The Four Human Motivations

According to Rabbi Daniel Lapin, author of Thou Shalt Prosper, the four human motivations are 1) wisdom, 2) wealth, 3) power, and 4) the esteem of others. The author states that Jewish tradition teaches that the river which flows out of the Garden of Eden to water the garden, which splits into four heads, is actually not a real river at all, but is symbolic of the four motivations of mankind that drives him.

"10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.

11 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;

12 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.

13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.

14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates."-Genesis 2:10-14

The author states that in order to live a full life, one must balance each of the motivations that they follow after without trying to specialize in any one. He states that wealth is the product of a life well-lived, not the purpose of living life. As well, he states that money should not be sought after directly, but indirectly, so as to achieve the goal morally. And wealth enough to feed and clothe yourself may be enough but it does not offer one satisfaction in the need for power. Fulfill your four needs by doing that which is necessary to receive them through moral means. Remember the four: 1) wisdom, 2) wealth, 3) power, and 4) the esteem of others.

Though this is only a brain teaser, forgive me for not elaborating further. Therefore, I highly recommend reading this book, so much so, that I will place a link on this page to get the book from Amazon.com or the audio book from Audible.com.

The audio book is 18 hours long, but as a Christian I can honestly say that I have gleaned so many insights about business and wealth from the book from the first 1/3 of the book that I see money in a completely different way, and I definitely see life in a different way. If you take the time to listen to it, you will too. It's very politically correct in so many ways that it's surprising.

The biggest theme of the book is that if you follow the wisdom of the Bible to know the way the world really works, then you too, may become a financial success like many Jews are all over the world. Another theme which stood out to me is that you will gain financially according to the level which you meet the needs of the world. Another was, that business (no matter how big) is not "evil" but it is "spiritual" because it is something that only humans do.

In my opinion, every person who desires to go into business should listen to this book. It's worth "millions". Peace and grace my friends.

If I Knew I Had A Million Dollars

Good morning, and and how are you today? Well, how would you feel if you had a million dollar a year income? And with that, if you had that income, doing exactly the same things that you do now?

That came to my mind this morning as I was (being the homemaker I am) dreading the days' work of cleaning and cooking and washing soiled clothes from my failing potty training son's wardrobe which were sitting in the tub from last night. What if I knew that for this, I would make a million dollars?

So I started this blog because God has been consistently laying on my heart new ideas about this round figure of about a million dollars. Proposed at differing intervals, none equal, but all incredible abundance which I could not fathom. I was amazed to let my mind run free for just a second in a daydream, but I quickly staunched that daydream, when my daughter and son came to meet me at the bathroom (ages 1 and 3, respectively), and I had to get back to reality once again.

But what if I did?

I picture myself being a lot more energetic, and willing to spend my creative time doing things that I have never done before, like travelling to distant places, and making video documentaries. I would DEFINITELY put my children in private school, and let them learn the Bible while they learn the academics, rather than having the two be separate (how wack is that that it has to be separate?) Then I would probably become a full-time artist, because I would be able to focus my time and energy on my work, while a maid does my housework. And I could spend hours at art galleries and concerts, because I could pay well those who would tend to my children for me, while I dress high-fashion clothing and meet people in different places.

I wonder how many I would meet and pray for and share the gospel with just in doing that. And how many would I lay hands on who are sick who would become healed? And how many would hear my voice and their souls be changed, and hearts softened to the Mighty Hand of God.

My dreams are laced with fantasies of what would be...

If I had a million dollars then I would buy this house, and hire an accountant, and consultants to help me track all of my spending and bills. And instead of worrying about paying the bills myself every month, I could do awesome video editing and go BACK to college for another bachelors degree in audio and video production rather than just marketing. I would write children's storybooks, and have them published and recruit distributors to help me sell them.

My rich friends always seemed to have it "together", but when I talk to them, they tell me that they too, desire true riches. I put myself in their shoes.

I wake up and I have more money in my control. Then I am expected to maintain a certain level of cleanliness, for what "rich" person does not keep their homes clean? I have to keep guests OUT when things are dirty. Absolutely. So if that's not up-kept then I have to hire a maid to do it, and I have reserves about that idea. Will he or she treat my things like I would?

