December 18, 2024 • 36 mins
Can financial stress overshadow your holiday joy? As Christmas approaches, join me, Michael Kane as we navigate the festive season's financial and emotional challenges. This episode promises valuable insights into managing holiday expenses and maintaining healthy financial habits. We'll explore how the pressures of gift-giving can affect your financial well-being and consider the impact on parents and families, while also distinguishing the nuances between being rich, wealthy, and well-off. Discover the long-term effects of holiday spending and learn strategies for managing the stress it can cause, ensuring that your celebrations don't lead to a post-holiday financial hangover.
Money holds transformative power, yet it's crucial to remember it's merely a tool amplifying who we are. We'll examine this concept, comparing money to tools that require purpose and control. Through stories of athletes and lottery winners who faced financial pitfalls, we highlight the importance of wise money management and the misconception that wealth is a cure-all. This episode encourages a balanced life where financial success complements personal relationships and emotional health. With heartfelt gratitude for listeners across 25 countries, we celebrate your support and emphasize financial empowerment as we head into a prosperous New Year, with plans for an exciting episode in 2025.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello there, this is Living your Success.
With Michael Caine, that is24-7.
That means forever, every day,all day, all night.
Living your Success.
Not the podcast, but yoursuccess.
So how are you doing?
(00:22):
Getting inching closer toChristmas next week Wow, very
close to Christmas 2024.
Looking very, very excited,almost at loss of words, excited
.
Another opportunity to be withfamily and friends, and that's a
(00:46):
good thing, right, it's a verygood thing.
Another excuse, another excuse,do you hear me?
Another excuse to be overeat,over drink, over this, over that
.
And so I have to tell you, thisyear has been a year of
(01:14):
celebrations for me.
I just from just wow.
A lot of excuses and vacationsto you know, know of taking
advantage of the opportunities.
Um, you know, I'm a foodie, afoodie, foodie.
So that you say I'm a foodie?
Yes, definitely a foodie.
So if you want a foodie with me, that's good.
(01:39):
So what we're going to talkabout today, other than
overeating and under-exercisingand eating the fruits of our
labor, Need to eat more fruits.
By the way, it's not a healthshow, but living your success.
(02:02):
One day, we're just going tohave an episode Talking about
health.
Health show, but living yoursuccess.
Yeah, one day we're just gonnahave our episode talking about,
uh, health.
What is it?
Healthy, wealthy and wise,that's right.
Healthy first, because withoutyour health, what do you have?
Nothing, you have nothing, zero.
So, and I have to tell myselfthat too, it's all about someone
(02:23):
reminded me today, it's abouthabit, that's true.
It's about creating new habitsand I was doing real well then I
just whoa kind of snapped.
So now it's time to get back,and I know I'm saying that a
week before Another holiday,another feast day, but I'm going
(02:48):
to Control myself A lot moreand I'm promising that to myself
.
I'm going to actually say no,thank you.
See how easy that was.
No gracias, okay said it, I'mstill here.
So, also with Okay said it, I'mstill here, all right.
So also with Christmas and theseholidays, especially Christmas,
(03:12):
it's a season of gift giving.
Now, outside of our birthdaysand anniversaries and special
occasions, it comes once a year,as you know, and although we
know, we all know, christmas ison the 25th and it is Christmas,
(03:33):
by the way, call it whateveryou want, but the 25th is
Christmas Day, christmas seasonPeriod, and say that with
attitude too.
Okay, that'll be anotherpodcast, and so, although
there's religious aspects to it,you don't have to do that, you
(03:56):
don't have to go there.
But it's about gift giving andthose gifts Cost money.
Okay, I know it'searth-shattering, it's what I
said was monumental.
It takes money to buy thesegifts and each year the cost,
(04:18):
the expense, is going up and up.
After the pandemic, somethingthat costs $20 costs $80 now,
literally, or more, and theprices don't seem to be
significantly dropping anytimesoon.
So that puts pressure, economicpressure, on regular people.
(04:42):
What is regular people?
I know, non-, non-rich,non-wealthy, everybody else,
okay, you're rich, wealthy, richslash wealthy, because those
aren't the same thing, by theway.
Rich and another podcast.
But and everybody else?
That's not now true, you couldbe well off, which is a third
(05:05):
category, meaning you canessentially buy a lot of stuff
that most people can't.
And you know, just, well off,won't you settle for well off?
You will, wouldn't you?
Okay, but you could be rich andwealthy, maybe billionaire
status one day.
Who am I to say what you'regoing to be?
Or me?
But it takes money and it putsa lot of pressure and stress on
(05:33):
parents, especially with littlekids.
Christmas is in so many ways,their little thing, their big
thing, and then there's the restof us Adults.
I already have enough choo-chootrains.
I do like gifts, but it's notthe same as if you were five
years old.
The the same impact is adifferent impact.
(05:53):
So you have to save and scrimp,or and I know many people and
I'm not going to be giving nobad statistics in this podcast
about credit card usage but thefollowing year after Christmas,
people working four, five, six,eight, nine months, two years,
three years, paying off debtoriginated from December 25th
(06:18):
activities.
And I'm not going to be layingno guilt trip, no burden, no
judgment.
I'm just saying that be layingno guilt trip, no burden, no
judgment.
I'm just saying that people areslaving away for months to
years after each December 25thFor the purpose of generally,
for the purpose of makingsomeone else happy.
(06:39):
Now some people want to showoff and go that route.
Well, it is what it is, butit's the same result.
If you don't have the cash right, slap it on that credit card,
(07:02):
and then we're about the beastof burden, to, I guess, borrow
the song from the Rolling Stonesand Bette Midler Beast of
Burden.
