The Mindful Millionaire: An Interview with Leisa Peterson

The author, Leisa Peterson, is a money mentor who aims to help people improve their financial consciousness and develop financial security for themselves. She had worked with banking and investing clients for almost 30 years.

We’re lucky that she graced us with a wonderful interview about the book.

Check our full interview below.

Q1. Do you view writing as a kind of spiritual practice?

Most definitely.  Writing has become not only a calming and healing process in my life but a way that I find my deepest and truest voice. 

I’ve learned how to channel as part of writing my book, which is also called automatic writing.  You put pen to paper and allow things to come through without conscious thought. 

Some of the best stories in my book came through this process and in many cases I was very emotional as the words came pouring out of me.

Q2. What is the significance of the title: “The Mindful Millionaire”? What is the problem if a millionaire without being mindful.

The title is meant to inspire people to find their own millionaire within — for some that will mean they earn, save and invest $1,000,000 but for others, they will come away from the process highlighted in the book, feeling like a million bucks because of what they discover about themselves.  They are both valuable experiences. 

If someone has a lot of money and, at the same time, are not mindful, or conscious to how they earn, save, spend and invest there is a risk of acting in ways that are not beneficial for humanity and the environment. 

All too often we live in a world where both humanity and the environment come after the money.  That is not the kind of world I think we really want to be living in, where money comes first. 

The book teaches ways to notice where you might be putting money before your core values or your dreams or your life vision.

Q3. What is true wealth in your opinion?

True wealth is about finding the balance between your heart and your wallet — feeling like you can create what you most want for yourself AND being financially comfortable enough to feel like you have the ability to choose your own path. 

When we are financially strapped, we are hard pressed to live with a sense of freedom, and so to feel a sense of wealth means you aren’t worried about how you are going to pay your bills next month or perhaps even 6 months from now. 

True wealth is a journey and not a destination, it is okay if it takes time to create what you most want, but you know you won’t stop until you know you are where you want to be.

Q4. You mentioned the biggest financial challenge is that people always feel not enough about money. What is the key to solve the mindset problem?

Feeling like you are not enough is a chronic problem for many people in the world today. 

To resolve issues of feeling deficient requires us to look inside of our fears and seek understanding of why we feel the way we do.  From there we can acknowledge our feelings and no longer make them wrong. 

Through accepting how we feel, we move into a new state of awareness that allows us to focus on the problems at hand from a place of abundance.  This is the opposite of creating from scarcity and lack. 

What you create and produce when you have faith in prosperity looks very different and brings joy and feelings of peace into your life with money and beyond.

Q5. Which money habit(s) do you think are the most important and why?

Taking responsibility for your life to me is a powerful money habit.  It affects the way you look at everything, your career and business, your relationships, your health and your money.  This is the beginning of a new life for those who haven’t lived this way in the past.

Q6. There are many benefits of meditation, would you recommend people practice it regularly for financial purpose?

Most definitely, meditation helps you to slow down your process of financial decision making to ensure you take time to check and ensure your decisions are in alignment with your core values.  There are many other benefits but this is a big one.

Q7. What advices would you give to nine-to-five people who are eager to be financial freedom?

Save, save, save as a result of spending less. 

When you can live on 50% of your income, you are going to create wealth for yourself.  Many of the wealthiest people I meet worked in a 9-5 job and they were focused on saving as much as possible so that they would have choices later in life. 

No one ever says I wish I had saved less money. It just doesn’t happen that way.  Many of the greatest joys in life are free or low-cost.  Take up low cost hobbies early in life and later on you’ll have the money to do the splurges. 

If you do too many splurges early in life, you will likely not have the money later when you not only want it but need it.

Q8. Do you have any next planned book?

I don’t have clarity yet for what the next book will be about – I’m exploring several ideas right now including the topic of economic bypassing – what causes people to not take good care of themselves financially.  But for now the focus is completely upon The Mindful Millionaire.