welcome you happy warrior to the rabbi
Daniel lapin shows where I your rabbi
sullenly dedicate myself to revealing
how the world really works and one way
the world really works is that our
financial fortunes depend on other
people and how other people relates to
us depends on their impression of us
that they yet
and so in order to change the way that
others see you you first have to learn
to see yourself as others see you
I'm gonna introduce you to three very
important people in your life one of
them is your most important employee and
when you don't recognize your most
important employee you don't do the
things necessary to help that employee
deliver the very best of which they're
capable the second is well you know it's
it's unfortunate and it's unhappy but
you're better off knowing about this
person than not knowing and the second
person I want to introduce you to is the
person most responsible the person more
to blame than anybody else for all your
failures and mistakes you're probably
getting a clue where we're going here
third person already introduced you to
is the person you are most responsible
for improving physic
three spiritually educationally and in
terms of acquisition of skills these are
three people you really need to know
your most valuable and important
employee the person most to blame for
your mistakes and problems and finally
the person whom you carry a sacred
responsibility to improve physically and
spiritually and educationally and skill
wise the names of these people well
here's the first interesting thing they
all carry the same name isn't that a
coincidence and furthermore if you want
to know the name of these three people
all you have to do is open your wallet
take out your driving license and look
at the name printed on your driving
license and that person is the person
who is your most important employee it's
also the person more to blame than
anyone else on the planet for your
faults and for your problems
and also it is the person that you carry
the highest level of responsibility for
improving physically spiritually
educationally and in terms of skills you
know I once was lecturing at a financial
seminar put on by a church and somebody
came up to me afterwards and and said I
have a question on what you started off
with that I am the person most
responsible the person more to blame
than anyone else for my mistakes
she says well I'll have you know that I
was raised by abusive parents now ladies
and gentlemen you know I am NOT a very
new agey kind of person and I am NOT a
very touchy
kind of person which I guess in this day
and age is probably good but I do feel
that you know we have limited time for
interaction and that time is wasted if I
do what that's right massarde you with
warm butter the time is put to far
greater use if I confine myself to the
truth and and so I said to our look the
most compelling temptation is to blame
our parents for our faults and without
knowing anything at all about your
childhood you know I'm sorry but most
people in this room could match you
blow-for-blow what you claim your
parents fail to do or what they did do
pretty much everyone in this room can do
the same thing the question is can you
get beyond that can you go past it and
you see there's absolutely nothing you
can do about that you can't go back and
get a do-over right because you're an
adult now and what you're saying
happened when you were 2 years old and 4
years old and 6 years old and so this is
a completely pointless discussion I'm
not even gonna go into the question of
how damaging and dangerous the word
abuse has become because it's not
defined again I believe that everybody
in the audience could come up with an
example of how their parents abuse them
because the word can mean pretty much
whatever you want it to mean and so I
would recommend you stop using that word
extirpated from your vocabulary because
it means nothing
and the way you're tending to use it
tends to turn you in your own mind into
a victim and that is very dangerous
indeed and so we're going to focus on
the idea that yes you are the one who is
responsible everything that you consider
to be a problem today
in your life it's not due to what your
parents did it really isn't it's due to
mistakes that you have made in the past
it's due to bad decisions you made in
the past and I'm really very willing to
play that game with you I said to her if
you like you can even tell me you know
what are you most angry at your parents
for and I guarantee you that with five
minutes conversation you will come to
see that it's not your parents it's you
you did something stupid or bad or
destructive and that and that might have
been done 20 years ago we're gonna have
to talk and find out but you really put
yourself on the road to success when you
acknowledge the mistakes one is made in
the past I'm not saying dwell on them
I'm not saying wallow in them I'm not
even saying waste a lot of time looking
backwards but as long as you accept that
the mistakes you were made were yours
and that the reason for your current
predicament whatever it is is you will
you have just empowered yourself to
change going forward from now onwards to
move forward from now to tomorrow yet
moving today but as long as you persist
in retaining even deep in your
subconscious this destructive and and
and and insidious idea that oh yes it's
these people it's my parents it's my
religion I said it's all these people
who abuse me and that's why I'm the way
I am today no it really isn't
let's just acknowledge that you've made
mistakes and let's move forward and in
doing that we have to understand some
things about ourselves so let's move
into that and let's start off with the
most basic distinction between us as
human beings
we are either male or female
now I'm not going to waste a lot of time
acknowledging that yes I know that this
is a viewpoint that is becoming
increasingly demonized and that I in
making that statement would be viewed at
the very least as being offensive which
I constantly have to point out to people
I just had it again this morning by the
way somebody said to me that your last
podcast the one that says there are no
poor people in America I found it very
offensive and so I smiled you know and I
said look the fact that you found it
offensive does not automatically indict
the teaching or me maybe you just too
thin-skinned we don't know that you know
the fact that you're offensive is very
subjective it means nothing
and so if you think I'm going to
prostrate myself on the floor in self in
orgies of self-flagellation because you
were offended at what I said not gonna
happen but if you like you can tell me
exactly what I said that was a
distortion or a lie or a misleading
statement in any way and and if indeed I
did do that
then of course I will apologize and
correct it but if what I'm saying
bothers you have you never heard the
expression the truth often hurts of
course it does
and so yes the fact that there are many
people who say that there is no longer
we've grown beyond studies have shown
experts have revealed the science now
proves that there is no such thing as
male or female but it is a range and a
spectrum then I will explain to you that
this is why over the last 50 years
there's been a tragic but inexorable
journey in America towards credentialism
which means that no longer are ordinary
people are permitted to analyze a
statement for its veracity no no now if
the statement is made by an authority by
an expert then you have to accept it
that's all there is to it and this has
happened warm while I'm sure if you
notice it if you are on the alert for
this you will see repeated instances of
this happening so please be aware that
that anybody who denounces that
statement that our most basic and
fundamental distinction is the
distinction between male and female
anybody who denounces that is somebody
who's not going to want to discuss
biology but it's somebody who's going to
essentially take refuge in credentialism
or expert itis or for that matter the
idolatry of science the notion that all
science has already decided on that no
there's not a whole lot of contemporary
debate about which science is in fact
decided that's simply not how science
actually works the whole reason that the
