Chasing Money? Getting Nowhere? Try This Instead!
Chasing money for its own sake distorts your values.
That’s what I discovered as I struggled to build my business. After a week of reflecting on the nature of money during my morning walks, I realized that money making is all about adopting the right money psychology.
I’d like to share my reflections, followed by a small program I created for myself to upgrade my prosperity consciousness:
Money is Only a Symbol
Recognize money as a symbol of exchange of value. The ancient Babylonians saw it as a convenient alternative to barter and they built their civilization around the idea of exchanging one thing of value for another.
Although we still think of money as banknotes and coins, money is becoming increasingly abstract, numbers on a computer server. In the future, it might disappear altogether as we see on Star Trek.
Here’s the thing about money: You often end up sacrificing too much for it. You may sacrifice your self-esteem, your health, your time, and your reputation. It’s also not uncommon to sacrifice your friendships and relationships.
Naturally, when you first come across the idea that chasing money is not in your best interests, it triggers your reptilian brain. If you’re like most people, the idea will shock you. You will find it deeply disturbing.
You may want to fight. You may freeze. You may be ready for flight.
Still, I’m not suggesting that you escape the grid, turn your back on capitalism, or find an alternative way to get by without the money you need for food, shelter, and transportation. Nor am I suggesting you renounce your needs, wants, and desires for a full life.
Instead, I want to point out an irony — the more you chase money for its own sake, the less you have of it. Conversely, the less you chase it, the more you will have.
A Cultural Paradox
Since the day you were born, you’ve been told that money is the source of good. The more you have it, the better your life will be. You’ve also been told the exact opposite: “money is the root of all evil.” If you’re a little confused by this contrary message, it’s understandable.
As a result of this paradoxical way of thinking about money, you may work hard to earn as much as you can because you see it as the source of good. After you’ve worked hard to acquire some surplus money, you will then work equally hard to get rid of it. Why? Because you see it as the root of all evil.
As you know, it’s common for people who receive their lottery winnings in a lump sum to get rid of all of it and return to exactly where they used to be before.
The way to get out of this confusion about money is to recognize it as a symbol. When you stop seeing it as something tangible, then you can focus on value. Instead of chasing money for its own sake, focus on how you can generate value by expressing your strengths.
The Anathema of Scarcity Thinking
Your ideas about value are controlled by your mindset. Depending on your mindset, you will either see the world as a place of scarcity or a place of abundance. From that perspective, you decide on your values.
Although nature leans toward abundant, producing too much of everything in overwhelming profusion, from blades of grass to clouds in the sky, we humans, trapped by the belief systems of our cultures and civilization, tend to favor scarcity thinking.
If you do not have enough money, then your mind is operating a zero-sum paradigm to run your life script. You believe that there isn’t enough for everybody, and you believe that by acquiring too much, you’ll be depriving someone else of their fair share.
You believe there is not enough for everyone and that you have to fight for what little that you do have. It’s usually a losing battle. Besides feeling exhausted by the struggle, the competition always seems to be getting better.
Because of this besieged mentality, you find it difficult to share recognition or profit. You even feel a sense of adversity toward people who are helping you at work or in your business.
This pie theory is completely inaccurate. And it is the root source of a scarcity mentality. The money you need will flow into your pocket when you open up your mind to two ideas: (a) there is enough money for everyone; (b) you deserve to have all the money you need to fulfill all your wants and needs.
If you have adopted a scarcity mindset, you are reluctant to admire other people. You resent their success because you believe it does not reflect well on you. When I published my first novel, I was surprised how the editor-in-chief of the magazine I was working for at the time did not share my joy.
The Blessings of Abundance Thinking
Conversely, if you have an abundance mindset, you see the world in a different way. You spontaneously stop chasing money and start generating value.
Since you believe there’s enough for everyone and you are worthy of receiving as much money as you desire, you no longer focus on limitation. You don’t waste your time and energy on conflict and negativity. And you don’t try to stifle your creativity to fit it.
In short, you stop trying to compete for wealth, power, and recognition.
7 Ways to Rethink Your Reality
Now that we have a basic understanding of the psychology of money, let’s look at 7 ways to change your money mindset from scarcity to abundance thinking.
1. Focus on your strengths to share your value.
The alternative to chasing money is to begin to focus on generating value through your strengths. When you do this, you stop having money problems. You replace scarcity with abundance.
This shift in your money situation starts with your mindset. It’s a shift from believing in scarcity to noticing abundance everywhere.
When you have an abundance mentality, you see money for what it is — a symbol of exchange of value. Since you now view money as a means and not an end, you focus on what you can do to contribute value to the world in exchange for the money you need to meet your needs.
When you generate value for other people, they start thrusting banknotes into your wallet and transferring digital numbers into your bank account.
All this happens when you exercise your will, unleash your creativity, and play to your strengths.
2. Change doubt and disappointment into positive self-talk.
Your words have power. When you say something to someone, it has an effect on them and yourself.
What you say to yourself influences your reality. First, it triggers ideas. Then, it triggers feelings and feelings stimulate you to act. And, of course, an action is a cause set in motion that changes the world.
Since you think thousands of thoughts a day, it’s almost impossible to monitor your thoughts. But it’s not necessary, as most of your thoughts are a sport’s commentary of what is going on in your life.
