Financial Security, an oxymoron
Love, money and book reviews by MARKET ANALYST ERIC GEMELLI
Randy Ferguson wants you to have money instead of money having you.
Randy Ferguson, MA as a founder of The Love, Courage & Achievement Project and an international speaker and radio and television personality, teaches people how to have a new relationship with money.
“Money Worry” is a constant low-grade fear of not having enough – of scarcity. It is a form of fear, says Ferguson, and you can’t experience fear and love at the same time. He says you have to slay the Fear Dragon in order to heal your relationship with money.
Modern society teaches us to assume we don’t have enough money, to always strive for more, that we never have enough. “The real problem,” says Ferguson, is “we have insatiable wants. Our core issues drive our insatiable wants to fill an emotional hole inside.” But that strategy always fails.
Ferguson advises, “in order to discover your ‘core issues’ think back to you childhood emotional wounds. They are probably tied to statements that make you angriest now.” Real money breakthroughs come from healing your core issues, because spending money to feel better, look a certain way or to create the appearance of stature is like putting a salve on a wound that never heals.
Henry Thoreau said “Man’s true wealth is what he can do without.” More is less if we associate our value with what we own, says Ferguson. Heal what drives your insatiable wants and you heal your heart.
People routinely sacrifice their joy and peace for a standard of living. “That’s how you can tell when money has you,” says Ferguson. “Whatever you can’t let go of owns you.” The counter intuitive remedy is if you let money go in your heart you often will have more of it in your bank account.
Ferguson doesn’t eschew living in poverty. He lives in a house that is in the top couple percent of nice homes in the country. Rather, he says, start by fitting your lifestyle and priorities to your income.
“Through our belief systems we keep millions of dollars out of our bank accounts,” Ferguson maintains. Our belief systems sabotage well being and keep us from our goals as surely as a spider web holds its prey. He suggests this experiment: imagine you instantly become super wealthy but you get everything that comes with it. Everything. Did you feel a little tingle up your spine? That’s because of judgments you’ve made against the wealthy, he says.
Did you fear you’d be lonely, insulated, become manipulative or that everyone you meet would want something? “That,” says Ferguson, “is because, to some extent, you project those beliefs on the wealthy, and given those beliefs you would lack integrity to single-mindedly pursue that goal. You self-sabotage your own efforts.”
Travelers to Australia often visit Ayers Rock – a place where the wind blows so constantly you can lean out into space and the wind will support you. Relying on money can be likened to putting trust in something flimsy like the wind. There is no fear when you lean against a wall because it is sound. Innately we know that money is an unreliable crutch. Deep down we’re afraid of that.
So, if money is your source of security, the thought of loss causes fear. Financial security is an oxymoron. When you lean on something unmovable, you can rest. Quality of life is ultimately determined by the quality of our experience of love.
He adds: “When we love well, we are loved well.” It’s reciprocity at its purest form.
More information on Randy Ferguson’s books, tapes and seminars is available at LCAproject.com
Author Eric Gemelli founded Cornerstone Financial Services LLC in 1997 and as the managing member has worked in mortgages, life and health insurance, raised venture capital, and trading commodities averaging 30% a month doing so. He offers market forecasting services, and is “sure enough of [his] ability that 80% of [his] fee is based on performance.”
