What you appreciate, appreciates
Many of you have heard the story of the meteoric rise and fall of the co-working company WeWork. Like many tech companies, it was overvalued by its main investor, SoftBank, mostly due to the charismatic nature of its founder Adam Neumann. Once they started the paperwork and investigations necessary to go public with their IPO, it became very quickly apparent that it was a house of smoke and mirrors. Its expected valuation for its IPO was $47 billion. Before they decided to pull out of the IPO, it had fallen to $7.5 billion.
In order to remove the problematic CEO, SoftBank offered him $1.5 billion to go away. That is a pretty nice golden parachute.
However, the sad part of the story is the 6000 employees that have been laid off, or have had their stock options plummet after years of work and dedication to a company and founder that espoused community and connectedness with slogans like their mission statement “to elevate the world’s consciousness.” and “We dedicate this to the energy of we – greater than any one of us but inside each of us.”
Many employees have asked Adam Neumann to share some of his astronomical windfall, since many of them are out of a job or future retirement funds due to his mismanagement.
Yet, he refuses.
Why?? Even with all that money, he is operating from a place of lack, scarcity and fear. Which is perhaps the saddest part of this tale.
It doesn't matter how much, or how little, money you have. It matters how you interact with money. Are you fearfully fighting and protecting your assets (or lack thereof), feeling like you must take care of you and yours because its a mean hard world and there is not enough for you much less everyone else?
Or, can you take a deep breath, relax your hold on this tired belief of lack, and be grateful. For everything you have . Develop the knowing and trust that you are enough, there is enough, and there is enough for everyone. How does that feel?
This wont become normal overnight, but in time and with practice, you can live in a new reality of sufficiency and abundance. One where you take joy in money and how you interact with it.
And, it all starts with simple gratitude. What you appreciate, appreciates. Always.
It really is all within you.