entire scientific enterprise has
progressed beyond where we were in 1000
AD is precisely because we don't accept
anything as settled anything may be
questioned and that would be true for
for anybody whose commitment to science
is authentic so without having been said
yes we are men and women and and and
just part of the reality of masculinity
is and if you like a sort of aggressive
jutting masculinity that that stands out
it is visible
and it's just a part of who men are
women females tend to be more modest
what I mean by more modest well I can
assure you there is no man's clothing
catalog in which you will ever find the
word modesty but by contrast if you look
at women's clothing catalogs you'll see
things like available with modesty panel
or the ad will say lined for modesty
that word modesty only applies to women
it doesn't apply to men not surprisingly
the way the good Lord created us is with
men's sexual organs visible and if you
like aggressively visible and women's
sexual organs are completely concealed
modestly if you if you like so you see
there is this startling parallel between
the physical and the spiritual we
identify certain aspects of the
spiritual nature of the female of the
woman and a certain aspect of the
spiritual nature of a man the ambition
the aggressiveness etc and then we say
oh hello there's a parallel between the
spiritual and the physical the body
reflects the spiritual reality of its
owner in that sense now is this just a
strange coincidence that I stumbled
across or is it a reliable pattern and
the answer is that it is actually a very
wonderfully reliable pattern and one
that I am going to point out in one or
two other mind-numbing
examples but before I do that I want to
alert you to
a brand-new product this is an exciting
product and I'll tell you why because
we've got and you know I always ask you
if if you're listening from anywhere
just a little unusual and by the way a
little unusual can be South Dakota
Montana New Mexico you know the the
lesser populated states I always ask
people who are listening in unusual
please tell me you know let me know
where you are listening from I love
knowing that and particularly we have
growing numbers of listeners of this
show out of the country Africa is a
region of huge growth for for listeners
and so is Asia South America with on
increasing numbers of listeners in South
America now we have certain products
that are difficult for us if not
impossible to ship outside the North
American postal region and so the the
product I'm talking about specifically
is a television show that Susan and I
host it's called ancient Jewish wisdom
and it's a half an hour show where in we
tend to focus on real-life solutions to
two to two problems one of the things we
we like thinking of the sort of slogan
we have in our minds is an ancient
solutions for modern problems in other
words ancient Jewish wisdom and how this
can enhance the real-life aspects of
your modern-day life today and so one of
the things that I'll just give you an
example of something that that is in one
of our ancient Jewish wisdom television
shows and people like it because they're
not scripted in the sense that you see a
very natural interplay between Susan
and myself and if you think that she
always agrees with me then
you definitely need to see a couple of
these television shows but let me give
you an example and why does America
support Israel so much so that the fact
that the Democratic Party in America is
becoming an anti-israel party is is is
earth-shaking the overwhelming majority
of self-identified American Jews
unfortunately have always associated
with the Democratic Party and so today
they are undergoing a true seismic shock
they are being shaken to their very core
because the party that their parents
subscribed to and they're their
grandparents I mean this this goes back
to the days of Franklin Delano Roosevelt
in World War two and the party they are
all of a sudden the Democratic Party to
which they have been utterly dedicated
almost as a badge of virtue because
everyone knows right good people people
who care compassionate people affiliated
with the Democratic Party
whereas conservatives all they tend to
be greedy and selfish and racist and you
know all the the usual stuff but why
does America support Israel and why does
it why is it that the Democratic Party
is becoming very anti-israel well it's
it's very simple
America supports Israel only because
there are tens of millions of Bible
believing Christians who are devoted and
dedicated to the verse in chapter 12 of
Genesis where God says those that curse
you I will curse and those that and I
will bless
those that bless you and and
bible-believing people know that that
that the relationship with with Israel
is a real one and it is one that comes
with real-life consequences so a lot of
people particularly again in the Jewish
community know Israel is supported by
America because of strategic parallels
Israel is the only democratic Ally oh
and Israel is like a an aircraft carrier
in the Middle East it's America's ally
look all that is complete unadulterated
bilge water if that were true then the
strongest Nexus of Israel support in the
United States would be the State
Department the Pentagon the White House
and any president but it goes without
saying that those pinnacles of power are
blissfully unaware of any deep need for
connection with Israel if anything the
State Department for sure leans towards
the Muslim world and and so it remains
that were it not for tens of millions of
bible-believing Philo Semitic Christians
who love Israel and who votes I'm quite
certain that America's attitude towards
Israel would be very little different
from that of France or Sweden or Norway
or for that matter the United Kingdom
unless Boris Johnson is soon the Prime
Minister which I hope will take place
one of the reasons for this is because
Jews and Christians and you can see I'm
sort of thinking in terms of the
American alliance of Jews and Christians
which I have the privilege of leading
Jews and Christians recognize that the
Bible uses the phrase of going up to
Israel and going down from Israel in
other words it's the weirdest thing but
it's a deep recognition that Israel is
on a higher spiritual
plain doesn't mean that the people
living in Israel are more virtuous than
anyone else no but that the land itself
it's very air contains certain a certain
spiritual attribute and and that's one
of the reasons by the way that Israel's
national airline l au in hebrew those
words l al means to up it was going up
and when people move immigrated to
israel they always speak about doing an
ascent i'm going to be making an ascent
and where this comes from is
consistently in the bible think of
Genesis the beginning of chapter 13 and
Abraham went up from Egypt back to
Israel you see because Egypt and
everywhere is on a lower spiritual level
therefore if Abraham is going to Israel
from Egypt he's going upwards how about
there's another nice one in Genesis
chapter 26 verse 2 and God appeared to
Isaac and said to him do not go down to
Egypt why not just don't go to Egypt
because it's up and down
Genesis chapter 42 and Jacob said to his
sons go down there to Egypt and buy us
food from there but interestingly enough
when ever people in the Bible whenever
Israelites the children of Israel in the
Bible are talking to somebody else who's
not especially if it's sort of somebody
who might not appreciate the notion that
their country is viewed as being on a
lower plane the nomenclature changes to
just come and go not up and down so
you'll see that when Abraham is talking
to his non-israelite servant Eliezer he
says said to my land and birthplace you
shall go doesn't say go down when Joe
Joseph brothers are talking to him in
Egypt not knowing who he is not knowing
that he's there
Genesis chapter 42 verse 10 they say
your servants came here to buy food they
didn't say came down here and there's a
striking exclusion to the sensitivity
Joseph you'll remember insisted that he
was going to detain Benjamin as a thief
and so Joseph says to his brothers and
as I'm gonna keep Benjamin here this is
Genesis chapter 44 verse 17 and as for
you go up in peace to your father and
