The path to financial abundance begins not in your wallet, but in your mind. While the anxiety of making ends meet can cast a heavy shadow over our decisions, I've discovered that transforming our relationship with money starts with shifting our thoughts and beliefs. This journey from scarcity to abundance is one I have travelled myself, and it has changed every aspect of my life, from my daily expenses to the realization of my long-term dreams.
I hit adulthood with limited life experience. AsI grappled with my ideas around money, I stepped into an ocean of overwhelm and fear. Credit card debt became ‘normal’ to me, and the "declined" message that would show up when I went to use the Interac system became my adversary. So often, with very few bills left in my purse until the next payday, I dragged my young children around to multiple grocery stores, navigating sales options. Making matters worse, my husband was sometimes only pretending to work, which would leave me to discover that there had not actually been anything deposited into our chequing account during any given pay period. What was I to do?
We all have a story to tell about our foundational experiences regarding money’s perceived power and value. Most of us first experienced the topic of 'money and its elusive nature' in our homes of origin, as we watched our parents arguing about it, or discussing it in hushed voices. All we could really have learned from that, though, was that we appeared to have far less or far more than those around us. To this day, some of us remain in total oblivion to the difference between perceived wealth and true wealth.
Thankfully, resilience is often a byproduct of struggle, and my struggle brought me to the study of The Science of Mind. It is my path through these teachings that has finally brought clarity to my world of economics. Here, I have learned that money is not the root of all evil, nor is it the solution to misery. Rather, I discovered, it is my thoughts and beliefs about money that directly shape my reality and outcomes in life. Over time, I have learned how to replace old feelings of scarcity, guilt and burden with experiences of sufficiency, freedom and purpose.
Money - it plays a part in almost every aspect our lives. Yet, over the last 20 years of leadership, I have never highlighted the commonly shared concerns about money in one of my articles. Curious. I guess, like many people, I have avoided the topic without ever even really realizing it. Besides, isn’t talking about money still one of the forbidden types of conversations to have in 'polite' society? (Is this ingrained covenant the reason that high school math classes avoid the issue of personal finances, leaving graduates with no practical mathematical understanding of banking, saving or budgeting, let alone having learned the ins and outs of how to file yearly taxes? What the heck?)
As time passes, with my increasing awareness around the gaps in our financial literacy, I have aspired to have more candid conversations with my family. I now turn over all the cards and keep no secrets. This is my motivation for what I am sharing with you here today, too.
For years, I had given my power away, thinking it was all I could do to survive another day in this crazy world. I have since learned that I have unlimited potential for growth and achievement. This new perspective has led me to begin changing my language in all my conversations. For example, my two oldest children often heard phrases such as, “No, we can’t afford it.” I realize now that this mantra only perpetuated the cycle of lack in our household. In fact, even when the children did receive the newest and shiniest toys, there was often still a lingering belief that they 'never had enough', which led them to always wanting 'more'.
With five years in age between the older kids and my youngest, Karlyle, there was enough time to begin to make a shift. By the time Karlyle was old enough to think about money and abundance he had benefitted from a much different message. Spending was no longer linked to what I was not able to do, but instead was considered in relation to my own choices. (“I don’t want to spend my money on that right now.”) Interestingly, with this sort of modelling , Karlyle was generally content with what he had, even though it still wasn’t much. Where I had tried to keep up with the myths of the 'newest and brightest' in the past, Karlyle grew up receiving messages that had more to do with sufficiency. And... also due to my new mindset, I got myself out of debt.
Of all the classes I have instructed, when our community was asked what we should make available for online study, the one that received the highest accolades and requests was a course called, Change to Abundance. When participating in this course, participants had the opportunity to delve into a consciousness of prosperity. This was far more transformative for them than any strategic budget program they might have taken. When we finally come to realize that wealth is 'an inside job', everything in our lives transforms - relationships, mental wellbeing, our sense of self worth... . Once we have tapped into that self worth, it is amazing to notice how money no longer plays a power role in our lives.
So, what I offer you today is not a practice, but a promise. See what happens when you watch for the launch of our online course this fall and invest your time into the 8-week study. You will witness your own personal transformation.