That debt is on.
Loans and credit cards arebeast of burdens.
And even that is not the solefocus of this podcast.
But I'd be remiss in my oratoryhere if I didn't mention credit
(07:24):
card and loans, personal loans,other loans to refinance, to
buy a bunch of other stuff, paystuff off, and so we need to
seriously think about money, andmore so so the power of money.
You know it's a double-edgedsword, because if you receive it
(07:50):
, money, it's a good, powerful,but if it keeps exiting your
person wallet, in your bankaccounts, accounts, then it's
(08:11):
it's a not so good, a bad, ifyou will.
Power of money.
Let me throw a question, aquestion, a question out there.
This is not to indict anyone,but to to raise awareness, to
consciously be intentional.
Dr Wayne Dreyer emphasized that, to quote another great man,
(08:35):
intentionality.
You heard that from otherpeople too.
I know I'm going to quote along list of people who talks
about intentionality, but it'sso true and that's so important.
When you start to plan forthings, especially for December
(08:57):
25 and especially this year,which is going to be next, it's
actually next week.
So the question especially thisyear, which is going to be next
, it's actually next week.
So the question is it theanswer to all your problems?
Is it Maybe, maybe not.
(09:22):
I'm going to be devil'sadvocate to some extent I'm
going to play the fence for amoment, in a non-judgmental way,
but to raise awareness.
So all will be well if you hadjust what?
(09:43):
$10,000, $50,000, $10,000,$50,000, $1 million, what is the
number that makes all theissues, challenges and problems
go away?
No-transcript.
(10:13):
The worries of the world wouldjust poof, go away if you had
that magical number sitting inyour bank account or under the
pillow, in the mattress, in theground, in the backyard.
Again, moving forward here.
Still those questions are there.
(10:33):
What will it take to make thoseproblems go away?
Still those questions are there.
What will it take to make thoseproblems go away?
Fat bank account, what doesthat mean to you?
Does it mean you would be abetter person?
Now I'm going into thepsychology of money.
(10:56):
Better person, a better worker,better business owner, husband,
wife, son, daughter, student,parishioner would make you
better than the next person ifyou had six, seven, eight, nine
figures sitting in there.
And have you ever caughtyourself saying if only my
(11:21):
mother warned me, uh, warned meabout, if only she said?
You know, that's not going tobe a productive argument and
usually that argument is withyourself.
You're not arguing with anyoneelse.
You're in this battle in yourmind and spirit about that
(11:43):
dreadful or blessed if onlyphrase.
If only I had more blank moneyand most people when they phrase
this, they're talking aboutmoney.
Seriously.
There's exceptions.
Obviously, when you'reenlightened there's exceptions.
(12:03):
If I only had more money, mylife would mean blank, blank,
blank, blank, mean whateversomething is.
If only I had blank, blankmoney, we could take that
expensive European vacation weonly dreamt about for the last 2
(12:27):
, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 18, 13, 40, 40 years.
Okay, if only, if only, if onlyI had this X number of money, I
could fix my body.
Whoa Can fix my body.
(12:48):
I can have it the way I wish Iwas born with.
Okay, that pertains to men andwomen Men getting a lot of stuff
.
I wish I was born with Okay,that pertains to men and women,
men getting a lot of stuff anddoing stuff too.
If only If I had $50,000, Icould, oh, put a down payment On
(13:16):
blank, blank, blank and getblank, blank, blank and get
blank, blank, blank.
If only I had that money, Icould buy a big home or my
dreams with a white picket fence, a nice, expensive neighborhood
so everybody can see me drivingin my.
If I only had a Lambo moneyCorvette, mercedes, tesla, aston
(13:42):
Martin, on and on and on and on.
You can flash that wealth right, the appearance of it at least.
The nice jewelry from Tiffany'sin the blue box Can buy all
that nice diamonds and gemstones.
(14:03):
And where money isn't an issue,that nice Rolex costs $150,000
and I can show my besties that Ihave something they don't have
(14:23):
and we can.
So when my mother told me,warned me about doing that, if
only game inside your head, Idismissed it saying ah, what do
you know, mother, what do?
Saying ah, what do you know,mother?
What do you know, what do youknow?
Well, afterwards I realized sheknew a lot.
(14:46):
So Probably been there, donethat.
She was down to earth,practical.
My father too.
They were never to Buy stuffand crap just to impress anyone
(15:17):
else.
I did learn that from them, butI lost my way with that.
I deviated.
I allowed myself to get a newhabit and change into something
that eventually I said why did Ido that?
Why didn't I stick to the gameplan?
When I was 10 years old, 15, Iused to save some serious money.
I just saved money all the timeMoney, money, money, money,
money.
I saved money for this savedmoney for that $5 here, 50 cents
(15:42):
there, and then the ways of theworld.
Was that earth and fire the wayof the world?
I uh, lost my mind, okay, buteventually got my mind back.
So I tested my mother's theoryon this if only debate and
argument, and it's a viciouscycle, it's a curse to be stuck
(16:03):
at, if only, and it's okay.
You know and let me back off abit, don't get me wrong the
power of money.
It's okay to realize, to dream,to want things, to say one day
I would like to take a bigvacation with family, friends or
(16:23):
whoever, or myself, I wouldlike to be able to buy that car
of my dreams, and if you buy itin cash, no big deal.
You don't want to be a slaveFor decades to come Because of
that, if only conundrum andwishes and false blessings that
(16:49):
you're inviting into your world,to your life.
Money is powerful, but guesswhat, folks?
There's one thing I did not sayyet.
I did not say what moneyactually is.
True, it's a means of exchange.
Clearly, you take $20 to thestore to buy A loaf of bread.
