1. Understand your relationship with money:
Why do you want to make more money? What do you do with the amount you have today? Do you squander it, or do you know how to make it work for you? Does even talking about money make you feel nervous? What is money to you? If money is a way of achieving self-definition or status, of feeling powerful, or secure, then you may want to ask yourself some deeper questions, like: If money didn’t exist, who would you be?
Money is an important tool to accomplish many things in our world, but it is a means, and not an end unto itself. Winning the lottery will not solve all of your problems.
Learn how to take care of the money you do have, now. And your money will take care of you later.
CHALLENGE: Give consciousness to the flow of money in your life. Write down every cent you spend and make over a period of one month. At the end of the month, compile your expenses into categories to review your spending habits. Keep this up for as many months as it is helpful to you.
2. Get to know your soul:
How can you know you are selling your soul unless you know what it is? What do you really want out of life? What makes you happy? If you didn’t have to work for money, what would you do with your life? Do you have a goal that doesn’t have to do with your career or your bank account?
Knowing what you want, and understanding your internal sense of morality (not the one that has been imposed upon you from without), is the only way to know if you are headed in the right direction in life.
CHALLENGE: Start keeping a journal, and ask yourself what will really make you happy in life. Define or re-state goals for yourself that are in-line with your true happiness, not just what you think is practical. Do not limit yourself. Of course, one of your goals can be to make more money, but ask yourself how. Be specific. And make sure that this method is in accordance with your inner morality.
Make sure to write down the method you are choosing to make more money in your journal. It could be to get a promotion, to get a degree, change professions, write a book or start a business, just make sure to write down your “money-making plan”.
Several times per week, evaluate the activities of your day compared to your goals, including your “money-making plan”. Are you bringing yourself closer to them, or further away each day?
3. Replenish your energy every day:
Having ample energy is essential. It makes the difference between being the champion of your day, or being dragged along by it. Begin each day with activities designed to “charge your batteries.” Whatever your goals are, you will have an easier time accomplishing your daily tasks when you feel energized and alive.
- Breathing: Breathing consciously is one of the most effective ways to decrease stress, increase your energy level, and your level of awareness. Taking complete breaths, deep into the lower abdomen, is a simple, yet effective, way of filling your body with energy when you feel run-down.
Physical Exercise: Just 15 minutes of some type of exercise in the morning prepares you have a winning attitude every day. After a quick jog or walk, you won’t need the morning coffee to wake up, and the natural endorphins that are produced by exercise will help you to enjoy a positive and peaceful attitude all day.
CHALLENGE: Wake up 30 minutes earlier, and do 10 minutes of “Power Breathing” (from Hypsoconsciousness, by John Baines) and 15 minutes of physical exercise every morning.
1.4. Remain positive:
Remaining positive is necessary to achieving anything in life. A positive attitude has been proven to affect everything from making money to maintaining health. It is discussed in nearly every book on “success.” But what is not discussed, is how to become positive.
Positivity is a state of being, much like happiness. You cannot fake it. You can make others believe you are positive by faking, just as you can make others believe you are happy, but you’ll still be faking it.
First of all, it is essential to be full of energy to be positive. Negative thoughts and emotions are associated with a low level of energy, so make sure you follow the suggestions in Sure-Fire Step #3. One morning when you are feeling a little low, go outside for a quick jog or a walk. Notice how you begin to feel better and more positive afterwards.
Learn to recognize negative thoughts and to cast them away. Avoid getting into discussions with negative people. Notice the people with whom who you choose to surround yourself. Are they people who welcome new challenges, or do they usually complain about them?
CHALLENGE: Notice the negative thoughts and emotions that invade your day. Jot down a quick note in a small notebook whenever you perceive a negative thought or emotion. Try to catch the exact word or phrase that you hear in your head. Notice how repetitive they are. Where do you think these thoughts and emotions come from? Do they sound like anyone else you know? Write down your discoveries in your journal (from Sure-Fire Step #2).
