How Much Does Enlightenment Cost?

I will be on a tightrope for this one, because there are some fine lines here.

I once went to an investment seminar that cost about a thousand dollars. Using the tools I was taught at that seminar, and believing that I was a pro because of attending that seminar, I proceeded to lose several thousand dollars in the stock market. I do not play the market anymore. I learned one thing for my thousands of dollars lost and spent: The market is controlled by fear and greed. The truth of the matter is that no one knows which way the market will go tomorrow, but everyone can tell you why it did what it did today.

You know what? People who were friends of mine had tried to tell me that, but I did not believe them. That unbelief cost me thousands of dollars. I would have to say that the one thousand dollar seminar was not a good value.

There was one thing said at the seminar that did impress me however. One of the presenters asked the crowd if they were suddenly given $20,000.00 to invest, how much of that would they spend on their financial education, and how much would they invest directly?

The presenter said that he would spend 15 of 20 thousand on his financial education, and I remember being impressed by that.

So here is something I found that was a great value . . . The DVD movie The Secret. For just over $30.00 (shipping included) one can have this DVD that presents the Law of Attraction, and does a great job explaining it! The book The Secret, at a similar price, is also a great value.

There are many other books that talk about these topics, several by the teachers in the movie. These are all fairly inexpensive, and the several I have read have all been very good.

Even I got into the act! I wrote a 30 page eBook around The Secret DVD that goes more in depth into the history, some of the subliminal things in the movie, trivia pieces, and a whole lot more. All of that can be had for less than the cost of the movie as well. Do you know which teacher got the most time in each edition? Read my eBook and find out!

But what about the two thousand dollar seminar that purports to reveal all of the "secrets that were left out of the secret" ??

You will undoubtedly get some great information out of such a seminar, but at that price point, it is pretty difficult to see the value it would provide, because your earning power would have to change fairly drastically and quickly to make up for that much money out the door. One would really need to compare and see if they would not make more money by placing that 2000 dollars in a safe investment that returned money to them.

There is the aspect that someone will take it more seriously if they spend so much money on it. Everyone has to decide for themself if this is true for them. I say: Would it not be easier to train ourself to take something seriously without having to put that much money down?

My concern is mostly for those who are new to all of the ideas in The Secret, and who will plop down a large amount of money in the hopes that this will save them from having to do their own research and come to their own understanding.

So I offer a humble suggestion. Set a percentage of your income that you will spend on your own personal development. There is not a better thing in the world to spend money on, except for buying assets that put money in your pocket every month. If you can, start a business in a area where you have talent and enjoying doing it and set aside a percentage of those profits as well for your personal development.

In the beginning with this plan you would have to start out small. Buy a couple of books, or get them at the library. Put what you learn into production and see if it brings you increased income or increased enjoyment which will lead to increased income. Use the books to grow your business. Do not forget the books on Sales and Marketing.

As your business grows, or you income increases as a result of doing this, you will have more to spend and will graduate to buying more expensive things.

But here is a critical point . . . .

If you business does not grow, and your income or your enjoyment have not increased, then it means that there are some basic elements of The Secret which you have not understood yet in their entirety. If you have not yet fully understood and proven the basics, then spending more money will not typically help you. It would be like taking calculus before understanding algebra. You will learn some neat things, but it will not help you.

Is this a failure if we go this way? Only in the sense that everyone's ultimate path to success is built on what they have learned from previous failures. Avoiding failure is a 100% known way to never reach a big success.

So stick to the plan. There is enough in the initial book or DVD to get someone started in the right direction. There is enough additional information for free on the Internet to keep us busy at first. Let's make sure we understand the basics via proving it with increased income and increased enjoyment. It is a staircase to success, not a high jump.

Joseph