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What inspires you?

Have you thought about that lately? What inspires you? Who inspires you? Where do you go to recharge your batteries? How do you stay centered and grounded during the type of economic upheaval we’re living through? Are you able to keep your thoughts positive and your outlook for you and your loved ones optimistic? Do you feel confident about the future or do you feel uneasy and concerned?

As a financial planner, being an optimist is pretty much non-negotiable. Fortunately for me, that’s easy as I was born with the glass is half full mentality. Yet being an optimist means you can also be a realist at the same time.

You can dwell on all the negative stuff out there and eventually that will have a very profound impact on your life, your emotions as well as your life decisions. Or you can make a conscious decision to focus on the positive events happening every minute of the day. It’s your choice.

Imagination and Inspiration (I-squared)

And that’s where inspiration comes into the picture. To be inspired means to be living a life in-spirit. If you’re someone that wakes up in the morning, thinks about their work and feels inspired, congratulations to you and job well done. If on the other hand, the work you do (trading your life energy for money) does not inspire you, it’s time to call on your imagination and inspiration for guidance.

I believe we’re all spiritual beings having a human experience. And sometimes our human experience is dominated by our egos. It’s our egos that cause us to use money as a score card and most often it’s our egos that create the destructive link between our self-worth and net-worth.

As spiritual beings, ego is a very low energy, whereas imagination and inspiration are very high energies. Why not choose to connect to our higher energy in terms of creating abundance in our lives? Why not spend one day a week, or better yet, one hour a day, imagining the life you desire to live? Visualize your positive thoughts as magnets attracting your desires. Instead of using ego, which tells you to work harder and longer all the time, why not tap into divine energy instead and attract the abundance into your life?

I suggest starting this process of self-inquiry by first being absolutely honest with yourself about where you are today in your life and where you would like to be tomorrow. Then start dreaming and imagining the life you desire in as rich detail as possible. When you are clear, set an intention and have a knowing that within you is the divine capacity to manifest and attract all that you need or desire. “As you think, so shall you be.”

With that in mind, be mindful of your thoughts, especially the thoughts that dominate your mind, keep your thoughts positive and use your imagination to turn your dreams and intentions into reality.

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Using a holistic, values-based strategy, Mark Zaifman helps people across social classes effectively manage their money. He has been hailed as a “new breed” of financial advisor by Natural Health magazine for his tenets of financial responsibility and sustainability and for his hands-on approach. His planning service is fee-only and has the added bonus of offering tax guidance–a benefit most financial planners cannot provide.

While reading the New York Times best selling financial book Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin, Mark saw the parallels between his principles and the message of the book. He began teaching the Your Money or Your Life program and developed a holistic approach to financial planning that became the foundation of Spiritus Financial Planning, a company he founded in 2003. During that time, Mark also connected with author Robin and contributed to Your Money or Your Life: Revised and Updated for the 21st Century, published by Penguin Books in December 2008.

Mark's successes stretch across his background as a tax accountant and now financial planner. In his native New Jersey, he worked as both a public and then private accountant, experience that allows him to provide his present clients with a two-for-one service. He is a Registered Investment Advisor and has an NASD Series 65 license. Other accomplishments in Mark's career include serving on a board to mentor young financial planners; forging strategic partnerships with international providers to offer state-of-the-art services; and teaching classes based on Your Money or Your Life. He is a member of the National Tax Association, Financial Integrity Associates, and the Financial Planning Association.

Serving clients from coast to coast, Mark is independent and objective and always puts your best interests first.

For more information, please visit spiritusfinancial.com

This Post Has One Comment

  1. Good to know people like you are out there in the financial world… Keep up the good job for the greatest good! Blessings.

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