(17:11):
They expect you to have Somecurrency Legitimately To buy.
They expect you to have somecurrency legitimately to buy
that loaf of bread.
It's a means of exchange.
We stopped exchanging rocks, atleast in the United States, so
people still exchange.
(17:32):
Now they're exchanging Bitcoinand gold and silver in some
countries and, of course, course, every country has some degree
of their foreign exchange.
You know their, their currencysystem, that they trade with the
foreign market, fx market, andso it's okay to dream, it's okay
(17:53):
to wish and want for, but youneed to check yourself if it's
for the right reason.
Am I doing this for the rightreason?
Just to show off and be Mr andMrs Fancy Pants?
You want to be known as FancyPants.
It's called Broke Pants whenyou just do stuff to please
(18:19):
people that don't give a dangabout you, right, don't do it.
And so money is a tool.
It's to be used by us, to beControlled by us, not the other
way around.
Money is Should be at your beckand call, not where you're just
(18:44):
chasing it To buy a bunch ofcrap you don't need, instead of
saving, investing and spendingit on memories.
Money is a tool to creatememories.
How is's that so?
Like the vacations you want,the, the?
Um, the new car?
Smell you buying a car again,not being in debt for the next
(19:07):
20 years to avoid doingsomething not so smart.
Been there, done that and souse that tool just like a hammer
.
If you're a carpenter, you wantto nail something, you get a
hammer, a tool.
So you want to buy something,save something, invest something
, you need money.
(19:28):
So some people are misguidedbiblically when they talk about
money's the root of all evil.
No, it, it's not.
It's a tool, it's a tool.
A hammer and screwdriver is theroot of all evil.
Now that sounds ridiculous,doesn't it?
Kind of stupid there?
(19:50):
A hammer is the root of allevil.
No, the love of money.
You could be indifferent aboutmoney.
Just say I just needed to buystuff, I need to save and invest
and have a good life, call it aday.
But with this, the power ofmoney, this very huge power
(20:15):
foundation of our economicsystem is.
It also amplifies who youreally are.
So to answer them otherquestions up front are you a
better person, better than you,better worker, employee?
All that it amplifies.
So if you're a good employee,good husband, good wife, good
(20:37):
son, good daughter, you're goingto still be a good that Now can
you go crazy and lose your mindand turn and change?
Of course you can.
That's why you have to relegatemoney as a simple tool and
don't change your character.
It can change youropportunities, clearly, and
(21:02):
access Gives you access.
See, money gives you access andopportunities.
The lack of it is not going toofar.
Let's talk about lack about it,lack of it With people that had
it Like athletes, they retire.
A whole lot of them, 60, 70percent, did you just name?
The sport broke in 10 years.
(21:22):
Don't have the money's gone.
The level of wealth hasdissipated, poof, poof gone.
And it's hard to believesomeone with 50 million, 100
million, three, four, 400million gone.
There's people that had abillion dollars and it's gone.
Okay, now, if you had anotherbillion or 5 billion, then yeah,
(21:46):
it'd be all right.
But can you imagine, just gone.
And folks, listen to me, myfriends, folks, listen to me, my
friends, you want to avoid.
You want to avoid going broke,but now you need to accumulate
(22:08):
To go broke.
You have to even accumulate,you have to have it to go broke.
So some of you don't have thatproblem because you're still
trying to earn decent wages andsalary, a living, but the folks
that have arrived on the earningside of the equation, it's what
(22:29):
you keep.
Oh, you could brag all day whatyou earn, but how much you have
left.
So consider, once you have thisriches and wealth, not to
squander it.
Look at the lottery winnersWithin five years, boom, money's
gone.
Guess how many friends andfamily you have if you won 10,
(22:52):
20, 30 million dollars.
Well, first of all, telling themthat was their first mistake.
But you got to do what you gotto do whatever you want to do.
Someone knocking on your doorevery five minutes hey, man, I
got this business idea.
Hey, I have to have toe surgery.
I need your help.
Okay, got to clear up them.
(23:15):
Hemorrhoids right, I had to gothere, had to go there.
So and people feel guilty.
Oh, I mean, you know.
So you have to put everythingin perspective.
(23:37):
So will money?
Is it the answer to all yourproblems?
If it's yes, then keep this inmind A lot of rich folks,
wealthy folks, famous folks,killing themselves, committing
suicide.
So if they had 200 million, 800million, why would they kill
themselves?
If they were totally happy?
Because they have a lot ofmoney?
Because, guess what?
(23:57):
It's not an answer, it's not apanacea where it's an answer to
all the world's, all life'sproblems.
After you buy 10, 12 houses and50 cars, go around the world
eight times.
Do you buy 10, 12 houses and 50cars?
(24:18):
Go around the world eight times?
What's left?
You know people feel hollow.
They don't feel satisfied.
Because if you don't have anaffordability problem and you
can buy whatever you want, ifthat is your sole focus money
(24:41):
then after you spend a lot of it, get a lot of it.
Will it mean as much to you?
And you may want to kind offigure this out when I said well
, why are these rich people,wealthy people, committing
suicide?
It's not an answer toeverything.
People want to be heard,respected, loved, hugged and
(25:09):
they want it to be real, not allthese fake people around you.
Because they know you havemoney, you're buying them drinks
and dinner and airplane ticketswherever you're going, and your
entourage All these fake people.
And then you get disappointed somany times.
(25:30):
You're lacking something.
You have a hole in your heart,hole in your soul.
Your spirit is broken.
Yeah, you got all that money,but what else do you have?
So it's important to put thepower of money in its
perspective.
