I finally got my daughter’s old IPod to work and I’ve been using it while pounding along on the trend mill at the gym these past few mornings.  Just by chance, I uploaded the keynote address of author Lynne Twist, The Soul of Money from the International Coach Federation (ICF) conference in St. Louis, MN 2006.

I closed my eyes and remembered what an incredible presence Twist was on that stage in front of 1,400 coaches from around the world.  And she was talking about this funny subject of money.  It’s a subject near and dear to the hearts of all us entrepreneur coaches but Twist put a whole different perspective to it.

Money Was Invented

Money doesn’t grow in our natural world.  It is an human invention and was originally created to facilitate the sharing of goods and services.  But somewhere along the way we started to give immense power to money – even over human life.  People will go to the extreme all in the name of money – damaging personal relationships; destroying natural resources and always their own soul, values, time, energy and spirit.

Now, rather than relating to money as simply a tool that was invented to make life easier we have come to assume that money is everything –  it has control over our lives and happiness.  Interesting . . .

A Coach’s Perspective

Recently, I met an accomplished young woman executive that was looking to fast track her career into an area that really didn’t interest her.  “Why?” I asked.  “To make more money”.  She gave many reasons around having more material possessions but more happiness?  This conversation was a powerful confirmation of what Twist was talking about.  The power we give money . . . do we really want to give away our heart and soul?