meant for a select few. But anyway, back to MM...

Let's take your average, everyday school teacher for instance. He or she has has a pretty nice gig with respect to vacation time; a week off at Christmas, a few days off for MLK weekend, two months off at summertime... but what good is time off if you don't have any money with which to enjoy it? Yes, MM was a school teacher. The problem was he said, his kids like to actually eat in July; they're funny like that.

And MM's brother? A reproductive endocrinologist... he helps women make babies. He earns a multiple six-figure income, but has no time to enjoy it. Last Thanksgiving everyone converged on his home, not because it was the most convenient location or he had the nicest house, but because he was on call. He left at o'dark 30 and came home at noon; he then crashed on the couch and when he woke up they had Thanksgiving dinner. Again, he has money, but no time to enjoy it.

Lifestyle means having both... and having both means being OK with having both. Crazy, I know! But true! I'm worth it you say? I'll venture a guess that your inner you says not so fast... what makes you better than everybody else? Why are you going to stick your neck out? I'm comfortable? I'm fat, dumb, and happy. Life is good.

But you know what? Life could be great. It's the difference between having a "good life" and a "great life." What's that worth to you? Your inner you is destroying your chances of "lifestyle" because it's not receptive. T. Harv Eker will tell you all about that too... like I said, read the book. Even if it takes you all year to get through it. It WILL be worth it. So back to receptivity...

I struggle with that and I bet you struggle too. Go to the mirror and look yourself in the eye... stare deep within... and let me know what you see. You probably won't be able to look at yourself for long. Because you know the truth. And the truth isn't always what we want to hear. But it's what we need to hear if we want to make a change. You can't change the world unless you change yourself first. And it just so happens you'll find out that the world wasn't the problem in the first place.

Lifestyle is yours for the taking. But most of us have a firm grasp on an empty bag as an associate of mine likes to say. Open yourself up to receiving, work on YOU and the road to lifestyle might just have a few less bumps than you thought.

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