FA Magazine March 2023 | Page 66

Parting Shot continued from page 64
Transformation According To Lynne Twist
Realizing Fuller ’ s vision requires not just change , but transformation , Twist says .
“ Transformation can come from anything : a conversation , a moment , a realization . It can come from standing next to a tree and having an insight probably coming from the tree and realizing , I think that came from the tree ,” she says .
“ Change requires you to make something wrong so that you make something new ,” she says . “ In other words , change requires insulting something , insulting the past or insulting the present , to motivate you to do something different .
“ By contrast , transformation never insults the past or the present . It completes it . It suddenly makes sense . When you have a transformation , it ’ s often a revelation or a realization . It ’ s often a step into another level of consciousness that never goes back . And in this moment of revelation and transformation , we stand on the shoulders of what came before rather than think there ’ s something wrong with what came before .”
Now , what does all this have to do with money ? Everything !
When we ’ re stuck in a scarcity-based paradigm , we grip money tightly and constrain its ability to flow . We live in fear that , as Twist says , “ there ’ s never enough and more is better .”
Imagine for a moment if we transformed our relationship with money to view it as a flow . As something that moves in and out of our life while providing nourishment along the way to everything it touches .
Instead of hoarding money , of accumulating it to try to soothe our fear of running out , what if we changed our mindset , our paradigm , to one where there is enough for everyone , everywhere to have a healthy and productive life ?
Money hoarded becomes stagnant ; it rots , decays and atrophies . Money in motion regenerates ; it purifies , nourishes and expands all that it touches .
What if we had a reciprocal relationship with money in which we viewed it as flowing freely to us and through us ? Instead of stocking up on money , we become a conduit for its flow .
Consider the great investor John Templeton , who was once asked what his greatest investment was . His response : “ Tithing .” How ’ s that ? Because the more he gave away , the more that came back to him .
With this transformational mindset , clients would no longer need to ask , “ Do I have enough money to retire .” Rather , they would come to you from a deep knowing that there is enough for everyone everywhere .
And as Fuller said nearly 50 years ago , this won ’ t happen until there ’ s a breakdown of old institutions and a buildup of new ones . Until there ’ s a shift in consciousness , a transformation from a “ you or me ” world to a “ you and me ” world .
As a financial professional , you can be a catalyst for this transformation . Are you in ?
STEVE SANDUSKI , CFP , is a financial advisor business coach and the co-founder of ROL Advisor , a discovery process technology system . He ’ s also a New York Times best-selling author and host of the Between Now and Success podcast .
The Big Picture continued from page 19
Today that number has nearly been halved , with much of it going to software and data analytics .
The reversal in capital spending priorities is just getting started . Since 2021 , U . S . companies have made more than $ 300 billion in capital expenditures , and Almeida expects it to continue .
Until recently , companies that employed lots of workers found themselves in the driver ’ s seat , as employees felt lucky to have jobs after the 2008 financial crisis . Businesses “ could extract value from their stakeholders ,” ranging from workers to communities that were eager to have an employment and tax base .
Corporations have until now been able to invest in light intangible assets
Since 2021 , U . S . companies have made more than $ 300 billion in capital expenditures , and Almeida expects it to continue .
and dictate what they paid for wages , which meant they could realize dramatic expansions in their profit margins to the 12 % to 13 % area , Almeida argues . Now , he adds , “ the stakeholders are coming for their share .”
As GMO co-founder Jeremy Grantham has maintained , demographics drive global labor markets , and aging populations are likely to exert a favorable impact on wages and a deleterious effect on profit margins . It ’ s not just labor costs .
Almeida believes the era of falling taxes is probably over . Demands for more equality , labor diversity and fewer carbon emissions may be a positive development , but these goals will have their own attendant costs . That ’ s why a higher growth economy with lower profit margins and shareholder returns may be dawning .
Meanwhile , it ’ s become more expensive for companies to finance tangible infrastructure when interest rates are soaring . Perma-bulls are unlikely to be encouraged when they see what happens to the corporate profits of businesses that must refinance . Investors looking to avoid downsides will likely want to avoid marginal businesses that have to refinance 3 % or 4 % debt at 8 % in the next few years .
Science and engineering are cumulative , but finance is cyclical , Almeida explains .
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