A wealthy man told me that although his business is thriving, he understands that he did absolutely nothing to earn his wealth. He then related just one example of how Hashem orchestrated events to bless him with the wealth that he has. He had an average business here in America and was looking to open a similar business overseas. While he was on the flight to go to this other location and see the opportunities there, he made conversation with the man sitting next to him. He mentioned what line of business he was in and how he was looking to expand. The man told him he knows someone with a similar business in the exact location he was looking to open and this person was looking for someone to buy his company. He said his business was doing great, but because he lost a lot of money in other investments, he needed to sell right away. He made the connection and this man bought the business, and it has been thriving ever since. He told me he sees so clearly how Hashem practically put this opportunity right in his lap. He also mentioned that just a few years before that, he was so poor that he was evicted from his apartment for not paying the rent on time. Look how quickly Hashem can take a person from poverty to riches. We know every dollar that a person earns comes from Hashem. Shulchan Aruch writes, it's a good idea to say the parashat Hamann every day and the Mishna Berura explains, by internalizing what it says there, the person will take to heart that his hishtadlut is not what earns him his money. Just like the mann, those who gathered more didn't gain, so too, those who do too much hishtadlut don't gain from it. We constantly need chizuk in this area. Someone told me he bought a stock and after a few weeks sold it with modest gains. A week later, the stock skyrocketed over 100 points, which would have earned him a huge profit. He continues following this stock every day, watching it go higher and higher, regretting the fact that he sold it. He keeps thinking about the money he should have had and it's eating him up. How can we give this man chizuk to stop regretting his actions? I told this man, we believe be'emunah shelema , what the Gemara says, that a person's income is decided on Rosh Hashana, and he will only get exactly what Hashem said he will get. It does not matter if the money comes from a stock or from a business deal or in the form of a gift. It is all included in the number that Hashem had already decreed. If this person would have made all the money he feels he should have from that stock, it would have just meant that he would get less in other areas or have to lose in other areas. We should imagine that our parnasa is like wine in a barrel that has many spigots. If someone empties a lot of wine from one spigot, then there will just be less wine to come out of the others. The amount of wine does not change based on how often the person opens the spigots or which ones he chooses to open. So too our parnasa does not change if we earn a lot in one source. Therefore, this person should not feel bad that he sold the stock. That will not change what he'll earn this year by even one penny. Any money he is supposed to have will come one way or another. The main hishtadlut is for us to realize that the money comes from Hashem and to pray to Him to send it. If there was any way that a person could possibly get an increase on what was decreed on Rosh Hashana, it would only be through a spiritual zechut. Believing that parnasa comes only from Hashem and internalizing that in his heart is an enormous zechut. The best thing this person can do is stop regretting his decision to sell. Rather he should focus on the fact that Hashem has infinite ways of bringing parnasa and the only determinant of how much money he will make is the will of Hashem.