Agents2Change - Smart Business Thinking

Financial Alchemy for Business from Morganan Rae

Today I have the great pleasure of being the host on Day 8 of the Virtual Blog Tour of author Morgana Rae whose book Financial Alchemy: Twelve Months of Magic and Manifestation launches on Amazon on Wednesday January 23, 2013.

Morgana Rae is an internationally acclaimed life coach, speaker and author of Financial Alchemy: Twelve Months of Magic and Manifestation. Widely regarded to be the world's top Relationship with Money Coach, she has been featured on ABC-TV, PBS, NPR, FOX News Radio, United Press International and The Wall Street Journal online, and is frequently a featured expert on programs with Deepak Chopra, Marianne Williamson, John Gray, John Assaraf and T Harv Eker. Named one of 2012's Top Women in E-commerce by WE Magazine, Morgana has guided thousands of entrepreneurs, artists, healers and humanitarians to thrive in their purpose, attract more than they chase, and make things happen with ease, flow and synchronicity.

In her book, Financial Alchemy, Morgana walks you through her time-tested program to turn your personal Money Monster of scarcity into a Money Honey of abundance. The book is a self-guided system to help you uncover your limiting blocks to abundance, and transform your relationship with money using a SUCCESS FORMULA that keeps you on track and positively "magnetic".

Yesterday, Morgana visited Krystalya Marie’ at http://www.empoweredspiritinsights.com/spirituality/morgana-rae-financial-alchemy-virtual-interview/2013/%monthnum/14/, where they talked about why smart/skilled people get stuck around money, why living a charmed life is not egocentric and how money can get in the way of love. 

Today, I'd like to share with you a recent interview I had with Morgana when I got to ask her some questions on the subject of big businesses and incorporating financial alchemy.  I hope you enjoy it.

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Can organizations also attain Financial Alchemy® in the same way that individuals can? 

Morgana Rae: Yes, we can change the relationship within an organization because any organization has its own sort of flavor and its own personality.

But organizations don’t attain Alchemy in the same way an individual can, because the individual journey is so personal.

The way to change an organization’s relationship with money is through the individual relationship transformations within the organization.  It’s the only way. 

I would start at the top with the CEO, with the decision makers.  When they have a healthy relationship with money – and now I’m going to sound economic – it trickles down.  They set the tone.

If they feel confident and they feel generous and they are making good decisions based on value and integrity, it will set the tone for the whole company.  And the employees will feel more safe and follow that model. 

The way to change the organization is through the individual, by addressing individual issues of values and personal worthiness, safety, and truly bottom line, love and love-ability.   And that’s how you teach a company to make money by putting love first: work with the individuals to change their relationship with money. 

Inner change has this magical ripple effect that who you are and your own personal breakthrough will touch the lives of everybody around you.

Can companies create Money Honeys and dispel their Money Monsters?

Morgana Rae: Yes.  And again, I would do that through the individual.  Money Honeys are contagious and so are Money Monsters. 

Even after you’ve changed your own relationship with money, there are going to be things going on in the world, in the news, with family members, with other companies.  They have their own Money Monsters which can be very, very seductive.

To you need to commit to your own Money Honey--your new relationship with money that champions your value and your values. This is a personified money that brings out your best as a human being, your joy in living, your confidence, and your ability to respect others and add value to other lives.

I would not design a group Money Honey.  This is way, way, way too personal for that.  But it would be interesting to see what evolves in a culture of Alchemists--the community aspect of everybody talking the language of Money Honeys and Money Monsters.  There’s so much potential to support each other. 

When somebody comes to work, and they’ve had some personal setback, or life happens and they’re feeling off-center; it’s so wonderful to be surrounded by people who are on a healthy conscious path. Imagine being surrounded by people with a good, healthy relationship with money to reinforce a good, healthy relationship with money for yourself. 

If everybody is coming from that place, can you imagine what is possible financially for that company?  I have individual clients who are making tens of thousands of dollars within a day or two? Imagine a whole company of people with that power. Wow!

How can public sector organizations benefit from the principles behind Financial Alchemy®? 

Morgana Rae: Oh my lord!  The thing about public sector and not-for-profit organizations is they are always created from such a good, altruistic service base, very often with spiritual principles in the background.  

And the problem is that the very people who are drawn to service--because they want to give back and save the world--are also often the people with the most antagonistic relationships with money! I call this “reverse snobbery” around money. And I'm only sharing this because I’m part of the club. We’re “too spiritual” to charge. We’re “too spiritual” to talk about money.  We show contempt, fear, and disgust about money; because we’re spiritually “enlightened.” 

This anti-money prejudice is so unhealthy. It kills your ability to really serve your people if you cannot be grown up and healthy in relationship with money.  It’s really dysfunctional. So this group of people, who I will call the do-gooders of the world, have a naturally monumental Money Monster. 

We were told that loving money is the root of all evil. We don’t want to be the Bernie Madoffs and the bad guys. We took this other path.  Nobody goes into the public sector to become rich.  So what we’ve done instead is we’ve rejected money.