earlier on before Joseph was ready to
disclose his identity in chapter 42
verse 20 he said now go and bring your
younger brother to me so most of the
times that joke Joseph speaks to his
brothers he avoids using the up/down
terminology when talking about traveling
to or from Israel but the the one
striking exception as I told you is
Genesis 44 17 because that's where he's
getting ready to reveal himself and so
he says and as for you go up in peace
back to your father in in Canaan and and
so there we see that he gives them a
sort of little subconscious hint that he
is actually part of Abraham's family and
and that's why Judah then begins his
poignant a 17 verse speech which
contains no fewer than seven mentions of
going up and going down referring to the
journeys between Egypt and Israel that's
the second half of chapter 44 in Genesis
and so now this being the very first
time that the brothers have used this
up/down language in his presence it
signals to Joseph that they now suspect
that he himself must be somehow a
descendant of Abraham and that's when
Joseph breaks down and formally
identifies himself so a bible-believing
Jews and Christians share this vision
and this sense of destiny
which they alone see if Israel is sort
of being up there and and Israelis are
now so much more open to the idea that
American Jews are to the idea that Jews
and Christians are allies in the
struggle to save civilization and that's
really what the American alliance of
Jews and Christians is all about and it
is precisely an example of what I've
just told you is an example of the kind
of television show we've done now
up till now these television shows and
at the moment we have four video DVDs so
up till now you could buy any one of
four different programs for four
different DVDs each of of which
contained four shows and so if you
bought one DVD you would have three
excuse me you would be able to watch
four of these TV shows as many times as
you want to and you would find that they
would provide really valuable group
viewing for somebody you're close to
somebody you want to become close to
romantically or even business-wise and
also in terms of children and family the
only problem is that you needed to wait
and have this thing delivered to you in
the mail the DVD the disc or in some
countries we weren't even able to send
it at all and so now now you know what
now we actually for the first time
literally this is net this is you're
hearing about this for the first time
these television shows are now available
to you
downloadable they're mp4 files for those
of you interested in the technical
format you can download them in standard
definition you can download them in HD
high-definition versions and you can
just do that at the website at rabbi
Daniel lapin comm you go
the store look for the television the
the DVDs and you can now download which
is very very cool because this way it
can be on your phone it can be on your
pair can be on your laptop you can have
it whatever you like and you can show to
people and share it with people and see
it yourself it really does make for
valuable conversation I can't tell you
how many letters we've received from
people who've moved on to a routine of a
regular basis for some people it's once
a week for some people it's once a month
but people have moved on to a regular
basis of family watching and we are very
very careful to make certain that every
one of these TV shows fits that
parameter that it is something that a
group of people can watch and then
engage in substantive and beneficial
conversation so so there it is it is the
the ancient Jewish wisdom television
show there are three of them there are
three collections available each
collection contains four shows which is
to say two hours of viewing time so
please take a look at that at rabbi
Daniel lapin calm and and enjoy it as
I'm pretty sure you will do let me know
it while you're at it tell me we're
about on this great planet of ours tell
me where about you are so as I can add
more pins to my world map and I'll I
enjoy that look I just enjoy it
I do okay so what we got to do is is
proceed back now if you don't mind and
continue with the subject at hand
getting to know yourself okay so you
remember I showed you the parallelism
between the spiritual nature of men and
women and the physical nature of our
bodies and give you another example
we've got eyes and ears these are two in
devices way do you get more reliable
information through pictures or through
words through eyes or through ears by
the way just to clarify when you read a
book yes I know you're using your eyes
of course but the reality is that it
goes straight to the word processing
part of the brain because the word is
not a picture it's an abstract
representation and it needs to be
processed in the ear section in the ear
Department where do you get more
reliable information well think about it
do you have a you have clutter around
your house do you have stuff you bought
that you don't actually need and then if
you're brutally honest you actually
never need it and well if you're like me
that I'm afraid the said answer to that
and the truthful answer there is yes
well my next question is did you buy it
because of your eyes or because of your
ears and almost that exception I can
assure you that when you buy things you
don't really need it's cause of your
eyes much more than your ears you saw it
and you said I want one like that you
saw pictures of it more strongly do you
know any male who has made a really bad
decision with respect to a woman okay
yeah that's silly question right who
doesn't honestly I mean is there any one
of us who doesn't know a boy who made a
really bad decision about a girl man
woman no we all know people like that
simple question did they make that
mistake because of their eyes or because
of the ears in other words did they see
her and longed for her I would have said
lust for her but that's an old-fashioned
word that makes me sound like a 19th
century preacher so I'll just say long
for her desired they saw her obviously
when people use their ears in the
suspect if I had my way nobody would go
out with a person of the opposite gender
until they've spoken on the phone for a
total of four hours
and because that way there'd be a lot
more happy marriages right in other
words if you take the impact of the I
out of the picture it would actually
work very well i-i'll be honest here now
confess well I'm always honest that's a
figure of speech but I'll be honest here
in confess that not many people follow
my advice that you should talk on the
phone for a total of four hours before
you actually meet somebody these days
people are looking at pictures on social
media and they're you know when you
introduce a man and a woman to in you
know you give you say to the girl can I
give him your phone number she says yeah
you said the guy I want you to call the
school suspecting your number he already
is spending hours on the internet trying
to get an idea of what she looks like
before he even calls her but if he if
you would follow wise guidance he talked
to her for a few hours on the phone
before he even actually meets her
because you want to minimize the effect
of the eyes as the Bible says it so that
you should not go astray after your eyes
and after your heart right because the
eyes are tied to the emotion news you
know
what the news media do is they show
images that have an emotional impact on
us and after that all idea of balance is
gone any dispassionate analysis is now
impossible because when you've shown me
and a picture that grabs my emotions
it's finished
I can't think clearly anymore neither
can anybody it's perfectly natural it's
perfectly normal and and they do that
all the time people the media does that
and when we talk about fake media and
the way the media's lost our confidence
in the United States of America it's not
only the lies it's also this excessive
use of emotionalism in order to make an
argument rather than simply present the
new
and so we're we've got eyes and ears now
let's ask a simple question and that is
in what way do our physical organs eyes
and ears reflect the spiritual reality
which is that we can be more
dispassionate and analytical with
