hi everyone,
while going through LL3 question:list 3 wealthy people you admire and why? My surprising honest answer uptil now was NONE!I know many wealthy people in my locality and the world in general but my feeling for them uptil then was never of admiration. it was then more of "dispassionate and distant."
i now know i have to change my attitude toward wealthy people. I need to show admiration, learn more about them and generally be open minded.
Successfully yours.
Abdul.

Abdul,

That's definitely an a-ha moment. I wonder, though...

Did you include people that you don't know in your list? For instance, is there anyone in history who was wealthy whom you could admire? Are there any pubic figures that you have positive feelings for who are relatively wealthy? Actors? Athletes? Anyone?

If you can think of anyone at all who is wealthy and admirable in any way, it could help you to break through that idea that being wealthy is undesirable.

Sometimes we can convince ourselves that we don't want wealth because we think it's unattainable. I know I used to be uncomfortable around wealthy people because I thought they were judging me. (Here in the US, it is common to assume that poor people are poor because they just haven't tried hard enough. In fact, the number describing how much material wealth a person has is called his "net worth." How's that for judging the value of a human being by his bank account!)

So, we think wealth is unattainable, and we're uncomfortable around wealthy people, and we feel worthless for being poor. So, in an effort to rationalize how bad we feel, we make up stories about wealthy people and about poor people. We tell ourselves that wealthy people are not good people or that they're not happy. We tell ourselves that being poor is "noble" or somehow more moral or spiritual.

The truth is that if you are not practiced at being happy ,moral or spiritual, having money will not make you better at it. That's why some people who appear to have it all, can display self destructive behavior.

However, when we reach for those dreams that are divine spirit seeking expression, the resources become both necessary and easy to obtain. That, coupled with the daily practice of gratitude and happiness will help you to become a wealthy person you could admire.

Love and blessings,
Rachel

Some rich people I admire and why:

Steve Jobs: After co-founding and turning Apple into a computer giant, he was fired. But he went on to create another mega successful company (which Apple bought out for $429 million). I admire his resilience.

"I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life." Steve Jobs -- Stanford University commencement address, June 12, 2005

Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Computers, was forced to resign from the company in 1985. He formed a new company called NeXT. In less than ten years he made it a new super power in the computer industry. In 1996, Apple bought NeXT for $429 million. Not bad for someone forced into resignation.

Whoopee Goldberg: I admire her for somehow coming from being a single mom on welfare and drugs, to somehow gaining the belief in herself to accomplish what she’s accomplished.

Tom Hanks: Not only did he come from poor beginnings and become mega successful as an actor, I often read people comment on what a down-to-earth nice guy he is. That, to me, as well as his acting, is admirable.

Will Smith: I love his spirit. I love what he’s said about what’s important and what he believes it takes to become successful. (He says, you have to be a little deluded.) I also appreciate his love of family, and the fact that both his wife and former wife are friends (with him and also to each other). That, to me, is pretty remarkable.

Madonna: I love what she’s accomplished. She may not be the most talented person around, but to me, this makes it all the more remarkable. But what I really admire is, I saw an interview with her, and it came up how she’s gotten a lot of bad press and scathing critical reviews. She said, and the way she said it makes me believe her,… she said she has no ill will towards anyone. And then she said, “I love everybody!!” Pretty remarkable to me.

Just some of the rich people I admire.

This reminds me of another exercise for improving interpersonal relationships, as well as one’s outlook and perspective. It said to bring to mind people you do NOT like, and then find at least one or more things about them that you liked, could appreciate or admire.

Another exercise to improve our perspective of others is, imagine you are them. What would you want to appreciate about yourself, if you were the other person?

For example, if I were Oprah Winfrey I would hope that I would appreciate how far I’ve come, from rural, poverty, racist Mississippi, and through sexual abuse, getting pregnant as a teen and losing the baby, (and of course, having no idea at that time that she would become anyone noteworthy. For all it seems, she was just another poor, black girl, statistically doomed to fail in life. Yet she more than survived it, as we can see.)

Phil

Thanks Rachel and Phil.
i realize there are many people i admire that i don't know of. however the admiration is not for their wealth but for other quality they possess. Whether they are rich or not, then was incidental.
For example i admire marlene ottey of jamaica running the 100m sprint final in the sydney olympic at 40. It takes courage dedication and self belief.
i admire Nelson Mandela but obviously we don't refer to him as embodiment of wealth.
I also realize i need to study biography of wealthy people, something i hardly do.
And finally i am beginning to develop admiration for the people in this forum. the amount of valuable information that is being shared and offered is priceless. Many of them are already rich and the rest are on the way to certain riches.
Successfully yours
Abdul

Hi Abdul,

I admire Obafemi Awolowo the man that came form a lowly background who has to fetch firewood to sponsor himself in school but later became an icon in Nigerian polictics and was described as "the best president Nigeria never had" after his death.In 1960s when he was premier of western regeion in Nigeria,he established the first television station in Africa among many remarkable thing that can never be forgotten in the history of the country.
I admired Fela Anikulapo kuti,a legendary Nigerian musician who was sent to UK to study medicine by his parents but chose to study music.His musics were distinct, fighting opressions by the military who misruled the country for many years.In fact he was often referred to as an idol.Remember "Democracy" one of his songs that analysed the colonial misrule in Africa.
So is Magret Tatcher of the UK.A woman of irristible charisma whose tenure created opportunities in variuos spheres of the UK.
So,you need to consider what success means to you then you will definetly discover by default people in history who have made there marks.
Many blessings

I was really surprised LL3, the money i do spend brings me so much satisfaction. i am a good steward of my money and i spend it wisely.no matter the dollar amount assigned as value. i did have to stop and think, and think some more about three wealthy people i admired. what was recurring for me is this, i didn;t necessarily see them as wealthy as i did not see them as happy. i eventually came up with my three people, two are actually people i know personally and what i admired about them was how they spent the're money and what they have created as a result of, and the way they live their lives. my one famous person who i didn't realize i actually admired was Oprah Winfrey, mind you i am not a fan of her show, her magazine and such. what i admire about miss winfrey is this, she had a dream(cmi) and she made it happen, she is constantly recreating her wealth with inspiration and enthusiasm.she is living her dream.it may very well be that miss winfrey has done all this on the competitive plane and she may have some feelings of emptyness. it matters not for the sake of this exercise, because what i see in her is simply a woman living her dream.

namaste`
dwinnemmen