We’ve all heard this idea before in one form or another.

And when we did first hear it, it was a very poignant one. It stayed with us. Made an impression in our minds that we never really forgot.

It did the old role reversal on an idea that we took for granted, that WE own possessions, not the other way around.

The other way around sounded ridiculous.

Non sentient objects owning US?

But they can own us as well, nonetheless.

So how exactly do they end up owning us?

The classic finger that’s pointed is the financial one.

Somebody buys a ton of expensive things, but now lives to service the debt racked up in buying those expensive things. Has to keep working long hours, can’t quit their job because they need the money, lie awake at night wondering how they’ll pay it off, robs them of peace of mind, limits their options, limits their creativity.

Amazing how inanimate objects can affect a person’s life so much indeed.

Now the less subtle way that possessions own us revolves around identity.

It’s easy to equate our stuff as to who we are but that’s a very, very, dangerous game to play.

Why?

We base our identity on something EXTERNAL.

And here’s what most people fail to realize:

Whatever is external can be taken away.

And if it IS taken away, then what’s that person to do? That person who based his/her identity on those possessions?

Who are they now? Are they a bum? A loser? A person who couldn’t make it? A person who doesn’t have what it takes? That’s a severe identity crisis that will lead to pits of depression and many, many hours of therapy to rehabilitate one’s self image.

But what if somebody already had a strong identity that was based internally? One that he’s a person who can adapt. Who can find the good in bad situations. Who can improvise. Who can figure things out.

What happens to that person if all his possessions get lost in a fire?

It would be normal to go through some grieving period, but after that, he will bounce right back up.

No problem.

He’ll get back up on that horse and keep on riding.

Won’t really have an identity crisis or go down that deep dark spiral.

His identity is based internally. It has a strong foundation, one that can’t be taken away and we have seen this play out through history when men and women have survived the harshest of conditions with everything they’ve had taken away, but still managed to survive and get everything back, and then some.

Just goes to show you that nothing outside of you can define you. Only whatever is inside you.

The third way your possession can end up owning you is kind of a mix of the first two. It can own you in that it forces you to continue your current course of action out of fear of social reprisal in the form of a lowering in social status in the eyes of others.

The financial aspect of doing so limits you, in terms of your options, it keeps you on your current path and the identity aspect is cemented in your possessions, as well as in the eyes of others, both of which are external once again.

You want to cut back but you don’t want to lose face. You don’t want to lose your identity. So you keep up the charade, locked in the place you want to be, but don’t really want to be. As a result, divided inside, you inevitably fall. Maybe to stress. Maybe to bankruptcy. Some even to suicide.

All due to the influence of possessions.

Non living things.

Amazing isn’t it?

Amazing how so many people let these “things” dictate their lives.

It boggles the mind.

If an alien were to come from outer space and see this, they would see these things using an invisible whip on the owner.

Imagine the mansion whipping the owner on the way to work.

The outrageously expensive car whipping the owner as he exits the vehicle to head to the office.

All the accessories and gadgets serving as a leash to the owner, yanking him this way and that.

Nobody likes have their life dictated by somebody else, but it happens unknowingly to a majority of people through their possessions.

Avoid this trap by really taking a close look at how your life will be should you decide to purchase x,y, or z.

Avoid this trap by taking the time to form a strong identity internally, without the need to validate it externally whether through possessions or through other people.

Once you do that, the only person who owns you is you.

And deep down inside, you know you wouldn’t have it any other way. The Window to Gain Membership to the BrianKim.net Inner Circle Is Now Open for 72 Hours!

For those of you patiently waiting, the window to join the BrianKim.net Inner Circle is now open for 72 hours.

For those of you who aren’t aware, the Inner Circle is a discussion forum I created based on Hill’s concept of the Master Mind

“The coordination of knowledge and effort of two or more people, who work toward a definite purpose, in the spirit of harmony.”

He continues …

“No two minds ever come together without thereby creating a third, invisible intangible force, which may be likened to a third mind [the master mind].”

To give you an idea of how important the “Master Mind” principle is, it’s THE VERY FIRST LAW OF SUCCESS in Napoleon Hill’s book Law of Success in Sixteen Lessons and is a VERY IMPORTANT THEME in his other book Think and Grow Rich.

Because readers of this site can’t possibly meet consistently physically, the next best thing is a virtual forum which is where the BrianKim.net Inner Circle comes in:

Here’s the major definite purpose of the BrianKim.net Inner Circle: It’s adopted from one of Zig Zigler’s quotes:

“You can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.” - Zig Zigler

I tweaked that quote a bit to come up with this:

The Definite Purpose of the BrianKim.net Inner Circle is to:

“Create a HARMONIOUS, FUN, ENCOURAGING group of POSITIVE like minded people who want to GROW in life and will HELP each other get what they want out of life.”

Why?

Because in doing so (and in looking back at Zig’s quote), you will get everything in life YOU want, AND you’ll have FUN doing so!

Membership is only offered once a month and it comes with many privileges and benefits.

Here are a few of them:

Membership Privileges:

- FREE special reports like How to Become Financially Free, How to Develop Mental Toughness, How to Balance Desire and Detachment.

- Request articles/exclusive premium subscriptions be written on certain topics. I have already fulfilled some of those requests.

- Get access to ALL the Exclusive Premium Subscriptions so you don’t have to wait for their releases that only occur 3-4 times a year.

- Bonus for joining The Best of BrianKim.net Volume I – the best articles from 2006 and 2007 put in logical order along with post commentary ($24.95 value!)

Sample of How Members Have Benefited

- Brainstorm of ways the average person can make money in a recession! (contains a pretty nifty idea on creating a residual stream of income very easily)

- Jennysun also posted a video that led to one member contacting an old friend who he drifted apart from after a fight a year ago and they’ve reconciled since!

- Members contributed ideas on night time jobs to help a member earn more money

- A GREAT business idea that has been validated by one of our overseas member who has seen the model thriving in Asia but has yet to be imported in the US

- One member found a TREASURE TROVE of videos on youtube that are simply awesome and created a thread on summarizing all of them (this is GOLD)

- Legit, No BS Ways to Make Money Online – a list of the many ways there were to earn some extra money online to pay down debt, or to stock up savings, or to just use for plain old fun!

This thread alone is MORE THAN ENOUGH to cover the investment for membership because of all the opportunities in there that members have posted.

- A member sharing his experience of moving to a low cost of living country and LOVING IT

- A Sticky thread of SOLID business ideas that members have talked about that you can take advantage of if you’re looking to dive into entrepreneurship.

How The Process of Joining Simply Works:

Step 1: After sign up via Paypal, you’ll be automatically taken to a page on my site where you enter in your email address to get information on how to register in the Inner Circle.

Step 2: Register in the Inner Circle using the information you get in your welcome email.

Step 3: I will then look for your registration and manually approve your account within 24 hours of your registration to notify you that you’re all set to go.

Members lives have ALREADY been changed because of this Inner Circle and I have no doubt that when new members come in and share their knowledge and experience, we can all learn and grow.

Membership to the Inner Circle is only offered once a month and open for 72 hours so join today to experience the benefits and privileges membership has to offer!

Edit 6/16/2010: The window to sign up has expired. Please sign up for the newsletter to get in on the next window to join.