information that comes through our ears
whereas information that comes through
our eyes is more likely to be distorted
where do we get that from physically
well let me tell you we have a balance
mechanism and the word balance is used
not only physically but spiritually
right now I want a balanced perspective
that's using the word spiritually I
don't want to lose my balance that's
physical where do we put the balance
mechanism well from a purely
evolutionary perspective I would have
said the place for the balance of senses
would be in one's shoulders
there will be firstly you've got spatial
separation for maximum for maximum
precision and you've also got them in
shoulders which don't move as much as
our hands so hands for example would be
a really bad place for them because as
you wave your arms around your brain
would think you're you're you're falling
over or you're moving violently and and
the only way not to get nauseous is for
your brain to do Corrections which is
like the equivalent of millions of lines
of software code a really bad place is
your head also it's like hands your head
moves constantly and so you want to put
balanced mechanism put them in the
shoulders near the spinal column good
spatial separation and in a part of the
body that if these sensors actually say
I'm falling over I probably am but
because the sensors are in my head and
you all know by now that the balanced
sensors are in our inner ears every time
I talk my head as I might we're asking a
question the message the brain gets is
I'm falling over and the only reason I
don't stand
to the side to recover my balance which
wasn't lost in the first place is
because my brain has the equivalent of
millions of lines of software code to
enter the input of from my neck about
the tilt and oh you're not really
falling over so why did God put our
balance mechanisms in the ear I'll tell
you why because he wanted us to
understand that what we hear through our
ears the data we obtain through our is
generally turns out to be more reliable
more balanced than through our eyes
where is the information that comes
through our eyes well here's a good one
tell me about the image that your lens
costs on your retina the image of what
you see in the world around you you know
something it's upside down and the brain
has to put it right way up why didn't
the Marvel of evolution simply create a
compound lens that would put an image on
the back of our eyes that's right way up
that matches the world we see that could
have could have done it but no we have
to process it to put it right the clue
is don't trust what comes through your
eyes much better to trust what comes
through your ears and and I think that
that's really just a really another
useful example of how our physical
bodies reflect the spiritual reality and
so why is this important particularly in
terms of our financial destiny
well because generating revenue really
means becoming cognizant of spiritual
realities as much as physical realities
and also need to clarify for you that
when I use the word spiritual please
don't think that it is merely a synonym
for holy or godly or virtuous or pious
or saintly no spiritual doesn't mean
that at all
spiritual means anything that cannot be
measured in a laboratory it has no
physical measurement and so you have
good spiritual and bad spiritual right
there's this spiritual things that are
very negative they're also spiritual
things that are a very positive that's
all spiritual means things that cannot
be measured in a lab and what we are
looking at now here's the the
fascinating idea which is that our most
important money-making attributes are
spiritual and not physical that is you
know unless you happen to be a swimsuit
model
but anyone who is earning their living
other than because they have beautiful
bodies is using spiritual
characteristics not physical
characteristics what are physical
characteristics color of our skin
whether we have a lot of hair in our
heads or none at all
stop laughing whether we are male or
female whether we are short or tall
whether we tend towards large body size
or small body size all these are
physical characteristics what are
spiritual characteristics honesty
integrity integrity resourcefulness
optimism the ability to get beaten down
and pick yourself up and keep yourself
in the game these are really really
important and and here's the valuable
thing to know there is no test available
for administering to new people you're
hiring in your company now they have
various personality type tests which are
very interesting but in terms of testing
right think about what do you want when
you're hiring somebody let you know
whether you are yet at a place whether
you're hiring or whether you've done
hiring you know that you are looking for
honesty and integrity and
resourcefulness and diligence and
stick-to-itiveness everything you're
looking for is spiritual and there's not
a single test available that will tell
you whether the person you are
hiring has those things or not it's very
difficult how do you measure somebody's
honesty or integrity in real terms right
I mean all you can do is in real life
you have to present them with temptation
and see how they react but you know
that's playing games with people that
can end up being very bad hmm and so you
know it's like wives you know how do you
know you can trust your husband
well I've answered that question at
other times and if the wife says I just
know he would he's trustworthy I would
never betray our marriage he wouldn't do
it and I say how do you know that though
and she says well I'll tell you what
I'll get a girlfriend of mine to try and
seduce him and then we'll know and
please don't do that please please don't
do that please right that's that's
really not a good idea and so these are
spiritual things and you have to be able
to know because only another spiritual
being can perceive at some level whether
a person has these spiritual qualities
but the HR department cannot admin
administer any tests that will prove it
an example of a spiritual characteristic
that is is very damaging and destructive
and I'm sure it's something you've seen
in your own work experience do you know
how absolutely toxic it is to have
somebody a colleague or an associate
that you have to work with who just
radiates a black cloud of gloominess and
unhappiness you find yourself starting
to have to walk on eggshells for fear of
setting this person off and you you
realize that you know people talk about
pollution and how terrible pollution is
you know something I would rather work
in a room
old with tobacco smoke then have to work
in a room that is also occupied by a
person who just radiates misery and
unhappiness and resentment and envy
that's real pollution give me tobacco
smoke any time I'd rather have it but
the pollution that is spiritual is
incredibly damaging and again very hard
to come up with a test that will let you
know in advance that somebody does that
because everybody can put on a good show
for an interview but what happens
afterwards and this tendency and again
spiritual problem right I've covered
this in the past that being happy is a
spiritual quality but it's not genetic
it's it's not biological everybody has
reasons to be unhappy and miserable and
those of us who are able to exert a
happy radiation or a pleasure to live
with I mean if you are married what
right do you have to subject your spouse
or maybe your children to your black
moods this is a spiritual failing that's
all it is wouldn't do it and again we
live in a time where for more than a
hundred years I mean since late 19th
century between Marx and Darwin and then
a few years later Freud you know 1880
but these three guys really had enormous
impact on the world in terms of making
of persuading people that we are really
just organisms that react to our
environment and so you know somebody is
just miserable to live with he's he's on
a short fuse and he's always angry and
he's always miserable and unhappy and
just sends out this gloom and hey you
know I can't help it it's it's you know
it's how it's my makeup I can't help but
yeah you can actually
you really can and that's one of the
reasons that economic vitality has
always been linked to the presence of a
