Are You a Slave or Are You Really Free?

With all the political debates and all the potential candidates jockeying for the prize to become nominated to run for President of the United States, it really had me thinking this weekend, about how FREE I really am.

All the candidates are talking about change. No one has really defined what change will be taking place. But my guess is that the change involves some sort of wealth reallocation. Meaning taking from those hard working people who have created value for others and giving it to people who are less motivated to create value for others.

We have a stimulus package coming down the road to stimulate the economy. Most tax paying citizens and even some who do not make enough to qualify to pay taxes will be receiving a check from anywhere from $600 – $1200 depending on the household. There will be lots of happy families out there buying the big screen TV’s or the new couch or a down payment for a new car and the economy will be stimulated for a short period of time.

Now I want you to look at the flow here for a second…

The government will make the top money earners pay more taxes to fund the refund to those who do not create as much value and the money will go back into the businesses of the people who are paying more taxes. But the smart business operator always maintains a steady profit margin. So even though he is paying a little higher tax, the cost of operating his business goes up and so does his prices. Let me illustrate:

Before Tax Refund Operating Cost of Goods

$400 + $100 (25% markup) = $500 (Retail Cost to Customer)

After Tax Refund Operating Cost of Goods

$440 + $110 (25% markup) = $550 (Retail Cost of Customer)

Now this is the reason why the rich continue to get richer.

Now I don’t know about you but this gives me hope for the future.

The government always helps out business this way but they do it in a way that creates a divisive nature between the “haves” and the “have nots”.

Now I said all that to say this, is your habitual thinking causing you to be a slave to the system or is your habitual thinking causing you to become free of the system?

People are always asking me why I read and listen to all this personal development mumbo jumbo, and these are the same people who are constantly complaining about the government, their boss or company, or anyone who they feel is holding them back.

My answer to the people who inquire about this is “because it just feels right.”

I then ask them what feels better to them:

Scenario #1 – You go to your job everyday. Hating or not liking what you do. Now when you don’t like what you do, most people will do a marginal job. Now their boss gets involved because of the marginal job. You don’t get raises or worse than that you are working for minimum wage (Shouldn’t the government increases the minimum wage?) So now you start complaining to your co-workers and friends about how your job sucks. Then you start to hit the help wanted pages to find a job that pays more money or with better benefits.

The economy is going in the toilet so the government steps in and gives you a tax refund to temporarily make you happy.

You go through your life constantly waiting for outside people or circumstances to make you happy. But most of the time you find yourself blaming others for your failures and disappointments.

And then you die.

Scenario #2 – You are happy. You look at yourself as the only sources of your happiness. You design a life around your unique talents and abilities. You enlist the help of others in your life that make up for the weaknesses you have. You continue to develop you strengths making them more valuable to the market place, where you profit in a business environment.You continually look for ways to better serve your specific market. You leverage your talents in a manner that affords you more time off to spend doing what you want to do. Spending time with your loved ones, going to exotic ports of call. You go back to your business refreshed and more motivated than before. You find a charitable way to give back to the community that you have served. Your generally happy. Do you ever get upset? Of course you do. You are human, right?

The difference is you look internally for the source of you happiness. You find a way to get past your being upset by adjusting what you are doing. Not looking for something to change outside of yourself to make you happy. You may want to counsel with someone to find a better way to think about your situation, but not as the source of your happiness.

And then you die. The difference here is that by your example you have become a source of strength to some of the people around you and have passed on a thinking habit that helps them live a life that makes them happy. Chances are good that you would have done this with your family and coworkers and in turn they would have done this with the people around them and the upward cycle would continue.

Now let me ask you a question…

Which one of these scenarios feels right to you? I would be interested to know what you think. Please leave a comment.

Success is a matter of the way you habitually think and the habitual actions you take. Some of these habits are working for you or against you and you don’t even know it. Some are holding you hostage while others help you do whatever you want. Your ability to make your habits work for you is a key that you can not do without if you want to live a life of happiness.

One of the best systems to help you take control of your habits is located at http://www.habitbustingsystem.com this is program with some ground breaking ideas that will cause you to become more aware of your habitual thinking and habitual actions.But it doesn’t leave you there. It also gives you specific actions that will help create new habits of thinking and action that will serve instead of continually hampering your efforts. Make sure to check it out!

As always, Here’s to Your LifetoSuccess,

John Clark

P.S. Make sure that you pass this on to anyone you know who can use this information. Also make sure to check out http://www.habitbustingsystem.com you won’t regret it.