I'll start off by saying that I'm not a professional, nor do I have the answers on how to become wealthy, I'm simply here to give you some things to think about and take action upon. Much like every other method of goal attainment, financial abundance begins with a thought/intention. We start by having the desire to have more wealth.
But pretty much everyone wants to earn more money. So why doesn't every body reach the level of financial result they seek?
Three main reasons: Thoughts, Choices and Actions.
The very first thing one has to focus on, when wanting to have more money, is their embedded beliefs about financial abundance. In the book The Flinch, I learned that we often "flinch emotionally" whenever something comes into our reality that we aren't comfortable with. Most of the time, we don't even notice that we're doing it. Flinching is meant to be a physical reactive response to protect our bodies from harm. But instead we flinch (or react) emotionally to things as a way of showing our discomfort. When we react negatively to it, we are essentially keeping it out of our lives.
Examples include:
+ Reacting to the price of an item that we deem too expensive. "That is too much to pay for a....."(Price is relative to the person. Even if you believe that something is out of your price range, it's best not to attach a reaction and emotion to it. The stronger you feel about something, the more that feeling perpetuates).
+ Reacting to "expensive" purchases others have made. "She's silly for spending XXX on a....." (Even if you wouldn't spend $1,500 on a pair of shoes, it's important not too pass judgement on others who see the value in that item. In the future you may choose to invest a "large amount" on an item once you are in a financial place to do so. By flinching, you are essentially saying that you never want to be in a position of having enough to spend that amount on a similar item.)
+ Making verbal comments about how little money you have "broke people like me can't afford to.....I paid all my bills today, I have no money" (When you talk about how little money you have, your subconscious is listening. It believes that your identity is someone who doesn't have money and it aligns your actions to that belief)
+ Feeling uncomfortable in areas, stores, neighborhoods that are considered high end. (If you feel uncomfortable in areas of wealth, you acknowledge that you are separate from it and don't belong. Practice spending time in areas that are considered high end on a regular basis. Each time you go, try to feel good about yourself when you are in the environment.)
Those are just a few examples but there are a million ways to verbally express your aversion to abundance. Just be aware of them. The more you are aware, the less you will do it. The goal is not to have you spending lots of money on expensive items, the goal is to remove the negative thinking and create an "empty space." That type of language described above is filled with LACK. Abundance and lack can not exist in the same place at the same time. So you must get rid of lack. Before my financial abundance journey, my words, thoughts and actions were focused only on what I didn't have and what I couldn't afford. It took a lot of work for me to look at a price tag without flinching (a lot). Looking back, that was the most important thing I did for myself. Once the scarcity way of thinking was released, I was eventually able to begin to see myself as someone who could receive and be comfortable living in abundance.
The ground work helps you to accept and believe that you are capable of having more in your life. Once you've done the work in your mind, you must do something in reality to show your abundance. The book Automatic Millionaire made a huge impact on my life. The author told a story of a man who set up an automatic draft to his savings and investment accounts. The man made a meager living but, by the time he was retired, he was a millionaire. That was all I needed to hear. Moments later I set up an automatic draft into my two savings accounts. One small draft for on hand cash (separate from the money to pay bills) and a larger one in an online account for emergency fund savings. Life didn't change much after that, I still paid my bills as normal, I still did what I did before, except now, I was becoming wealthier with each paycheck I received. The savings amount weren't much at all. But seeing that amount grow week after week was an incredible experience. Best of all, it seemed so easy.
Suddenly, I began to feel differently about myself as I reached my first $1,000 in savings. Based on a simple calculation, I could determine how much money I'd have by the end of the year. Then I'd ask myself, what I could do to save an extra X,000 by the end of the year. It became like a game and I kept challenging myself to reach greater levels. I even created a spreadsheet to track my net worth as it grew week after week. During that time, I kept filling my mind with philosophy and ideas on how to improve my financial situation. Since I didn't have anyone in my life who had the type of financial results I wanted to achieve, I sought out the advise of the experts. Most of my time was spent listening to audio books and attending seminars that allowed me to get closer to people who achieved financial success.
That's when I came to the realization that saving money wasn't enough, In order to achieve true abundance, I also had to increase my income.
We'll talk a little more about increasing income in Part II of this series next week.
In the mean time, practice the following to get you started on your financial journey:
+ Notice your subconscious reactions to money. Listen to any statements, thoughts or feelings you have or express that are negative/judgmental in regards to money. Practice being comfortable with the idea of having wealth.
+ Set up an automatic draft today. Create a savings goal for yourself by the end of the year. Set aside a small amount to save in an online savings account. (I prefer an online savings account because it's separate from the money in my regular account. This minimizes the temptation to dip back in it.) They also pay much higher interest on your money than your traditional bank.
This is my first time discussing this topic on the blog. Let me know if you would like to see more of these types of posts in the future.
