GlobalGrind’s financial coach, Lynn Richardson, had a candid conversation with Dr. Iyanla Vanzant, the multi-million dollar earning best-selling author and internationally renowned motivational speaker, and here’s Part III of what she had to say:
GlobalGrind: Dr. Vanzant, some would say that you had multimillion dollar book deals, you were on Oprah, you are spiritual, and you STILL lost everything. Some critics, hustlers and others are committed to doing the grind their OWN way. What do you say to that?
Iyanla: Lynn, I can look at myself in the morning. If the police pull me over because I’m doing 72, I don’t have to worry about them searching my trunk and handcuffing me and taking me off nowhere to jail. Nobody is looking for me with a pistol, and I don’t carry one. It goes back to the question of the grind. I made millions and millions of dollars because I prayed every morning and I meditated. And I brought forth the energy and the essence that my creator brought through me in service to the world. And as a result of that service, I was compensated. With that compensation, I bought a house, I bought a car, I had money in the bank. My daughter’s illness is what bankrupted me. It wasn’t that I lost my money in the ways of the world. I spent $750,000 in a single year trying to save her from colon cancer. It was my house, her house, my car note, her car note. The blessing is this: because I did the grind and because I was adequately compensated, when I needed it, I had it [money]. That’s number one.
Number two: I had taken care of my mind and my body to such a degree that when the stuff got hard, I could walk through it. I took the knocks. It was life. It wasn’t somebody trying to get me, it was life. The house, to me, was insignificant and the cars, I still got ’em out in the driveway! On this side of it, I can spell my name and tie my shoes at the same time. I never put a needle in my arm or a drug up my nose.
The guy who lost his job in the factory is no different than me. Losing a home is losing a home. Losing a child is losing a child. When it comes to life matters, life don’t care how much money you got in the bank. Do you think cancer cared that I had been on Oprah? No, it didn’t. It ate my daughter’s body up just like it would Miss Toquesha in the projects in Chicago. When it comes down to life, and the everyday things that impact us, it’s not what you have that will get you through, it’s who you are that will take you through.
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Coach Lynn’s Money Message:
No matter how successful you are in your “grind,” you never know when life is going to go in a different direction than you planned. Make a conscious effort to live below your means and to have at least one year of living expenses saved in the event you are unable to work due to illness and/or unemployment.
If and when a catastrophic event does take place, act quickly by reducing your expenses as much as possible and by communicating with your creditors. Yes, you should have faith that everything will be okay, but you should also do the work necessary to ensure that you minimize your losses and maximize your available resources.