(25:50):
Yes, be an accumulator of asmuch money as possible legally,
of course, as much as you canbank so you can live comfortably
, but not to sacrifice your souland not be on a deathbed saying
(26:11):
I wish I spent more time withmy significant other, a spouse,
or your children.
You neglected them because youwere too busy, focused on all
your business stuff, and youmissed out on those wonderful
memories.
You're too busy, focus on allyour business stuff and you miss
(26:32):
out on those wonderful memories.
So, mike, are you saying I needbalance?
Yeah, I don't think there's.
It could be an easy 50-50balance.
I don't, I don't think so.
I'm not an expert.
But that percentage of work andfamily or personal time is up
(27:00):
to each and one of us.
What is okay, what's doable,and each person has to answer
that for themselves.
But I would just say, and leaveyou with what makes it where
your children know who you areand you have a good relationship
(27:21):
with them and your spouse.
So where, where's that line?
That's a moving target.
Now, of course, the assumptionis you married the right person,
because if you didn't, allhell's gonna break loose and if
you didn't, you're gonna bemiserable at some point because
you didn't live the life youalways wanted to.
(27:41):
Quoting my book now slayingyour dragons living life you
always wanted on amazonshameless plug and please, I
encourage you to share thispodcast.
We don't just talk about moneytoday.
We're talking about the powerof money, but we talk about
those things involving our riseup to success, our Climb to
(28:07):
success, and our options areFrom career to Relationships To
investing.
It all is in our health To besuccessful In our health.
I've had some challenges overthe years, some serious ones,
(28:30):
and didn't take care of myself,and a lot of people say they're
on deathbed.
Wish I took care of myself.
Whoop, whoop gone.
Don't do that.
I'm catching myself too.
Oh, don't eat that.
Don't do that.
That's not good.
Okay, don't make it bad stuff Ahabit and turn it into a false
(29:03):
good habit.
That's what we do to convinceourselves.
We try to turn good into badand bad into good.
Problem with this society now,the state I live in right now
especially.
But the power of money needs tobe respected because it could do
so much good in the world andit does.
But look at all these folksdonating and you're donating as
(29:24):
to your means, donating yourtime, energy, money to help
other people.
And that's what it is about notjust to fulfill our needs,
sometimes selfish needs, but wehave a right to spend the money
on ourselves the way we want to,good or bad.
Some people can't understandthat.
(29:44):
I do.
I don't agree with it, but Irespect it and understand that,
that.
You know, if you want to dosomething foolish and stupid, if
you earned it, hey, as long asyou didn't steal my money and do
it, but free will.
(30:05):
So we're going to keep up thistopic of the power of money,
directly and indirectly, infuture podcasts On a periodic
basis.
The power of money dealing withyour health.
You know, how does you know?
Talk about gyms, talk abouthealth equipment, talk about
(30:28):
diet and food, regular, organicstuff like that, raised farm
raised, pasteurized animals,stuff like that.
We'll be talking about stufflike that.
And so Money is powerful.
Money is powerful and no hatershere.
(30:50):
You desire as much as humanlypossible.
Go for it, get it.
I pray and wish all my listenersWow In 25 countries.
Thank you so much.
I appreciate all of you fortaking the time to listen to me.
(31:12):
Be doing something else, butyou're listening to michael cain
living your success 24 7program.
Yeah, thank you, and I'm notsure where you originated my uh
podcast, but I'm on Apple,iheartradio, spotify, amazon
(31:32):
Music.
Thank you so much, and a fewothers, and I wish all of you
wealth, health-wise, financiallyrelational-wise, financially
relational wise and you too cansummon up that power and to be
(31:56):
who you desire to be, be who youwant to be.
This life is finite, so takeadvantage of each day and be
blessed.
This life is finite, so Takeadvantage of each day and be
blessed and give back Tohumanity, give back to.
If you hear some noise, that'smy little kitty, cat Lua.
(32:22):
She's making noise, just wokeup.
But anyway, that said, I'mgoing to leave you with the
thought of do what you can toimprove your financial
(32:47):
empowerment.
I like the word empower, becauseempower means you let someone
off and they just make thingshappen.
So I want to pray for yourempowerment.
Financially speaking.
What does that mean?
Where you're not pinchingpennies, counting pennies,
wondering where your next mealis going to come from, where
you're going to live, whatvehicle you're going to drive,
(33:12):
when you be able to go on thatwonderful vacation or buy a
wonderful gift for those aroundyou, to do things for yourself.
So I want you to be empoweredAbsolutely to do things for
yourself.
So I want you to be empoweredabsolutely.
And so we'll talk aboutempowerment.
(33:33):
By definition, success equalsempowerment, and success means
different people, so don't getpigeonholed with other people's
definition of success.
Yours could be more restrictedor more expandable than the
average person or or your circle.
So don't be ashamed at whatyou're doing, what your certain
(33:59):
empowerment level is now, andkeep working on you, and I
appreciate you Keep listening tothis podcast.
This podcast I don't want to saypodcast podcast is about
empowerment.
It's about enhancing who we areas people, enhancing our
(34:22):
spirits, our bodies, minds, ourintelligence.
So, live Me, your Success isfor everyday people.
That's why you don't hear meinterviewing people that are
just, you know, to elevate theirsituation.
But in the future I'm going todo selected interviews and
(34:51):
segments.
But my focus is to be amotivator and coach and to help
people be resilient.
So when they get knocked down,here's 20 reasons to get back up
and here's your empowerment toget back up and not give up and
(35:14):
not quit.
So that's my focus is to helppeople, and hopefully as many
people as I can.
So please share the good news,and so I I do my best to come up
with well, what am I trying tosay, what's my perspective, and
enhance this, you know, to getyou from point A to point B, to
(35:36):
point C, to point D.
