The Premise

Money is nothing but energy and it is only your baggage around money that keeps you from having it, enjoying it, and realizing that it is not what you are here for. Your current financial situation is a reflection of your beliefs and expectations. Once you change your beliefs and expectations, your entire financial situation will change.

We actually believe the big green is more important than our brothers and sisters. We put these strips of paper and metal coins (and now plastic cards etched with our names) on a pedestal and prostrate ourselves in undivided worship.

It’s time to look these beliefs squarely in the eye and call them out as the big fat liars they are.

Most of us have an angst-ridden relationship with money. We think it’s limited, demanding, and as unpredictable as Lindsay Lohan. We believe it’s out of our control, and that forces higher than us pull the puppet strings. We have it tied up with jobs—jobs that, for the most part, we hate and resent. Thoughts like these, needless to say, do not for a happy relationship make.

Let’s take an unflinching look at the top ten lies about money:

Big fat lie #1: You have to have it to be happy.

People in developing countries, who are still in touch with the natural world (although the developed world is doing everything it can to erase this knowledge), laugh at the lengths to which we go to accumulate money and some of the ridiculous things it will buy. And on every single index of happiness, there is no relationship whatsoever to GDP.

Big fat lie #2: If you have it, you’re happier.

I have just two words to say: Owen Wilson. He’s worth $60 million, and in 2007 he slit his wrists. Lucky for us, he wasn’t successful, but he’s proof positive that money cannot buy happiness. Another well-known actor, Jim Carrey, is famous for saying he wished everyone was rich (and famous) so they could see it’s not the answer.

Big fat lie #3: You have to work your ass off to get it.

Riddle me this: Who works harder—the eight-hour-a-day factory worker or the billionaire? Some of the poorest people I know slave away at minimum-wage jobs, putting in more and more hours trying to get ahead. Money, at least in my life, often shows up unannounced. And all those e-mails I’ve been getting from E-Squared readers? There were countless stories from people who suddenly received unexpected money. 

Big fat lie #4: There’s only so much to go around.

There’s a $500 billion advertising machine whose sole job is to convince you that you are lacking and that there’s only so much to go around. Once money and resources are defined as limited, every ounce of energy (what you say, what you think, what you do) revolves around overcoming this lack and protecting what you already have.

Big fat lie #5: More of it is better.

A natural dance partner to “there’s only so much to go around,” this big fat lie distances us from enjoying what we already have. When we’re constantly focused on the next big thing, worrying that we need more, more, more to avoid being left out, we don’t experience joy with what’s already right in front of us. Excess money often creates entitlement and isolation that diminishes the wealth of human connection. I have often argued that amassing several billion dollars is not that different from hoarding old newspapers, leaky buckets, and all the other junk collecting in the homes of the dysfunctional folks we watch on the A&E show Hoarders.

Big fat lie #6: The economic system is set in stone; there’s nothing we can do to change it.

Even though it often seems unfair (the rich keep getting richer, and those with the most money wield all the power), we continue to play the game, continue to buy the big fat lie that it’s “just the way it is.” That there’s nothing we can do about it. These assumptions, traditions, and habits not only trap us into resignation, but they also block a more accurate vision that prosperity is possible for all. As far back as the 1970s, the great futurist and humanist Buckminster Fuller recognized that human civilization had reached a turning point where a new paradigm was possible, a paradigm in which all of us could have enough food, water, housing, and land to lead fulfilling and productive lives. 

Big fat lie #7: Money is bad, and people who have a lot of it are really bad.

Remember that money-and-camels thing from the Bible? I don’t know whether that was the genesis of the rumor or not, but I do know there’s nothing inherently wrong with money. Money is a shadow of something much deeper. As Kate Northrup teaches in her book, Money: A Love Story, a more productive way to think about money is to see it as an exchange of value for value. Or, as my new friend Felicia Spahr says, “Money is everyone’s B.F.F. and they don’t even know it.” 

Big fat lie #8: Jobs blow.

Work is one of those things we have tied to the railroad track with unhappiness. When it comes to our jobs, every neural pathway in our bodies screams “let me out of here.” We believe it’s the weekends and the vacations we want and that work is only a means to an end. As long as we associate these two together, we miss out on massive amounts of fun and joy.

Big fat lie #9: The only way to get it is to have a job.

Money and work go together like pancakes and syrup, like Russia and vodka, like celebrities and paparazzi. Although money and jobs have certainly been dating for quite some time, they’re far from married. Or certainly shouldn’t be for people who want to live an abundant life. I haven’t had a job in 20-some years. 

Big fat lie #10: It’s a distant, magical demigod.

As you’re starting to realize, the list of big fat money lies could fill the Grand Canyon. So in the interest of getting to the good stuff, the truth about the world and its largesse, I’m lumping a few more into this lie (I’m different from people who have money; To get it you have to cheat and lie; If you make it, there’s no time for play; and there’s no possibility of getting things without money) and calling it good. So that’s pretty much money in Worldview 1.0. Ready to look at Money 2.0?