biblical outlook and again obviously
there are people who disagree with that
statement but they are wrong and the
truth is that in fact atheistic regimes
regimes that reject a biblical worldview
have never succeeded in generating
vibrant economies never happened but
country societies that are biblically
centric the United States of America
obviously most powerfully Israel Western
Europe in the in earlier times yeah
absolutely and one of the reasons is
this idea that you can control your
thoughts right my my mother never let me
say things like well it's how I feel I
can't help it
we'll change it and when I was old
enough my parents explained that that's
the reason for the 10th commandment
right what's common number eight come on
I bet you know it come on now you
probably don't come on my number eight
is no stealing okay so I know I mustn't
steal what do we need commandment ten
for which is you mustn't want things
that belong to other people who does
that possibly hurt big deal you know so
somebody's got something and I really
want it but I'm gonna follow command I
made I'm never gonna help myself to it
I'm never gonna take it or steal it so
what do you care God why are you telling
me that I'm not allowed to desire it or
covet it or want it because you have to
learn to control your feelings and you
right desiring somebody else's property
does not hurt them they may not even be
aware of it but it hurts you it does
spiritual damage to you to want things
that other people own you know if
there's something you want to buy and
you save up your money and you want to
go get it you know god bless you good
luck to you but
it's specifically something that belongs
to somebody else desiring it is a bad
thing for you and the tenth commandment
is there to teach us that we can control
our feelings this is a hugely important
principle and one that is very valuable
in terms of financial growth and and
it's one of the reasons that cultures
that were knowledgeable about the ten
commandments and reverent towards the
ten commandments
always did well did better financially
than those that weren't if you think
about it you'll see how even in your own
life the ability the knowledge that you
can control your feelings immensely
powerful very very valuable so that's
part of a spiritual getting to know
yourself another one is to realize that
your ability to communicate is spiritual
not physical so again just to clarify by
means of your tongue and your mouth and
your lips and your vocal cords you can
certainly vibrate air molecules there's
no question about it you can make all
kinds of noises and that is physical but
the articulating of those noises into
intelligible slices each of which is a
word or a letter or a sentence or a
paragraph and to be able to convey
meaning now that is not physical that is
spiritual and you know they sometimes
say oh well he's got the gift of the gab
when they speak about somebody who's a
very good professional salesperson well
that is a spiritual attribute and and so
much so by the way that in in Genesis
chapter 2 verse 7 what it speaks of
there is God breathing a spirit of life
into man and ancient Jewish wisdom
translates that as giving him the
ability to speak and that's why I know
that Coco the gorilla never did speak
and never will speak and that no animal
will ever communicate or you know you
will never find animals getting together
a conference about human behavior not
gonna happen
the ability to speak is from the soul
not just the body and it is something
incredibly valuable and really really
important in the area of building ones
fortune to explore a little bit further
this idea that human beings are both
body and soul that we are both physical
and spiritual in nature and that for the
purposes of developing business for the
purposes of expanding our financial
destiny the more valuable attributes are
spiritual not physical one of the ways
of understanding that is to take a look
at identical twins now identical twins
have identical DNA right that's that's
pretty clear and what we find is that in
identical twins they actually look the
same always be two little boys or two
little girls and and you know you can't
tell them apart but here's a question do
identical twins have the same
fingerprints or different fingerprints
what do you think and you might have an
instinctive response and go one way but
let's explore that for a moment let's
assume for the moment that identical
twins have different fingerprints where
would that come from so you've got a
problem
they both are made up of the identical
DNA
that means there is ZERO genetic
information to make anything different
between the two of them and so it's all
very well to say oh they must have
different fingerprints but how on earth
does that happen how could they possibly
have different fingerprints and if they
have the same fingerprints well that
would then suggest that identical twins
really are completely identical in every
possible way
what is the truth the truth is identical
twins have different fingerprints but
how can that be
we on earth can the information come
from to give them a different
fingerprints
well I'll jump in here quickly and save
the time of those of you who have a
biological biology background because
what you're probably going to say oh
it's epigenetics and I have to tell you
that epigenetics is a field that ranges
from unproven to quackery epigenetics
basic and it's very interesting about
it's an interesting field and I think
there's something to it but the notion
that epigenetics can explain fingerprint
differences in identical twins that is
total quackery epigenetics says that
that they are sort of tags on DNA that
can activate you know the 22,000 genes
in every cell and they don't all have to
be active in the same way all the time
and so there's sort of switches
somewhere and none of this is like we
you know you can't look down and see
these things so we're we're postulating
their existence and the some of the
implications are very very interesting
meaning that the behavior of a mother
and a man and a woman before they
conceive a child could well impact the
outcome of their child certain aspects
in the life of their child but one thing
it does not explain is separate
fingerprints and and so what is the
explanation well the explanation is that
creativity is a specifically human and
spiritual characteristic and it's not
you know animals do not convert forests
into factories human beings create
things and that creativity is
exemplified by the fingertips you know
as we use our fingers to create in other
words you'll even find expressions in
poetry of the you know the work of his
hands even though the person may not
work with his hands but the idea is our
hands signify our ability to make and
create and and so for God to have put
our mark
of uniqueness namely their fingerprint
on the fingers as a poster on the elbow
or the knees makes perfect sense because
that way you can think of it more as a
soul print than a fingerprint because
that's really exactly what it is and so
what we have to understand and is that
our uniqueness is our spirituality it
that is really what makes us separate
from one another you know you know even
fingerprints turn out well not really to
be biological and physical they are also
spiritual in nature because there is no
physical or biological information that
can give identical twins separate
fingerprints but another aspect of our
spiritual makeup is our imagination our
capacity to imagine now think about it
it's only through imagining that we're
able to build and do and create if
somebody writes a poem or writes a novel
or creates a beautiful song and music
these are acts of imaginative power
which again is pure spiritual somebody
comes up with a new app to build a new
piece of software somebody comes up with
a business idea back in 1970 a guy came
up with the idea of putting wheels on
luggage you know up till then most
travel was still by train and you got
off the train you were already in the
middle of the city and you you you know
you got the escalator and there you are
but all of a sudden air travel is
becoming popular in the late 60s and
early 70s the Boeing 707 was already
flying at the jet age had begun and
