Don't GET Rich Quick. BE Rich Quick. - Christine Kane

If you believe in the Law of Attraction and like attracting like, then getting anywhere is not an option. There is no there to get to. You gotta already be there. You have to experience the feelings and the knowing of that thing you want. (Maybe all that singing into my hairbrush and strumming my mom’s tennis racquet when I was a kid paid off. Then again, absolutely nothing came from teaching myself the entire zombie dance routine from the Thriller video.)

On an even higher level, there is no future success. When you are successful, you are successful now. Artists know this principle well. When you create, the creating is the reward. The creating is now. When you draw a picture, the moment of drawing is the reward. When you can be present to the moment and the work of art, then you have already succeeded.

And the same is true with prosperity. So many people blog about wealth and money and business and success, and there is often such a frantic-ness emanating from the computer screen that you find yourself short of breath after the first paragraph.

Stop for a second. The struggle, the grabbing, the getting – all of it is taking you out of this moment, and this great abundance that you are already experiencing. In this moment, what do you really need? I mean, now. Right here and now. What exactly do you really need?

Being rich, as I see it, can happen instantly when you recognize the depth of your life and the depth of your surroundings. When you can experience those things – really experience them – that is wealth. So many people want more more more, and they experience so very little of that more more more. They don’t even see below the surface of what’s in front of them.

This is not saying that you should just deal with your debt and hang out in the now, dude. This is saying that you can gently shift your attitude moment-by-moment and experience wealth and peace and then attract even more wealth and peace.

So my answer is to stop trying to GET rich and start BEING rich. Here’s how:

1 -  Fill your gas tank up every time.

When I first moved to Asheville, I was a poverty case. I waitressed when I could. I did open mic nights. And one of my habits was to go to the gas station and only put five dollars worth of gas in the tank. At some point, I recognized that there was so little logic in that habit. I started to fill up my tank. And I felt rich when I gave myself the gift of having a full tank. Since then, I’ve never even considered not filling my tank up. I have no idea if other people do the $5 thing, but when I stopped being stingy with my gas tank, I felt like an honest-to-god successful artist!

2 – Count Acorns

I was sweeping my deck a few weeks ago, and I just started counting the acorns. There were hundreds on my deck alone! And I thought of this beloved oak tree and how little thought it gives to just dropping acorns every damn where. (Some of them nearly gave me a lobotomy.) For weeks and weeks, my house sounded like people were throwing billiard balls at the skylights. Acorns and acorns and acorns. The universe is not at all stingy with its creativity, its abundance and its offerings. So, why should your life be any exception?

Count acorns. Watch a river and ask yourself – where is it all coming from? Look at all the leaves as they fall, and see how nature continuously creates. You are a part of this flow. Allow that. For now, just notice it. This is true abundance.

3 – Be Silent

Eckhart Tolle summed this idea up perfectly in a talk he gave. He said, “When Jesus said, ‘I want you to have more abundant life,’ he didn’t mean more abundant consumer goods. He didn’t mean more shopping malls. He was not talking about the ‘things’ in life. He was talking about life itself. The aliveness of life itself. The only place where you can be in touch with that is through the stillness underneath the mental noise. The vibrantly alive stillness underneath the mental noise.”

I need silence now more than ever. I need meditation time and stillness. I often drive with no music. I watch and listen and experience my surroundings. I believe it makes me a better performer, a better writer, a better listener, and a better friend and partner. It is where I find my wealth.

4 – Give.

I think the world would be the most wild and exciting place if everyone tithed constantly. Tithing is the most outrageous act of courage I know. It says, “There’s more to come. I’m happy to give away and support other beings.” It says, “Thank you. You have helped me. This isn’t mine anyway, so have some of it.” Tithing is different from donating. Tithing is giving just to give. Donating is giving to help, as in a cause or a non-profit.

Giving creates space. And space gets filled up again. If you are feeling poor, try giving a little away. I’m not saying to give your life savings away, but try giving even a little.

I have received: Someone stopped me in the hall of my office building and handed me cash. She said, “You helped me so much by recommending that book and that writing exercise. I want you to have this.” I was so moved and so happy. Not because of the money, but because of the trust and the flow.

