The Pursuit of Time and Money: Step into Radical Abundance and Discover the Secret to a Meaningful Prosperous Life by Sharon L. Spano PhD

In an interview, I did with Sharon Spano, the author of The Pursuit of Time and Money; she stated that the pursuit of time and money isn’t about learning how to be useful in managing these resources but instead a matter of shifting perspectives. That is the goal of this book. Through the lens of human development, Sharon hopes to help people experience transformational change as it relates to their time and money mindset.

I will admit up front that for the first half of this book and beyond I read it in a somewhat unenthusiastically manner. I felt there wasn’t enough meat in the opening chapters to get me excited about the journey of learning something new about time and money. It has nothing to do with Sharon as I thoroughly loved our interview. Nor does it have anything to do with the content itself, for I am not a time and money expert, or the best practitioner so believe there is always something new I can learn. Sharon shares plenty of new information, knowledge and ideas that I haven’t come across before.

My lack of enthusiasm was probably more an issue of attitude than anything else. “Another book about time and money. Great!” Haven’t these subjects been overdone? There are so many theories and ideas around why people struggle with these two hugely essential resources. Methods that I kind of feel is like cotton candy, it looks good, tastes sweet, but there is no nutritional value in them whatsoever.

Why I struggle with theories and the like is because they attempt to box people into categories and I am not sure that is possible. If you have a Type A perspective about money or time these are your rational thoughts, behaviours, views, and reasons as to why they exist, and here are some practices, methods and solutions to improving any limiting aspects associated with them. If you are Type B, then this is should be your approach.

At the risk of sounding negative, when it comes to time and money and how much of it we have I believe it boils done to more than just our conditioned perspectives. You may align yourself with those in the Type A category, but there may also be elements you connect with in Type B, C, D and any other groups that people create. I feel this means that the methods of improvement are will be missed and that things simply are not so straightforward.

As I neared the end of the book, Sharon’s message began to resonate with me. It wasn’t that I suddenly gained clarity around the various theories and research that Sharon presented, but more so a macro-perspective how everything was interrelated. The three areas that I felt are important and common to us all are the ideas of scarcity vs abundance, self vs other and the practice of understanding, learning and developing stewardship.

Stewardship can be defined as working from a place of moral grace and ethics. As far as I can gather this word stewardship in the biblical sense relates to the responsible use of resources that ultimately belong to God. In a societal or economic reference, it could mean the correct management of all systems and resources that allow a society to operate efficiently and harmoniously.

On the personal level, I believe stewardship relates to the true and responsible leadership of our lives. It requires a constant elevation of awareness and development of the fundamentals that motivate and direct our lives. Such elements are values, morals, and a greater sense of Self. When we know what is important to us and why we can more easily begin to follow the paths that will align us with this core.

I believe this is how Sharon wishes the reader to connect with this concept of stewardship. Stewardship takes a great deal of work and needs to be a constant practice. As it relates to time and money, when we become the master stewards of our lives we will be in a better position to manage these two resources and our attitudes towards them.

On a personal level, I have always been overprotective of my time. For some reason from an early age, I understood that this is one resource that we cannot get more. Therefore, I have always been highly conscious of how I use my time, and over the years this has developed my skills and efficiencies in this domain.

Money, on the other hand, is one resource that I cannot claim to be an expert. For many years I was convinced I was. I read about investing in shares and the property market and learned the “how to” of making money and yet never found any greater joy or abundance in this particular area of my life.

Over the past several years as I have taken my life on a journey to figuring things out – mostly in developing my stewardship, I have better understood my relationship with money. And while I am still not an expert I now live in a greater sense of peace with money. This understanding allows me to live from a place of abundance rather than scarcity.

The abundant and scarcity mindsets that we have all developed around the various areas of our lives have been conditioned and therefore can be adjusted. It’s all a matter of perspective, and we can only begin to shift our views in a practice of awareness. Operating from a position of scarcity may be the result of living our lives not aligned with our fundamental needs, desires and values.

Abundance is operating from a place of enough – knowing that our needs, desires and values are enough and then being grateful for this. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have ambitions or goals but to be content with our current state of affairs. We can achieve this best when our aspirations and goals are internally sourced and guided. In this sense, we will be more highly satisfied and still be on the path of continued growth.

The final learning is to be aware and able to differentiate that of Self and other. If we focus on our self-needs, desires and values, this can often lead to individualistic and selfish life pursuits. This approach to life can have limiting effects. This thought of Self vs other is difficult to understand and even harder to practice but well worth studying.

Enjoy this book by Sharon Spano – The Pursuit of Time and Money.

My interview with Sharon can be found here – 436 Dr Sharon Spano – The Pursuit Of Time & Money – The Secret To A Meaningful Life

Coaching

If this book sounds of interest you can purchase The Pursuit of Time and Money: Step into Radical Abundance and Discover the Secret to a Meaningful Prosperous Life here.

Please leave your thoughts, comments & questions below.

Peace, passion and purpose…

Other books that you may enjoy.

Further Reading and Resources 

TED Talks: Ideas worth spreading

Psychology Today: Psychology Today is devoted exclusively to everybody’s favourite subject – Ourselves

Life Hack: Tips for Life

Elite Daily: The Voice of Generation Y

Four Hour Work Week: How to escape the 9-5, live anywhere and join the new rich.

The Minimalists: How to pursue a minimalist lifestyle and be happier.

Mind Hacks: Tips and Tricks for Using Your Brain

Rich Roll: Plantpowered Wellness Advocate

The Art of Charm: Build confidence, feel comfortable and networking differently.

American Psychological Association: The largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United State

The Art of Manliness: Encouraging men to be better husbands, fathers, brothers, citizens.

Tiny Buddha: Simple wisdom for complex lives.

Brain Pickings: An inventory of cross-disciplinary interestingness, spanning art, science, design, history, philosophy, and more.

Mind Body Green: Lifestyle media brand dedicated to inspiring you to live your best life.

Zen Habits: Find simplicity and mindfulness in life.

Creative NonFiction: “true stories well told.” 

Addicted 2 Success: Motivation & Inspiration Website full of quotes and inspiring articles for entrepreneurs.

Barking Up the Wrong Tree: science-based answers and expert insight on how to be awesome at life.

The Positivity Blog: Practical articles on happiness, self-esteem, productivity and social skills.

Coaching