[The following is an updated review I did of "How to be Rich and Happy" that was originally posted to the now defunct Creating a Better Life. Since the book is such a complete volume on self development and personal growth, I wanted to get it out there again, as well as do what I could for the giveaway.]
Back in November of ’09, Tim Brownson sent me a copy of the new book he had written with John P. Strelecky – “How to be Rich and Happy.”
I thanked Tim, saved the book to my hard drive, and it sat there for a while next to the 300+ other ebooks that I’ve downloaded and never opened again.
(I know, shocking! You’ve never purchased and/or downloaded something that could potentially change your life, and never touched them again, have you?)
I’m just glad that I do have a relationship with Tim through his blog and on Twitter. Every time he or someone else would mention the book, I’d think “I really should get around to reading that.”
I finally did. I read it on my laptop, transferred it to my iPhone so I could read it on my lunch hour at work, and even printed out and did quite a few of the exercises.
A Definition
In the book, Tim and John define Rich and Happy this way:
“Rich and Happy is the ability to do whatever you want, whenever you want.”
Take a moment to really think about that…
Whatever you want.
Whenever you want.
My first reaction was “You’re kidding, right? Impossible.”
I started to wonder if this was one of those “You’re going to be made of money, thin as a rail, and master of your domain in under six weeks” kind of books.
It isn’t. As a matter of fact, there’s a whole chapter – “How to be Patiently Realistic” – about how long it can take before our goals can come to fruition.
Rich and Happy Minutes
While you are working on making that fuiting that fruition, you can use one of the concepts that John and Tim describe in the book. You can log some “Rich and Happy minutes” throughout your life. The more of these minutes you rack up, the more of a Rich and Happy life you have.
Here’s an example:
Sitting in front of the T.V. because you’re dead tired from working a 12 hour day at a job you hate? No Rich and Happy minutes for you. (duh.)
Watching Lost (R.I.P) on T.V. because you really love the drama, mystery, and intrigue – and don’t really care what your wife thinks about the fact that you’ve seen every episode at least three times? Now those are some Rich and Happy minutes!
Frivolous? I think not.
The point is that no one but you can decide what a Rich and Happy minute is for you. Since reading the book, I find myself asking “Is the time I’m using right now ‘Rich and Happy’ time?” If it isn’t, the awareness motivates me to find something more rich and happy to do. Or think. Or be.
When you invest your time in ways that both rack up Rich and Happy minutes and move you toward your goals… that’s a double extra win!
This was a very powerful concept for me. When I used the value ranking exercise in the book to determine exactly what was most important to me, I could see much more clearly what activities were adding to my Rich and Happy life, and which ones were not.
The Rich and Happy Matrix
Another great way to determine how close or how far you are from your Rich and Happy Life is to take a look at what the authors call the “Rich and Happy Matrix” – a 3×3 matrix, with the horizontal-axis tracking money movement from going out, to not moving, to coming in, and the vertical axis tracking happiness from not happy, to average, to happy.
(Believe me, it’s a lot simpler than it sounds, and the pretty pictures and diagrams in the book make it much clearer than I ever could here.)
It was fascinating to see where I am currently in the Matrix, and to consider where I’ve been in the past. Just over 10 years ago, I was deep deep deep in the poor and unhappy quadrants . For about five years after that, I spent about half of my time in the poor and unhappy, and the other half in the “quiet desperation” quadrants (hat tip to Thoreau.)
Now, I feel like I’m dancing between the Rich and Happy Quadrants and the quiet desperation quadrants.
At this very moment, I’m in quadrant 2 – doing what I love to do (writing), and not spending or making any money (ok, the electric bill will need to get paid, so maybe 1). Eventually, once this blog takes off, I’ll be in quadrant 3 – doing what I love and making money doing it.
Reading the book was Rich and Happy Time, and writing this review is Rich and Happy Time.
But Wait, There’s More!
What could be better than learning to be Rich and Happy, and helping others do the same?
If you decide to buy the book, you’ll be doing just that.
Tim and John set a huge goal for themselves – they’d like to get the book in the hands of people who really need it, but may not have the financial resources. 90% of the money that comes in from book purchases goes directly into printing and distributing copies of the book for those who need it.
That’s right… ninety percent – not your typical “look at us, we’re so good because we are giving back 5%.”
Ninety Freakin’ Percent.
As of this writing, you can get a hard cover and instant ebook download for $25 (free shipping if you buy 3 or more!), or you can purchase the ebook version for $19.
You can also help out by making a donation or spreading the word via your favorite social media channel.
Thanks for reading… now go buy the book and start racking up some serious Rich and Happy minutes in your life.
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