Wanna know a little secret?
In the past, I was one Negative Nancy, believe it or not. I complained all the time, got bogged down by the realities of #AdultLife. The world was against me, I tell ya!
But as I started to build my coaching business, and I began to read more books about mindset and personal development, I decided to experiment with the common principles laid out.
Gratitude. Positivity. Trust.
Let me tell you – I slowly discovered how freaking AMAZING life is when seen through the lens of an abundance mindset.
The power of Energy, Baby! Don’t knock it.
If you find yourself struggling with anxiety, a bad attitude, weird feelings around money, and overall negativity (and you want to experience the other side of this!) I invite you to implement these 8 mindset practices.
Because it’s as they say – change your mind, change your reality!
Awareness is key.
You can’t fix a “problem” until you face it, right??
The first step to bringing abundance into your life is to be a non-judgy observer of your thought patterns.
(This is where your journal comes in handy, girlfriend!)
Every time you catch yourself thinking something negative – something that puts you down, limits your potential, or makes you feel gross inside…write that sucker down.
Some common ones I’ve experienced:
- I’m not deserving of making 6-figures in my business
- I’m not growing fast enough
- I have to work hard to be successful
Once you are AWARE of the type of thoughts (aka LIES) clouding your brain, you are in a position to reframe them.
Also, don’t you just feel a million times lighter after writing that ish down and getting it out of your head??
Confronting limiting beliefs can be challenging, but it’s so necessary. Because they aren’t trapped in our heads anymore, circling and festering (no thank you, gross!!).
Now we’ve made space for uplifting thoughts that serve us.
2. Flip the (mental) script
Changing the dialogue in your mind gives you a new (beautiful) perspective.
It puts us in a generally more accepting and peaceful state of being.
Is your doctor running late to your appointment? Instead of getting annoyed, tell yourself that this is the perfect opportunity to continue reading that new book!
Is self-doubt creeping in and keeping you playing small? Challenge your fears with the reminder that, as the great Marie Forleo famously says, “everything is figureoutable!”
A cup-half-FULL kinda girl is who I strive to be! I’m guessing you do, too!
3. Let go of the control-factor
As business owners, I think it’s safe to say we like to plan, prepare, and control what happens and HOW it happens in our business.
We want everything to follow OUR timeline.
But I think the more tightly we hold to the idea of one (and only one) path for success – or just one way for a problem to be solved – then we miss out on so many opportunities.
Opportunities that could actually bring us to our goals EASIER and FASTER.
When you become open to life’s curveballs and you’re willing to treat challenges as FUN experiments for learning and growing, THAT my friend is when those new and amazing opportunities show up.
Recognize them, trust that they showed up for a reason, and go for them!
4. Use Affirmations
I LOVE using affirmations to keep a high-vibe energy going.
Start small, and focus on one positive statement at a time.
I like “dollars flow to me easily,” or “my next pay-in-full client is on her way!”
I legit write these affirmations on post-its, and put them all over my house! (My husband may or may not think I’m crazy, haha!)
The more often you surround yourself with self-affirming, uplifting thoughts, belief in yourself and confidence grows. And you start taking aligned action that gets the results you want.
Then the fun really begins and you can stair-step your thoughts to be higher and bigger.
Definitely recommend using your journal to record cool moments as proof of your awesomeness!
5. Spend with LOVE
“Um, say what, Maria? Spending is kiiinda the problem with me, and gets me into some trouble!”
Stick with me here.
Bills, credit card payments, student loans, car registration fees, taxes…the list can go on. (And on).
And yeah, it totally sucks.
UNLESS….
Let’s use trick #2 and flip that script.
How about we make a decision that from now on we GET to spend money (instead of ugh, I HAVE to fork over this amount for rent).
Notice how you feel when you change your thought.
Maybe it’s a little uncomfortable. I get it. It takes practice, and you need to through the motions for awhile before the positive thoughts come more quickly and naturally.
But if we start to focus on the fact that we GET to spend, that we have enough money flowing to us to cover our needs…well I, for one, feel immense gratitude.=
My house, my car, my education – they serve me well.
It’s a JOY to be able to treat a friend to lunch, to enjoy a morning latte from my favorite cafe, to go to the gym and get my fitness on with my hubby.
And so NOW, when it’s time to pay bills, write that check, swipe that card, I treat the occasion as a sort of mini ceremony! This might sound cheesy, but I play some music, maybe light a candle – something that puts a smile on my face!
The point is, I am fully present and intentionally grateful when I spend money.
If you start to apply gratitude with spending, you will notice how available money actually is.
And to continue the money conversation…
6. Stop giving money so much power
Look. Money is simply a resource. And a neutral one, at that.
It’s a tool that YOU can choose to use for good, to fulfill your desires, and live out your purpose.
Your desires were given to you for a reason – not to tease you, but to help you live life joyfully and generously!
So if we want to receive our dream life, to impact and influence others, then we must stop thinking of money as a “bad” thing. Or something scarce. Or something we don’t deserve.
Because when we think about money through this lens, we actually PUSH it away.
I whole-heartedly believe that money is abundantly available to all of us. Journaling about any money blocks you struggle with is a fantastic way to break through them!
7. Forgive everything that created a negative money story
While you’re journaling away, think especially about your childhood memories around money.
What were those conversations like growing up with your parents?
Or maybe you carry guilt over not-so-stellar purchases that led to debt? Do you tell yourself that you’re just not “good” with money?
These things are definitely hard to admit to ourselves – all these money stories or not-so-stellar decisions we feel we made.
But again – getting them out of our heads and onto paper – SO FREEING.
And I believe an important step towards opening up for abundance is forgiving our parents, our friends, OURSELVES, for any of those negative money stories we lived by.
Again, we’re clearing out the mental junk that’s holding us back, so that we can create space for the limitless potential we all own!
8. Visualize that dream life in great detail
I saved the really fun exercise for last!
Close your eyes (well, after you read the rest of this post!), and imagine your dream life.
Take a good amount of time here. Really flesh it out and visualize the details.
Now go to your journal and write out what you just imagined.
Start with capturing a vivid “day in the life.” What does your ideal day look like, from the time you wake up to when you go to sleep that night?
Visualization can be really powerful, because it forces your brain to map out realistic scenes. This means you are more likely to take those necessary tangible steps towards your goals!
There you have it! My 8 tried-and-true mindset tricks that I whole-heartedly believe will put you on the path to more abundance.