i was talking recently with a very successful man successful in the eyes of the world yes but also in every area that matters sure he was wealthy he had all the achievements but he also had things that money can never buy freedom passion for life love amazing relationships a beautiful family life a real sense of peace and genuine joy curious i asked this man if he could share any secrets to a success he told me that he learned five priceless lessons from his father that will make anyone truly rich he said these five priceless lessons have the power to change any life and they are number one work hard but do not put money first number two give without expectation number three be present number four live with integrity number five smile laugh and do not take life too seriously this list didn’t seem like anything out of the ordinary i told him how could these principles make anyone truly rich here’s his response number one work hard but never put money first money doesn’t make you rich passion purpose and love make you rich,
if you have all the money in the world and you hate what you do you’re not rich if you have all the money in the world but don’t have passion for life you’re not rich if you have all the money in the world but have no love or special relationships in your life you’re not rich you cannot be rich with money alone you might have a ferrari but that isn’t going to make you feel better it’s not gonna give your life meaning for all those who say i’d rather cry in a ferrari you only say that because you can’t afford a ferrari if you’ve stepped on everyone to get where you are if everything you do is for money if you’ve burned all your most valuable relationships in your pursuit of success no amount of money will save the emptiness headed your way the only things that can make a man rich are passion purpose and love there’s many other names for these things connection meaning direction call them whatever you like but they are the three most important factors in living a rich life passion purpose love he said don’t get me wrong i have money and money is an amazing thing that can do so much good it can buy you a level of freedom not total freedom because that can only come from within but it can give you the freedom to follow your passion and your purpose which is so important it can buy amazing things and help many people,
if you choose to do so there’s nothing wrong with earning money even large sums of wealth but if that is your only or primary goal just to make money it will leave you empty guaranteed money should never drive you do what you’re passionate about and the money will come work hard every day doing something you love something that makes you jump out of bed every morning excited to begin the day something that has a bigger purpose for the world but never put that work before love connection and time to create your own best self if you have passion and purpose for what you do there will be no resistance to consistent hard work you will thrive on working hard to achieve your goals because they will have meaning find that meaning first and the money will find you number two give wherever you can but never count what is owed what does this mean i asked he said my dad taught me to give but to give without expecting anything in return most people give only because they want something in return their intentions aren’t pure they give only because they want something back and they keep tabs you owe me this because i did this my father was genuinely generous even when he didn’t have much he would give sometimes his money but most importantly his time and his full presence although he never expected anything in return of course he was always paid back tenfold because that is how this universe operates it’s called karma he gave love and he got it back with interest he gave his time and presence and he was paid back with others time and interest he gave money and money came back naturally he didn’t hold on tightly he didn’t hold back because others held back and as a result everything flowed back perfectly he taught me to treat others how i would like to be treated and so now i give wherever i can in much the same way i don’t keep tabs but my life is pretty abundant so i guess i have given a lot number three be present what does it mean to be present and how could this have any meaningful effect on your life i asked his answer surprised me as he said this was the one thing that made his father his hero and also the one thing that he believed made his life so rich he said i couldn’t articulate it when i was younger but my dad always had a special energy about him every time he was around he made you feel special without ever really doing anything noticeable or out of the ordinary when i was older i read somewhere that the only thing any child ever wants including adult children is to be seen by their parents is for their parents eyes to light up when they enter the room well that was my dad whenever any of us entered the room his eyes and his entire being would light up there’s no amounts of money in the world that could buy that genuine love and presence and no amount of money can buy the effect it has on someone throughout their life imagine if you gave this kind of presence to everyone you cared about imagine ,
if you gave this kind of presence to everyone you came into contact with the kind of presence where they can see visually how you really feel about them the kind of presence that makes everyone you come into contact with feels special unique important worthy when you receive this you are given a gift that enhances your life when you give this gift the receiver feels it so deeply perhaps they aren’t conscious enough to articulate it or understand it even to return the favor but if you give it genuinely your life your relationships it will never be the same love will never leave you when you need it it will be there there’s nothing more important than genuine presence and showing everyone you love how much you care for them be present treat others especially those you love like they’re the only person that exists in this world treat them like they matter not only that they matter but like they are special to you make everyone feel special unique important it builds the strongest bonds the greatest friendships the best relationships number four live with integrity,
my father always taught me to lead by example and to live with integrity do the right thing by yourself and by others live with integrity knowing you have always done the right thing by other people those who put others down to get ahead won’t stay ahead for long do the right thing by others and they will do the right thing by you when no one is watching live as if everyone is watching do the right thing never do anything that you would not want done to yourself or anyone you love number five smile laugh and do not take life too seriously lastly my father taught me by his example to enjoy life as much as possible smile laugh play enjoy every day and every moment with those you love don’t hold on to negativity or resentment let it go and move back to joy who knows how short this life is you don’t i don’t we’re all chasing something hoping it will make us smile make us happy why not just be happy the funny thing is when you stop chasing and start being more of those things come to you naturally when your mind is clear you make better decisions and better decisions lead to better results results are no results nothing is better than a life full of joy that should be the primary goal of every day filling it up with joy.