Creating the good life: Why it's your moral responsibility to choose and pursue prosperity

August 6, 2010 12:46 PM

May I ask you a personal question?

Are you earning enough to be secure and comfortable, to live without worry about how you'll cope with the inevitable surprises that life throws your way?

Many of the Accidental Entrepreneurs I work with are not. They're getting by. Paying the bills (most of the time). But they don't have enough for extras like travel or study, nor do they have savings to draw on when the unexpected happens.

They're under-earning, and if you're among them I want to shake you up. (Yes, again.)

Contribution is job one
Let's get one thing clear first. I believe with Aristotle (how's that for exalted company?) that living well means living up to your potential so as to make the greatest possible contribution to your world. And he would not define potential in terms of accruing wealth, but in terms of acquiring wisdom.

In the good life, the pursuit of personal wealth plays only a supporting role. It's purpose is to provide us with:

"...enough to free us from basic concerns about putting bread on our tables, clothes on our backs, and roofs over our heads. Further, we need enough to be comfortable and the have adequate savings, for without a sense of security, we won't have the peace of mind needed to concentrate on higher pursuits."
(From Creating the Good Life, Applying Aristotle's. Wisdom to Find Meaning and Happiness, by James O'Toole.)

You may say that our culture is preoccupied with acquiring and spending wealth. You could even say it's a disease of our times.

But if you're reading this, that's not your problem. Your values and actions are squarely seated in the service of higher pursuits. Meaning. Family. Service. Beauty.

For you, the moral challenge may be earning enough to concentrate on those higher pursuits.

It's your job to gather resources in service of your values
If you are under-earning out of reaction against our consumer-driven society, you've cut the tie between the economic means to live well and your ultimate values. That erodes your motivation to tend to business. It legitimizes any fears you might have about putting yourself out there, turning them into virtuous avoidance of crass commercialism. It makes resistance to marketing and sales a badge of honor.

But when you understand what it takes to live up to the ends you seek, tending to business becomes part of your mission. Earning an ample income is revealed to be the honorable means toward an estimable end.

I claim it's a moral responsibility.

How to make the connection at a gut level
Even when you get the connection between right-earning and contribution, it can be hard to act on it from day to day. It takes commitment and practice to draw motivation and momentum for business from your higher pursuits.

Here's one way to do that.

First, ask what you care about. What makes the work you do imperative? My favorite way to get at this is to ask, "What makes me crazy?" (For me, the answer is seeing the epidemic of under-earning among heart-based professionals.)

Next, ask yourself, "What am I going to do about it?" The answer probably looks a lot like what you are already doing--or want to do--in the world.

Then ask, "What resources, both material and spiritual, do I need to do this generously and well?"

Finally, ask, "What do I need to do in order to obtain those resources?"

Getting over The Hump
When you work for yourself, it can take a couple of years to achieve the right level of prosperity. That's natural. But if you've been at it for a while and you are still struggling, it's time to get over The Hump.

That brings me to this year's Self Employment Telesummit. The theme is "Over the Hump: Going from Getting By to Shining Prosperity." (Shining, if you recall, was the theme of last week's article, which you can read HERE.)

There's a free preview of the telesummit on Thursday, August 19. My guest will be Dave Navarro, and we'll be talking about how to charge premium prices for your work. I hope you'll join us. Sign up at selfemploymenttelesummit.com.

While you're there, take a look at this year's offer. Early registration is over on September 2. That may seem like a long way off, but August has a way of flying by. If you're needing help to get over The Hump, you may want to sign up now.

As my new best friend Aristotle says, "The end is not knowing, but action."

Image: The School of Athens
Public domain via Wikipedia

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Comments

Oh, your email hit a painful spot. I have advertised in local paper on going, participated in community, on psychology today web site, CAMFT website, facebooked, linkind, gave out cards, til I am blue in the face, no new clients. This is a painful time for the health industry, Medical, Medicare, many insurances are not paying for M.F.T.'s. Many patients can not pay out of pocket.

Posted by: brenda at August 10, 2010 10:48 PM

Ooh yeah. This is me. I was actually examining today how when I set a goal to earn more money so that I could study art in France, my whole body responded with "Nooooo! You're only allowed to survive, not thrive!"

Not sure as of yet where that's coming from but it's strong and it keeps me stuck in a huge rut.

Posted by: Sarah Marie Lacy at August 11, 2010 9:35 AM

Ack! I just wrote a longish response to @brenda and @Sarah, then my own blog denied me permission to comment. What's up with that.

Let me try again.

@brenda: It sounds like you are doing a lot of the right things. Keep at it. Also, I suspect that your message could use some tweaking so that people immediately recognize why they (or someone they know) would hire you. This is not easy to do. It takes iteration. So tweak, try, and repeat.

@Sarah: Who knows where it comes from? And it's not necessary to know that before you change the behavior.

A client of mine reminded me today of a question I gave her re pricing: "at what package and price can you deliver the results you want for your clients?" I would add "deliver generously, for under-pricing creates resentment.

Posted by: Molly Gordon at August 11, 2010 4:50 PM

Oh. I like your (and Aristotle's) perspective on this. I can't argue with the fact that for me to fulfill my mission, I need to have my basic needs met and the peace of mind that comes from having a bit of a cushion. And still...there's that part of me that thinks it's somehow slimy to accept money in return for helping people. I think I will print out that Aristotle quote and hang it above my desk. Thank you for this.

Posted by: Patty K at August 11, 2010 5:30 PM

You know what makes me feel totally okay with charging a lot of money for services?

Money's not real anyway.

It is a total abstraction. It's just a way of keeping score. People are willing to trade away a lot of points for the thing that I do (Making Your Software Project Not Suck[tm]) because it gets them even more points.

And getting points doesn't hurt other people, use up resources, or destroy the environment. Sure, I might have to drive or fly somewhere to do my work, but I'm doing that anyway regardless of how much I'm charging for it, right? It's not like I'm making more carbon dioxide at $300/hr than at $30/hr.

All the money means is that someone thought the advantage of having my work is worth giving up the points it took to get me to do it. That's kind of cool. More points is good.

Posted by: Mark W. "Extra Crispy" Schumann at August 11, 2010 5:50 PM

The nobility claim as an avoidance strategy is slippery and wildly easy to justify, ain't it? And man, oh man it oozes (subtle) self-righteousness (tho personally not a big fan of the word 'moral').

There's nothing noble or rightgeous about impovershed living, whatever form it takes.

Don't you find this is a particularly contagious little booger, especially right now?

Shed light on it and most folks are shocked senseless when they see it for what it really is, so thanks for such a clearly articulated, debugging reality check.

As alway, you rock Molly.

Posted by: Lissa Boles at August 13, 2010 10:29 AM

@ExtraCrispy :) Well put. We might as well enjoy the game, eh?

@Lissa Thank you for sprinkling your magica fairy dust here. Your words truly sparkle.

Posted by: Molly Gordon at August 13, 2010 5:23 PM