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As I read more and more blogs, it’s getting very difficult to narrow the fantastic posts down to five. What an awesome problem to have!

Here are this week’s FABULOUS posts:

Having trouble staying optimistic? Eliminate these 5 words from your vocabulary. I would add “try” to the list. As Yoda says, “Do or do not. There is not ‘try’.”

Certain phrases grate on my nerves, the “latte factor” is one of them. Nickel and diming your spending habits and by extension yourself only serves to narrow your consciousness around money. Ramit Sethi finally gets to the heart of the matter and comes right out and says it: “THE PROBLEM IS HARDLY ANYONE IS DECIDING WHAT’S IMPORTANT AND WHAT’S NOT! DAMNIT!”

Ramit has declared 2007 the year of Conscious Spending. The article is a must read.

Conscious spending means you decide exactly where you’re going to spend your money–for going out, for saving, for investing, for rent–and you free yourself from feeling guilty about your spending. Along with making you feel comfortable with your spending, a plan lets you continue growing towards your goals instead of just treading water.

Sometimes, I fall into the trap of thinking that meditation is the only time I need to be present. In fact, every moment is an opportunity to be present and alert. When you are, you are able to pay attention to trigger situations so that you can make better decisions in the moment. Gretchen shares this discovery with us in The Importance of “Mindfulness”, Or I Should Be Listening To Those Lectures I’ve Been Giving.

In 66 Successful Bloggers and What They Can Teach You, Bill Belew introduces us to the great teachers of the blogosphere. This compilation is essential reading if you are interested in “get[ting] great blogging results”, “position[ing] yourself as an expert”, or “be[ing] a great conversationalist”.

After reading dozens of personal development books, I found that not much had changed in my life. It finally occured to me that maybe the authors meant that I should put some of their ideas into practice. Consistently. In Why Don’t We Do What We Know, Jodee gives us some questions that can help us get to the root of the problem so that we can finally live the life we were born to live.

What are some of the fabulous posts you’ve read this week?

In Spirit,
Nneka

Over on Steve Pavlina’s forums someone raised the question, “What would you do if Bill Gates gave you a billion dollars?” I’m not sure what type of answers the original poster of this message was trying to elicit, but the answers ranged from passing out to paying off all the third world debt.

Most folks that are into personal development have a monetary goal for income in the financial category. Mine is to generate $1,000,000 or more annually in passive income. It’s a lofty, lifetime goal to be sure. I have a smaller achievable goal for the next 3 years ($10,000/month passive income) and an even smaller one for next month ($500 extra income from my purpose). Not to mention I have a lot of financial clean up work to do. However, why would I set such an outrageous goal for myself?

I made the goal $1,000,000 passive income so that I could have the time and money to work on philanthropic endeavours. In particular, I want to start a school that honors the divinity in children and offers them a holistic education. Beyond learning facts, figures, and formulas, the school will expose kids to different spiritual practices. It would show them how to make choices to have a healthy body. It would teach financial literacy from an early age. It would give equal time to the arts so that the kids can nurture their creativity, and express themselves through the arts. Instead of just reading about different cultures, it would offer opportunities to live abroad.

I want the school to be open to children from any background. I also want their parents to be heavily involved in the children’s education and I want them to be able to learn alongside their children. I want them to share the experiences with their kids so that learning moves beyond the classroom to life.

I’m not a teacher. I’m a person with a vision. I intend to summon the best teachers (formal and informal) in the world to gather their ideas for the creation of this school. In addition to the material covered, I want the environment to facilitate this experience, so I plan to commission architects and artists to make a truly pedagogical institute.

You know the saying, “God does not give you more than you can handle.” Well, it applies to the good stuff too. Can you envision yourself achieving your financial goal? What would you do with a billion dollars free and clear?

In Spirit,
Nneka