there in 1970 Wow a very interesting
thing a guy said the one obstacle as as
we see people walking through long
airport hallways carrying suitcases we
need wheels and think about it that was
when wheels were placed on suitcases it
was sheer imagination and and it didn't
go easy I mean he had a hard time
selling the concept Macy's was the first
they agreed to buy some of these wheeled
suitcases and of course since then you
know and there's no looking back but a
simple act like that today you can't
even imagine why would anybody have a
suitcase without wheels that's all we
used to have prior to 1970 these are
acts of imagination and you know I want
to tell you something
you're not gonna want to hear but your
imagination can be thought of as a
muscle and you really need it for
success in business you absolutely need
your imagination functioning at full
speed and you're not going to want to
hear this but watching pictures corrodes
the imagination reading words stimulates
and generates the imagination I mean we
all know how absolutely compelling is
television moving pictures they are
almost irresistible watching a movie
watching something on your iPad watching
it on your tablet or your iPhone or your
computer watching it on the television
screen now like many people Susan and I
decided when we got married to not have
a television in our home and we've we've
really kept that commitment we've never
had a TV when we travel we we see that
you know we see the television and I
must admit when I travel by myself I
sometimes turn it on and then I have to
really force myself to turn it off it is
very very seductive it's it's it's right
it's drug-like moving pictures are drug
like but it destroys the imagination
there's no question about it and and so
if you have a choice to devote some of
your time between reading and watching
though the time spent watching is wasted
you can really believe me on that well I
learned so many things from watching
YouTube yeah in the three hours you set
watching one after another you know in
half that time
with a book you would have been a
changed person watching pictures does
not change us reading books
does so anyway I know there's not
popular things people don't want to hear
that but just give yourself 30 day test
no moving pictures for 30 days a lot of
reading and then write and tell me how
things have changed for you and your
letter will join hundreds and hundreds
and hundreds of probably thousands now
other letters from people who felt that
their lives were dramatically changed by
simply cutting down dramatically on how
much watching they do and increasing the
number the amount of reading they do so
it's really it's really something very
very worthwhile knowing and
understanding and and practicing please
imagination is spiritual and another
thing that spiritual is optimism I've
spoken about that before you you might
be interested in a test that met life
insurance did back in the eighties they
with the help of I think there was a dr.
Seligman as the name I sort of remember
and I think working with MIT in Boston
they came up with what they thought was
a reasonable test for optimism and what
they discovered was that churning
through new hires was very expensive
because like many companies they spend a
lot of money on training and teaching
and when people leave that's money
that's wasted and they they were trying
to see you know do they have most
success with people with degrees
academic degrees do they have most
success with people who score high on IQ
tests do they have most success with
people who are socially gregarious
turned out that the one single most
important characteristic was optimism
and they attribute one of the reasons
that MetLife lept ahead and did so well
during the 80s and early 90s was
precisely because they began hiring
strictly for optimism and I mean you
know you know what it's like in your own
life sometimes you you know you start
you get up at the beginning of the day
and you're feeling down and you were
read about things that are coming up
ahead and you're just not feeling that
things are gonna go well imagine there
was an optimism tablet you could take
then you know wouldn't you do it you
know unfortunately there are things that
can impact that optimism factor and and
and be tremendously destructive alcohol
is one of them makes you feel optimistic
drugs obviously there are drugs and one
of the things that make certain drugs so
incredibly appealing is they make you
feel optimistic so I really understand
it I mean you know God forbid nobody
should show me a drug for optimism I'd
find it almost irresistible but
accepting I know a better way oh and
also by the way sex is also a drug for
optimism and it's one of the reasons why
marriage is such a powerful tool for
wealth creation again it's something and
I've spoken about in in previous shows
and something I'm sure many of you have
heard me say but but yeah there's no
question about it
that a man who has had a satisfying and
fulfilling few moments of privacy with
his wife goes off to work with a bounce
in his step it's a different kind of a
thing and and it it that works it really
really really is and unlike drugs or
alcohol it has no downside at all
but what else is there something else as
well yes because you cannot always
derive the effects of that form of
optimism generation you're not always in
a position to do that but is there a way
to generate your optimism that always
works regardless of circumstance and the
answer is absolutely yes
how do you generate optimism the
optimism tablet is gratitude
it's absolutely incredible and you you
you've got to know that this is
something you're not doing enough of
absolutely not doing enough of what you
need to do is make sure
that you thank people during the course
of your day I know the sounds
counterintuitive you're probably going
to sell you out come on lapin what are
you talking about what is optimism and
gratitude what do they have to do with
one another the answer is they have an
enormous amount to do with one another
and expressing by oh it's not just
enough to think gratitude you actually
have to express it and so find
opportunities to say to people in your
home life your family life your social
life your work life find a way of saying
to people I just want you to know I
really appreciate your hard work I
appreciate your friendship I appreciate
all you do for me
I appreciate watching how much you're
doing for that person you're helping I'm
expressing red shoes incredibly valuable
so much so that I would strongly
recommend you know I encourage people to
carry a about 23 by 5 index cards with
them always held together by a rubber
band by the way you know every now and
then people test me on this people run
into me or people recognize me at an
airport from television from these
specifically these ancient Jewish wisdom
TV shows that you can now download
yourself
well people sometimes say oh by the you
know I've heard you talk about having a
pile of three by five in this card you
really have that boy I just whip them
out of my pocket and here they are bound
together the yellow rubber band here on
my 3x5 index cards well use one every
morning for writing down five things
you're grateful for it does change your
day I'm not going to take the time now
to give you the reasoning behind it and
how that works and why it works let's
not take the time on that just for the
moment take it from me but but then try
it and you know you know that I wouldn't
like to run into you and have you said
you know by the way you really are
fuller you know what that stuff about I
thanked people and I was up and it made
no difference at all I wouldn't like
that to happen so you can be sure I
wouldn't say this if it were not
and effective it really is true it
really is effective it simply works and
it's a it's a fantastic way it does
generate optimism and really does change
your day try it for 30 days you'll never
go back to the old you promise you you
really won't want to do it well I've
told you how to go about improving your
optimism that's a hugely important tool
for the increasing your financial
abundance for making you a more
effective business professional and you
know how I emphasize in in all my