I have given: I sent a hundred dollars to a blogger whose writing had helped me in making some big changes in my life. No big deal. I was just truly grateful.

Life is meant to flow. And we are meant to give. Money is like anything else. Let go of the tight grip and get out and give a little!

5 – Don’t bite your nails

Think dignity. Think Princess Grace or Katharine Hepburn. Would these women of stature and honor and wealth ever stand in the grocery aisle biting their nails because the price of organic oat groats had gone up? (Would they even have bought organic oat groats?)

When I am most nervous that life isn’t going to turn out well, I bite my nails. It’s the ultimate activity of not trusting the flow of things. When I catch myself, I stop. I breathe. And I remember who I am. Being really abundant means letting go and trusting. There is absolutely nothing worth biting your nails over!

6 – Gratitude.

Be grateful for what you have in this moment. So often we are tempted to compare our wealth with other’s wealth, thereby belittling our own life experience. If you are stuck in the “not enoughs,” then I would urge you to start a gratitude journal. Every night write down 5 things for which you are grateful. Remember, what you focus on will grow and expand. Focus on all the good. Even the littlest shift that you can celebrate. (“Hey! Look at me! I asked for what I wanted! I’m growing!” or “Okay, so my fledgling new business made $37 last month. That’s $37 more than it made the month before!”) Focus on the beauty. Focus on the richness. Taste your food. Feel the heat of the shower. You are so abundant. Notice that.

7 – Get a million-dollar bill

After we hiked Mount LeConte, my husband and I stopped in Cherokee, NC for breakfast. There was a gumball machine at the diner that had million dollar bills in it. I put my quarter in the machine and got one. I keep it in my wallet. It’s so much fun to see it whenever I pay for something. I can’t give you any Jack Canfield-esque great news about any million-dollar-deal I just made, but I like seeing it in my wallet. That’s all. It makes me smile. And it makes me aware of abundance.

8 – Happily pay for services

I worked with a promoter last year outside of New York City. After my show, he handed me the check for my full and highest fee. With a smile he said, “This is not nearly enough to pay you for this night.” Ah, to be paid like that all the time! If every promoter had that attitude, then I believe the music business would be in much better shape.

I try to take his attitude with every check I write. When I pay for anything, I make sure I recognize how valuable that service or that product was to me. The attitude with which you pay for things (the outflow) creates the abundance and the manner of the in-flow. It’s one big cycle.

Even if you have to pretend for a while, act as though every check you write is coming from a place of deep appreciation.

9 – Watch your language.

One of the things I do when I facilitate retreats is monitor the language of each person as she’s talking. I jokingly buzz them and encourage them to shift what they just said. By the third day of the retreat, the women are laughing at how many times they catch themselves saying, “I’m broke,”  “I can’t afford this,” or “I’m too old for that.” They are learning to watch their language and reverse the intent. (For instance, “I am choosing not to buy that today!”)

The point of the exercise is not to ridicule people for their negativity. It’s to remind them how important their own language is. If you’re constantly saying, “I’m broke,” or “That’ll never work” or “No one would go for that idea,” then guess what? You’re right.

10 – Make some space

Clutter in your life, in your work space, in your house takes up space and holds old energy. Things in your house crammed on bookcases, stuffed in closets, lined up on shelves have energy. If you don’t love these things, then let go of them. Get rid of them. Holding on says, “I don’t trust that there’s more out there for me.” Letting go says, “I know there’s plenty out there for me.” Think of all those acorns.

11 — Yes is a really cool word

Lenedra Carroll wrote “The Universe Always Says Yes.” When you say, “I’m broke,” the Universe says, “Yes.” When you say, “I’m rich,” the Universe says yes. It’s impersonal. It’s just all yes.

I love the word yes. It sings. It allows. Start hearing yes more often. Start saying Yes to your life, even if you think you are the most messed up human on the planet. Laugh a little at all that drama. Start accepting and allowing your life’s flow. Say yes more often. Smile when you do it.

Because really, how can wealth and energy and flow find its way to you if you are constantly saying “no” and closing the doors to what is your life now?

