Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 1009 GET OUT OF THE EXPENDABLE PART OF THE BUDGET During the years 1998-2005, I spent a great deal of time driving throughout America and visited all fifty states. I made a habit of estimating the cash flows of most businesses and communities on my route. I discovered a whole new way of looking at the world – accord- ing to productivity. A cleaning lady at Motel 6 added value to the economy – and was paid very little for her ef- forts. A lobbyist on K Street in Washington, DC, was harming the economy – he or she was shrinking the pie by shifting portions of the economy into their clients’ pockets. Effectively, the lobbyists were being paid handsomely for destroying the market economy, bit by bit. I try to associate entirely with people whom I believe add actual value to the economy at a fundamental level. In terms of economic energy, they grow more than they eat. As one of my colleagues said, “We bake pies instead of stealing other people’s pies”. As I was writing up the list for my Christmas cards last November, I reviewed my Christ- mas card lists from when I was on Wall Street. Everyone who wasn’t family was a CEO of a major company, a partner at a law firm or an investment bank, or a senior government official. Almost everyone lived within 100 miles of New York City. I laughed when I looked at my current, much more diverse list. It is also made up of a group of people who add a lot more muscle to the economy and to their communities. I’m guessing that when the music stops, my current listees will all have chairs to sit on – no doubt, they will build more chairs, too. Bottom line: If your income comes from something that shrinks the pie or is expend- able, consider shifting to a function that adds real value or developing skills that can get you there. Just keep learning and believe that you can. We are coming into a peri- od when many unnecessary positions will be re-engineered out. What has not yet been re-engineered will become an increasingly nightmarish place. INCOHERENCE & SHADOW WORK I have written a lot about the importance of maintaining coherence (see our great Solari Report with Dr. William Tiller, the “Scientific Support for the Power of Intention”) as well as avoiding shadow work (See the section on Shadow Work here) that drains your time and money. This is one of the reasons why I constantly pound the drum for integrity. Twenty years ago, it was reasonable to assume that most of the people and institutions around you intended to honor their contracts. The deterioration of integrity since then has been significant. Given the number of controlled demolitions and re-engineerings ahead, it is likely that even the best people and companies will be challenged to maintain a high level of integrity.