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HILL HARPER: People are more apt to talk about marital infidelity than they are to tell you
how much they earn.
[ MUSIC ]
Nobody wants to talk about money! No one want to say how much they earn, no one wants to
say how much debt they carry. It's almost - there's a fear around money. And so since
no one wants to talk about it, how can you learn about it, how can you become literate
in something that nobody wants to discuss. You ask people how much money did their parents
earn, "I don't know." How much money do you earn, "I don't want to tell you." How much
money have you saved, "I don't feel comfortable sharing that." People don't want to share
with their family, their friends, or anything.
There's definitely a relationship to money, and your self worth. In fact, in my book I
call it, "What is your priority: your bank account, or your life account?" And so many
people link those things so clearly. In fact, so much so that it's not really about how
much money you have, it's about how much money you appear to have. That's why we have so
many people getting in such debt. You know the reason why many people talk about the
consumer goods they purchase, they happen to be things like cars, because they want
a certain type of car to make them appear as if they perhaps have more money than they
do for self worth purposes.
And certainly over time, without question popular culture, my business, the entertainment
business, television, music videos, etc has exacerbated that problem. Just as an anecdotal
story, my foundation, the Manifest Your Destiny Foundation, we work with a lot of young people.
And this young guy came up to me one time, and said, you know I asked him, we were talking
about cars because I love cars. And I said, "well what kind of car do you like?" And he
said, "Oh I want, I want that car that Jay has." He was talking, obviously, about Jay-Z.
"In that video, the one where he's in Monte Carlo with Dale Earnhardt." I said, "you think
Jay-Z actually owns that car?" "Man, that's Jaz-Z's Lamborghini, man!" You know, "Mercialago
baby!" And I was like, "what if I was to tell you that that car was rented for the video,
Jay-Z you know, is a pretty smart guy, good business man. He probably knows better than
to spend $300,000+ on a depreciating asset. In fact, I actually know him and at that time
he had a really nice GMC Yukon." You know, it had nice rims and everything but it was
not a Mercialago. And that's the difference, it's the perception vs. reality. And now,
we have images beamed around the world. And we have music that reinforces a type of consumerism,
and a type of connection to your selfworth, that I think can be very problematic.
To change the situation and have a return to moderation for what you value, or so-called
values, it's all about whoever is going to be the loudest about it. It's about talking
about it. What is true wealth? And that's what my book, The Wealth Cure, is all about.
What really is true wealth? And what are your own wealth factors? And if you get someone
to really ask themselves those questions, they start to find out for themselves that
the money aspect starts to go down the list. Having that fancy car starts to move itself
down the list. Having that jewelry, that bling, that whatever starts to move down the list.
And other things start to move up the list when they're really asking themselves those
questions. For me personally, obviously in the book, if you've read it you know that
I talk about the fact that I was diagnosed with cancer. When that diagnosis happened
it was clear to me that health was probably my number one wealth factor. It didn't matter
that I was on a TV show like CSI: NY, or it didn't matter that I had gone and got two
graduate degrees from Harvard. It didn't matter that I had been a NY Times best selling author.
None of that mattered. My health was the most important thing. And so once, I think a mirror
is held up we all can be forced to take an accounting of what's important to us, and
we all can then begin a discussion for ourselves. Because my wealth factors are probably different
than someone else's. And different priorities change and evolve over the course of your
life as well.
Hey Everybody, this is Hill Harper and you're watching Epiphany. Check it out.