52 COMMENTS ADD A COMMENT
  • Sue Sullivan

    I used to put $3 worth of gas in my tank, but I had a good reason. I was married to an abusive man who wouldn’t share his pay check and would take my car out at night and use up the gas. I was struggling financially. That was my way of taking care of myself—put just enough gas in the tank to get to work, home, and back to the gas station the next day. Fortunately, I’ve upleveled my life many times since then.

    Christine, this is a great post. I’m keepin’ it 🙂

  • Rich Ezzo

    “Be Rich Quick”, she says…well, ok, but I already am “Rich”…..”Be Christine Quick” right back at you!….OH….you mean the other kind of “Rich”…ha ha

    I couldn’t agree more with your list of how to be “Rich”. In fact, in my ebook I mention 5 lesson of how to attract money, and one is about giving. I twisted it a little, and that is to keep a list of those persons/places/things you’re going to tithe to, and then attract the money so you can. In fact, my latest is I am going to pay for a full day of haircuts at my barbershop. It’s about $750, so I need to attract $7,500, and then I’ll buy the day so he can give em away all day! It feels like I’m attracting for the good of others this way. Great post, really. You are truly one of the best out there……all the best, Rich

  • Kate

    i am addicted to this blog. “yes” says the universe, “she really is!!!!” i love it. thank you so much.

  • aaaaaaum

    Yes, Yes

    That is something everyone knows. But that doesn’t help much to keep from taking a beating from the big guys ( http://www.safehaven.com/showarticle.cfm?id=6791&pv=1 ). Hence the question still stands. “How to get rich quick?”

  • William G

    Hi,

    I stumbled on your blog by sheer luck. I read your article with interest. Boviously, I agree with you. However, one should keep in mind that in our current society money IS important. Simply because it is the fuel of our economy. So, indeed, you need to fill up the tank and make sure your bank account is well-supplied.

    In order to do so, I don’t completely believe in get rich quick schemes although … you never know. However, one sure thing is that there is a pattern that makes the difference between rich people and poor people (money-wise, that is). Rich people think-behave-act in slightly different ways. Work is power and they seem to have a lot while at the same time they seem to have so much leisure time. Why is that ??? The answer is simple. They know something you don’t. More precisely, they know HOW to do things, while you just know what to do. It’s all about education and the good news is … it’s never too late to learn ! Check out this website for instance http://www.getpowerfast.com and start giving yourself a chance to do things differently. Money might not bring happiness, but it certainly bring peace of mind. Not having to worry how much a tank of gas cost is priceless. Because it’s ok to fill up the tank while you have money. If you hadn’t, try to explain you can’t pay for it !

  • mary katherine

    The Secret, Law of Attraction, Vision Boards Going Mainstream!!! How great is this? Bob Proctor and John Assaraf (never heard of these guys before today) were just on the Ellen Degeneres show talking about all this stuff. I’m so excited. (They didn’t specifically mention Louise Hay but it sounds like Proctor especially knows about her.) Elllen is really into this and says that she’s going to have them on the show many times. I guess that I’m not giving up tv completely – can’t let Ellen’s show go. The stuff she’s doing is just too cool. Oh well, it’s okay to revise goals a bit, yeah?

  • Paul

    Wow thanks, please email me pau1_d_4@hotmail.com. (I dont mind my email been public).

  • christine

    Thanks Steven… From the posts on your blog, you do a great job! 🙂

  • Steven Aitchison

    Christine

    What a great post, I teach this stuff and I couldn’t put it better myself.

    Thanks.

  • christine

    I have missed many comments here…oops.

    Hi Bill! Welcome to my blog, and thanks for your very kind remarks! (I have a musician friend named Bill Mize…an AMAZING guitarist.)

    Susan, Yes yes and yes. Here’s how you learn to receive… Practice saying “Thank you” and nothing else. Just Thank You. People love to give.

