Feel like you never have enough money? I wonder if you’ve considered this…

On a routine ‘chucking’ expedition at my house the other night, I found my mothers old, forgotten jewellery box.

There I was, 9 O’clock at night, standing in a pile of debris in my mis- matching pyjamas, grinning from ear to ear and fist pumping the air with excitement… seems a little over the top but you’ll understand why in a minute

** Spoiler alert

I’m about to say some things, to do with our attitude towards money, that may sound a little strange at first. I want you to look at your financial state from a spiritul point of view.

See, to give you context — I’ve just started reading this amazing book by a once-was-nothing-turned-millionaire-lifecoach who specializes in teaching women to change their attitude towards wealth and money, so that they may manifest more of it into their life — instead of ‘repelling’ it.

She claims to have initially been living in near squalor in a tiny apartment with her husband, she shopped strictly at op shops (second hand) and struggled to make ends meet. She then managed to deliberately turn this around and won: a 6 month all expenses paid trip around the world with her husband, a life coaching scholarship, a self-publishing home study program, a $1500 ticket to attend a seminar in Vegas and she now pulls in at least a million (per annum) through her business — her brag list is just ridiculous.

But I believe her when she says how she achieved it.

Notice how some people seem to just be ‘lucky’ and to always have PLENTY? Or, who ‘win’ everything?

Others, literally receive bill after bill and STRUGGLE to even buy themselves a coffee — never quite having enough left over for THEM.

This Denise woman basically says (from what I’ve read so far anyway) that our money situation is based on a few things:

· Our level of self-love and self-respect for ourselves;

· Limiting beliefs that you might have that you have not yet acknowledged and released

· Your attitude towards money (are you the type to scoff at and then walk over a 10 cent coin on the street — and keep walking? Or are you the type to pick up that 10 cent coin and kiss it and smile and thank the universe for always taking care of you?)

I was definitely the ‘walks over 10 cent piece and scoffs’ type.

I never forget, years ago, when I was out with a friend getting coffee. As we were walking back to the car, there was a 20 cent piece on the ground that I spotted first and walked by, my friend said something like: “Oh there’s 20 cents! Mine!” I half laughed and said — pffft, yeah you can have it.

She got really cross with me, like she might slap me and said: “No! That shouldn’t be your attitude towards money; you should always pick up money in the street and appreciate it!”

I thought she was nuts.

It took me 2 years to figure out what she meant — or that she might be right.

Because she’s now 24 and bought her first house — and I’m still over here somewhere, struggling with that same feeling of: “BUT WHERE DID ALL MY MONEY GO?”

That old attitude I had towards money (discounting & not appreciateing what I already had) was why I think I struggled for so long to have money. If I came into money, I seemed to spend it as quickly as it came, or I’d suddenly hit my car and need to pay damages or have a forgotten phone bill to pay, and OFF IT WENT AGAIN.

Like: “BYE, FUCKER. SEE YA NEVER”

I’d sabotage myself without even realising it. Could have been because deep down I thought:

Nope — you don’t deserve this, your limiting beliefs say so and I KNOW ALL ABOUT THEM.

Or — I had too many bad money memories ‘blocking me’ that I needed to acknowledge and forgive.

It’s quite confronting to think, well — shit. I’ve got X amount of dollars in my account it’s not exactly, err, anywhere near the amount I’d like to have at this point in time, but it’s absolutely and entirely, MY OWN FAULT.

It’s your mentality that tripping you up, its nobody else’s fault but your own.

Not your boss for underpaying you, or your jerk ex husband for ripping you off with child support, or your need to constantly splurge on nice things.

I decided to do a little experiment. I did as Denise told me and:

· Made a (bloody sizeable and mortifying) ‘money forgiving list’ where I jotted down every (money related) memory/event/situation that I could think of that stirred a negative emotion within me.
 
 Like when my older brother lent me $800 3 years ago and said there was absolutely no hurry to pay him back, just whenever I was ready. Then, 6 weeks later, after having an argument, he demanded back the entire $800 immediately, right before Christmas — leaving me broke. 
 
