Money is a part of life’s equation. It is not the end in mind.

Most of us are not aware that we cannot afford to allow our life’s focus to be money. Every day we focus primarily on earning money, a part of our core shrivels up.

Before we go any further, I have to admit that I have scrambled after, scrutinized with, squinted at and reached for money with the best of them. My sister and I started giggling at ourselves when we compared notes about our common practice of scribbling out calculations on scraps of papers. Both entrepreneurial by nature, we were constantly figuring out what we would make with any one of our various ventures. We chuckled further when we both admitted to watching our grandfather scratch out investment numbers then stuff the figures back into a deep pocket collection of notepads. We were all perseverating on the numbers. We were trying to control money. We wanted to see what we could earn if we added n to x and divided them by z. We were missing the mark.

The practice of seeking first for money, more often than not, does not lead to the abundance we often assume it will provide. Our trajectory is off target from abundance the second we look first at the dollar signs and numbers.

What could we be looking toward instead? Here are a few great questions that might give you some answers:

• What is the quality of my life when I do this work?
• How fulfilled am I when I spend my focus, time and energy in this manner?
• How many of my best qualities and traits get to show up each day when I’m working?
• How soft is my heart and how open is my mind when I trade my efforts to earn in this manner?
• How loyal am I to myself when this is my work?
• How much passion does my work instill?
• Can I do something I’m really good at each day and make a contribution that I’m proud of?

I’m not advocating to “ Do what you love and the money will follow. ” I’m simply nudging us all to consider one idea:
If we are seeking a life of peace, satisfaction, and spiritual security, shouldn’t we place our soul, passion and strengths first in line and ask money to wait its turn?