Power vs. Force: On Spending/Investing
It is only what is done now that counts. The present moment does not recede into the past. It advances into the future to confront us, spent or invested. Thought is the coin of heaven. Money is its earthly symbol. Every moment must be invested, and our inner talking reveals whether we are spending or investing. Be more interested in what you are inwardly "saying now" than what you have "said" by choosing wisely what you think and what you feel now.
-Neville Goddard
This quote hits harder than Tyson in his prime.
When I wanted to signal ‘I coach’, I read all the books without re-reading, questioning, writing, understanding, remixing or reflecting on any of them. I spent.
When I wanted to prove my competence to other coaches so I could ‘get another job in hockey’, I wrote really long articles to show others how ‘smart’ and ‘valuable’ I could be. I spent.
When I wanted to mask my insecurities in my first 2 years as a HC, I spent time giving players too many instructions, too many details, too much academic rhetoric and too much noise.
When I was below 200 for 2 years as a person and coach, I spent a lot of thoughts and time…
Any time we feel misunderstood, misused, neglected, suspicious, afraid, we are spending our thoughts and wasting our time. Whenever we assume the feeling of being what we want to be, we are investing. We cannot abandon the moment to negative inner talking and expect to retain command of life. Before us go the results of all that seemingly is behind. Not gone is the last moment — but oncoming.
-Neville
The real kick in the pants for me that I didn’t find out until much later is in this quote. Negative inner-talk is what does NOT allow you to retian command of life.
Who speaks the inner-talk? You do.
Not only do you learn there is a mess on your hands but also… You created it.
Spending creates a mess. Investing creates favorable conditions for future success.
To spend is to waste, to squander, to lay out without return. To invest is to lay out for a purpose from which a profit is expected. This revelation of my wife is about the importance of the moment. It is about the transformation of the moment. What we desire does not lie in the future but in ourselves at this very moment
-Neville
The choice to spend or invest is available to you in every moment.
And like the fake gurus on the internet posting pics next to a rented Lambo from Enterprise, spending is signaling something that you are not.
Don’t spend to ‘look’ a particular way today.
Invest to ‘be’ a particular way for the infinite game.