teaching I'm thinking particularly of
the book thou shall prosper the ten
commandments for making money there's a
whole section there where I teach you to
view yourself as never being an employee
but always being a business professional
and one of the other tools of being a
business professional is the gift of the
gab isn't it it's the ability to convey
an idea with words because every time
you want to do a deal with somebody
every time you want to buy something
every time you want to sell something
every time you want to create a
partnership or a collaboration it means
that you have to excite the imagination
of the other person by means of your
ability to express ideas in words and I
would like to give you now as I gave you
a tool for developing optimism another
useful tool I want to give you the
mechanism for increasing your fluency
now this is very important it used to be
back in in the 1950s the average
American high school child left high
school with a vocabulary of around
35,000 words and it started going down
it's now about half of that right now on
average in the United States children
leave high school with a working
vocabulary of between fifteen and
seventeen thousand words
it's way down it is possible that this
is a contributing factor to violence in
other words for a human being created by
God with the ability to communicate for
a human being to be stifled in his
desperate desire to connect with another
human being verbally that it perhaps
allows a more rapid recourse to violence
perhaps I don't know but I do know that
it is a huge problem and I don't know
any easy way to measure or check what
your vocabulary is but whatever it is
you need to know to improve that but you
need to improve your ability to string
words together and make sentences into
paragraphs and at the end of the day
convey an idea in a persuasive and
compelling fashion that's really what
you have to do what can I tell you about
that very simply read aloud right I can
embroider this I can I can pretty it up
I can take a long time to tell you this
but you're either gonna do it or you're
not okay there's that's all there is to
it and if you're not there's nothing I
can say to change your mind if you are
gonna do it you don't need a lot of
massaging with one banner that's right
you got it so I might as well just tell
it to you right you need to read aloud
your own ears must hear your own mouth
articulate the words for at least 20
minutes three times a week ideally make
it for half an hour go with 30 minutes
what should you read something good
right not a TV Guide not People magazine
you need to read something that sounds
the way you wish you sounded okay so you
know spend a little while at your Public
Library you know you can borrow books
for free did you know that this is an
incredible invention this thing called a
library you can actually borrow books
for free and I bet there is one not very
far from where
you are right now so find a book that is
written by somebody who sounds the way
you wish you sounded and then read aloud
now if you have a spouse they may be
happy in the evening for you to read
aloud to them mine I'm lucky mine likes
me to read to her but she goes to sleep
which sort of worries me a little bit
makes me think that I'm a little sore if
ik here and I tend to put people to
sleep well I hope that's not the case I
hope so but the important thing is
though that she lets me read aloud which
is good for me and if it puts her to
sleep well so be it but but that way I'm
able to get in my hour a week of reading
aloud and the difference is absolutely
incredible
do it and you will join again huge
numbers of people over the years that I
have coached in these areas and who have
responded to me about just how very
effective this this the strategy is for
improving people's ability to
communicate to articulate you'll love it
you really will love the new you on this
and people will comment about it as well
people will notice that you sound
different so look a lot of things we've
been talking about are things that just
make you better people and this is one
of the great things you know you can be
a horrible human being and write
fantastic music like Richard Varga you
can be a horrible human being and be a
great tennis player you can be a
horrible human being and and be a poet
you can be a horrible human being and
and be a proficient physician these are
all true but you cannot be a horrible
human being and be a successful business
professional yeah yeah look of course
you and I we all know the occasional
person who's a real laughs a real horror
misery who is successful has done well
in business yeah there are exceptions
that prove the rule obviously but they
are few in number they are
well mning majority of people who do
well in business are decent good people
who do the right thing and that's what's
great about business you basically
diminish your odds of success if you're
a horrible person if you're a dishonest
person if you're a pessimistic person
all of these things tend to reduce your
likelihood of success in business so
that's it's a really nice thing to know
that you are trying to make yourself
more successful in a field making money
you are trying to make yourself more
successful while at the same time what
you are doing is also making you a
better human being and it's it's really
wonderful I mean you just think about it
right don't most of us prefer to do
business with people that we know people
we like people we trust that's why when
people move to a new town they talk to
friends they like and they say could you
recommend the doctor can you recommend a
good car mechanic can you recommend a
bookie whatever you need people are
looking for recommendations they want to
you you know just out of the phone book
anyone in business will tell you the
very best customers the person who comes
to you by personal referral that's how
it works and so being a good person
being a decent person being an upright
person is good for business in a way
it's not necessarily good for being a
racing car driver not necessarily being
good for being a you know whatever it
else you want to be but it is just an
amazing connection between business and
decency not found in other areas at all
now people might not realize the
importance of these skills we're
discussing sometimes a person becomes a
plumber and says well now I'm in good
shape I'll yeah I'll never be hungry
again
look there are doctors and lawyers and
plumbers who go hungry because they
don't have customers or clients
customers or clients select a
a professional whether it's somebody to
paint your house or repair your car or
fix your pipes you pick that person on
the basis of your feelings about that
person the feelings they engender in you
it's always like that very few of us
pick a doctor because he came first in
his class at Medical School because you
don't know where he came in Medical
School you probably don't even know what
medical school your doctor went to and
if you're absolutely honest you will nod
your head and agree with me when I tell
you you probably don't even actually
know that your doctor went to medical
school at all and you say well I saw a
diploma on his wall yeah you know what
give me a printer and a computer I'll
make you as many diplomas as you want
and you know that as well as I do you
don't rely on that you rely on his
reputation and reputation is a key part
of doing business that's the key part of
be doing the right thing and being a
decent professional a decent human being
a decent businessperson and and that's
really exactly what we've been talking
about right and here's one of the really
important things about the way doing
business right being an effective and
successful business professional and
again I just want to stress everything
I'm saying is regardless of whether you
are an entrepreneur or whether you're an
employee it makes no difference because
one of the things I've teach is how as
an employee you have to totally adjust
your attitude to start seeing yourself
in business and so I don't care whether
you work for a huge company or whether
you pour coffee for for a coffee shop
whatever you do the correct way to view
yourself that will dramatically increase
your success is to realize you're