  • Susan

    Hi Christine,

    I find that while giving feels wonderful, it is so hard for people to just receive. I think about the elderly couple (in their 80’s) who live next door to me. When a snowfall covers our driveways and sidewalks, my husband and I will clear their driveway and sidewalk. The older woman will come out and insist on paying us. She won’t give us the joy of doing something for someone for just the joy of doing it. Or I’ll volunteer to watch a friend’s children and she will then bring a “gift” for me the next day.

    I have the same problem they do, I try to repay someone for a small favor they will do for me.

    How do we learn to receive gracefully and without thinking that strings are attached?

  • William Mize

    Christine! Where have you been all my life?
    Okay, maybe you hear that all the time, but I just found you today, via JD Roth over at Get Rich Slowly, and just had to tell you what a gem of a website you have here.

    Great advice, kind heart, honest truth.

    I look forward to roaming through the archives, and seeing your words on a regular basis.

    – Bill

  • mary katherine

    Barb,

    You are correct – Christine is an inspiration, indeed! Those of us who know her, hear her songs, and/or read her blog instantly know that she is someone we can trust with knowing our true selves. She is always right on. I wanted to tell you that you, BARB, are an inspiration to me. The way that you put yourself out there over and over and over again even when it feels scary and weird is oh so very cool. I am blessed to have you as a friend.

    Love, mka

  • barb

    Hey, y’all I have enjoyed seeing all the posts. I have attended many of Christine’s retreats and we laugh at my first one. But I am here to tell you that all this works. It is a struggle at times to keep your mind moving in the direction of interanl peace, maaking intents and sticking to them and recognizing what it takes to hehlp you achieve your best, (the collective best, we can change the world by changing ourselves) It has takend me these last 3 years of reading, “intenting”, watching what i say and feel, reframing and all that Christine has “blogged” about for me to actually say to people that 1/ I am a good Physical Therapist, I am a poet adn 2/ I need my solitude, my dogs, my outdoor life and that I can say for once inmy life I feel peaceful.. this doesn’t mean I am done with me but that I have at least reached a point in my life that I know what makes me happy and if those around me don’t understnd it, they need Christine’s blog and “get thyself to a retreat” > I will second Joy’s thoughts, Christine is the most incredricabel (sp) person I know and i thank her for helping me get myseld on a better path.God I am verbose today. take care y;all. barb, poet and PT. if this got sent twice it is because I am not a good computer person yet. bb

  • christine

    Hi Chris! Thanks for the thoughts…and I’ll keep blogging. You too!

    Nneka, Thanks for stopping by… and you’re right about the acorns. It’s hard to remain dubious about abundance when they keep falling on you!

    Pete. Oops! Thanks for pointing that out. A bad editing job…. I fixed it!

  • Pete

    Very well said. You have summarized prosperity down to a few great points. I am just wondering where 8 and 9 went….

  • Nneka

    I so did the 5 dollar thing in college. It just makes no sense.

    These are some really cool practical steps you can take to make space in your life for good! I think just counting the acorns will make the idea of scarcity totally disolved. I’m going to try that as and exercise. I bite my nails when I’m bored, but they are now growing at a rate since I am getting healthier everyday.

    Thank you so much for this post and for submitting it to the Personal Development Carnival.

  • Dblwyo

    Caren – thanks. That is a good station and now on my favorites list. Just-in-case you’ve a yen for classical may I share a local station WMNR http://www.wmnr.org/ which is run by music lovers for themselves and other afficinados and is ad-free, deeply informed, doesn’t play old warhorses. Also Sunday Baroque which is available thruout the rest of the week on-line. Wonderful program – http://www.sundaybaroque.org/

  • Chris Cree

    I stashed this post away in my feed reader until I had a moment set aside to read it properly. I skim so much so often, but I could tell from first glance this one was worth savoring. And I was not disappointed.

    The reminder was welcome even though I actually seem to have a better grip on several of your points here that I would have expected. I learned the gas tank thing a while back. For me it is the wonder of sunrises more than acorns. Giving, gratitude, silence, all good and getting better. Never did chew my nails, but I have been known to worry and be impatient in the past.

    Christine you are a gifted communicator. Keep blogging!

