Playing Your Way To Prosperity

Many people believe that prosperity comes as a result of hard work. Others say it is the result of working smart, not hard. But the reality is that neither working hard nor smart will bring you prosperity or make you wealthy. The world is full of people who work long and hard, and smart, and who are still struggling to make ends meet.

Working smart will get you farther, faster, but still won’t necessarily result in prosperity or make you wealthy. Why? Because no one can get wealthy relying on work alone. There is not enough time in a day or enough energy in one body.

Contrary to everything we are taught, prosperity is not the result of hard work, it is actually the result of having fun. When we can find a way to make a living having fun, work becomes play. Everyone has an abundance of energy and enthusiasm around activities they truly enjoy. Things that are fun fully engaged us and we are self-driven to keep doing them.

There is more to creating wealth than just having fun, of course, but that’s where it must start. The reason many people give up on goals is because the goals were built around what they thought they should be doing, rather than around what they enjoy.

Choosing “should” goals frequently occurs when people don’t know who they are authentically. If we don’t know who we are, it is next to impossible to know what our passions are. And if we don’t know what we can be passionate about, it is next to impossible to know where we should be headed. And, if we don’t know where we should be headed, our only option is to listen to the suggestions of others.

The problem is that no matter how well intentioned another person may be, they cannot know what your authentic path should be. They can guide you down other paths that have worked for other people, but those are not your paths. They were not forged by your passion or paved with your purpose.

Still, when the path looks promising and there are no better options, it is not uncommon for people to rush off down a recommended path, only to realize after investing a lot of time, energy and, sometimes, money into it that there is no joy or passion on that path. At that point there are only two options: continue on down a path that is wrong for us or abandon it and start the search all over again.

Of the two options, abandoning a path that is wrong for us is the healthiest one, but that is not how it feels, especially if it has happened a few times. It is also not uncommon for people to begin to believe they are somehow flawed if they have tried several things and “failed”. They don’t see that deciding to stop doing the wrong thing is actually a success, though it is. They see it as a failure and begin to assume that they must be lazy or unfocused or not very smart or—you name it.

Yet, the decision to continue the search for what will make life full and fulfilling is the inner genius trying to emerge. The reality is that every normally functioning person on this planet has an area of genius; one that lies right at the core of their being wrapped up in their true passion and purpose. Not everyone has found their genius and many have no idea where to look for it, but everyone has it.

There are numerous studies that point to the fact that the wealthiest people in the world are not necessarily smarter or more talented than other people. But read the biographies of the world’s greatest and wealthiest people and you will discover that what they all have is passion; passion born of authentic self-awareness. Passion that made every minute they invested in their life’s work fun.

If you want true and lasting success; if you want real wealth, realize that the place to start is not out there in the world, but within yourself. First, discover who you came into the world to be. When you have found your authentic self, you will know it. Everyone does, and everyone loves the self nature gave them. I have never seen a single exception.

Within that authentic place you will find your passion and within your passion you will find your purpose. Purpose and passion create endless drive and motivation. Then all you need is a clearly defined goal (how you want your purpose to unfold) and a plan for getting there. Your natural drive and motivation will keep you headed along the path you have laid out—and it will be your own unique path; one that only you can walk successfully.

There are other elements for building wealth of course, such as good relationship and money management skills, but these are secondary to finding your passion. If you aren’t having fun, all the skills in the world won’t get you to where you want to go. There is always a way to make a living at things you have a passion for, and the passion itself will drive you to find it. Other than inheriting a fortune from a wealthy relative, this is the only way you can have true and lasting wealth without working. Because, no matter how much you are able to accomplish, you are never working when you are having fun.