A Thousand Times Your Income
taken from "Brand You" by John Purkiss & David Royston-Lee
Exercise D: A Thousand Times Your Income*
We have some news for you. A distant relative, whom you have never even heard of, has died and left you a thousand times the amount of money you normally earn in a year. However, there is one condition: you have to spend all of it on yourself. You have four minutes to write down exactly how you will spend it.
(Four minutes later.) There is a second instalment to the bequest, for the same amount. However, this time you are not allowed to spend any of it on yourself – only on other people. How will you spend it? You have three minutes to write it all down.
(Three minutes later.) The final clause in the will states that you have been granted eternal life. Now that you have all the time in the world, how will you spend it? You have two minutes to write down everything you will do. Please note that your friends and relatives remain mortal.
Now go back and read what you have written. What does it say about you? What is stopping you from doing what you want to do now? Are you using money as an excuse for not doing it? What could you do differently from now on? Is there a way of doing what you want without vast amounts of money?
Look at the results of this exercise compared to what you wrote about talents on pages 13 and 14, and about values on page 17. What are the links between these exercises? There are usually common themes. Are there any clues to your purpose? What is the essence of the work you do best? What do you do? How do you do it? What is the context in which you do it?
* Adapted from Life\Work Design, Crystal Barkley Corporation