  • Caren

    Dave –

    There’s an amazing station here in NC, WNCW, that plays all *kinds* of wonderful music. It’s the first place I heard Dar Williams, Catie Curtis, Ellis Paul… and Madeleine Peyroux. (It was “Weary Blues”. I was in my car, and literally had to pull over and listen, I was so taken by her voice.) Anyway, you can listen to WNCW online, at http://www.wncw.org Christine’s on their playlist! On Saturdays, they feature bluegrass. They are THE place to go for singer/songwriters, Americana… and the Grateful Dead. 😀
    peace –

  • christine

    Caren, Thanks again for a heartlfelt addition to the comments. Sounds like you’re right on track…!

    Hi John, Great idea on the wedding gift thing! My friends Kathy and David did the exact same thing. Thanks for sharing that….

    Dave, I’m getting there with your post requests. Wait til I write about my iPod YMCA mix and all the trashy pop music I adore! You should love that!

    Susanne, Glad this post resonates! It was fun to write. I, too, experienced great stuff when I was keeping a mandatory gratitude journal every night. You just notice things more…

  • Susanne

    And again, this post was exactly what I needed today. I had this “end of the month”-feeling that there is no money left, though there is.

    And I can highly recommend the gratitude journal. Since starting it in July I’ve felt happier and have been realizing that I do live in abundance.

  • Dblwyo

    Can’t resist – forgive me. But…”before enlightenment chop wood, draw water. After enlightenment chop wood, draw water”. Got to put food on the table so you might as well learn to enjoy it.

    For those fellow way-walkers who haven’t heard Christine’s music ordered two CDs (and dropped a reccy to PBS’s World Cafe – fellow endorsers encouraged) after listening to a few songs online. Not the same. Great melodies, love the harmonies and instrumentation. And if any of these blog entries resonates the music/lyrics will reach weigh deep. Reminds me of the ‘old’ singer-songwriters back when lyrics meant something (Kristofferson, Cat, Johnny, and, oh yeah, Bob D.).

    Dave

    p.s. – K. – ahem, perhaps the occaisional thread on music, it’s joys and pains, who to listen to (there’s apparantly so much new good music out there that never makes the airwaves that fits my definition of good singer-songwriters judging by what little crosses my path), and whatever else. If nothing else you could talk about your other passion and not have to be deeply inventive, open and writing all this great stuff all the time. 🙂

  • John Hulsey

    I used to imaging that one day I would be rich, and when I was, I would give money to everyone and they would love me. Sad, right? But somewhere along the way, I realized two things. One, I didn’t need to bribe people to like me. And two, I already have the power to give to others.

    When my husband and I were married, we selected a charity (Hillcrest Gay Youth Center) to be the recipients of our wedding presents. We posted their wish list as our gift registry, and our friends delivered HUGE! I was able to facilitate those gifts, and it made me feel rich beyond measure. I did this same thing last year for my birthday, and it felt just as great.

    Christine, I could not agree more that the awareness of riches already present is so important to a great life.

  • Caren

    Christine – Thank you so much for this entry. You were on my gratitude list last night! lol One thing I’m having difficulty with… and I touched on this in an e-mail to you where I said, “I’m broke”… (I’m unsure how to say this, sorry if I ramble) For years, I lived with no sense of responsibility. I don’t have to pay rent right now — it’ll come from somewhere! It’s OK if I buy this book rather than pay the full car payment on time — it’ll come from somewhere! But I didn’t have *plans* for where that somewhere was, with the result being I was creating major chaos in my life, and in the life of my kids. Shortly after I began sitting zen – VERY shortly, like one of the first times I sat at home – I suddenly “saw” that if we were going to have stability and security in our lives, and money to do fun stuff (oldest dreams of going to Australia one day), I had to take responsibility for that happening. I cried and cried and cried during and after that meditation. But something just ‘clicked’ for me, and I knew that it was up to me — no money would fall from the sky, no one would come rescue me. And it’s been a process for me since then, learning how to do that. I would justify overspending and irresponsibility by thinking “the universe will take care of me”. (I *know* that’s not what you’re saying here.) For me to say, “I’m broke” is important for me. It’s my monetary reality right now. In the past, I wouldn’t have acknowledged that. I would have grabbed that open space in your retreat, thinking “It’ll come from somewhere”, then next week I wouldn’t have paid my rent, ’cause that money would have gone to you. And I can’t live that way any longer. Now that I’ve written all this, I don’t really know if it has anything to do with your blog entry at all. But it feels like I’m not *getting* something, and I don’t even know what it is I’m missing.

