Book Review - Thou Shall Prosper (Part 2)

In a previous post, I wrote an brief "overall" review on the book Thou Shall Prosper by Rabbi Daniel Lapin. This book comes highly recommended by both Dave Ramsey and Dan Miller.

Now, over the next several weeks, I would like to go through each commandment in more detail, so let's review Lapin's 10 Commandments for making money:

1. The First Commandment - Believe in the dignity and morality of business


2. The Second Commandment - Extend the Network of your connectedness to many people


3. The Third Commandment - Get to know yourself


4. The Fourth Commandment - Do not pursue perfection


5. The Fifth Commandment - Lead consistently and constantly


6. The Sixth Commandment - Constantly change the changeable, while steadfastly clinging to the unchangeable


7. The Seventh Commandment - Learn to foretell the future


8. The Eighth Commandment - Know your money


9. The Ninth Commandment - Act rich: give away 10 percent of your after-tax income


10. The Tenth Commandment - Never retire

OK, so here's some more detail on The First Commandment - Believe in the dignity and morality of business.

Lapin suggests in this chapter that making money is more difficult to do if, deep down, you suspect making money to be a morally reprehensible activity. Jewish tradition views profit and wealth creation as a moral activity if, of course, your occupation is a moral one to begin with!

Step one in increasing your finances is to begin mentally and spiritually accepting these two beliefs:

1. you are in business


2. the occupation of business is moral, noble, and worthy

Lapin asserts that if you feel really good about your profession, that you bring others along with you because of your enthusiasm. Making more money changes you as a person. You become a slightly different person, and people notice this change.

This could be expressed in a mathematical equation:

Old you + More money = New you,

or to put the equation a different way:

More money = New you - Old you

In order to acquire more money, you need to work on far more than merely learning new skills. You need to work on changing yourself and belief system.

Society teaches today that if you own a business and are earning an incredible amount of money, you must be cheating or stealing from others. Lapin totally rejects this notion. Are there bad, corrupt business out there? Sure, there are a few bad apples, but the majority of businesses are providing valuable goods and services to people and their communities.

In our business and occupations, we all must believe that we are providing valuable goods and services to others. This is a morally excellent way of life!