[wealth week] the 7 wealth wounds

If you’ve talked to me within the last three months, most likely I’ve found a way to work in the name Tony Robbins into conversation. (Some might say way too many times in the same conversation, but, uh, he’s amazing.) If you’re not interested in living your life to your fullest potential, then you can stop reading here. 😊

So this guy has lived about 20 lifetimes in his time here on Earth, and what is so moving (for me) is that he started out with practically nothing. He grew up poor — so poor that one year his family didn’t even have food on Thanksgiving (more on that in a second) — and with four different fathers. Apparently, his mother was also a bit abusive. Now, he has touched and transformed more than 10 million lives around the world. He’s personally coached the likes of Oprah, three US presidents, Olympic athletes, Mother Theresa, and numerous other prominent figures. (For more on him and an in-depth HuffPost interview, go here.)

My favorite anecdote is the Thanksgiving story. One Thanksgiving when Robbins was a child, I believe roughly around 10 or so, his family didn’t have the food to celebrate with. His father was in the kitchen yelling about something when someone knocked at the front door.

Tony answered the door, and his eyes lit up at what he saw: A man stood there, carrying bags filled with groceries. Excited, Tony told him to wait so he could get his father. “Dad! Dad! You have to come to the door, quick!!”

When his father saw the man, he immediately growled, “We do not accept charity” and slammed the door.

The man blocked the door with his shoulder and explained, “Look, I’m just the messenger. The person who sent you this food cares a lot about you and your family, and knows you’re having a rough time this year.”

“We. Do not. Accept. Charity,” his father repeated, attempting to slam the door once more.

This time, the man stopped the door with his foot. “I’ll repeat: The person who sent you this food cares a lot about you and wants to help. I am just the manpower. Please, accept this gift on behalf of your family.” He gestured to Tony.

His father begrudgingly, and angrily, grabbed the food. The very next day, he left his family . . . for good.

But from this little exchange, Tony’s entire understanding, or paradigm, of the world shifted from whatever it used to be to “Strangers care.”

So from that moment on, he decided to devote his life to caring about strangers. As the “father of life coaching,” he has helped transform tens of millions of lives, as well as formed the Anthony Robbins Foundation, which feeds two to three million families in need per year around the world. (I am signing up to participate in this year’s Basket Brigade myself.)

As a result of that fateful Thanksgiving, he turned his worst day into his best day.

When Tony told his story to the thousands of us at the Unleash the Power Within seminar in July, I’m pretty sure he moved me to tears. When I relay it to friends and colleagues, many times they tell me they get goosebumps.

Pinning down his net worth proves not as easy as I’d like, with various sources estimating it anywhere from $30 to $480 and $508 million (I know, quite a discrepancy, right?!). Regardless, he has made it into Forbes among the richest of the rich. Whether it’s $30 or $508 million, I’d say things aren’t looking too shabby in the Robbins household, so he may have a little something to say about coming from nothing to quite a bit o’ sumfin!

(We have in common our inability to keep things concise.)

After the UPW, I invested my time into listening to his 25-disc audio program called The Ultimate Edge, and then I ordered his bestselling program, Personal Power II. It’s a 30-day intensive audio that covers pretty much every area of your life, including, you got it, finances.

In the first disc tackling finances, Tony introduces what he calls the seven “Wealth Wounds.” Without going too much into his (copyrighted) material, these wounds are:

1. Assuming negative things about making or having a lot of money
2. Not setting “having a lot of money” as an absolute must (“should” vs. “must” is a tremendous difference: We all do things we must do, but often not necessarily the things we merely should)
3. Not having an effective strategy for wealth — strategies must be developed for bringing money in, managing it, and sharing it
4. Inability to follow through consistently on financial goals
5. Depending too much on “experts” rather than handling one’s own money (no one will care about your money more than you do!)
6. Becoming financially complacent
7. Allowing financial setbacks to ruin everything and not bouncing back and reinvesting

Wealth Wounds are simply another term for limiting beliefs. Remember, what you believe leads to your thoughts, which lead to your actions, and become your results.

One of the aims of the Millionaire Mind Intensive was to identify the limiting beliefs you’ve been conditioned to have (e.g., “money is the root of all evil,” “rich people are bad people”) and to eradicate them by replacing them with much healthier beliefs that serve you.

For instance, if on day one of the MMI, you believe “If I have a lot of money, I’ll just lose it,” you can expect to leave day three instead truly thinking “If I have a lot of money and I lose it, I can easily make more.” This is a crude example, but the power of beliefs shapes much more of what is in our external realities than you may think!

How many Wealth Wounds do you own up to? I can’t say I’ve healed completely, but I’m definitely getting there. We’ll talk about making abundance a “must” tomorrow when I tackle the spirituality/money conflict. If you have any questions about any of this, please leave a message in the comments below.

To your financial success,