What if money was a byproduct of something else?

I was having a discussion this week about money. The common challenges most people have with money were coming up, primarily the difficulty in valuing yourself. During the discussion an insight came to me that I wrote down:

Money is a byproduct of my awesomeness. Be Awesome.

I liked that statement as soon as I wrote it. It made me feel good. I immediately shared it with everyone.

With a lot of the insights about myself I’m able to check them by retroactively applying them to other points in my life. If the statements remain true, no matter what time of my life I’m thinking of, then I know I’ve found something deep within me.

I’ve never been motivated by money as the goal. And like most, I went most of my life undervaluing myself. My biggest financial success came when I had a partner who protected me from myself. The dividends from our company were paid out, and I didn’t even have to ask for them. Until that time, the rest of my life was spent living in a precarious financial place. Now, I still lived with extreme freedom, but the financial component was missing.

I realize now, that the money I made was always a byproduct of something else. In this case, I playfully say my awesomeness. It’s fun to say that, and when I’m having fun, magic happens. The awesome things I created, the awesome things I did. I was awesome first, then the money came second. Even with the business I co-founded with my partner, I still created something awesome for him to sell.

The difference today is I know how to value myself. There’s only one of me in the entire universe and that makes me extremely valuable.

Yesterday I was having a conversation with my wife, Robin, in our kitchen. She had some charitable goals that she thought she was not going to be able to do on her own, but since we are married and partners, her goals are my goals.

So I challenged myself.

In front of her, I spoke. “Money is a byproduct of my awesomeness. How I can be more awesome?”

I repeated it, this time speaking much more powerfully.

“Money is a byproduct of my awesomeness. How I can be more awesome?”

I challenged my thinking not to create more money, but to be more awesome. The money we needed for the goal is a byproduct.

Lighting struck. But not to me, to Robin. All of a sudden she had an insight about how to go about this. It was a completely new and original strategy. By witnessing me go through my process and tap into my power, she was inspired.

I gave her a big kiss. I was proud of her. She gets full credit, but I acknowledge what just happened there and my part of it.

And that’s what makes me awesome.

What insight came up for you from this story?