 Or the memories of shopping with mum and, the way she’d prep me in the car on the way home about not telling Dad exactly how much we’d bought and to pretend the prices were less than what we really paid, or the discount was like 40% off when in actual fact it was a measly 15% . 
 
 Or that time in Grade 5 my dad decided to punish me for cracking my school laptop screen so instead of having it fixed for me, he hooked up to this stupid monitor (back in the early 2000’s when there were none of these thin, discrete screens — no). Everyone probably thought we couldn’t afford to get my laptop fixed. The rest of the term I had to sit there alienated, at the back of the class with my stupid monitor screen. Ears burning red whenever my techer would yell across the room: “Rebecca, can you see this from over there?”

· Other than my forgiveness list, I also started to acknowledge every cent that had come to me recently, which I had ungratefully steam-rolled over with my ‘woe is me, I’m poor’ story that I kept telling myself. On it I wrote — $300 cash from my grandma (early bday present) $80 overtime on my pay this week, and the tax refund I just got.
 
 I realised, that actually, I’d just recently come into nearly $1000 — without even realising it. 
 
 I also included a list of things that I’d recently gotten for free (that wasn’t monetary) like free flights and accommodation to Melbourne next month, dinner brought for me last Friday, the thoughtful coffee my friend at work surprised me with.

I was fucking surrounded by abundance and totally unappreciative of it.

With each thing on my ‘money forgiveness list’ I had to acknowledge how it still made me feel in my body, then ‘release’ it through a special mantra.

- Then I sat back like — I’m cured, and thought: “Where’s my money?”

Just kidding.

These negative money memories leave an emotional charge in our body and can turn into self-sabotaging beliefs that lead you to manage your money poorly.

What do you frequently think to yourself — or feel — whenever you spend money? Anxiety? Resentment?

I started taking note of my thoughts, every time I spent money, and made sure to keep them positive.

- I used to get mild anxiety checking my bank account, so I’d avoid doing it for up to a week at a time; ‘I’d complain internally and curse at myself anytime I was handing money over to pay for something like — “that’s $90 less in my account now, shit!”

These little things you do are all contributing to your ability to attract money and keep it (or not).

For example, now, when I’m at the checkout at coles buying groceries; I make sure I give thanks that I can afford wholesome and fresh food to nourish my body.

No whinging whatsoever

Because I’ve realised that your thoughts and words are emitting a positive or negative energy out around you (like an aura) which attracts the same back at you.

Your life and experiences, externally, are a mirror reflection of what goes on internally.

Back to my jewellery box I mentioned earlier. Finding it, was part of my little money manifesting experiment.

I’d been diligently following Denise’s above steps and hoping and waiting for a sign that I was on the right track and being ‘heard’ — by the Universe or whatever. I hoped I’d find a 10 cent piece on the street (which says to me, yes it’s working, you’re attracting wealth into your life) and scowered the streets as I walked, confident that I’d find something soon.

I planned to go overboard with appreciation, making sure I picked it up, smile, said a silent thanks for sending it my way and, hell, even maybe kiss it!

Later at home, I was reading about the power of decluttering your life to allow new things to come in, so I went on a little throwing out binge and turned my house upside down. I came to an old forgotten cabinet that is basically just used as a rubbish cupboard (when I’ve been too lazy to put things in the actual bin).

I rummaged through and found, hidden under the debris, my mother’s old jewellery box. Next to it was a little plastic dish filled with a few dollars’ worth of silver coins!

I opened the jewellery box, it was so heavy, and Bingo — EVEN MORE LOOSE CHANGE.

I was so stoked with my find! I did as promised and celebrated my little treasure chest of coins and immediately promised to bank it on Monday, no matter how small a figure it amounted to.

Turns out I had $17.00 worth of loose change there and I BELIEVE that was the sign I was waiting for that I could attract/manifest as much as I desired as long as I put my mind to it.

Take from this, what you will but I’m definitely sticking to this — and I’ll let you know when I’ve manifested my first $100,000.00!

HAPPY MANIFESTING

x Bec