Financial Alchemy® creates a new relationship with money that puts love first.  There’s a way, a new way of putting money and love and service on the same team, where when you make money you’re being your best self. 

And the conflict of the greed and the scarcity, it’s out of the picture.  When I talk about loving money, I’m talking about real love, unconditional love, love as if money were a person worthy of your deepest admiration-- that has nothing to do with cash. 

Love is not greed, or theft, or stealing, or hurting people.  It’s not scarcity.  It’s not a sin.  Love is generous.  Love is healthy.  Love brings out our best. 

And if we could get every non-profit person, every public sector employee in that kind of relationship with money, based on self-respect, self-worth, and respect for others, as well as love and service and joy… can you imagine what we could do in the world if money wasn’t the bad guy anymore?

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 I hope you enjoyed this interview with Morgana Rae and that you’ll check out her book Financial Alchemy: Twelve Months of Magic and Manifestation at http://morganarae.com/book-launch/pages/pre-launch.php

 

Here's why:

 

Money, Love & Magic Telesummit!

 

11 Money, Love & Magic Mentors Share Their Wisdom on this

FR*EE 3-Day Online Event

January 15th, 16th & 17th, 2013

12pm Pacific/3pm Eastern/8pm UK

 

Book your place FREE at
http://morganarae.com/book-launch/pages/telesummit.php  

 

Over the course of 3 days, Morgana and her guests will be exploring how unlock your magical powers of manifestation to attract money effortlessly by putting LOVE first.

 

Here's Morgana's wonderful guest line-up:

 

• Morgana Rae – Coach, speaker, author of Financial Alchemy: Twelve Months of Magic and Manifestation 
• Lynn Serafinn - Coach; marketer; author of The 7 Graces of Marketing
• Bob Doyle – Author; CEO of Boundless Living, Inc.; Teacher in The Secret 
• Chris Howard – Author; philanthropist; founder/CEO Academy of Wealth & Achievement; CEO of Million Dollar Mastermind
• Noah St. John -  Author; trainer; creator Inner Game of Success; media personality
• Mali Apple & Joe Dunn – Relationship coaches; authors; founders of Soulmate Experience
• Cynthia Kersey – Author; speaker; founder non-profit UNSTOPPABLE Foundation
• Jeffrey Van Dyk –Conscious business movement leader; found Expansion Lab
• Debra Poneman – Law of Attraction leader; Founder Yes to Success Seminars
• Debbie Bermont – Author; business growth strategist; transformation agent

 

This special 3-Day telesummit is Morgana’s FR*EE gift to you

to celebrate the launch of her book, Financial Alchemy

coming out on Wednesday January 23, 2013.

The Curse of Unsustainable Growth

One does not have to look far to see the impact of the collapse of some Euro-Zone economies.  The shock is quite palpable and is being felt at every level of society in Portugal, Greece & Ireland.  But you also do not need to look far to see the blind faith that was placed in the economic growth continuing for some time to come.

The time before the bubble burst was the most active and optimistic in business and construction industries across Europe.  Nobody  (apart from a few Economists and analysts) wanted to believe that the party was going to come to an end, and therefore continued unabated, in their belief that it would continue on – or at least until the next big deal is done.  Now we see the impact of that denial through the high unemployment, bankruptcy increases and half-finished construction sites up and down their lands. 

But none of us are unaffected by these economic collapses.  It affects the daily lives of every government around the world, in our now globalized and inter-connected economies.  We can all take lessons from this crash and learn how we might read the signs better next time around, because one thing we can predict is that there will be a next time.

In business we are also often tempted by two paths to growth.  One that will be rapid, bring quick returns and seem to be easy to achieve as it is riding on the wave of a wider growth pattern.  The other one, which can be a hard sell for shareholders, will be slow, sometimes painful, based on internal strength and a much shallower growth curve (albeit one that sustains over a much longer time line).  Real sustainable growth however is based on the latter.  It is based on sound business sense, a tangible product or service and a robust internal business model. 

Like all economic bubbles, it is easy to get carried away with the excitement of the possibilities at the time, but those firms that kept their feet on the ground and looked to a steady path for growth are now riding the wave of endurance far better than some of their larger counterparts. 

Sustainable business growth is by its nature fairly conservative.  It does not look for double-digit growth or rapid expansion to new markets.  It is about working from a position of strength and superiority in one area and gradually expanding from that, based on a realistic assessment or resources and competence capacity.    If we take a leaf out of their book, we are likely to be better equipped to face the uncertain future ahead.

2010 - That was the year that was!

2010 may not go down in history as an outstanding year, but it will certainly go down as an eventful one.  There have been environmental disasters, both natural and man-made.  We have seen economic hardships and we have seen innovative breakthroughs.  Here's our recap of some of the big events that shaped our year.   A year that’s seen us turn the corner on the global recession only to be faced with a more gloomy perspective of widespread austerity measures facing almost every nation.

It was year of earthquakes that devastated Haiti and floods in Pakistan affecting up to 20 million people.  A hitherto unknown Volcano in Iceland bringing Europe to a standstill when ash cloud interrupted air travel.

