It’s time to talk about money. This month’s book, The Wealthy Spirit: Daily Affirmations for Financial Stress Reduction by Chellie Campbell, is a delightful, inspiring and practical read. After a short introduction, the book follows a page-a-day format – one page for every day of the year. The top of each page starts out with a quote, followed by the day’s lesson (often a little story or anecdote) and then an affirmation, meant to be repeated mentally many times throughout the day. I never page-a-dayed it, though, because like a potato chip, I couldn’t stop at one!
The affirmation idea is based on the Law of Attraction, essentially “like attracts like”. In other words, you attract what you’re thinking about. But wait, you might say, I think about money plenty, but can barely make ends meet! Well, if your thoughts are constant worries about how you are going to pay your bills, then they are more about NOT having money than having it, and they only perpetuate your state of lacking funds. To paraphrase a quote from the book (off a sign at the Pig ‘N Whistle Coffee Shop), “As you go through life, whatever your goal, keep your eye on the doughnut and not on the hole”. Positive thinking.
Chellie Campbell started out as an actress, then ran a book keeping business, and then in 1990 married her financial experience with her performance abilities, creating a workshop for financial stress-reduction. The once-a-week eight-session workshop became so successful it became her full-time business. It was so popular that her students’ word-of-mouth created demand for the program all over the country, which led her to write The Wealthy Spirit to help those who couldn’t come to LA for the workshop. (Or those, like me, who’d be reluctant to fork over the big bucks for it!)
Campbell excels at teaching with a story, and many of the day’s lessons illustrate points by telling stories about what she does in her workshops, about amazing things that happen to clients using the affirmations, and stories from her own life experience. It has helped Campbell’s knowledge and credibility that her life has not been one success after another. She’s had to come back from addiction, abuse and bankruptcy, and shares with us the valuable lessons she learned.
I first read this book about 5 years ago, the first year that I was teaching only part-time and tutoring on the side. I chose a few affirmations to say daily, a practice that absolutely helped me ask for and receive more money for tutoring. Also, at the end of the year when I received a full-time job offer, it gave me the confidence to ask for more money (which I received, 10% more), though I did not have a full-time job at the time and was therefore seemingly not in a great place to negotiate.
The teachings are based on the law of attraction, but it’s not about saying affirmations and having money magically appear (though in some of her stories that happens too!) You have to “send out ships”, in other words do the legwork to get you where you want to be financially, or career-wise, or anything-wise. The metaphor refers to the days when English businessmen built big ships and loaded them up with goods to trade in the east. The ships might not come back in with the money for months or even a year or two (or sometimes never), but what is sure is that ships only come in when you send them out! The affirmations put you in the right frame of mind to attract the wealth; they raise your energy so you put it towards sending out ships.
The wisdom in “The Wealthy Spirit” goes beyond the financial. For example, as Campell says, “We are only in charge of sending out ships. God is in charge of which ones come in.” In other words, let go of results. Your focus must be on sending the ships out, which is exactly the main lesson of the Bhagavad Gita. Just keep sending them out. Another example I like is the “Glad Game”, taught to Campell by her mother. When you’re feeling down, if you have a setback, you can allow a little time for self pity, but then turn it around by making a game of thinking up things about the situation to be glad and thankful about. It will lift your mood! The book also includes lessons for having a well-balanced life, and having fun. Some are about taking time off, and how it makes you more, rather than less, productive.
Campbell also talks about budgeting (in a way that actually makes it appealing) and other practical strategies for managing your money, such as a plan for paying off credit cards. Not everything in the book is applicable to everyone’s financial life. For example, she talks a lot about drumming up business by phone, and there are obviously professions in which that sort of activity is unnecessary. However, if you are in sales or in business for yourself (or would like to be), buying this book is money well spent.
