"One of the most important things you can ever understand is that we do not live on only one plane of existence. We live in at least four different realms at once … the physical world, the mental world, the emotional world, and the spiritual world." - T Harv Eker, Secrets of the Millionaire Mind
Have you ever seen a One-Trick Pony?
I'm not talking about the metaphor here; I mean the actual ponies this phrase was named after. Unless you're reading this from a nursing home, chances are you haven't. Tragically they were all shot dead during the Great Depression. It's a sad story really. I won't horrify you with all the gory details, but basically the "Great Pony Purge", as it's now referred to, occurred for two main reasons …
1. For only being able to do one trick (which annoyed people already on edge)
2. People were really hungry
During this time, Pony Sandwiches became extraordinarily popular with the lower and middle classes. But, after a while, the ponies wisened up. They did what all mammals do who suck at their profession, don't care, and just want to save their own ass - they formed a Pony Union. The P.U. it was called. Unlike other union's members though, the P.U. ponies pooped pretty much everywhere. This is where we get the phrase "P.U. that stinks."
The union scam worked for a while until the people got together and did what all smart people do who value freedom and loathe corruption - they outlawed collective pony-bargaining rights in all the states where One-Trick Ponies lived. Then they killed the ponies and used the meat to open a chain of low-cost, fast food restaurants now known as McDonalds*.
McDonalds did ok for a while, but they realized most people weren't coming in on account of The Great Depression. Apparently the whole ordeal was depressing people. So, in a stroke of McGenius, they came out with the Happy Meal and stuck a two-cent toy inside. People went crazy. "Toys and pony burgers??" It became a worldwide phenomenon and singlehandedly ended the Great Depression. People were officially happy, well fed, and ready to get back to work.
McDonalds eventually ran out of One-Trick Pony meat of course. Not wanting to kill any well-rounded ponies, they switched to conventional horsemeat. "No one will ever know," they figured.
The end.
The Moral Of This Story:
There are four areas of life that everyone must address and master in order to be truly successful and not get shot by hungry depressed people:
The Psychological
The Physical
The Spiritual/Relational
The Financial
Most people are one-trick ponies. They major in one thing and minor in the rest - oblivious to the fact that four majors are required to graduate the School Of Life.
You need to start looking at life more holistically. Wealth is holistic in nature. And only by approaching wealth-building on wealth's terms will you ever attain it.
What you do in each of the four areas above affects all the others to a degree underappreciated by most. If you're having trouble making progress in one area you can go tinker in other areas that magically unlock the door in the troubled area. For example, 75 push-ups unlocked my writer's block for this stupid blog post. Most people would just pout and drink coffee. Or vodka. Ok fine I drank vodka too. But it was the push-ups mainly that did it. I could tell.
Too many of us are focused strictly on one aspect of life - normally the financial - at the expense of all the others, when what we need to be doing is focusing on all four simultaneously.
What if we knew our ability to control our weight had a direct correlation with our ability to control our finances? That by mastering our body it would magically become easier to master our money?
What if the holier we were, the more money we'd have? Just look at Hasidic Jews. They're friggin loaded!
"Wisdom is the principle thing; therefore, get wisdom." - Proverbs 4:7
"The wise have wealth and luxury, but fools spend whatever they get. - Proverbs 21:20
What if forgiving that one person could cure us of - or protect us from - cancer? Would you make more money with or without cancer?
What if the more we focused on helping people the more our life would just magically turn into something from a movie?
What if the more money we gave away the more we would have?
I could write a whole book on this, and, ok fine - you talked me into it - I am currently. But for now, start developing yourself in mind, body, spirit, and bank account. Read books and seek mentors in all areas. Here's my #1 favorite books for each one:
Psychological: Finding God by Larry Crabb
Physical: The Maker's Diet by Jordan Rubin (except for his views on dairy. I don't do dairy)
Spiritual: The Bible
Financial: Secrets of the Millionaire Mind (I'm currently reading it for the FOURTH time)
Don't be a one-trick pony. Historically they tend towards extinction.
"You know what your problem is? You practice one thing. I practice everything." - Nick Nolte in The Peaceful Warrior
* Originally it was named McPony, but the multi-trick ponies protested so they switched it and named it after "Old McDonald" who had a farm nearby.
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Preston Ely is a successful real estate investor, information marketer, serial entrepreneur, author, speaker, life coach, musician and philanthropist. He has also produced a dozen home study courses and membership sites on topics ranging from personal development to creative wealth building.
Go to http://WakeWealthy.com to read more free articles and get yourself on the track to finanical freedom today!
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