Wealth and Poverty

The Parable of Talents
By: Brian Tracy

The Parable of the Talents is the primary reason for wealth or poverty throughout history.

Reasons for Rich or Poor
Why do some people retire rich and most people retire poor? This subject has fascinated philosophers, thinkers, mystics and teachers throughout the ages. There have been so many cases of hundreds or thousands and even millions of men and women who have started with nothing and become financially independent that people are naturally curious to know why it happened and what are the common rules or principles that others can apply to become wealthy as well.

Why People Become Rich
One illustration of this key principle is called the parable of the talents. In the Bible, it says, "To him that hath, shall more be given, and he shall have abundance. But from him that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken away."

Accumulation Leads to More Accumulation
What does it mean? In the modern world, we say "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer." The fact is that people who accumulate money tend to accumulate more and more. People who don't accumulate money seem to lose even that little bit of money which they have. Why should this happen? The great success principle, the single idea that explains human destiny is simple. It says that, "you become what you think about, most of the time."

Ever wonder what stands between you and the life that you want to live? Why is it that some people always seem to win - while the finish line seems just out of your reach?

It doesn't have to be this way.

Do you want to know the laws of success?
There are laws that explain how people act in any given situation. Laws that explain why some people triumph while others fail. These laws can predict the outcome in the game of life. If you learn these laws, and apply them -- YOU will become a winner.

Control Your Thoughts
And whatever you dwell upon, grows in your reality. You create your entire world by the things you choose to think about and how you choose to think about them.

It just so happens that wealthy, successful people fill their minds with thoughts, words, pictures and images of wealth, affluence, success, productivity and solutions to problems in the marketplace, most of the time. These thoughts trigger the reticular activating cortex, the part of the brain that makes you more alert and sensitive to things that you have decided are important to you.

Activate Your Reticular Cortex
For example, if you decide to invest in a mutual fund, you will start to see news and information about mutual funds everywhere. Mentions in newspapers and magazines will jump out at you. These notices have always been there but now you have sensitized your brain to pick them up and draw them to your attention with far greater frequency and vividness. This is the function and power of your reticular cortex.

Avoid Poverty Thinking
On the other hand, what do poor people think about most of the time? Unfortunately, poor people fill their minds with thoughts of scarcity, lack, poverty, being unable to afford things. They are always thinking and talking about how little money they have, how much things cost and how they wish things could be better financially. What they think about most of the time is how little money they have.

Think Like Wealthy People Think
Wealthy people from an early age think about how much they have, how much they want and all the different things they can do to acquire and earn the money and things they desire.

Find Out How Rich People Think
Here's a rule for you. If you want to become successful, find out what failures do and don't do it. If you want to be wealthy, find out what poor people think about, and avoid thinking in those ways. Instead, find out how wealthy people think. Find out what they read. Find out how they spend their time. Study their lives, read their stories and autobiographies and listen to their words when they are interviewed and on tape. The more you find out what financially successful people think and talk about most of the time, and do the same things, the more rapidly you will enjoy the same rewards that they do.

Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to put this parable of the talents into action:

First, make a decision today that from now on you will think and talk only about the financial success that you desire. At the same time, you will refuse to talk about or dwell upon your financial problems.

Second, instead of saying, "I can't afford it," instead ask the question, "How can I afford it?" When you think of something that you want or need that you don't have the money for at the time, the only question you ask is, "How?" How can you get it? What can you do to achieve it? What are your options? How can you get from where you are to where you want to go? This type of attitude will change your life.

Rep. Rahm Emanuel?

Obama's Pick for Chief of Staff Tops Recipients of Wall Street Money

Published by Lindsay Renick Mayer on November 5, 2008 5:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) A day after being elected president and acknowledging "the worst financial crisis in a century," Barack Obama asked one of the biggest recipients of Wall Street campaign contributions to be his chief of staff. Rep. Rahm Emanuel, the Illinois congressman who was an aide in the Clinton White House, was the top House recipient in the 2008 election cycle of contributions from hedge funds, private equity firms and the larger securities/investment industry--not the most popular of industries in the current economy. Since being elected to Congress in 2002, after working as an investment banker, Emanuel has received more money from individuals and PACs in the securities and investment business than any other industry.

Emanuel knows how to raise money for political campaigns, and there aren't many better places to find it than Wall Street. Fundraising was Emanuel's job for Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign, and in 2006 he helped Democrats collect enough cash to retake the House of Representatives when he was head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. For his 2008 re-election, Emanuel raised more than $2.7 million yet faced no serious opposition in his Chicago district. Since being elected to the House six years ago, he has collected $1.5 million from the investment industry , with lawyers and law firms and the entertainment industry coming in at a distant second and third place ($682,900 and $376,100).

As a member of the powerful House Ways & Means Committee--which has jurisdiction over tax legislation, Social Security, Medicare and other entitlement programs--Emanuel is a popular industry target. Private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners has given Emanuel more than any other contributor over his career at $93,600. Emanuel and Obama have more than just Chicago in common; investment bank UBS, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley are among both men's lists of top donors .

Emanuel, who is currently the No. 4 Democrat in the House, has also collected $136,640 from the lobbying industry during his career, making K Street his 13th most generous industry. Obama, on the other hand, eschewed contributions from registered lobbyists for the presidential race. Obama also refused contributions from PACs, an easy task when only about 1 percent of presidential contributions come from these committees. PACs have given Emanuel about 29 percent of his total since he was first elected to Congress in 2002.

During his time in Congress, Obama has collected $2,000 from Emanuel's leadership PAC, Our Common Values PAC, but hasn't received any money from his possible future chief of staff since 2004. Through his PAC, Emanuel has given other lawmakers and candidates 78 percent of the total $2.3 million he's raised since the 2004 election cycle.

Emanuel was an investment banker between the Clinton administration and his election to Congress and reported a net worth in 2007 of between $5 million and $13.2 million (lawmakers report their assets and liabilities in ranges). That would make him the 34th wealthiest member of the House.