Bob Proctor How Much is Enough

How Much Is Enough? By Bob Proctor Have you ever given any serious thought to how much money you’d like to have? Interesting question, isn’t it? Unfortunately, most people don’t take it seriously and tend to regard this type of question as rhetorical. And, if the question is posed to an individual, it isn’t asked or taken with any degree of sincerity. Make no mistake about it – it is not a rhetorical question and requires a definite answer if you are ever going to have the amount of money you need, to provide for the things you want, to live the way you choose. It’s a choice and the choice is yours to make. I had the good fortune of working with Earl Nightingale back in the 60s. Earl had a brilliant mind and was a pioneer of the personal development movement. Referencing money, Earl once said, “Most people think they want more money than they really do, and they settle for a lot less than they could get.” I believe he was right on the mark! Are you aware that there’s an infinite source of supply and all you have to do is ask? Certainly as kids, we were cautioned more times than I care to imagine that money didn’t grow on trees. And, although it doesn’t grow on trees, it is readily available to us if we ask. The Bible teaches us, “Ask and ye shall receive!” Why is it that we’re quick to believe parts of what’s written in the Bible and doubt or question those areas that aren’t in consonance with our way of thinking or our paradigm? We’ve been conditioned to believe that hard work alone will bring about riches. And of course that is not true. In fact, hard work is probably the very worst way to earn money. Listen to what Napoleon Hill has to say on this particular subject. He says, “If you are one of those who believe that hard work and honesty, alone, will bring riches, perish the thought! It is not true! Riches, when they come in huge quantities, are never the result of HARD work! Riches come in response to definite demands, based upon the application of definite principles, and not by chance or luck.” Science and theology are both in agreement when it comes to the fact that everything that ever was, already is. If that’s true, then that would lead me to believe that all I have to do is tap into the abundance that already exists. What if that theory is correct? I know that some of you are probably thinking that I’ve lost my mind or that I’m just talking nonsense. However, stay with me for a moment while I ask you to consider: How much money do you need, to provide for the things you want, to live the way you choose? How much money do you really want? If you’re like most, you probably haven’t given it much thought. In the seminars I conduct, I quite often, at random, choose a few people in the audience and ask them, “What would you change, if your yearly income suddenly became your monthly income?” Without exception, at first I get an incredulous blank stare and then

the individual scrambles to come up with something that sounds logical. A few people ramble off a list of things they want or where they might like to travel, but after those things are out of the way, they really don’t know what they’d change. In truth, most people have never given that question much thought and have never seriously planned to increase their income to that degree! Well, in this brief exercise, I’m going to ask you to give it some thought, some serious thought. It’s important to note that you are working with your sub-conscious mind and the sub-conscious does not think; it is totally deductive and merely accepts images and then moves them into form. So for you to say, I want “lotsa money” isn’t good enough, because no one, least of all, your subconscious mind, knows how much “lotsa” is. Before you answer the question, how much do you really want, it would probably be a good idea for you to decide what you want the money for. To simply say, “I want the money to live on,” is not good enough. If you’re thrifty, you can probably live on a minimum wage. In all probability, you’d want to live better than that. So, let’s get specific—how MUCH better? Bearing in mind that this kind of an exercise is going to require some serious planning on your part, get out a sheet of paper and draw up a list of all the “things” or “activities” that you plan to spend money on over the course of the next year. To assist you in getting started with your list, I have outlined several sample categories below: Food, Rent/mortgage, Clothes, Cars, Utilities, Education, Vacations, Recreation, Insurance, Savings. Understandably, these are just a few of the many possibilities; so keep working on your own list until it is complete! And remember, you do not fill in the amounts you are now spending. Rather, you take each item on the list, visualize how you want to live and then fill in the amount of money it will cost you to do so. For example, you might only go out to a nice restaurant to dine on very special occasions, but you might visualize yourself spending a very enjoyable evening out for dinner once a week, where the service is excellent, the food is even better, and the environment is fit for royalty. How much would that cost? — that is the figure you’re looking for. You could be driving a car that is getting old and is showing signs of rust, but you might visualize yourself driving a brand new car of your choice, that you trade every year or two. How much would that cost? It’s important to note, you do not have a contract to

live forever, nor is this a practice run — this is your life and you should be enjoying it to the fullest extent humanly possible! Therefore, you should have the amount of money you need, to provide the things you want, to live the way you choose to live. At this point, it would not be unusual for you to be thinking, “I’m never going to have the money to live the way I want.” However, I want to remind you, that there are many people who do have enough money to live the way they choose—they weren’t born with it—and no one left it to them. They were “Born Rich” in the sense of having the Godgiven potential to succeed (everyone is), but like most people, they were at one time short of money. In Earl Nightingale’s tape on Attitude, he suggests, “Now, right here we come to a rather strange fact. We tend to minimize the things we can do, the goals we can reach, and yet, for some equally strange reason, we think others can do things that we cannot.” Earl went on to say, “I want you to know that is not true. You do have deep reservoirs of talent and ability within you, and you can have the things you want.” The suggestions I have given you here are sufficient to get your head in gear on this subject. But let me caution you, deciding “How much is enough” has nothing to do with earning it; you are merely deciding how much money you need, to live the way you choose. Earning money is another subject, which we’ll be addressing many times in our year ahead!

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