    I am watching this grey day, and the rain falling and falling and my heart is full with love for my life and love for being on this path and opportunities for growth and I DO live in abundance, I do. As I was writing this, my sister sent an e-mail letting me know she’s sending a book to me. She had attended a workshop in her school about how being raised in poverty affects students, and impacts their lives as adults, and was surprised to see how much she was able to identify with that, and thought my other sister and I might benefit by reading it. I guess it does come from somewhere — I just need to redefine “it”. Thanks for letting me think out loud.

    Gassho –

  • christine

    wow. As with so many women, it becomes a practice to take in and not dismiss words like yours, Joy! I will not make a joke or brush this off. And I thank you for your openness and boldness and willingness to show your heart and love me (and all of your friends!) in the many ways you do…

  • Joy

    this is to laurie.

    laurie, i agree with everything you wrote. i even cried as i was reading parts of this blog to my husband. i even had the thought, “‘she just blows me away!”

    the difference between you and me is that i know christine well. she is the one of the dearest of my dearest friends. i am 20 years older than christine and i often marvel at the wisdom and depth of someone “so young.”

    much of what i know about christine you know yourself by reading her blogs. she is bright and funny and creative and compassionate and willing to be vulnerable and take risks and so much more. what i want to tell you, that you can’t know for sure just from reading her words, is that she lives her life in absolute integrity. you can trust her words and her motivation for writing those words.

    what i, also, want you to know is that her music is amazing. sometimes the beauty and depth of it stops me in my tracks. some of her songs make me laugh even though i’ve heard them a hundred times.

    (c. if only people knew the power of tithing/giving. it is a law of the universe that i have found to be absolute. j. )

  • christine

    Hi Fivecats! Yes, you’re dead on. I, too, found that book to be beyond anything I expected of Tony Robbins. I thought it was going to be a lot of drivel and driven-ness. And I was blown away by what I read. Like you, there’s some stuff that I definitely don’t resonate with, but overall, it’s an amazing book.

    Jackie, when the tree is old enough and tall enough, and the acorns have enough time to plummet with some good speed, they can become walnut-like in their impact! My friend Joy was over one afternoon and she just kept jumping each time one hit (which was about every minute)…and she couldn’t stop laughing at it and how terrifying it was!

  • jackie

    Be very glad that those acorns are not black walnuts. The first few months that I lived in your area Ithought I was hearing gun shots. Then I figured out that it was just walnuts hitting tin roofs. Boy was that a relief!

  • fivecats

    Someone I respect a lot gave me a section from a book to read concerning personal values and creating the path to becoming the person you want to be. I was surprised, thanks to old prejudices, that it was from Tony Robbins’ “Awakening the Giant Within.”

    Thanks to the used book market on Amazon I was able to order it for a penny (plus shipping, of course) and it’s been more than worth the money. Much of what Robbins writes about is echoed here in your entry.

    While I don’t agree with everything in the book it’s still one I’d recommend.

  • christine

    Hi Laurie! And welcome… Thanks for the very very kind words. They mean a lot to me… I hope you like my tunes, too! (Theyr’e on iTunes.)

    Hey there PTC! Glad this resonates! Thanks for stopping by!

  • Palmtreechick

    Oooh, I LOVE it, Christine! Great stuff. I have to pass this along. Thanks!

  • Laurie

    Hi Christine, not so much a comment about this article although being silent resonates with me lately. Everything I read in your blogs just blows me away. Who are you? I am freaked out by how much I appreciate the many postings I have read. I just feel like bawling. OK I have regained my composure. THANK – YOU ! I so needed to hear what you have said. I’m not sure if I have heard your music, but boy am I going to seek it out – You go girl, you are amazing to me! ~ Laurie