So that is my focus and goal.
And so to give you the tools andand and the weaponry the
(35:57):
economic weaponry, okay, notphysical, but to make a
difference for yourself, yourlife and your family, and so,
and so you could say at the endof this life well, all is done,
all is well, good and faithfulservant.
So, that said, thank you again,and I wish you a very Merry
(36:22):
Christmas and Happy Holidays anda Happy New Year.
I'll do another podcast,another one, probably one more,
at least for the beginning of2025.
But that's it.
This is Living your Success24-7 with Michael Caine.
Adios amigos.
Hello there, this is Living your Success.
With Michael Caine, that is24-7.
That means forever, every day,all day, all night.
Living your Success.
Not the podcast, but yoursuccess.
So how are you doing?
(00:22):
Getting inching closer toChristmas next week Wow, very
close to Christmas 2024.
Looking very, very excited,almost at loss of words, excited
.
Another opportunity to be withfamily and friends, and that's a
(00:46):
good thing, right, it's a verygood thing.
Another excuse, another excuse,do you hear me?
Another excuse to be overeat,over drink, over this, over that
.
And so I have to tell you, thisyear has been a year of
(01:14):
celebrations for me.
I just from just wow.
A lot of excuses and vacationsto you know, know of taking
advantage of the opportunities.
Um, you know, I'm a foodie, afoodie, foodie.
So that you say I'm a foodie?
Yes, definitely a foodie.
So if you want a foodie with me, that's good.
(01:39):
So what we're going to talkabout today, other than
overeating and under-exercisingand eating the fruits of our
labor, Need to eat more fruits.
By the way, it's not a healthshow, but living your success.
(02:02):
One day, we're just going tohave an episode Talking about
health.
Health show, but living yoursuccess.
Yeah, one day we're just gonnahave our episode talking about,
uh, health.
What is it?
Healthy, wealthy and wise,that's right.
Healthy first, because withoutyour health, what do you have?
Nothing, you have nothing, zero.
So, and I have to tell myselfthat too, it's all about someone
(02:23):
reminded me today, it's abouthabit, that's true.
It's about creating new habitsand I was doing real well then I
just whoa kind of snapped.
So now it's time to get back,and I know I'm saying that a
week before Another holiday,another feast day, but I'm going
(02:48):
to Control myself A lot moreand I'm promising that to myself
.
I'm going to actually say no,thank you.
See how easy that was.
No gracias, okay said it, I'mstill here.
So, also with Okay said it, I'mstill here, all right.
So also with Christmas and theseholidays, especially Christmas,
(03:12):
it's a season of gift giving.
Now, outside of our birthdaysand anniversaries and special
occasions, it comes once a year,as you know, and although we
know, we all know, christmas ison the 25th and it is Christmas,
(03:33):
by the way, call it whateveryou want, but the 25th is
Christmas Day, christmas seasonPeriod, and say that with
attitude too.
Okay, that'll be anotherpodcast, and so, although
there's religious aspects to it,you don't have to do that, you
(03:56):
don't have to go there.
But it's about gift giving andthose gifts Cost money.
Okay, I know it'searth-shattering, it's what I
said was monumental.
It takes money to buy thesegifts and each year the cost,
(04:18):
the expense, is going up and up.
After the pandemic, somethingthat costs $20 costs $80 now,
literally, or more, and theprices don't seem to be
significantly dropping anytimesoon.
So that puts pressure, economicpressure, on regular people.
(04:42):
What is regular people?
I know, non-, non-rich,non-wealthy, everybody else,
okay, you're rich, wealthy, richslash wealthy, because those
aren't the same thing, by theway.
Rich and another podcast.
But and everybody else?
That's not now true, you couldbe well off, which is a third
(05:05):
category, meaning you canessentially buy a lot of stuff
that most people can't.
And you know, just, well off,won't you settle for well off?
You will, wouldn't you?
Okay, but you could be rich andwealthy, maybe billionaire
status one day.
Who am I to say what you'regoing to be?
Or me?
But it takes money and it putsa lot of pressure and stress on
(05:33):
parents, especially with littlekids.
Christmas is in so many ways,their little thing, their big
thing, and then there's the restof us Adults.
I already have enough choo-chootrains.
I do like gifts, but it's notthe same as if you were five
years old.
The the same impact is adifferent impact.
(05:53):
So you have to save and scrimp,or and I know many people and
I'm not going to be giving nobad statistics in this podcast
about credit card usage but thefollowing year after Christmas,
people working four, five, six,eight, nine months, two years,
three years, paying off debtoriginated from December 25th
(06:18):
activities.
And I'm not going to be layingno guilt trip, no burden, no
judgment.
I'm just saying that be layingno guilt trip, no burden, no
judgment.
I'm just saying that people areslaving away for months to
years after each December 25thFor the purpose of generally,
for the purpose of makingsomeone else happy.
(06:39):
Now some people want to showoff and go that route.
Well, it is what it is, butit's the same result.
If you don't have the cash right, slap it on that credit card,
(07:02):
and then we're about the beastof burden, to, I guess, borrow
the song from the Rolling Stonesand Bette Midler Beast of
Burden.
That debt is on.
Loans and credit cards arebeast of burdens.
And even that is not the solefocus of this podcast.
But I'd be remiss in my oratoryhere if I didn't mention credit
(07:24):
card and loans, personal loans,other loans to refinance, to
buy a bunch of other stuff, paystuff off, and so we need to
seriously think about money, andmore so so the power of money.
You know it's a double-edgedsword, because if you receive it
(07:50):
, money, it's a good, powerful,but if it keeps exiting your
person wallet, in your bankaccounts, accounts, then it's
(08:11):
it's a not so good, a bad, ifyou will.