Remember those beliefs and expectations that play out in our financial lives? They need to be changed. Abundance consciousness, which is what creates money in the first place, is equally available to everyone. Like air, it’s free… and anyone who wants can develop it. The simple fact of being human guarantees you have more abundance potential than you could possibly experience in a lifetime. And once you attain abundance consciousness, money will follow you around, chase you down, and spit in your face.

The Method

Because money is so fraught with fear and antiquated old paradigms, I’m posing two sub-hypotheses in this experiment to prove the main hypothesis: If I change my beliefs about money, my financial situation will change.

Each of the two experiments takes three days.

Experiment #1:

Johnny Moneyseed (or The Circle Can’t Be Broken)

The sub-hypothesis: If I give away money, I will receive even more money. 

It’s an inalterable principle. “What you give comes back to you multiplied and running over.”

During the three days of this experiment, you are going to seed money. You’re going to leave small bills (or large ones if that’s more to your liking) with notes about your newfound beliefs about the nature of abundance. You’re going to do this freely, playfully, and openly.

My daughter Taz and I did this recently in Chicago. I was writing a travel story about the mighty Peninsula. If it’s not ringing any bells, let me just say that this is where all the A-listers stayed when they came to Chicago to bid Oprah adieu. We could see the Magnificent Mile from our suite. We shopped, saw The Book of Mormon, and, of course, made a return engagement to Second City. In the audience, not on the stage.

We also performed the secret mission I’m asking you to perform. We took a stack of $5 bills and left them at bus stops, taped to park benches. We pinned them into clothes at the stores on Magnificent Mile. With each fiver, we left an anonymous note about the abundance of the universe and how this is just one small sign of how much whoever finds it is loved.

I know $5 isn’t much (one of these days, we plan to leave hundies), but for us it’s about “being” who we want to be—confident, freely giving—and knowing that as we give, so shall we receive.

We were doing what you’ll be doing in this experiment—building muscle, practicing “being” what you want to be—united with all that is, knowing with complete surety you are provided for in every way.

Record what comes back to you during the 72 hours.

As for me, E-Squared surged to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list within a few weeks of that experiment. 

Experiment #2:

Pennies from Heaven

The sub-hypothesis: Money is easy to come by.

I learned this experiment from Greg Kuhn, my buddy and fellow author who writes about the same stuff I do. He has penned a whole series of books about applying quantum physics to the law of attraction. (Check out his website, www.whyquantumphysicists.com, and his acclaimed Why Quantum Physicists… series.) I particularly love the game he invented called “Grow a Greater Greg,” only when I play it, I change the title to “Grow a Greater Pam.” Doesn’t have quite the same ring, but you get the point.

Greg gave me permission to share this experiment that, as he says, puts you into an abundance mind-set and forms coherence between the quantum field and your financial abundance.

It’s pretty simple. For the next three days, intend to find pennies:

On the ground
In your pockets
In your car
On the sidewalk
Everywhere

Conjure them by dwelling not on Where are they? but on How exciting it is to manifest a penny! After all, how challenging is it to find a penny? Pennies are the fruitcake of the currency world. Some people throw them away because they consider them worthless.

And, if you want to look at it that way, pennies are sort of worthless. So you’ll have no trouble manifesting them every day, because they are simply no big deal.

The Quantum Field Doesn’t Care If You Play Tricks on It

But here’s where the experiment kicks in. You’re actually going to trick the quantum field. Don’t worry—the quantum field won’t care; it makes no judgments, it just responds.

After finding a penny, privately celebrate it like you just won the lottery. Go way overboard. Way over the top. Get silly with it. Privately shout hosannas to the universe!

Doesn’t sound realistic to celebrate a “dumb” little old penny? After all, a penny certainly does not represent the abundance you truly desire, does it?

But here’s how you trick the quantum field with this game. What you celebrate is not the amount the penny represents; you celebrate the principle it represents. You celebrate the principle that the universe is infinitely abundant and that manifesting is child’s play.

You are celebrating the universe “goosing” you with this penny—getting your attention and saying, “Hey, my wonderful, most special child! I am at your service, and I can and will create anything your heart desires! And I can create your heart’s desire just as easily as I created this penny! Isn’t that awesome?!” 

The Quantum Field Wants To Give You More Of What You Celebrate 

And the trick is, the quantum field doesn’t know the difference between your celebrating the amount versus celebrating the reminder. The quantum field simply forms coherence with your energy of “this is awesome” and readily lines up to bring you more of it.

And you benefit because you can truly, realistically, and believably celebrate the reminder of abundance each penny represents in the super-grand, Fourth-of-July-fireworks style I’m suggesting.

My book, E3, a sequel to my bestselling book, E2, contains nine more energy experiments that prove manifesting works and has just been released in E-book and audio download format as well.