Supercoach - Michael Neill [64]
It’s at this point in the discussion that someone inevitably says to me, “That’s all right for all your wealthy clients, but what if I really do need the money?”
Listen, if your children are starving or you’re going to lose your apartment or house at the end of the month because you’re six months in arrears on the rent or mortgage, do what you need to do to take care of yourself and your family.
But when I push them on it, nearly everyone who seems in dire straits could in reality go on for another three to six months by making a few adjustments in their lifestyle. And three to six months is more than enough time to put your creativity and inspiration to work on creating value, making a difference, and exchanging that value and difference making for money.
Don’t Need the Money
1. Review all of your recent business dealings— contract negotiations, proposals put forward, sales calls, or whatever else you do to make money. How much of your motivation was inspiration (doing it because you wanted to), how much rationalization (doing it because you felt you should), and how much was desperation (doing it because you thought you needed to)?
2. Choose one business deal that you don’t mind losing. If you don’t have any deals pending, make one up—create a proposal that’s so outlandish that you would love it if it came through but you really don’t need it to, because it’s so “out there.” Notice the difference in your own energy levels and creativity as you do so.
3. Begin to say no to things you don’t want to do by asking for more money. If you really don’t want to do them, ask for what seems to you to be a ridiculous amount of money. This will begin to establish a new pattern in your brain of asking for what you want without a sense of neediness.
For example, I had the chance to work with the CEO of an international corporation on her presentation skills. While I wouldn’t have minded the work, I wasn’t terribly interested in it. Rather than turn it down, I created a $100,000 coaching proposal. (That’s about four or five times the going rate.) I was pretty sure she’d reject the proposal, but if she had agreed, I would have happily completed the job.
One word of warning—occasionally, people will say yes to these outrageous proposals, so don’t make them if you’re truly unwilling to honor your end of the agreement!
Understanding Scarcity
“You don’t get what you deserve in life—
you get what you negotiate.”
— Chester L. Karrass
Economics is a vast and complex field, but in some ways it can be reduced to one simple principle:
The scarcer the resource, the more people are willing to give
up in order to get it; the more common the resource, the
less people are willing to give up in order to get it.
That means that on the one hand, a plot of land in the heart of the city will nearly always fetch more than the same size plot in the country; on the other hand, no one would ever bribe the maître d’ to get into a McDonald’s.
Recent estimates place the wealth of the world at over $44 trillion. Yet the fundamental mistake that nearly everyone makes when it comes to wealth is to think of money as a scarce resource.
Why do we put up with boorish behavior and ignorant decision making from the people above us in our company? Why is the customer “always right”? Because in both cases, they’re the ones with the money, and we’re seeing ourselves as a common resource in pursuit of a scarce one.
In order to turn that equation around, there are only two things you need to do:
1. See the abundance of money that surrounds you. Years ago I was at a seminar about raising money for film production. When the producer up in front of the room was asked where she intended to get the money for her next movie, she said simply, “From wherever it is now.”
Unlike our successful producer, most of us think that our personal sources of income are limited to our jobs, the government, or the generosity of a wealthy relative. We fail to see the opportunities for wealth that surround us every minute of every