Power of money.
Let me throw a question, aquestion, a question out there.
This is not to indict anyone,but to to raise awareness, to
consciously be intentional.
Dr Wayne Dreyer emphasized that, to quote another great man,
(08:35):
intentionality.
You heard that from otherpeople too.
I know I'm going to quote along list of people who talks
about intentionality, but it'sso true and that's so important.
When you start to plan forthings, especially for December
(08:57):
25 and especially this year,which is going to be next, it's
actually next week.
So the question especially thisyear, which is going to be next
, it's actually next week.
So the question is it theanswer to all your problems?
Is it Maybe, maybe not.
(09:22):
I'm going to be devil'sadvocate to some extent I'm
going to play the fence for amoment, in a non-judgmental way,
but to raise awareness.
So all will be well if you hadjust what?
(09:43):
$10,000, $50,000, $10,000,$50,000, $1 million, what is the
number that makes all theissues, challenges and problems
go away?
No-transcript.
(10:13):
The worries of the world wouldjust poof, go away if you had
that magical number sitting inyour bank account or under the
pillow, in the mattress, in theground, in the backyard.
Again, moving forward here.
Still those questions are there.
(10:33):
What will it take to make thoseproblems go away?
Still those questions are there.
What will it take to make thoseproblems go away?
Fat bank account, what doesthat mean to you?
Does it mean you would be abetter person?
Now I'm going into thepsychology of money.
(10:56):
Better person, a better worker,better business owner, husband,
wife, son, daughter, student,parishioner would make you
better than the next person ifyou had six, seven, eight, nine
figures sitting in there.
And have you ever caughtyourself saying if only my
(11:21):
mother warned me, uh, warned meabout, if only she said?
You know, that's not going tobe a productive argument and
usually that argument is withyourself.
You're not arguing with anyoneelse.
You're in this battle in yourmind and spirit about that
(11:43):
dreadful or blessed if onlyphrase.
If only I had more blank moneyand most people when they phrase
this, they're talking aboutmoney.
Seriously.
There's exceptions.
Obviously, when you'reenlightened there's exceptions.
(12:03):
If I only had more money, mylife would mean blank, blank,
blank, blank, mean whateversomething is.
If only I had blank, blankmoney, we could take that
expensive European vacation weonly dreamt about for the last 2
(12:27):
, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 18, 13, 40, 40 years.
Okay, if only, if only, if onlyI had this X number of money, I
could fix my body.
Whoa Can fix my body.
(12:48):
I can have it the way I wish Iwas born with.
Okay, that pertains to men andwomen Men getting a lot of stuff
.
I wish I was born with Okay,that pertains to men and women,
men getting a lot of stuff anddoing stuff too.
If only If I had $50,000, Icould, oh, put a down payment On
(13:16):
blank, blank, blank and getblank, blank, blank and get
blank, blank, blank.
If only I had that money, Icould buy a big home or my
dreams with a white picket fence, a nice, expensive neighborhood
so everybody can see me drivingin my.
If I only had a Lambo moneyCorvette, mercedes, tesla, aston
(13:42):
Martin, on and on and on and on.
You can flash that wealth right, the appearance of it at least.
The nice jewelry from Tiffany'sin the blue box Can buy all
that nice diamonds and gemstones.
(14:03):
And where money isn't an issue,that nice Rolex costs $150,000
and I can show my besties that Ihave something they don't have
(14:23):
and we can.
So when my mother told me,warned me about doing that, if
only game inside your head, Idismissed it saying ah, what do
you know, mother, what do?
Saying ah, what do you know,mother?
What do you know, what do youknow?
Well, afterwards I realized sheknew a lot.
(14:46):
So Probably been there, donethat.
She was down to earth,practical.
My father too.
They were never to Buy stuffand crap just to impress anyone
(15:17):
else.
I did learn that from them, butI lost my way with that.
I deviated.
I allowed myself to get a newhabit and change into something
that eventually I said why did Ido that?
Why didn't I stick to the gameplan?
When I was 10 years old, 15, Iused to save some serious money.
I just saved money all the timeMoney, money, money, money,
money.
I saved money for this savedmoney for that $5 here, 50 cents
(15:42):
there, and then the ways of theworld.
Was that earth and fire the wayof the world?
I uh, lost my mind, okay, buteventually got my mind back.
So I tested my mother's theoryon this if only debate and
argument, and it's a viciouscycle, it's a curse to be stuck
(16:03):
at, if only, and it's okay.
You know and let me back off abit, don't get me wrong the
power of money.
It's okay to realize, to dream,to want things, to say one day
I would like to take a bigvacation with family, friends or
(16:23):
whoever, or myself, I wouldlike to be able to buy that car
of my dreams, and if you buy itin cash, no big deal.
You don't want to be a slaveFor decades to come Because of
that, if only conundrum andwishes and false blessings that
(16:49):
you're inviting into your world,to your life.
Money is powerful, but guesswhat, folks?
There's one thing I did not sayyet.
I did not say what moneyactually is.
True, it's a means of exchange.
Clearly, you take $20 to thestore to buy A loaf of bread.
(17:11):
They expect you to have Somecurrency Legitimately To buy.
They expect you to have somecurrency legitimately to buy
that loaf of bread.
It's a means of exchange.
We stopped exchanging rocks, atleast in the United States, so
people still exchange.
(17:32):
Now they're exchanging Bitcoinand gold and silver in some
countries and, of course, course, every country has some degree
of their foreign exchange.
You know their, their currencysystem, that they trade with the
foreign market, fx market, andso it's okay to dream, it's okay
(17:53):
to wish and want for, but youneed to check yourself if it's
for the right reason.
