Customer Reviews

Wealth 101: Wealth Is Much More Than Money (The Life 101 Series)

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I picked this up partly because of its price--$.at the Bookworm--and partly because of my favorable impression of McWilliams from his Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do. The writing style is reminiscent of that book, but the topic--self-help for people who want more money--is more obscure, more abstract, than the treatise on libertarianism. In fact, a majority of this book would probably send most realists screaming. It's a "I feel good, you feel good" soft of namby-pamby new-age book. But, surprisingly, there is a gem of information contained herein if you can stomach the bonhominie. The sections regarding the setting of one's purpose and one's goals can be useful, as is the section regarding how one should "keep score" on their progress towards their goals.

If anything, this book was good for jump-starting my thinking about what I want to do with my life. I think I've gotten side-tracked in the past year, what with finally obtaining one goal (my bachelor's degree), and quickly moving through another (a better job). While I am happy to have achieved both of these goals, I have to be reminded that they are ancilliary to my purpose to become a self-sustaining writer. They may help in the long run, but I cannot rest on them. There are also several tools here that can enable one to help concentrate on goals, as well as a questionnaire to determine if the goal you have chosen is actually what you want.

This book is not only a whole new approach to money, it is an entirely new approach to self-direction and personal growth. Peter McWilliams is absolutely brilliant, thought-provoking, and enlightening. This book is one of a kind when it comes to personal growth- far far better than anything Stephen Covey could ever write.

The message is that there is much more to life than just monetary gain. It is a terrific book for anyone that is searching for meaning, recovering after a loss or trauma, or frustrated with society's value system. The book is filled with quotes from all types of intellectuals, comedians and other profound speakers throughout the ages. It is very entertaining.

This is one of my favorite books in my library (I have a 2000 book library). It presents a very unique perspective on wealth, it's a personal growth book, not a "how to" investment book. I own many how to books also, especially on the subjects of finance and investments, but none of those even hold a candle to this book. I found the exercises to be very helpful towards the end of this book. I copied and pasted some of my notes from this book below in the hopes that it will give you a sense of this book:

"Abundance can be defined as having more than what we need and want.

There are two ways to go about becoming abundant: The first is to get all you can, then get some more, then more, then more, and then some more, and then more, and all of it as quickly as possible and before everyone else...

The second is to reduce your levels of wanting and needing.

The fundamental problem with the first approach is this: there is simply too much our imaginations can desire and by the time we're close to getting something, our minds are usually already off wanting something else. This ability to want more than we can ever possibly get gives people a feeling of perpetual longing- of never being abundant.

If you desire many things, many things will seem few.

Is the solution then to want nothing? Not really. The critics of "desiring desirelessness" have said that "the scheme of supplying our wants by lopping off desires is like cutting off our feet, when all we want are shoes."

The workable approach to abundant living lies neither in trying to obtain everything nor in wanting nothing. Rather, it is found in this: Amongst all our wants, if we choose what we really desire, and pursue that dream with a passion, we begin to live a life filled with happiness.

Put another way: you can have anything you want, but you can't have everything you want.

We have enough resources to live any dream we want to- but not every dream we want to. There is enough sand to gather to build foundations under our castles in the air, but not enough to build vacation castles around the globe. Knowing this and choosing well holds the key to achieving a life of wealth.

A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone.

Wealth as defined by a dream is attainable; wealth as defined by vain fancies is always beyond reach.

We must select the illusion which appeals to our temperament and embrace it with passion, if we want to be happy.

Money, in and of itself, is nothing more than a means for facilitating trade between men. For example, if we were chicken farmers and we wanted to trade for cows, a cow farmer might not want chickens, he might want apples. In order to get his cows, we would then have to find an apple grower who wanted chickens, trade him our chickens for apples, then trade the cow farmer apples for cows. The system of money saves us from having to lug chickens all over town and allows us to trade with people who have no interest in our commodity. Money is modern society's means for facilitating trade between men. It is not an ends, but a means. It is not an end of life, but an instrument of life. Money is a means for facilitating the dreams which fulfill our lives; it is not an ends to sacrifice our lives to.

Wealth is found in the fulfillment of a dream, not in the accumulation of money in the hope that it will make us happy.

Unhappiness is not knowing what we want, and killing ourselves to get it.

No amount of material possession produces happiness. Fulfilling our heart's desire is what brings us a sense of happiness.

Happiness depends less on exterior things than most people would assume. People often look for happiness in the possession of the external- in money, a good time, somebody to lean on, and so on. They are impatient, hurried, and fretful because they do not find happiness where they look for it.

The happiness of our lives depends on ourselves. - Aristotle

Happiness is something that depends not on position, but on disposition, and life is what you make it.

If our character is such that we have not yet learned to appreciate anything, then no matter what we obtain or how much we change our external environment, within a short time we return to the same unhappy state in the new life as in the old.

I would rather be able to appreciate things I can not have than to have things I am not able to appreciate.

So much depends on how we see things: some people see the treasures in the chest; others measure how much more room there is in the chest for additional treasures. For the former, life is charmed. For the latter, they're never happy until the chest is overflowing- at which point they begin to complain that the chest isn't big enough.

Next to excellence, is the appreciation of it.

The distinction between happiness and joy is this: joy can only be found within where happiness is the direct side effect of fulfilling a dream. Hence, where the keys to experiencing joy lay within ourselves; the key to experiencing happiness lay in creating the external prosperity necessary to the realization and sustenance of our dream.

There are two things to aim at in life: First, to get what you want; and after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second.

As a tool for pursuing and obtaining the dream we seek, prosperity is wonderful. However, when we work solely for the purpose of accumulating more- we leave the course of our dreams. Working merely to get by or merely to accumulate more money is the equivalent of living in a perpetual state of slavery.

Man must choose whether to be rich in things or in the freedom to use them."