Motivation Articles

 

Financial Abundance Tips: What to do when your bank account doesn't match your desires
By Amy Phillips-Gary

Julia just started a new job. This is wonderful news!

Julia's position at her former job was temporary and she worked hard to attract this new, permanent, job. She is loving what she is doing and is enjoying getting to know new co-workers and experience a different set of skills in her field.

The trouble is, Julia's paycheck isn't as much money as she'd like it to be.

This leaves Julia feeling stuck.

She doesn't want to leave this job that she enjoys in so many respects. At the same time, she can't foresee an increase in her pay in the near future because she was so recently hired and she knows that her company has put a freeze on raises until the economy rebounds.

Have you ever felt this way?

Even if you don't love your job like Julia does, you might feel stuck as well. You may open up your bank statement and cringe at how low your funds seem to be. Maybe you feel burdened with debt and, at the same time, you are desperate to take a vacation or buy a new car.

Many many people feel lack when it comes to their financial situations. Believe it or not, lack feelings are a large part of why people also feel stuck and helpless about money.

It might seem to you that your bank account will never match up with your desires. Even setting aside your possible dreams to buy a sports car or own a beach front home, your bank account might not even match up to your desires to pay your bills on time (or at all).

Explore your beliefs about money.
Beliefs are just thoughts that we practice-- a lot! We think similar thoughts over and over again. Pretty soon, they appear very solid, immovable and even irrefutable to us.

Beliefs start to take shape from a very early age. The environments in which we were brought up strongly influence nascent beliefs. The lessons we are taught by watching and listening to the adults in our lives as well as our perceptions of our individual life experiences all contribute to belief-formation.

Money is a hot topic for many people. And, just like beliefs about other issues, our habitual thoughts about money become entrenched and appear to us as the "absolute truth."

You might have grown up in a household where money was tight. The messages from your parents and other family members indicated to you that "funds are limited" so "don't ask for too much."

These messages and your thoughts about them solidified into beliefs that money is a limited resource-- this now seems to you to be an undeniable fact.

These limited and scarcity-oriented notions of money almost always translate into limits on your own financial abundance. Perhaps considering an income or lifestyle that is outside a particular "comfort" range of what you've known seems wildly unrealistic.

This is because of your money beliefs.

As you get a clearer look at your beliefs about money, stay curious and don't get all caught up in criticizing yourself or others in your life for helping to form these beliefs.

What is most important here is for you to learn what your beliefs are and then decide if you'd like to change them or not.

Start where you are.
As much as you'd like to be paying cash for your brand new car at this moment, you have to start where you are.

Even though you've identified the beliefs you'd like to change and perhaps even practiced new thoughts to begin shifting toward different, more expansive beliefs, you almost always can't jump from point A to point Z.

It's essential that you cultivate appreciation for what you have right now and also congratulate yourself for the shifting you've begun.

Look around you. What do you appreciate about your life as it is right now? Practice appreciating things that you like about your home, your current car, your job, even your income.

If you can't find anything to appreciate about your financial situation, search until you discover something else about your life that you like and can celebrate. No matter how insignificant it seems, appreciate it and allow those feelings to grow.

You don't have to play a guilt-trip on yourself with this exercise and dwell on how great your life is compared to those "less fortunate." This will not promote your expansion.

If you feel inspired to make a donation to help out others financially or in other ways, by all means do so. And then appreciate that you are supporting another person's growth as you share your own wealth.

It's all about attitude and perspective.

Keep making choices.
Always remember that in literally every situation you have choice.

You can make financial decisions that will point you toward the goals you have set for yourself. This might mean that you set up a budget and become more aware of how you are spending the funds that are coming in to you right now.

Budgets can be beneficial-- especially if you use them to keep yourself on track and you also acknowledge that they are always in flux. As you open up to new, possibly unforeseen, opportunities, your budget will change and grow.

They are not so helpful if your beliefs are still primarily lack-oriented. In those cases, budgets can feel constricting and they will not support your growth.

Continue to shift your thoughts and beliefs around money. This is a key to financial abundance.

Another choice you might make is to create a long-term vision for your financial future.

Let yourself dream. This might include cutting out photos of products you'd like to own or places you'd like to visit. Or it could also mean that you "go" to a feeling place of what it would be like to always feel like you have more than enough money to support you.

A feeling of freedom when it comes to money could be far more important to you than any particular material object.

Both elements of choice will help point you in the direction you want to go.

It is important that you make conscious choices about the money that you have coming into your life right now. At the same time, it is vital that you choose to focus on a well-developed vision of where you want to be-- financially and in other areas of your life.
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Amy Phillips-Gary is a freelance writer, homeschool mom and a personal growth adventurer.




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