What would you do with a billion dollars?
You may not want to be a billionaire.
It comes with a lot of responsibility and baggage.
Billionaires are judged harshly and vilified in the media.
But why?
In the scarcity myth, the belief in a finite pie leaves people feeling like billionaires are taking more than their fair share.
But let’s examine that further.
How does someone become a billionaire?
Some may marry into it or inherit the money, but the majority create massive value and impact.
If this question is daunting or complicated to answer, as it was for me for years, it boils down to stewardship. Stewardship is the responsible management and planning of resources, of your ability to create value.
Stewardship comes from:
Vision
Value creation
Impact
If dollars follow value, it means billionaires have created massive value. If you don’t know what you would do with a billion dollars (because it is more money than most can imagine spending), flip and think of how much value it would require to deploy and grow a billion dollars.
It is an intimidating number if we think of consumption. But a billion is small and inconsequential if we think about revolutionizing health, transforming Wall Street, or ending hunger.
Instead of thinking of ourselves, focus on serving others.
So, what would it take for you to be worthy to manage a billion dollars? When I say worthy, this is not a moral statement—it is stewardship.
When people feel stuck, it is either because of limited time, ability, or money. So if the money piece is solved, what could you do to manage your time and grow your ability to a higher degree?
When you invest in yourself, you increase your capacity to be a steward.
The more value you can create, the more money you make.
The clearer your purpose, the more powerful your actions and perseverance.
Yet, without clarity comes risk and effort.
Hard work with the wrong philosophy is destructive to living wealthy along the way.
To be a steward over a billion dollars, it takes time to cultivate, remove the noise and distraction, and discover who we were born to be.
We must remove myths, develop relationships, and grow our skills.
Money is simply a measure of how much value we are creating. How many people are we reaching, and how much impact do we have?
You don’t have to have a billion dollars or be a billionaire to make an impact. Again, you may not want what is required to be a steward over a billion dollars.
Yet, are you living up to your potential?
Are you living the life you love?
Are you living your Soul Purpose?
You have a Soul Purpose: Your values, abilities, and passions for the highest context of living. It is who you are when you are at your best, fully self-expressed. When you are on point, in flow, you are more likely to have exponential energy and create massive value. In a flow state, you recognize the gifts you have and bring those to the world in the form of value—service and solving problems.
Soul Purpose isn’t about busyness.
Soul Purpose even redefines discipline as it becomes a calling.
It powerfully moves you forward day by day.
When we buy into faulty beliefs, we limit our lives, and we dimmish our light.
Myths and scarcity block our ability to add the most value.
Budgeting won’t make you a billionaire.
You can scrimp your way to millions, not billions, but at what cost?
Will this prevent investing in yourself?
You can grind for years, putting forth effort, but what if that blinds you to growing your best abilities?
What abilities are neglected because the focus is more on accumulation than stewardship?
Here’s a question that matters even more than, “What you would do with a billion dollars?”: What does being wealthy mean to you?
Is it in the income you earn or the stuff you accumulate?Is it the recognition you gain and the reputation you have?
Is it money in the bank or assets on your balance sheet (aka net worth)?
Is it the social media clout that you accumulate?
Is it the relationships you have and the memories along the way?
Is it the impact you have?
Is it freedom of time, freedom of choice, or freedom from pain?
Is it the absence of debt or worry?
Is it flow instead of force?
It could be a combination of these things.
Can you have it all, or is sacrifice required?
Does limited time, money, or ability interfere with your dream?
Do past mistakes or circumstances cloud your vision?
Bad choices and circumstances can feel like obstacles and roadblocks. These emotions can destroy hope and crowd out Soul Purpose.
No one is coming to save you.
Your Soul Purpose is yours.
It is your work to discover and live.
Mentors can help. Coaching is key. Accountability is required.
Where are you getting support? Who stretches you? How can you heal from limiting beliefs and wounds? What would it take for you to grow?
Making money in ways that aren’t congruent with your best life requires more effort, leading to unnecessary risk. It minimizes your skills, leaks energy, and can feel like drudgery. Wealth isn’t something that happens to you or that is outside of yourself, it is cultivated within.
When people are disenchanted, frustrated, or disengaged, they are more likely to chase returns or look for shortcuts. They are more likely to look outside of their own skills and vision.
This is a formula for risk. Risk comes from a lack of knowledge, vision, and wanting something without doing the work required to acquire the skills to be a steward.
Relegating our money and finances by handing it off and hoping for the best does not lead to sustainable wealth. Delegation is key, but relegation is risky. Relegation comes when there isn’t stewardship. When there isn’t knowledge. Delegation comes from intelligent choices and utilizing (not relying on) the skills of others.
One of the key ingredients to stewardship is accountability—being accountable to our word and learning from our mistakes.
Wealth is built through committed conversation. It comes from speaking something into existence and inspiring others to act. Are you willing to be bold?
Strangely, stewardship expands and contracts with the stories we tell.Are we telling stories worth retelling… or are we more committed to victimhood?
Part of the human experience is making mistakes. But will those define you, or will you learn from them? If ignored, mistakes are likely to be repeated.
We all make mistakes. Some losses come from a lack of stewardship. From sloppiness and risk. From chasing returns without knowledge. This is speculation and gambling disguised as investing.
One mistake that limits stewardship is how we set goals.
What if your goals become more about the impact you make and less about the income you earn? Income is a byproduct of value. Those who focus on stewardship inevitably grow their wealth.
I’ve made my fair share of mistakes. Playing full out will come with experience and lessons, even losses. These losses created the content and tools that I share on these blogs, books, and social media posts.
We can be victims or victors.
Easier said than done.
Times I have been tempted to be a victim:
Letting go of and selling of Wealth Factory.
Being frustrated over bad partnerships.
Investing outside of my Investor DNA: NFTs, Bad real estate investments.
Being in Stage 4 kidney disease (reversed and doing exponentially better).
It would be easy to talk about how it was someone else’s fault, or I had been wronged. What good would that do? Would that inspire anyone? Victimhood doesn’t serve me or allow me to serve others. Unless I learn from them, own them. And share what I have learned so others can also learn.
Often, people don’t want to share their most significant lessons to protect their reputation, but then they lose trust in people, minimize their dreams, and limit their value.
What would it take to live the life you love?
How can you create a life you don’t want to retire from?
What is worthy of your time?
What is worthy of your life?
When we want more just for the sake of more, or proving something to someone else, or investing in things that may be more than we can handle, it is nearly impossible to be present.
If we want the past to be different, we become victims. If we chase the future or worry about the future, we lose the present.
But we can create an exciting and compelling future without compromising or sacrificing today.
By knowing and living our Soul Purpose.
Knowing that the work required to live our dream is part of the process.
That when we have the vision for our life, we win.
When we know our purpose, live our purpose, and design our lives, we have already won.
What is it that you really want?
What vision is worthy of your life?
This will call forth stewardship.
This will create the most significant value, the most significant joy.
Wealth is a byproduct of a life well lived; it is a byproduct of stewardship.
Money is an excellent measure of value creation, but not the only ingredient for wealth.
How much do you invest in yourself?
What beliefs and stories no longer serve you?
What stories will lead to a better life?
Learn the lessons or they are doomed to repeat.
Listen to your intuition or have delays and detours to your best life.
Even if it is not convenient, it is worth it.
To expand your vision and money stewardship, get a free audiobook of Money Unmasked now.
