Seattle | Total Wealth

The Gift of Ten Broken Hearts

Kate Phillips — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 06:54:10 +0000

The Gift of Ten Broken Hearts - a story about finding true love and abundance.

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Winter Contemplation #1 (or, how to get unfrozen)

Kate Phillips — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 11:58:33 +0000

I live by Lake Marcel, poised between the Snoqualmie Valley and the Cascade foothills, between the towns of Carnation and Duvall (east of Seattle). It is peaceful, idyllic. It looks like the kind of place you’d go to visit your financially-secure retired relatives in their second home… nestled between tall fir trees, near the community beach. Part of my daily routine is to walk around the lake, weather allowing. I walk to stretch my legs, clear my mind, and… to listen. Sometimes, I hear Spirit speaking in Nature – perhaps through a bird or a tree, and often, through a living metaphor. Oftentimes, the answers to the very questions I have been pondering are to be found in Creation – in Universal, Natural Law, clearly observable in the physical world. (For those who have ears to hear and eyes to see…) As I’m writing my eBook on “Overcoming Financial Stress,” I’m thinking of how I manage and overcome financial stress – or any stress – in my own life. (Opt in to the right if you’d like a copy… it will be finished soon.) “Stress” is fundamentally a fear-based reaction. It’s a fear-based reaction to the past: we’re afraid we’ve made terrible mistakes that we should feel regret over; and a fear-based reaction to the future: we may have food, shelter, and love today, but surely it will disappear tomorrow! And who would we BE without the income, the home, or the “stuff” we’ve come to identify ourselves with? And perhaps things aren’t so great in the present. Perhaps we are confronted with uncomfortable challenges and find ourselves clinging to a past that no longer exists, discovering change the only constant. If only tomorrow were guaranteed to be like yesterday, if only we could predict it, manage it, control it! A natural reaction to change, challenge, and fear is to “freeze.” When we encounter a bear (or a large barking…

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In the News and on TV!

Kate Phillips — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 11:23:34 +0000

A Multi-Millionaire’s Advice on a Spending Plan Tim Robinson with King5/KongTV (NBC affiliate) interviewed me about some Tips for Financial Health. Check out the video! It was really interesting to see how things get chopped and edited down(logically and necessarily, because they are NOT going to run the whole 20 minute interview! Not even mass murders get that much time!) I love to “give credit where credit is due,” and I must say (as I did in the interview, but it was edited out!) – the “Play Fund” suggestion is one I got from T. Harv Eker, creator of the Millionaire Mind Intensive. Harv recommends dividing your discretionary income equally among several categories, such as: A Give Fund for your favorite church, charities or other organizations or causes that you wish to support. A Financial Freedom Account of money that you invest until you are Financially Free. An Education Fund to support your own learning and growth. This could be college, personal development courses, or, as Harv hopes, Peak Potentials business and self-improvement courses! A Savings for Spending Account in which you save up for special purchases or perhaps a down payment on a home. A Play Fund, that you get to spend on WHATEVER YOU WANT without ANY guilt! The Rest goes to pay your Necessities: your mortgage or rent, your food and gas, your insurance, bills and other necessities. The goal is to increase your income until your Necessities are only 50% of your income (or less!) The Key with the Play Fund is to work it into your whole Spending Plan. It is not unconcious, compulsive “spending binge” money – you’ve planned for it and budgeted for it! It is simply money that you have “planned” to spend on… whatever you like! Healthy Spending is like Healthy Eating! A healthy Spending Plan is very…

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The Daily Candy Special

Kate Phillips — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 13:17:30 +0000

Kate's special for DailyCandy readers... Sweet!

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Chauncey Gardiner and the Audacity of Hope

Kate Phillips — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 08:18:56 +0000

(A tale of two political figures – one fictional as well as accidental, one real and very intentional.) As long as the roots are not severed, all is well. This week I re-watched the brilliantly constructed satire, “Being There.” (A 1979 film directed by Hal Ashby, adapted from the 1971 novel written by Jerzy Kosiński.) Peter Sellers plays a simple-minded gardner with no social or intellectual skills, being essentially raised by television sets and the plants he tended. When forced into new situations such as befriending a billionaire and meeting the president, he is mistaken for a genius of sorts. “Chance the Gardner” becomes “Chauncey Gardiner,” his simple sentences interpreted as deep metaphors about the state of the nation. Here are some lines from the “meeting the president” scene: President “Bobby”: Mr. Gardner, do you agree with Ben, or do you think that we can stimulate growth through temporary incentives? [Long pause] Chance the Gardner: As long as the roots are not severed, all is well. And all will be well in the garden. President “Bobby”: In the garden. Chance the Gardner: Yes. In the garden, growth has it seasons. First comes spring and summer, but then we have fall and winter. And then we get spring and summer again. President “Bobby”: Spring, and summer. Chance the Gardener: Yes. President “Bobby”: Then fall and… winter. Chance the Gardener: Yes. Benjamin Rand: I think what our insightful young friend is saying is that we welcome the inevitable seasons of nature, but we’re upset by the seasons of our economy. Chance the Gardener: Yes! There will be growth in the spring! Benjamin Rand: Hmm! Chance the Gardener: Hmm! President “Bobby” Hmm. Well, Mr. Gardner, I must admit that is one of the most refreshing and optimistic statements I’ve heard in a very, very long time. [Benjamin Rand applauds] The metaphors remind of my own “Autumn Contemplations”…

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