5. Stay in the present moment:
Life circumstances cannot drag you along when you are truly present. Many people go through their days on “auto-pilot,” bored with the day-to-day repetition of tasks in their lives, waiting for the next weekend, the next party, the next vacation, the next date… anything to “get-away” from the combination of stress and tedium that has overwhelmed them.
By taking ourselves off of auto-pilot, and deciding to be present in our lives, everything becomes much more interesting, as we notice subtle differences in things that we were too asleep to notice before. We also re-take responsibility for all of our actions. Nothing “just happens” to us anymore. We can make choices.
When you are at a high level of awareness, the decisions you make will naturally be in accordance with your true wishes, your goals, and your morals. You will be less susceptible to external pressures, which can make you feel as if you are forced by various circumstances to make compromising decisions. When one door is closed, another one is always open. But you won’t be able to see it unless you are present and aware.
CHALLENGE: Take five minutes and sit upright in a chair, completely immobile. Notice any thoughts or distractions that appear in your mind, and then let them go. For more about this powerful exercise, reference The Stellar Man, by John Baines.
6. Maintain your effort and integrity:
Many times we start off our projects full of zeal and enthusiasm, only to feel bored and unmotivated by those same projects later. Hard work, follow-through, and consistency are necessary for the success of any project, including the project of making more money.
Of course, if working harder were the answer, most of us would already have what we want. We must also learn to work smarter in order to accomplish our goals. It is important to remain ordered and systematic in our approach. If we are disorganized in any way, we should expect it to negatively affect our results.
Also, our thoughts, words and deeds should remain in sync with our goals. It is extremely important to keep your word at all costs. The word is creative, and one who consistently keeps one’s word can achieve anything.
Ask yourself these questions in relation to your “money-making plan”:
- Are you making your best effort?
- Is the effort consistent, or scattered and flagging?
- Are you organized in your approach? Is your environment organized?
- Are you able to keep your word?
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CHALLENGE: Record your discoveries from the questions above in your journal. What could you do to improve on your effort? Are you sure you really want to do what it takes to make more money, or were you simply enjoying the dream of having more money?
7. Follow the money:
The saying “birds of a feather, flock together” comes from an ancient truth, which states that “like attracts like.” So, as abundance is a state of being, you should make every effort to be abundance, in order to attract more abundance. Everything you do should come from a spirit of abundance, rather than a spirit of scarcity.
Remember, abundance does not only manifest itself in the form of money. It comes in the form of joy, love, appreciation, etc. There are many ways to give and receive. Analyze all your actions using this measuring stick. Specifically:
- How do you present yourself?
- How do you dress?
- Do you usually feel joyful, or melancholy?
- Do you appreciate the things you have today, and what you are given?
- Are you generous with others (materially, emotionally, with your time)?
- Are you generous with yourself?
- Do you choose to spend time with positive, abundant people or negative people?
This last point is an important one. Association with other positive, abundant people (and those seeking abundance) is important. Find a mentor, who shares your vision, passion, and morality. This person can provide a wealth of knowledge on creating and maintaining the abundance you desire.
Of course, never associate with people just to use or take from them. You reap what you sow in this world. Rather, introduce yourself out of a spirit of abundance. You have a lot to offer, as well. Think about your answers to the questions above.
CHALLENGE: Answer the questions above in your journal. How can you make yourself more abundant in every way?
CHALLENGE #2: Make a list of abundant people you would like to have as friends and mentors. Approach at least one, focusing more on what you have to offer than what you have to gain.
CHALLENGE #3: Picture yourself often, as you will be when you accomplish your goals. See how you will look. Feel how you will feel. Call your future to you in your mind.
If you are serious about changing your life and creating success in every aspect of it, I suggest picking up a copy of 360° Success. In that one book, you will find many keys to making incredible improvements in your life.
Article submitted by Gail Levine, founder of, Millionaire Minds In Training (MMITinACTion)
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