It’s The Intent That Matters (1.9.23)

“Your net worth will never exceed your self-worth.”

-Derick Grant

Are we limiting ourselves from reaching our highest potential or living our authentic lives?

I think the answer is yes.

And I don’t think it’s entirely our fault. From an early age we are taught to be humble, that celebrating our wins is bragging, and to have goals—just not too high so that they remain achievable. We are also taught that focusing on making more money, past a certain reasonable lifestyle, is greedy and that those with exceptional wealth are selfish, cheap, and generally not nice people. Sure, there are some rich people who fit those characteristics, but after 18 years in financial services I can tell you the opposite is mostly true.

The self-limiting cues have a greater impact than we realize—they play out in our subconscious and silently impact our self-confidence, decisions we make, and how we define success. As my friend Derick Grant explains, “our net worth will never exceed our self worth” and these cues tend to lower our self-worth.

INTENT

I agree we should exhibit humility, avoid braggadocious behavior, and not fall victim to greed, but you can be confident and humble without being arrogant, wins can be celebrated in an inspirational manner, and desiring more doesn’t have to be out of greed.

The intent of our actions determines which side of the line we stand on.

If you desire to increase your net worth in order to help others, have the freedom to volunteer, donate more, or any other number of impactful goals, it is not greed that drives your motives, it is generosity and you should strive to increase your net worth as much as you can, assuming it’s done legally and ethically.

The same is true of celebrating wins. If you are excited about accomplishing a goal and you want to celebrate 1.) because you can’t contain your excitement 2.) you’re proud of what you’ve accomplished and it can help others and 3.) your win can be used to inspire and motivate others, it is not ego that drives you, it is internal and external motivation.

We can run through more scenarios, but I think you get the point.

It is not the action itself that determines “good”/“bad” (defining these is another post for another day), it’s the intent. If you’re intent comes from a place of love, you should not think twice about your action and probably lean into it even more.

If you have aspirations for “more”, don’t hold back and fly as high as you desire and let your moral compass and intent be your guide, not the judgement of others.

See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,

JC