Am I doing this for the rightreason?
Just to show off and be Mr andMrs Fancy Pants?
You want to be known as FancyPants.
It's called Broke Pants whenyou just do stuff to please
(18:19):
people that don't give a dangabout you, right, don't do it.
And so money is a tool.
It's to be used by us, to beControlled by us, not the other
way around.
Money is Should be at your beckand call, not where you're just
(18:44):
chasing it To buy a bunch ofcrap you don't need, instead of
saving, investing and spendingit on memories.
Money is a tool to creatememories.
How is's that so?
Like the vacations you want,the, the?
Um, the new car?
Smell you buying a car again,not being in debt for the next
(19:07):
20 years to avoid doingsomething not so smart.
Been there, done that and souse that tool just like a hammer
.
If you're a carpenter, you wantto nail something, you get a
hammer, a tool.
So you want to buy something,save something, invest something
, you need money.
(19:28):
So some people are misguidedbiblically when they talk about
money's the root of all evil.
No, it, it's not.
It's a tool, it's a tool.
A hammer and screwdriver is theroot of all evil.
Now that sounds ridiculous,doesn't it?
Kind of stupid there?
(19:50):
A hammer is the root of allevil.
No, the love of money.
You could be indifferent aboutmoney.
Just say I just needed to buystuff, I need to save and invest
and have a good life, call it aday.
But with this, the power ofmoney, this very huge power
(20:15):
foundation of our economicsystem is.
It also amplifies who youreally are.
So to answer them otherquestions up front are you a
better person, better than you,better worker, employee?
All that it amplifies.
So if you're a good employee,good husband, good wife, good
(20:37):
son, good daughter, you're goingto still be a good that Now can
you go crazy and lose your mindand turn and change?
Of course you can.
That's why you have to relegatemoney as a simple tool and
don't change your character.
It can change youropportunities, clearly, and
(21:02):
access Gives you access.
See, money gives you access andopportunities.
The lack of it is not going toofar.
Let's talk about lack about it,lack of it With people that had
it Like athletes, they retire.
A whole lot of them, 60, 70percent, did you just name?
The sport broke in 10 years.
(21:22):
Don't have the money's gone.
The level of wealth hasdissipated, poof, poof gone.
And it's hard to believesomeone with 50 million, 100
million, three, four, 400million gone.
There's people that had abillion dollars and it's gone.
Okay, now, if you had anotherbillion or 5 billion, then yeah,
(21:46):
it'd be all right.
But can you imagine, just gone.
And folks, listen to me, myfriends, folks, listen to me, my
friends, you want to avoid.
You want to avoid going broke,but now you need to accumulate
(22:08):
To go broke.
You have to even accumulate,you have to have it to go broke.
So some of you don't have thatproblem because you're still
trying to earn decent wages andsalary, a living, but the folks
that have arrived on the earningside of the equation, it's what
(22:29):
you keep.
Oh, you could brag all day whatyou earn, but how much you have
left.
So consider, once you have thisriches and wealth, not to
squander it.
Look at the lottery winnersWithin five years, boom, money's
gone.
Guess how many friends andfamily you have if you won 10,
(22:52):
20, 30 million dollars.
Well, first of all, telling themthat was their first mistake.
But you got to do what you gotto do whatever you want to do.
Someone knocking on your doorevery five minutes hey, man, I
got this business idea.
Hey, I have to have toe surgery.
I need your help.
Okay, got to clear up them.
(23:15):
Hemorrhoids right, I had to gothere, had to go there.
So and people feel guilty.
Oh, I mean, you know.
So you have to put everythingin perspective.
(23:37):
So will money?
Is it the answer to all yourproblems?
If it's yes, then keep this inmind A lot of rich folks,
wealthy folks, famous folks,killing themselves, committing
suicide.
So if they had 200 million, 800million, why would they kill
themselves?
If they were totally happy?
Because they have a lot ofmoney?
Because, guess what?
(23:57):
It's not an answer, it's not apanacea where it's an answer to
all the world's, all life'sproblems.
After you buy 10, 12 houses and50 cars, go around the world
eight times.
Do you buy 10, 12 houses and 50cars?
(24:18):
Go around the world eight times?
What's left?
You know people feel hollow.
They don't feel satisfied.
Because if you don't have anaffordability problem and you
can buy whatever you want, ifthat is your sole focus money
(24:41):
then after you spend a lot of it, get a lot of it.
Will it mean as much to you?
And you may want to kind offigure this out when I said well
, why are these rich people,wealthy people, committing
suicide?
It's not an answer toeverything.
People want to be heard,respected, loved, hugged and
(25:09):
they want it to be real, not allthese fake people around you.
Because they know you havemoney, you're buying them drinks
and dinner and airplane ticketswherever you're going, and your
entourage All these fake people.
And then you get disappointed somany times.
(25:30):
You're lacking something.
You have a hole in your heart,hole in your soul.
Your spirit is broken.
Yeah, you got all that money,but what else do you have?
So it's important to put thepower of money in its
perspective.
(25:50):
Yes, be an accumulator of asmuch money as possible legally,
of course, as much as you canbank so you can live comfortably
, but not to sacrifice your souland not be on a deathbed saying
(26:11):
I wish I spent more time withmy significant other, a spouse,
or your children.
You neglected them because youwere too busy, focused on all
your business stuff, and youmissed out on those wonderful
memories.
You're too busy, focus on allyour business stuff and you miss
(26:32):
out on those wonderful memories.
So, mike, are you saying I needbalance?
Yeah, I don't think there's.
It could be an easy 50-50balance.
I don't, I don't think so.
I'm not an expert.
