- [Narrator] Now that we've shattered
some classic money myths,
it's time for us to begin really rewiring
our consciousness and putting ourselves
into a place where we can start opening
to making money and getting to that place
where you never have to worry about it again.
(upbeat music)
Let us begin with a psychological experiment
that describes how we view money
in relationship with value in the world today.
In this particular experiment,
people were asked to judge
five different glasses of wine
presented at various prices from $5 to $90.
Before drinking, participants were told
how much each bottle of wine cost.
After tasting them all, the participants generally agreed
that the most expensive wine was their favorite
and the cheaper ones were their least.
Now, maybe you saw this coming
but it was later revealed that the wine presented
as a $90 bottle and the wine presented as a $10 bottle
were actually the same drink.
That means that in the mind of the taste testers,
the price tag itself changed their perception
and gave them a better or worse experience.
Not only did participants report enjoying the same wine
with a higher price tag more,
they even had increased activation in regions of their brain
hypothesized to be associated with pleasure.
This study teaches us a few valuable lessons.
One it would seem, is that the more you pay for something,
the more you tend to value it.
This is commonly reflected in an analogy about books.
If someone just gives you a book randomly,
you're less likely to read it
than if you're personally invested in buying it.
We can also see this with wedding rings in society today.
You might be familiar with the fact that diamonds
aren't actually very rare but they have a long history
of being marketed as if they were
so they could be sold for very outlandish prices.
Because of this perception of value around them though,
a wedding ring that costs $10,000
versus one that costs only 100
says a lot to the young couple,
due to the value that's been attached to it.
Now, I'm not saying that it's a good thing
that cheap diamonds are sold for thousands but rather,
if we can recognize the relationship
between price and personal value,
we can make better choices about what we spend our money on.
Actually, let's stay on the wedding rings
for just one more minute because this is relevant.
The first recorded evidence of a wedding ring concept
actually appears to have come from ancient Egypt,
over 3,000 years ago.
The writings depict couples presenting each other
with braided rings, fashioned from hemp or reads,
which would eventually be replaced
with bands of either leather, bone or ivory.
The more expensive the material,
the more love was believed to be shown.
The hieroglyphs show that Egyptians believed
that the ring symbolized undying commitment
and eternal love between the couple
because the circle has no beginning or end,
with the center opening symbolizing a door to the future.
The reason I'm sharing this is that
we have this curious tradition
that would take an individual's love and demonstrate it
with the symbolism of both the ring and its material,
which would then translate into a physical value
and worth in a monetary sense.
However, we must always remember
that the money doesn't buy love
and that even in the Egyptian tradition,
the love came first
and the ring was a reflection of the love.
While the material and its value played a part,
it was more of a psychological trick if anything,
giving couples a sense of feeling
that their love was indicated by the worth
of the material of the ring.
This is significant because it's not so much
the dollar value that's necessarily important
but how much something is worth to you, personally.
For some people, $1,000 is a lot of money,
an astronomical amount.
For others, that same $1,000 is not worth very much at all.
So we each have a different identification
with our perception of value
and this is important to identify
if we want to shift that at all.
On that subject, let's look at value in another way,
from the perception of the service provider.
In the case of someone who is offering a product or service,
sometimes, having a higher price tag
is actually the best possible choice
because it will allow for a higher quality of service.
For example, let's compare going out for a premium dinner
versus the drive-through at McDonald's.
There's an entirely different kind of experience here
and the environment itself will most certainly play a part
in how you feel personally about the experience.
Not to mention the quality of the food,
the cleanliness of the environment,
the atmosphere, everything.
I don't want to say that it's always best
to go with the most expensive route,
especially if it's unnecessary in that particular situation.
In truth, sometimes premium is better and other times,
it's better to just let all that go.
For example, it's like the difference between a fancy trip
on a cruise around the Caribbean
or a camping trip to a beautiful place,
a few hour drive from home.
Now in this thought experiment,
notice what happens in your mind
when we look at these two options.
It's not uncommon for people who can't afford
a luxury cruise experience
to immediately start judging it as negative
because it's out of one's reach.
And if you're someone who is, for lack of a better word,
fully loaded, how do you feel about camping?
And I don't mean glamping, I mean a tent and a fire
and just being in the rawness of nature.
Does the experience feel beneath you?
These two potentials could both be wonderful
but our perception and relationship with money
will often dictate how we approach the options
we have in our lives and more importantly,
how we feel about them.
In my life, I once had a friend
who absolutely hated Apple computers.
"Apple was the worst," he would declare
and list off all of the ways that Macs sucked
and why Windows was superior in every way.
He was very passionate about this subject.
However, after several long conversations,
eventually, the truth came out.
He hated Apple products because he couldn't afford them
and if he could afford a MacBook,
well, he'd probably love it.
The hate and disdain that he felt this physical product
actually had nothing to do with the product at all.
It was all about his own sense of value and self-worth
and the negative relationship that he had with money.
So the question then becomes, how do we shift this?
How do we transform our relationship,
evolve our mindset when it comes to money?
The first stage in wealth transformation
is to recognize our limitations where we are living them.
If we have fixed beliefs about who we are
and what we're capable of or not capable of,
we'll have to break these down
if we are to evolve beyond them.
We can't break free without calling out our blockages.
True transformation begins within
and that's where we must start.
Speaking to this further,
the most widespread disease of our time
may very well be icantitis.
It is contracted by many of us early in life
from our elders and peers.
In fact, society has made a song of it
that has neither rhyme nor reason
but it's I heard everywhere.
♪ I can't because I'm poor ♪
♪ I can't because I'm sick ♪
♪ I can't because I do not have ability ♪
♪ I can't because there's no opportunity ♪
♪ Or perhaps I'm just very, very old ♪
And so on and so forth.
Few people use more than a small part
of the tremendous God power within
but you can alter the pattern of the I can't tune
and in fact, you must.
There is no progress in the realization of prosperity
unless you do so.
This calls for knowing, really knowing
that you are a spiritual being
living in a limitless universe,
endowed with the whole potential energy flow of the cosmos.
If you believe I'm an average sort of person
then you will create an average sort of life.
Let go of I can't and begin to identify yourself
as the living enterprise of the infinite one.
You are not an average person.
You are you, a unique individualization
of the universal creative process.
Affirm for yourself now, I can because I am.
So, are you ready to make some money
or perhaps you need a bit more time
affirming the cosmic power within you?
Well, if so, that's great
because it looks like we're out of time for this episode.
I'll wrap it up with a fun quote
and I'll see you next week to go much deeper.
"You can only become truly accomplished
at something you love.
Don't make money your goal, instead,
pursue the things you love doing and then do them so well
that people can't take their eyes off you."
(soft music)