August 2009 | Bigg Success

Monthly Archives: August 2009

The Magical Money Illusion

Written on August 31, 2009 by admin in Money

magic_hat Bigg success is life on your own terms. There are five elements of bigg success – money, time, growth, work and play. Today we’ll focus on money.

Status – a high rank or standing within a group of people – is a good thing. It means prestige, importance and respect.

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Hear George & Mary-Lynn discuss today's topic on The Bigg Success Show! Click the purple player: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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But status also can work against us. Sometimes in our quest to show off our net worth, we lose our self-worth. We worry about our image instead of our essence.

We give off the illusion of money when often the money isn’t there. It’s the magical money illusion. Even though we make a lot of money, it all goes out the door trying to give off the illusion of wealth.

This is one of the lessons we’ve learned from recent history. Now we’re going back to timeless principles of saving money and using debt sparingly.

For some reason, there seems to be a natural human tendency to compare ourselves to others. We found a great article that describes two experiments that tested people’s desire for relative affluence.

Earn $2,000 more!

The first one was conducted in the early 1990s. Participants were presented with two job opportunities in the same industry.

With the first option, they would earn $35,000 a year while their colleagues earn $38,000. Under their second choice, they would earn $33,000 while colleagues earn $30,000.

Most people chose Option 1. However, here’s where it gets interesting:

Two-thirds said Option 2 would make them happier.

We think more money will make us happier. However, this research shows that, for a lot of people, making more than their peers is what really does the trick.

Half the money is just fine

Let’s look at a second study. Its participants were a very bright group – the faculty, staff and students at Harvard University.

They were also presented with two options. The researchers took special care to make it clear that the prices paid for goods and services would be the same in both cases. In other words, more money would mean more and/or better stuff.

Under Option 1, they were offered $50,000 per year while others were only making $25,000. With Option 2, they would earn $100,000 a year while everyone else earns $200,000.

56% of the participants chose Option 1! They gave up $50,000 in income in order to make more than their peers.

It’s the Jones Effect. They’re happier making more comparatively but less absolutely.

Isn’t it amazing that really bright people making choices that seem illogical?

How do you move past this natural inclination to compare yourself to others? How do you do what’s really best for you?

Change the focus of your comparison.

Instead of focusing on what you make or what you have compared to others, concentrate on what you need to live the life you desire.

When you live your life on your own terms, you’re liberated from all of that. You focus on what you make relative to you what you need to make. Others disappear from the calculation.

You focus on what you want relative to what you have. Who cares what anyone else has.

You focus on what you know, not on what other people think. You create the life you want and you make sure it’s sustainable. That’s financial freedom. That’s peace of mind. That’s bigg success!

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Thank you so much for checking in with us today. Please join us next time when we talk about horse jockeys and personal productivity. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

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Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
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(Image in today's post by miamiamia)

Tags: annual salary, audioblog, bigg success, comparing yourself to others, george krueger, Happiness, harvard university, life, living, mary-lynn foster, natural human tendency, net worth, podcast, relative affluence, research, self worth, status, the bigg success show, the jones effect

1 Comment

5 Activities to Be Healthy Wealthy and Wise

Written on August 28, 2009 by admin in Personal Growth

Back-to-School This is the final show in our ten-show series on lifelong learning. Today we’ll discuss five activities that will make you healthy, wealthy and wise all at the same time.

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Listen while you read! Click the purple player to hear George & Mary-Lynn discuss today's topic on The Bigg Success Show: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Now we’ll warn you – these activities require some multi-tasking. We usually suggest less multi-tasking but these are things ideally suited for doing more than one thing at a time.

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george
Like walking and chewing gum at the same time!

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marylynn That may make you healthier, George, but it misses the mark on helping you get wealthier and wiser. Here’s a better one: Listen to The Bigg Success Show while you walk on the treadmill.

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george Shameless self-promotion, Mary-Lynn! But you’re right – the great thing about podcasts is that they’re easy to download and take with you.

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marylynn Of course, it doesn’t have to be our show. There’s a lot of great downloadable audio that will help you be wealthier and wiser. You could probably devour an entire week’s worth of our shows in one session on the treadmill. Then fill in the rest of the week with other great podcasts.

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Ride your bike to the library and check out a book on money.
If you have a library within biking distance, this is a great way to get a little exercise while bulking up your knowledge of personal finance.

There are so many great books on investing at the library. You can see such a history. There are books from days gone by full of timeless principles sitting alongside books about current issues.

Just don’t try reading the book on the way home!

Stretch while watching one of the financial news networks.

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marylynn This is a great way to get a little extra stretching in. I know I feel a lot better when I keep myself limber!

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george There’s so much that can be learned from watching financial news. Get the vocabulary down if you don’t have it already. Learn what’s going on in the economy and how it affects your money. Try to understand why certain stocks, or certain industries, are being recommended. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg!

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Of course, you could also watch a DVD on personal finance.

Take an advisor out for a rousing round of golf!
Don’t rent a cart. Over the course of the course, talk about your finances. Of course, you could wait until the nineteenth hole!

When we say advisor, we’re talking about your financial planner, your attorney, your accountant, your banker, your insurance broker, your coach or anyone else who advises you about your finances.

You may not be into golf. Maybe you prefer tennis. Or racquetball. Or some other activity. Golf is a great activity for talking and walking. However, you can also talk before or after your chosen activity.

Of course, our quote today comes from Ben Franklin. Only we’ve only hit on the last part of it. The full quote is:

“Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.”

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marylynn Even on those rare occasions where I get the “early to bed” part done, I can’t seem to get the early to rise part down!

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george
You’ll be happy to know, Mary-Lynn, our fifth and final activity doesn’t require that.

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Read your goal statement right before you get a good night’s sleep and first thing when you get up in the morning.
There are so many benefits of getting a good night’s sleep – better health, increased productivity and a sharper mind. What more do we need to say?

Reading your goals right before you go to bed and immediately upon rising helps you internalize them. Your vision of success gets fixed in your conscious mind so your subconscious mind can work to find ways to get there.

We love synergy here at Bigg Success. Look for ways to be healthier, wealthier and wiser all at the same time. That’s win – win – win! That’s bigg success!

How do you get healthy, wealthy and wise?

We’d love it if you’d share that with us. You can do that by:

leaving a comment below

e-mailing us at bigginfo@biggsuccess.com

calling us at 888.455.BIGG (2444)

'Q' from Entertainment For The Rest Of Us called us with a compliment on our show. He said:

eftrou Hi George & Mary-Lynn, this is 'Q' from Entertainment For The Rest Of Us. I listen to the show every week. I wanted to let you know that I truly appreciate how you guys relate life on your own terms in each and every show. Specifically and most recently about social media and karaoke, and social networking and life longevity. As an entertainment fan, I really, really like that. Keep up the fantastic work and I look forward to more episodes. Take care you guys!