But that percentage of work andfamily or personal time is up
(27:00):
to each and one of us.
What is okay, what's doable,and each person has to answer
that for themselves.
But I would just say, and leaveyou with what makes it where
your children know who you areand you have a good relationship
(27:21):
with them and your spouse.
So where, where's that line?
That's a moving target.
Now, of course, the assumptionis you married the right person,
because if you didn't, allhell's gonna break loose and if
you didn't, you're gonna bemiserable at some point because
you didn't live the life youalways wanted to.
(27:41):
Quoting my book now slayingyour dragons living life you
always wanted on amazonshameless plug and please, I
encourage you to share thispodcast.
We don't just talk about moneytoday.
We're talking about the powerof money, but we talk about
those things involving our riseup to success, our Climb to
(28:07):
success, and our options areFrom career to Relationships To
investing.
It all is in our health To besuccessful In our health.
I've had some challenges overthe years, some serious ones,
(28:30):
and didn't take care of myself,and a lot of people say they're
on deathbed.
Wish I took care of myself.
Whoop, whoop gone.
Don't do that.
I'm catching myself too.
Oh, don't eat that.
Don't do that.
That's not good.
Okay, don't make it bad stuff Ahabit and turn it into a false
(29:03):
good habit.
That's what we do to convinceourselves.
We try to turn good into badand bad into good.
Problem with this society now,the state I live in right now
especially.
But the power of money needs tobe respected because it could do
so much good in the world andit does.
But look at all these folksdonating and you're donating as
(29:24):
to your means, donating yourtime, energy, money to help
other people.
And that's what it is about notjust to fulfill our needs,
sometimes selfish needs, but wehave a right to spend the money
on ourselves the way we want to,good or bad.
Some people can't understandthat.
(29:44):
I do.
I don't agree with it, but Irespect it and understand that,
that.
You know, if you want to dosomething foolish and stupid, if
you earned it, hey, as long asyou didn't steal my money and do
it, but free will.
(30:05):
So we're going to keep up thistopic of the power of money,
directly and indirectly, infuture podcasts On a periodic
basis.
The power of money dealing withyour health.
You know, how does you know?
Talk about gyms, talk abouthealth equipment, talk about
(30:28):
diet and food, regular, organicstuff like that, raised farm
raised, pasteurized animals,stuff like that.
We'll be talking about stufflike that.
And so Money is powerful.
Money is powerful and no hatershere.
(30:50):
You desire as much as humanlypossible.
Go for it, get it.
I pray and wish all my listenersWow In 25 countries.
Thank you so much.
I appreciate all of you fortaking the time to listen to me.
(31:12):
Be doing something else, butyou're listening to michael cain
living your success 24 7program.
Yeah, thank you, and I'm notsure where you originated my uh
podcast, but I'm on Apple,iheartradio, spotify, amazon
(31:32):
Music.
Thank you so much, and a fewothers, and I wish all of you
wealth, health-wise, financiallyrelational-wise, financially
relational wise and you too cansummon up that power and to be
(31:56):
who you desire to be, be who youwant to be.
This life is finite, so takeadvantage of each day and be
blessed.
This life is finite, so Takeadvantage of each day and be
blessed and give back Tohumanity, give back to.
If you hear some noise, that'smy little kitty, cat Lua.
(32:22):
She's making noise, just wokeup.
But anyway, that said, I'mgoing to leave you with the
thought of do what you can toimprove your financial
(32:47):
empowerment.
I like the word empower, becauseempower means you let someone
off and they just make thingshappen.
So I want to pray for yourempowerment.
Financially speaking.
What does that mean?
Where you're not pinchingpennies, counting pennies,
wondering where your next mealis going to come from, where
you're going to live, whatvehicle you're going to drive,
(33:12):
when you be able to go on thatwonderful vacation or buy a
wonderful gift for those aroundyou, to do things for yourself.
So I want you to be empoweredAbsolutely to do things for
yourself.
So I want you to be empoweredabsolutely.
And so we'll talk aboutempowerment.
(33:33):
By definition, success equalsempowerment, and success means
different people, so don't getpigeonholed with other people's
definition of success.
Yours could be more restrictedor more expandable than the
average person or or your circle.
So don't be ashamed at whatyou're doing, what your certain
(33:59):
empowerment level is now, andkeep working on you, and I
appreciate you Keep listening tothis podcast.
This podcast I don't want to saypodcast podcast is about
empowerment.
It's about enhancing who we areas people, enhancing our
(34:22):
spirits, our bodies, minds, ourintelligence.
So, live Me, your Success isfor everyday people.
That's why you don't hear meinterviewing people that are
just, you know, to elevate theirsituation.
But in the future I'm going todo selected interviews and
(34:51):
segments.
But my focus is to be amotivator and coach and to help
people be resilient.
So when they get knocked down,here's 20 reasons to get back up
and here's your empowerment toget back up and not give up and
(35:14):
not quit.
So that's my focus is to helppeople, and hopefully as many
people as I can.
So please share the good news,and so I I do my best to come up
with well, what am I trying tosay, what's my perspective, and
enhance this, you know, to getyou from point A to point B, to
(35:36):
point C, to point D.
So that is my focus and goal.
And so to give you the tools andand and the weaponry the
(35:57):
economic weaponry, okay, notphysical, but to make a
difference for yourself, yourlife and your family, and so,
and so you could say at the endof this life well, all is done,
all is well, good and faithfulservant.
So, that said, thank you again,and I wish you a very Merry
(36:22):
Christmas and Happy Holidays anda Happy New Year.
I'll do another podcast,another one, probably one more,
at least for the beginning of2025.
But that's it.
This is Living your Success24-7 with Michael Caine.
Adios amigos.
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