actually in business for yourself see a
lot of people make a terrible mistake
they think the most important thing to
do is get a job oh I got a job great I'm
hired Oh terrific and they they heave a
sigh of relief and they sort of go into
relaxed mode now oh I had this was that
tough two months I was without work but
now I've got a job and you think to
yourself now it's
my employers responsibility to tell me
what to do it smart employers
responsibility to give me my my salary
and my money and my pay it's my
employers responsibility to give me my
medical care
it's my employers responsibility to see
that I've leave work on time oh it's
great
and you're never gonna succeed all of
those things are your responsibility all
right if your employer hasn't told you
what to do find the things that need
doing think of yourself as being in
business for yourself it changes
everything and leads to your success and
it also makes it possible for you to
understand what I'm about to tell you
now which is that when you focus on all
of these aspects and you feel yourself
becoming a better person a more upright
person a more decent person you start
thinking better of yourself and a lot of
the time when we allow ourselves to
become filled subconsciously with a
sense of self-loathing we're deep in
your heart sometimes deeper than you're
even aware of
you just feel you're a rotten human
being you start feeling bad about
yourself well there's a very important
verse in numbers chapter 13 verse 33
this is where the spies come back from
Israel and they report back to Moses
what they saw and there's a crucial
sentence there where they say and we
thought of ourselves as nothing but
grasshoppers they were saying how
intimidating and frightening and big and
powerful the inhabitants of the land I
will never be able to conquer this land
and take it away from them and make it
our land never never never gonna happen
we we felt like grasshoppers and then
the verse ends with this critical phrase
and that's what we looked like to them -
isn't that interesting they never spoke
to the people how do you know what you
look like to them an ancient Jewish
wisdom tells the truth and I'm sure
you've divined it already yourself which
is that when you think that you are
nothing but a grasshopper that's what
you're going to look like to other
people as well and if you allow the very
natural human instead
of self-loathing to permeate your being
well other people are gonna sense that
as well they may not be able to put a
finger on it they may not be able to
even say to anybody what it was about
you but there's gonna be something about
you that disturbs them and so to begin
to start seeing yourself as a good
person a decent person an upright person
enormous value in this because as you
see this and you can't fool yourself you
know that right
but when you start seeing that you are a
good person that you are working not
just to grab money of course not you're
working because you take genuine
pleasure in serving your customers you
take real delight in serving your
clients you take real delight in doing
your job that makes you a good person
that improves you as a human being these
are very valuable things because that's
how you then come across to others as
well I'm not talking about complacency
or smugness I'm not saying that you've
got to somehow put on a facade of self
of obsequious nough sand and and and
self-righteousness no heaven forbid not
at all but when people have a low moral
opinion of themselves if people feel
self-indulgent and unworthy that
communicates the self to other people in
a very subtle and and often
incomprehensible way and it just doesn't
feel good and on the contrary when you
are filled with a sense of self-respect
and you have a feeling about yourself
that you know what you're a good man
you're a good woman you're doing the
things you're supposed to do when you're
supposed to do them you are pleasing
other human beings that's the bottom
line right you realize you are pleasing
other human beings you know people who
are not forced at the point of a gun to
interact with you people are interacting
with you because they choose to do so
because you're improving their lives by
your involvement in their lives that
makes you feel good about yourself I'm
not talking about the the scourge of
self-esteem no no
all self-respect yes not self-esteem and
and and that is something that does
communicate itself to other people as
well which is wonderful well I hope that
some of this has been useful to you
really it all should have been very
useful to you and it's at least it's a
small bite of everything I teach in the
material in the books in the in my
coaching programs in the audio programs
available at the website but for now at
least I think that in the last few
minutes that we've spent together I have
successfully conveyed to you some very
specific spiritual treasures strategies
that can dramatically impact your
financial abundance you know not this
week there's no quick get-rich schemes
that that work no no no this is talking
about changing your your destiny your
financial destiny impacting your revenue
dramatically raising your revenue you
know I'm recording this in the month of
of July as it happens and that means you
if you are listening to this on you know
soon after its release then that means
you got half a year yeah you apply these
strategies for the remain for the
remainder of this year you will without
question I'm confident of it have a
better year than you would have
otherwise have had you probably will
have a better year than you had last
year these are things you have to apply
so in other words what you've probably
understood so far is that succeeding
with the principles of ancient Jewish
wisdom is not as much sort of doing
specific things and pressing the right
buttons it's it's sort of becoming the
right person if you know what I mean
it's literally changing who you are not
just what you do changing who you are I
sometimes accomplish by changing what
you do but the goal is to become a
superior human being and that then
results
in superior cashflow it really does and
that is part of how the good Lord
created this world in which we live and
why it is that money plays such an
important role throughout the five books
of Moses now that's about as far as I
think we can go please make sure to go
to the website at rabbi Daniel lapin
calm and order yourself by a download of
one of the ancient Jewish wisdom
television products you can download it
and hide the definition or in regular
definition so it's not you know it's not
a very long download especially if you
have a half-decent
Wi-Fi connection download it and you
will have not one not two not three but
four half-hour ancient Jewish wisdom
television shows hosted by my wife Susan
lapin and me in which we try and bring
you exactly the kind of thing we've just
been doing for the last little while
things of real value spiritual insights
that dramatically change your world
ancient solutions for modern problems so
look for the ancient Jewish wisdom
television series on the website at
rabbi Daniel lapin calm and and go for
it give it a try and let me know would
you and now at the website not only can
you order the download of the ancient
Jewish wisdom television show you can
also write and send a message letting me
know your reaction I really would be
interested okay remember by the way
these TV shows don't watch them alone I
mean you can but you want to get the
real benefit watch it with somebody with
whom your relationship is important you
know what I mean somebody you're close
to somebody you want to be close to
somebody you want to go closer to you
maybe children maybe whoever it is
listen watch these shows together
because the spiritual communion that
comes from exploring spiritual realities
together with somebody else is really
very it's almost palpable it is palpable
you will experience it as well so make
sure you watch these TV shows with
somebody else who's relationship with
you is important
that's it my friends with great
reluctance I have to tear myself away
and wish you a week of great times with
your family with your friends with your
faith and with your finances I'm rabbi
Daniel lapin god bless