"Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion will one day become a reality." ...Earl Nightingale: Author, The Strangest Secret, Lead the Field
We can plant any seed we want in the soil, and if it's given enough time and attention, it will grow into a flower, vegetable, or tree. The same goes for our mind. We can plant misery and negative thoughts, or we can choose to plant the most hopeful, success-focused thoughts we can muster. With enough time and attention, those seeds will grow as well. Will they grow into a promising future or a mediocre life? That depends on what you planted.
Dear Reader,
Nine years ago this month I made a big change. After sixteen years in the money management business, I accepted a job writing about the financial markets for Agora Publishing.
My former colleagues told me I was nuts.
"Nobody gets to the point where he has all these clients, all these assets and all these fees coming in and then just quits," one co-worker insisted. "People spend sixteen years in this business to be exactly where you are now. No one in his right mind just walks away."
But I did. I was bored.
I love the financial markets. I loved my clients, too. But I was tired of having the same repetitive conversations about their accounts every day.
I needed to re-pot myself. And when my friend and former colleague Steve Sjuggerud decided to step down as Investment Director of The Oxford Club to start a hedge fund, I had the opportunity.
There was one drawback, however. The starting salary I was offered was only a small fraction of what I was currently making.
I left anyway. And I've never regretted it for a minute.
Doors opened up that I could never have imaged when I first took the job. I've traveled the world, from Europe and South America to Africa and the Orient. After years of being chained to my telephone and my "quote machine," I was free at last.
Last summer I made another leap. After twenty-eight years living in central Florida, my wife Karen and I decided to move our family to Charlottesville, VA - just to try it out.
"You've only been here seven months?" a woman I met last week asked. "So your job brought you here?"
"No," I said.
"You have family here in Charlottesville?"
"No."
"You had friends here?"
"No."
"Really?" she persisted. "Who did you know here in town?"
"No one, actually."
From her expression, you'd have thought she'd just identified someone in the federal witness protection program.
There were plenty of good reasons we moved here, of course. Unlike Florida, there are four gorgeous seasons. (Well, three. I'm still not crazy about that last one.) Charlottesville is a charming town with tons of culture - thanks to the University of Virginia - and no big-city problems.
The majestic Blue Ridge sits just west of town, providing spectacular sunsets. In twenty minutes, I can be hiking the Appalachian Trail. And I have family in Staunton less than an hour away.
It hasn't been a completely smooth transition, of course. There's no major airport here. We're renting a furnished house. (And learning just how little of "all that stuff" back in Florida we actually need.)
The toughest part was leaving friends we've known for most of our lives. But we still go back to visit. And we're already making new ones. It looks like we're here to stay.
People we meet often tell us they dream of doing something like this. Only money holds them back, they say.
But I read an inspiring column by my old friend Steve Sjuggerud this week and it reminded me that while a lack of money can dictate your choices, it doesn't mean they have to be poor ones.
If this sounds counterintuitive, read his essay and you'll see what I mean. Just click here - It's Never Too Late to Escape
Carpe Diem,
Alex Greene, SpiritualWealth
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