Last year I was overcome with disappointment that my 'money grounded-ness' message was not catching on - more specifically, that sales of my TEN WEEKS Program had come to a screeching halt!

I asked myself, 'Why keep pouring time, energy, and money into this project when there's so little response?'  Another clich? presents a more gruesome image, reflecting my despair:  'Why keep beating a dead horse?'

Several months ago I was able to step back enough from my self-protection to see the trap in which I had been snared - focusing mainly on monetary results rather than personal resolve to offer a small gift to human consciousness.  Please let me explain what I mean.

Results orientation makes logical sense.  If a product doesn't sell, it's foolish for a company to keep offering it.  Resistance to alter the product or discontinue sales efforts after unsuccessful modifications threatens the company's continued financial viability.

I've counseled many business owners to 'move on...stop beating the dead horse.' Why is such medicine not applicable to my own business and TEN WEEKS? This question demands a brutally honest response.  Here are some possible reasons for my resistance to take my own advice:

1.      Persistence with TEN WEEKS could easily be ego-based denial to accept the product's failure to meet the public's need.

Many of us have struggled to sell a 'loser' stock or mutual fund - to accept the bitter reality that the chances of recovering our initial investment are 'slim to none'.  Add to the equation six years of work and identification with the product's 'story' - then the difficulty in accepting this perceived 'defeat' is monumental.

2.      Disappointing results could be a symptom of my resistance to modify the Program to better meet the public 'where they are', rather than where I think 'they should be.'

Comprehensive financial planning is extremely powerful, if coupled with careful attention and mindful awareness to core human longings and fears.  I have experienced the transformative power of this process, but realize that shortcuts and errors can produce misleading conclusions and intensify, rather than diminish, money suffering.  Such is the rationale for my resistance to make TEN WEEKS more 'user-friendly'. I felt to do so would weaken the integrity of the Program and do more harm than good.

Even if my insistence to 'do it right' is correct, what good is a flask of water to a man dying of thirst if the container prevents him from opening it and taking a drink?

3.      Lack of results could have little to do with the product and more to do with the marketing.  Persistence to find the right distribution channel may be the key to 'better results.'

Countless phone calls, e-mails, and road trips to find the magical link to the public have figuratively (and literally) either been 'undeliverable', a 'busy signal', or a polite 'you sure put a lot of work into this...'

How long is long enough?  Is persistence in looking just another form of denial?

4.      Dismal short-term results are a positive indication that the message offered is significantly different than the predominant consciousness. Shifting paradigms, or viewpoints, rarely occurs quickly, but must be nurtured through prolonged and patient conversation.

Societally, I believe, we have fallen prey to immediate gratification and a hurried, almost frantic, misuse of money to medicate our pain. We know, intuitively, that something is wrong but the temptation of popping a quick-fix 'financial pill' is much more palatable than undergoing the 'surgical knife' of transformative change.

'Money Grounded-ness' presents a radical option - Use money as a tool to slow down and face life honestly, thereby unlocking freedom to live Authentically.  When we've been conditioned to the equation, 'RESULTS = 'PLEASURE' it's difficult to access the delayed benefits of learning to see with new eyes.

Four possible reasons for the actual response.  Which of these four is most true?  Who knows, most likely each offers insight that must be honored if I am to persevere or discontinue this journey in a functional and helpful manner - both for you and me.

For now, I'm content to concentrate my attention less on the 'Results' end of this continuum and more on the 'Resolve' sector.  I'll continue to ask for daily empowerment from beyond my ego-self to be less wilfull and more willing to be of service and continue this conversation about our common roller-coaster ride into a new way of being, with money rather than despite money.

Thank you for investing your precious energy to engage with this conversation and for hearing me process my journey.  I trust that out of this dialogue we will all find a new skilfullness in awakening to both 'Willing Resolve' and 'Wise Results'.

Your fellow traveler,

Paul