There is something compelling and admirable about an intensely personal, emotion-evoking story that delivers positive, meaningful messages and substantive lessons with universal applicability. Today We Are Rich: Harnessing the Power of Total Confidence, the new book by former Yahoo! executive Tim Sanders, is one such narrative.
Sanders's title comes from the heartwarming opening story about his childhood in Clovis, Texas, where he was raised by his grandmother. It's the first of many such stories that mark milestones in the personal journey Sanders refers to as the prequel to his first book, the New York Times bestseller, "Love is the Killer App."
If you are familiar with the various ideals espoused by the positive psychology movement—appreciation, optimism, abundance—you will recognize the underpinnings of Sanders's work. His idea to write Today We Are Rich was born amidst the economic collapse. In 2008, Sanders found himself compelled by the pervasive fear and scarcity to revisit his childhood with his grandmother in order to reconnect with why he is so committed to abundance and generosity.
Sanders realized that his success and generosity stemmed from his confidence, bestowed on him as a child by his remarkable grandmother, who taught him that rich was the belief that “you have enough to go around, enough to share. And when we share, we are worth something.”
Big Idea:
Positive thinking is possible during good or bad times through lifestyle design. Without it, you’ll likely move sideways or backwards when faced with economic, social or personal adversity.
Key Takeaways:
Sander lists seven principles of lifestyle design that turned his life around two different times: "once as a scrawny outcast and later as a sideways-moving adult."
Principle 1: Feed Your Mind Good Stuff. "The reason it is so important to feed your mind good stuff," Sanders writes, "is that the resulting thoughts determine your success or failure, your happiness or misery, and most important, the circumstances of your life."
Principle 2: Move The Conversation Forward. No matter how much good stuff you put in your mind, if the self-talk between your mind and subconscious—what Sanders calls the "internal conversation"—is distorted, you'll still produce negative thoughts.
Principle 3: Exercise Your Gratitude Muscle. According to Sanders's grandmother, "gratitude is a muscle, not a feeling...if it was a feeling, you'd feel it all the time. You've got to give your gratitude muscle a workout avery day if you want to feel grateful. People who don't spend time on this muscle get spiritually flabby over time and forget to appreciate the very things they wished for."
Principle 4: Give To Be Rich. "Giving," states Sanders, "is a wonder drug. By its nature, giving requires a focus on other people's needs, as well as on your assets. This redirects the mind toward strengths and away from weaknesses. In turn, the subconscious responds to this stimuli by deploying an array of chemicals and enzymes that change your mental and physical state."
Principle 5: Prepare Your Self. Most people stop at surface prep: gather resources, organize, and practice your craft. "Deep preparation" is the Abraham Lincoln thought that "If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend six sharpening my ax." Read deeply, think deeply, build a knowledge network, and rehearse, rehearse, rehearse...under battle conditions.
Principle 6: Balance Your Confidence. Sanders's grandmother knew from her experiences, including the Great Depression, that the key was to possess total confidence-in yourself, in those you rely on, and in something greater than yourself. Strike a balance between all three, and a rich sense of confidence ensues.
Principle 7: Promise Made, Promise Kept. Integrity is everything. Sanders writes that "if you don't respect yourself, you cannot maintain your confidence, regardless of how well you follow all the other principles...nothing will inform you more than your promise keeping ratio during your life.
Liked Most:
Today We Are Rich is like chicken soup for the professional soul. The Prologue and Epiologue that bookend Sanders's journey were my favorite two stories about grandmother Billye, age 95, whom everyone now calls Ms. Billye. They are wonderful anecdotes packed with emotional power and meaning.
Best For:
Read this book if you're facing a daunting challenge, a setback, looking for inspiration, struggling to find purpose in your work, or even simply charting a new path in work and life.
What Others Are Saying:
"Tim reminds us that riches are never on the outside, but always on the inside. And he gives us some helps for ordering our hearts accordingly. The one idea that 'rich' equals 'having enough to share' is well worth the read." Dr. Henry Cloud, author of Boundaries.
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