Instead, just stay alert to those thoughts that stir negative emotions. Thoughts of apathy, grief, fear, lust, anger, and pride are setting you up to fail. They are robbing you of the energy you need to take constructive action.
When you feel negative emotions, pause to discover the thoughts behind them. Once you find them, explore new interpretations.
For instance, let’s imagine you feel irritated.
When you pause to reflect on the source of this irritation, you find that you dislike the work you’re doing.
When you pause to reflect on this emotion, you notice that it’s a cover for a deeper emotion — perhaps, the emotion is pride. You‘re’ upset that you’re doing high-value work for low pay and little appreciation.
You now have a choice: continue to think and feel like a victim of your circumstances or choose a new reality.
Some options you have in this situation include:
· Focusing on how you can improve your performance so that the work becomes more interesting.
· Thinking of ways you can upgrade your skills so that you can do more interesting and better-paying work.
· Deciding on a completely new line of work.
3. Appreciate what you do have so you can attract more wonderful things.
The idea of the power of gratitude is something that we’ve heard so many times that we’re now almost numb to it. When we hear about gratitude exercises to try, we either skim over them or try them out for a few days before we get bored.
Still, the idea continues to make the rounds because it works.
When you appreciate what you have, you start to notice what is working in your life.
When you notice what is working in your life, you stop doing things that don’t work.
You begin to focus on your strengths rather than your weaknesses. You begin to advance projects that work and ignore projects that frustrate you.
As a result of these subtle effects, your reality starts to change. Now even seemingly impossible things now appear much more possible.
So, by appreciating what you have, you start attracting more of things that you desire.
So how do you get to this place where you feel grateful?
Start by choosing something small. For example, be grateful that you took the time to take your evening walk or that you did your yoga stretches today.
It doesn’t matter what you choose to be grateful for — just the act of practicing gratitude will create a positive mind shift.
One caveat is to avoid trying to notice if you’re getting results. Just focus on the process, not the product; on the means, not the ends.
If you can persist in this simple exercise for a month, serendipity will begin to pile up in your life.
4. Become a possibility thinker.
It’s easy to fixate on your limited selection of choices in any situation and believe they define the boundaries of your personal universe. This is just a persistent illusion.
Think of an experience that you would love to have. It could be the type of person you want to be, something that you would like to own, or something that you would like to do.
Use this impossible wish to dream about a luminous future.
You’ll find the courage to imagine new possibilities by reading biographies, watching documentaries, or listening to interviews with high achievers. Research the life story of someone who has done what you want to do.
Once you’re inspired, take one small step in the right direction.
Then keep on taking more small steps. Gradually, you’ll develop a plan. Of course, you won’t see the entire plan, but just enough to keep you moving forward.
Keep a log of every small success you have and every obstacle that you overcome.
5. Find your passion and purpose.
Passion is a strong desire to do something meaningful with your life. It is a desire to express your love for something, usually a talent or a mission. It is a determination to change something that is not working.
For instance, my passion has always been writing. In school, I would write essays. When I graduated from college, I wrote articles for newspapers and magazines. Today, I write blog posts on Medium.
When I first started to write, I didn’t understand all the complexities of grammar and punctuation, but my passion drove me to learn and to keep on improving my skills. And to this day, I continue to take writing classes and read books on how to write better.
When you live with passion, your life is infused with meaning. When you feel passionate about something, you’re motivated to act in a constructive way.
So how do you find your passion?
It all starts with identifying your values, your interests, and your strengths. These then shape your dreams. Once you have a dream, then you can set a goal, make a plan, identify obstacles, and develop a schedule of things to do.
6. Build up your self-confidence.
Self-confidence is your faith in yourself. Realistic self-confidence affects how you think, feel, and act. This faith in yourself also affects all your relationships and impacts your success in life.
If you do not have the level of confidence that you would like, there are many ways to build it up from scratch:
— Begin to coach yourself to win and avoid negative self-talk.
— Spend more time with people you love.
— Set yourself some self-improvement challenges.
— Learn to love and accept yourself just as you are.
7. Learn everything with a beginner’s mind
The idea of cultivating a “beginner’s mind” originates from Zen Buddhism. It is the English translation of the word “shoshin.”
When you have a beginner’s mind, you have an open, eager, and accepting attitude towards something that you are trying to master. Even if you are an advanced learner or practitioner, you approach your favorite subject with curiosity. By avoiding preconceptions, you are able to notice subtleties and make new distinctions.
My Prosperity Consciousness Plan
How do you change your life for the better? By resolving the paradox of your love-hate relationship with money. The way to apply these ideas is to befriend yourself and your earning ability.
Make a little program for yourself to take steps to incorporate these ideas into your thinking. Naturally, you don’t have to do everything at once.
For instance, spend a week on cultivating a new habit or point-of-view.
Week 1: Figure out how you can contribute more by focusing on your strengths.
Week 2: Change your doubt and disappointment into positive self-talk.
Week 3: Learn how to appreciate what you do have so you can attract more wonderful things.
Week 4: Study creative thinking techniques to become a possibility thinker. For instance, a good place to start is to study Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats.
Week 5: Find your passion and purpose so that you are eager to bounce out of bed each day to do your thing.
Week 6: Take steps to build up your confidence.
Week 7. Refresh your attitude by adopting a beginner’s mind when learning new things.
After the seven weeks, review what changes have occurred in your life. If you’re pleased with your results, you may want to do a second round.
