DailyOM: What does “happy money” mean? Is it something anyone can experience?
Ken: From a Zen point of view, it is important to remember that regardless of whether our personal beliefs or thoughts about money are negative or positive, money itself is actually neutral. When it becomes your money, it can take on the happy, positive emotions you pour into it, or it can take on negative feelings, which I call “unhappy money.” Happy money is, for example, money you are very grateful to receive from a gift or a paycheck. It can be money that someone pays you for a job they really appreciate you for, so the feelings of appreciation get delivered to you along with the money, making it happy. Happy money is also the money you spend or give to others out of gratitude and appreciation. When you help someone in need or when you genuinely feel grateful for someone’s product or service, those feelings also go out into the world in the form of happy money.
Unhappy money is exactly the opposite, spreading feelings of lack, fear, hate, and other negative emotions when it flows in and out of people’s hands and bank accounts. It is money that lacks love and appreciation when it is given or received. Everyone experiences having happy or unhappy money. The thoughts and emotions that come and go along with our money fill it with happy or unhappy energy that makes a big impact on the world.
Raising your awareness about which type of money you are giving or receiving can drastically change the quality of your life. It makes you stop and think about what truly matters to you and whether you really want to continue spending or earning money in the way that you do. In that sense, happy money has the power to change your entire life, as well as the lives of the people you love.
DailyOM: In this course, you talk about money IQ and money EQ. Tell us how they are different and why it’s important to understand our EQ.
Ken: As a society, I think everyone understands now that there is more than one type of intelligence and that your ability to solve math problems, program software, or create scientific theory is totally different from the ability to handle your emotions and emotional situations intelligently. In a broad sense, the same exact thing applies to your money. Money IQ is about knowing how to do the math, and money EQ is about the heart. Money IQ is all about knowing how to save and protect your money well and knowing how to increase and invest your money. Since I grew up in a house full of accountants and even became one myself, I understand the value of teaching these skills and know that every person needs to have at least some basic money IQ to do well in business and life.
However, even someone with a genius-level money IQ would not be guaranteed success and happiness in life without an understanding of money EQ, which I learned very early on. Money EQ is simply your emotional intelligence about money. The key to raising your money EQ is to raise your emotional awareness and acknowledge your current beliefs about money, many of which were created by trauma or pain a long time ago and that can be healed now, in the present. This is why it is so important to me to share the wisdom of money EQ with the world, because it has the power to transform the quality of your life in a way that just having money cannot do.
DailyOM: What are the most common reasons why we block the flow of money?
Ken: There are hundreds of reasons why we might block the flow of money, and it is different from person to person, but all of them are some form of limiting beliefs, which act like a barrier to incoming streams of income. For most of us, it boils down to believing that we are not good enough or do not deserve to have money. We actually have very stubborn beliefs in place that effectively block opportunities and chances from reaching us, like: “I don’t have the skills to get a better job and the best I can do is earn an hourly wage and get a monthly paycheck.” Someone with these beliefs would not even begin to imagine the possibilities that actually exist if they were to share their unique skills and gifts with the world in creative ways that would completely defy those limiting beliefs they have. One woman who I have known for many years and was a dear friend of my family had that exact type of belief.
It took a long time for her to let go of those limiting beliefs, and believe me, it was painful at times along the way, but eventually she got the courage to take courses and she became a certified consultant, which she excels in naturally because she is incredibly intuitive and makes everyone around her really feel heard. Now she is completely independent and doing amazingly well financially, working as a private business consultant to some of Japan’s most successful CEOs. Sometimes we simply have to gather the courage to take an honest look at the specific beliefs we hold that are blocking our own flow of prosperity. Beliefs are truly powerful, so the most important thing you can do to improve your life is to first take an inventory of your beliefs.
DailyOM: You talk a lot about our pasts and how our past experiences, especially our childhoods, shape our money beliefs. Why is this? And how do those beliefs show up in our money decisions today?
Ken: The core of a lot of my teachings is becoming aware of your beliefs, and the way we do that is by acknowledging how we got them in the first place. To put it simply, we inherit an awful lot of our limiting beliefs from our childhood and the people who raised us, and they got theirs from the people who raised them. That means that we can pinpoint a lot of our beliefs about money by looking specifically at our parents’ and grandparents’ lives.
A common pattern, for example, is to have grandparents that grew up during the Great Depression. That was a very scary time and many people developed the belief that money was scarce and everything could disappear instantly if you were not vigilant. They became allergic to taking risks and their children grew up in a society where having security was more important than anything else. Security may have come to your parents in the form of an hourly wage with health insurance. It may have come in the form of them pushing your generation into becoming doctors and lawyers, professions that they see as safe and successful choices. Sure, they may not have been doing something that brought them joy, but at least they had a perceived guarantee of safety.
Of course, this is not the pattern that every family falls into, so you will have to do some simple investigation into yours to see how money beliefs affected your own parents and grandparents, or the people that had the most influence on you during your childhood. Where did you get that belief that working hard at a boring job was the only path for a responsible adult? Where did you learn that a university degree was essential to success? Did your parents grow up saying “money doesn’t grow on trees” or “money is the root of all evil”? If you internalized any of those types of beliefs, it probably had a very direct impact on what opportunities you perceive in your life at this very moment. It may be time to let those go and choose your own path forward.
DailyOM: What are your two favorite money tips that someone could implement today that would help them change their money flow?
Ken: My first money tip is one that I got from my late mentor, Wahei Takeda. He was one of the most financially successful and wealthy men in Japan not because he had money IQ but because his money EQ was off the charts. He taught me the simplest habit that you can do each time you interact with money in any way: “Arigato in, arigato out!” When money comes into your life, immediately say “thank you” to that money, or “Arigato, from the heart.” And when you spend money, again say “thank you” to the money. Thanking your money as it comes in and out of your life is the easiest and fastest way to raise your vibration and very powerfully spread compassion to others.
My second money tip is to give. You don’t have to give money: it can be time, appreciation, an act of kindness, or anything that would help another human being in need. Most people have trouble asking for help. Sometimes we are so caught up in our own lives that it can be a challenge to notice the struggles of someone else. But I believe compassion and reaching out to help others is exactly what the world needs right now. We all know the joy that comes to you when you give to someone else. Pause your busy thoughts about your own problems once a day and see if there’s anyone who could use a hand.
|
|
|
