The document summarizes selected essays from the book "The New American Prosperity" which discusses redefining success as being smart and happy rather than rich and famous. It highlights essays on topics such as finding prosperity through generosity, owning your prosperity by deciding what you want in life, and discovering happiness is a state of mind rather than dependent on external factors. The book contains 39 essays in total and aims to inspire readers to pursue fulfillment and meaning over superficial notions of wealth and status.

1. The
New American
Prosperity
Redefining Success as
Smart and Happy
versus Rich and Famous
* These slides highlight some of the 39 essays that comprise the book.

2. The Trouble
with Bubbles
In recent years, Americans and Europeans have
rediscovered that inflated expectations of quick
and easy financial gain often become bubbles
that precede a burst of disappointment.

3. There is an opportunity to redefine success away Essay #1
from the superficial notion of “Rich and Famous”…

4. Adankwo
and Her Sister
at Work…
I have two very dear friends in Nigeria: Peter
and Adankwo. They are the parents of six
beautiful children. Peter was my driver and
my life saver. At the end of one of my visits, I
gave him $300 extra for his especially diligent
services. I wondered what he might do with
this windfall. The following year, he told me he
had purchased some pineapple for a family
celebration, new shoes for his children, and
that he had wisely invested in a plastic bag
manufacturing device as the key element of a
home-based business. That’s smart & happy.

5. Essay #3
One afternoon in the winter of 2009 as America’s financial crisis continued, I sat in my
office in a melancholy mood. Then, I noticed a small flock of winter wrens perched in
the tree right outside my window. They fluffed up their feathers to stay warm. As I
studied them, they studied me, each of us wondering what the others were thinking and
if anyone knew of any nutty snacks that might be available for our sustenance on such
a cold and dreary day. The simplicity of their existence inspired me to look for those
glimmers of happiness that regularly peek through the cracks in my own existence.

6. Essay #4
As individuals within communities
and nations, we are more and more
interdependent. We know we must
find universal solutions to our global
problems.

7. Down with “Red vs. Blue” States. Essay #5
Polarization…
absolutely dilutes
the power and effectiveness
of our nation.
Up with the Red, White, and Blue United States!

8. Essay #20
The City of Happiness Is in the State of Mind

9. Essay #14
Home
Sweet
Home
We moved to
Arizona in 1996.
Some friends told
us that our home
was “meant to flip.”
We decided to just
love it and live in it.

10. Essay #10
Own Your Prosperity
What do you want…
more than anything else in the
world?
Why do you want it?

11. Fear, Obstacles
The Foreword to The New American
Prosperity is by best-selling author,
Steve Chandler. He sets the stage.
His own book is a landmark…
FEARLESS: Creating the Courage
to Change the Things You Can.

12. Economic Turnaround - No!
“It’s not a turnaround, it’s a whole new economy.”
We must and we will…
1. Evaluate spending more carefully and save more.
2. See houses as homes first and as investments second.
3. Learn to value stability first and mobility second.
4. Consider the integrity & sustainability of everything.
5. Acknowledge global interdependencies.
6. Sharpen competitiveness through education & innovation.
7. Appreciate the resurgence of traditional values.

13. The New American Prosperity

14. Essay #9
Find the Balance
Stop
to
smell
the
roses.
Grab the brass rings.
“One day, as you reflect back on life, your memory of roses in the twilight
may outshine that of brass rings in the spotlight.”

15. Essay #25
It’s Your Grand
Prix Race Car
You possess the equivalent of a multi-
million-dollar grand prix racing machine
that is designed to carry you along the
highway of life for years and years. If
you don’t neglect or abuse it, it will
provide you with a smooth and often
exhilarating ride.

16. Essay #13
Cut Dad some slack.
He probably worked harder and loved you far more
…than you knew.

17. Essay #16
Aging is not for the timid!

18. Essay #19
Needy
or Not?
If we speak of our needs and expectations, we are always in a state of
neediness that requires reading each other’s minds. Neediness leaves us
feeling “the victim.” If we speak of agreements and commitments, it’s
about what needs to be done and our determination to do it. It’s about the
ownership spirit and taking responsibility.

19. Essay #38
Yes, Oliver,
you can change.
Read Oliver’s Parable
about getting up on the
right side or the wrong
side of the bed.
“Once you choose to
go right or go left, just
remember it is you who
creates the world you’ll
experience that day.”

20. Essay #29
Take Your
Best Shot!
When you have your priorities straight and truly
understand the consequences of the tasks that
lie before you, motivation increases and your
tolerance for distractions decreases so that you
push aside the less important stuff to get on with
what matters most.

21. Essay #39
Let your prosperity Generosity is about
turn to generosity the love that we share,
toward others. which is the greatest
treasure of all. It is
The truest acts of
the only treasure that
generosity are these:
grows as we give it
to give enough of your
away.
substance that it is a
sacrifice…or to give Thee lift me and I’ll
enough of yourself lift thee and we’ll
that you forget it is a ascend together!
sacrifice. It becomes a
blessing instead. 

22. The Answers…
1. Move beyond fear.
2. Re-examine goals in light of Smart
& Happy.
3. Find opportunities for peaceful
reflection…the wonder.
4. Strengthen your faith.
5. Embrace the full possibility of
transformation…let go.
6. Slow down, prioritize, and commit
to healthful living.
7. Discover that “the City of
Happiness is in the State of Mind.”
8. Create your world by determining
what’s next for you.
9. Prepare to “take your best shot.”
10. Commit to prosperity turned to
generosity.

23. All I need are
some nutty seeds
or crunchy bugs to
be happy. Are you
happy? It’s about
keeping life simple.

24. Other Books by
Darby Checketts Our Busy World. There is a barrage
of television commercials and internet
inducements. We are all exposed to a
wide diversity of popular ideologies,
political agendas, economic pressures,
and cultural viewpoints. In the end, we
must each decide what to believe. We
must choose the actions that will shape
our destinies. As we act, we expect
outcomes that will lead to happiness
and success.
The Grand Decision. The biggest
decision we make is whether to go with
the flow of the society around us or to
look to some higher purpose to guide
us. We have the opportunity to include
God in the conversation and to trust in
“Give me a lever long His plan. As we believe in God, we
enough and a place to must also determine that we actually
stand, and I could lift believe God.
the world.” Archimedes
A Divine Design. As we discover the
Read the parable of truths of our existence, we recognize
young Archimedes and the reality of a divine design that
discover 25 Leverage influences our lives. Faith enters in and
Keys to lift your world. Essays #8 and #23 our sense of purpose grows stronger.

25. These slides are an introduction to selected essays from
the total of 39 essays that comprise the book:
The New American Prosperity
by Darby Checketts
The book is available directly at www.ResilientBooks.com
and at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble,
and through your local bookseller.
Slides: Copyright © 2012 by Darby Checketts