For many countries in Europe it was the start of major public sector cutbacks, the biggest since welfare states were established.  The backlash is widespread protests and at times civil unrest in many European countries.  The Euro currency itself is under threat after some of its members needed rescue packages, the latest of these being Ireland.

The International Monetary Fund made the momentous step of ceding 6% voting rights to developing nations. Some political regimes seem to loosen their grip slightly – such as the release of political activist Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma, and others tighten theirs, such as the increasing tensions in North Korea.   

For Business, it could be argued it has been a less tumultuous year, in that we have not seen the major collapses of banking corporations, finance houses and retail chains that occured in 2008, but it certainly has not been easy. 

BP stand out as having the worst year of their existence, following the disastrous spill in the Gulf of Mexico which quickly spiralled from an environmental crisis to a political and for a time a financial one. 

The use of new media and its impact on business (as well as public life) is also evolving.  We see business leaders getting more savvy in their use of new media and we see game changing protest sites such as Wikileaks which is bringing sharp transparency to government dealings.  

America whilst still having high levels of unemployment saw clear rebounds in the retail trade, allowing Walmart to knock Exxon Mobil of the no 1 slot of the Fortune 500 companies again showing the domination that retail has over lives.  It was another year for Innovation with Apple launching not one but three new must-have gadgets this year including the much anticipated iPad.

The full impact of the global recession continues to send out ripples and it is still difficult to predict the impact it will have on all of us, but the hoped for rapid recovery seems unlikely and private sector will be braced for retrenchment as the austerity measures start to hit at contracts and agreements with 3^rd party suppliers.

Regardless of how history views the year 2010,what it does tell us about business survivial is that it is based on adaptiveness, customer centricity and a  loyal and committed workforce.  Efficiency will continue to be the most important theme.  It is about doing more with less whilst still delivering excellent customer services.  Technology has always played a role in this, but staff motivation and buy-in to the company values are what will stand the test of time.  If you keep these in mind as you enter 2011, you can be sure of continued success.  

 

Seeing isn’t always believing! – how we can stubbornly refuse to take in data to support decision making

Some recent Massachusetts Insititue of Technology (MIT)researched posed the question, why do we not pick up on the signals of impeding disaster or meltdown in a system?  The ‘Weak’ Signals as they call them are ignored.  Of course with hindsight, it all seems rather obvious, but it is seeing them ahead of time that proves far more challenging.

 

They cite a number of traps:

 

Objectivity Undermined:

Our filtering system is pre-programmed with what we know and understand, leading us to hold certain biases in how we view and analyse new information.  This can lead us to close down options quickly and become over-confident about our particular view.

 

Filtering to fit our world view

All information passes through filters both cognitive and emotional, hence one person might lead to a different set of conclusions to another.  But it also leads to ‘rationalisation’, whereby information that fits with past understandings is incorporated into generalised internal representations (mental models or beliefs). Information that does not fit with these generalisations is automatically either distorted to fit or deleted by sensory filters.  A famous historical example is the natives of the pacific islands not being able to ‘see’ the colonial ships arrive, because they simply did not fit their world view, only being able to register ripples on the water.  More recently, the Increase is the use of derivatives in the last decade and an increasingly risky portfolio approach, leading to the financial meltdown shows that such misconception can happen on a global scale.  The weak signals were simply ignored.

 

Bolstering

Once we are set on a course of action, we can then act out a confirmation bias, by actively pursing evidence and people that support our view, rather than opening up discussions about alternative perspectives.

 

The article concludes which some sound business advice:

“The individual and organizational biases discussed above underscore why it is important to bring together different perspectives on the same issue”. 

Without such a mature approach to all business decision making we will see many corporate disasters like those of recent months like Northern Rock, Lehman Brothers  etc.  Facing up to the weak signals as they arise, although painful could save considerable trauma further down the line.

Recession - What the very rich tell us about the state of our economy

Its that time of year again, when the Sunday Times Rich List(UK) is published.  Normally just an interesting aside, but this year it holds up a barometer as to just how far some of the nations fortunes have fallen.

The Sunday Times reports an unprecedented collapse in individual wealth with over £155 billion wiped from the fortunes of Britain’s richest 1,000 people, equivalent to more than a third of their wealth.

Does it matter you may ask.  Well yes and no.  At one level, it might be seen that huge wealth had accumulated from unsustainable growth and that this is merely a recalibration to more realistic levels; perhaps.

The other more worrying indicator is a similar gap in the public spending budget, which has been responded to by introducing 50% tax, a rise in spend from the golden rule of 40% GDP to 50% and huge quantatitive easing by the Bank of England (& other national banks).  

The wealth of individuals, especially those in the Rich List is closely linked to Corporate Wealth.  Britain’s richest man Lakshmi Mittal, has seen £16.9 billion tumble to £10.8 billion after the collapse of the world steel market this year.

Where this rollercoaster ride of a recession will take us is hard to predict, but we can see that business decisions, like personal spending needs to be based on cost, value and business improvement.  Anything else in these difficult times will surely be a folly!