Getting back to me in this... What would more money make me believe that I would have to do as far as status is concerned? Would I try to befriend closer each of the people who I know to be also rich? And what is this phenomena of status rank? You know, the human tendency of people to segregate whose mindsets lead to varying financial circumstances to include different levels of income? Is it true that rich people hang out with rich people? What IS that? I mean, what IS that?

I know this is a lengthy blog, but I have to ask, why does it seem like a million dollars has some kind of fantasy-life/stereotypical idea of what life is supposed to be like if I have it? Of course, no man would choose broke over rich on the surface, but his inner-makeup defines what he REALLY chooses. For those of us who do have the millions at our disposal, we may wear every item of clothing on purpose, and like to present ourselves as spotless as possible to the world just like everyone else. There's no human who is living a fantasy-life/stereotypical idea of what life is supposed to be like without first his mind being changed to believe that it is indeed possible. Therefore, his new reality IS this "Fantasy", and nothing else is real to him.

So the real problem is not that a man is broke. It's that he must first be convinced that there is some actual reason for him to change all of what he does with his time, and all of his attitudes about life, and then become rich instead. The real problem is that he is not convinced that the fantasy is the reality. But of course, now I probably sound mad...

I Would Visit Jerusalem

Reading the Bible and being a Christian kinda leads you to wanting to visit the Holy Land, Jerusalem.

To see the whole land and where things happened in the Bible. To see the Temple Israel. To take some people with me along the journey. It would be amazing.


So I look to see how much does it cost to go on this "journey" I desire.

A 10-day tour plus lodging costs $1445/week.

There's actually a dress code which includes covered shoulders and no shorts on one part of the tour. That's interesting.

That price, of course, does not include the travel, restaurants, and clothing, etc.

One ticket, round-trip, one month out, costs $3,892 with a hotel included. $1,550 without the room. But that's flying coach.

The food is said to be the most delicious food in the entire planet. Probably because of the careful planting preparations that are done to allow the land to rest every 7 years. Mmmm...

Would it be wise to learn Hebrew before visiting Jerusalem?

At audible.com, you can find a whole listing of audio programs of how to learn Hebrew just by listening to the mp3s and repeating.

When I think about doing this, it makes me realize that maybe a million dollars isn't what I need after all...

What I Would Do With A Million Dollars

Quite obviously, this blog is about money. But it's not really. The truth is, that money is only a tool that we use to express who we are inside. A promise of power that, once received, can become the life or death of a person. Money is not who we are, but it reveals who we are just like hunger reveals what is inside of us. So what would I do with a million dollars? Well, what would you do?

First, because of my Christian beliefs, I would consider myself blessed to have received the money, in whatever form it is received. Therefore, it would be my heart's desire to pay at least 10 percent of it to my local church.

Second, I would pay off all of my debtors. There are many. But not quite a million dollars worth.

Third, I would ask God, "LORD, what would you have me to do with a million dollars?"

At this point, I am sure that God would give me a vision, which is actually worth more than a million dollars, and enable me to walk that vision out to His glory.

Because I believe that God gives us the pure desires of our hearts, (it's actually our sinful natures that distort it by listening to the devil's lies), I am quite sure that listening to Him about what to do will lead me into a great adventure which is beyond what I can personally comprehend.

Therefore, this blog is not about money at all, but about vision, desires, hopes, dreams, and ambitions (not all selfish lol). This blog is about fulfilling our purpose and letting money be a tool used to make that fulfillment come to pass.

In this blog, I will outline a few of my own God-given ideas and visions, and you will probably say, "Well, why don't you just go ahead and do that? It doesn't require a million dollars for you to do That." The truth is, that's why I'm asking this question. Because most of us who have never had a million dollars at our disposal tend to limit our ambitions to reach the glass ceiling of about a few thousand dollars per month. But what if one month, we happened to receive a million dollars? And the next month, another? And the next month another? Would we kill ourselves? Or would we allow ourselves to Live?

Please subscribe, post comments, and stay tuned, as I go on this adventure of visions and dreams that can only be found in the world of "What I would do with a Million."