Barriers to Abundance

What do I Want?

Hmmm.  Happiness of course but what else? Think, think, think. I want more. I want to be able to financially help my family and friends. I want to be able to spend more time with my family and friends.

So why aren't I where I want to be? Let me think this one through. 

Hey!   I am pretty much where I wanted to be at this point in my life. I have a lovely home, a job I love, a nice car, wonderful friends, a loving family to share my life with . . . What else could I want? 

I want to up my "standard of living" so I can spend more time with my family, time to pursue other interests and financially help friends and family. 

I want financial freedom. Everyone's dream, right? Not exactly. As a teenager I wanted to live in a house that I owned, have children and a job doing something I enjoyed.

I got what I wanted. Didn't I? Of course I did. But I got a little older. Now I want something else. And that's okay. People change and their needs/wants change right along with them. 

I want financial freedom. So what can be stopping me?

Barriers

I have barriers. We all have barriers. They are preconceived perceptions taught to us by our family, friends or community. We have debilitating fears and poor self esteems.

Distorted Perceptions

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For instance, I was raised to believe that money doesn't bring you happiness. But I beg to differ. We need money to survive in this world and to maintain happiness we need at least enough money to pay our bills, put food on the table, get us from point a to point b and provide some of the niceties in life. Without the money for all these items, we are filled with stress, unhappiness, depression, low self esteem. You get the the picture.

Perhaps my Mom taught this to us because money was tight when she was growing up. And after my father died money was tight for us. We had to  learn how to get by and make the most of it. 

I also grew up thinking you have to work hard for your money. Not  a completely true statement is it? But it is ingrained into my mind and very difficult to get rid of.

To reprogram my brain I constantly say to myself  and out loud occasionally, "money comes easily and frequently".

Another perception is that people who have "money" are stingy, self absorbed, maybe "stuck up." The rich get richer. That's because they rip people off, take advantage of the poor and weak. So you don't want to have loads of cash because you will become one of "them." Ebenezer Scrooge is not the best role model.

I know a fair number of people who fit these stereotypes so they are just making it more difficult for me to erase. To rid myself of these pictures of greed , I like to imagine myself with a fist full of money and I am handing out stacks to cash to my mom, sister, kids, friends and I see huge smiles on their faces as the money hits the palms of their hands. I feel excited and over enjoyed. What a wonderful feeling.

Can you think of any other distorted conceptions that would prevent you from accumulating wealth.

Fears

Fear can be very debilitating.  It can seriously affect our strength or ability to reach our goals.  We may not even start work on a goal because we fear failure. Or we are afraid to move out of our comfort zone and it is just easier to stay exactly where we are than to venture out.

Shyness is fear. Shy people miss out on so many experiences because they are too afraid to talk or move in unfamiliar ground. I know because I was extremely shy as a child and young adult. Trust me, I missed out on so much. I am still shy but I'd say it doesn;t hold me back like it use to. I forced myself into those uncomfortable situations and slowly but surely it became easier.

What fears hinder you from accomplishing your goals?


Self Esteem
I'm not good enough. I'm not smart enough. I'm too short, I'm too fat. Let's face it we have a vast amount of issues we can draw upon for this category. Our self esteems can really hinder us from achieving abundance.

I'll give you an example. While searching for a job, say you see a posting and it looks ideal because you have those skills, the location is fantastic and it's for a reputable company. Then you see under the skills section that five years experience is required and you only have one or they want someone with college but you have none. I bet many of you would not even bother applying. I would apply. What could it hurt. So they may laugh at me. I won't be there to hear it. Or they might say, wow look at her resume., let's call her in for an interview. Then I'd get the chance to really impress them with my knowledge.

What to do?

We need to retrain our brains and move out of our comfort zones.

I want to fulfill my dreams and desires. I want to be happy. I want to break free from this small confined space I have boxed myself in. I want to enjoy everything that life has to offer!

How about you?

You are Awesome!

Surprise! I was surfing the net again. I came across this image and absolutely had to share with you.

My five year old Granddaughter, Sidney was standing beside me when I scrolled down to the picture.

I read it out loud then told Sidney, " Hey look. They are pointing at you.!"

A big smile spread across her face. She asked me, "at me?"

I replied, "ya, look, they are pointing at you."

She was beaming and immediately skip hopped over to her Mom and Dad to tell them what she saw on the internet.

I have to admit I smiled too when I fist saw this. I think it would be a fantastic addition to my gratitude board. I hope you like it too because you are awesome!

 Image shared by Sagrario Garcia on Google+

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You are Successful!

Happiness

I was sitting here brain storming, in search of something to write about.The first word to come to mind was happiness which lead to gratitude. Gratitude equal happiness. 

But what else makes me happy? My family, my home, my job, my friends. Manifesting my dreams. Success. 

What does success mean to me - or you?

What is my answer? Success means happiness to me. The opposite is true too. In simple terms, failure makes me sad.

Society's Standards for Success

But how do I recognize when I am successful? 

I know some people pass judgment on themselves because they do not measure up to the society's standards. 

Let's look at the average teenager who compares themselves to their peers. Being successful in high school may mean you have great grades, have a part-time job, get involved in extra curriculum activities, dress in popular brand name clothes. or hang with the cool kids. And let's face it, if we aren't one of the cool kids we are losers.

What about after high school? Does success mean college or university? Maybe it's that fantastic job, big house and nice shiny car? 


Maybe you measure your success by the  accomplishments of your children? Or keeping up with your neighbors.

Society may judge us by these standards but I hope we don't. As I get older it has become easier to stop comparing myself society's standards but I don't think it is determined by the number of years on this planet so much as it has to do with self esteem and gratitude for ones self.

Defining Success

If we aren't suppose to compare ourselves to society's standards, how do we gauge our success? Maybe we need to review the definition of success.

1. Success may refer to: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Success)

• a level of social status
• achievement of a goal
• the opposite of failure

2. Success. [suhk-ses]  (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/success)

• the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors; the accomplishment of one's goals. 
• the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like. 
• a performance or achievement that is marked by success, as by the attainment of honors: The play was an instant success. 
• a person or thing that has had success, as measured by attainment of goals, wealth, etc.: She was a great success on the talk show.

Success Is . . .

To me, I am successful when . . . I happily complete a goal that I have created. This could be buying a house, a car, nice furniture. But it isn't because my neighbors have it.

I am successful when I finish crocheting a blanket, or paint the hallway. I am successful because I set a goal for myself, I worked to complete that goal and I did it. 

(All this talk about the word success. It sounds weird now, doesn't it? Success. Yep it is a weird word.)

Defining Success for Yourself

Is it how we judge ourselves as human beings that determines our success? Do the successes through out our lives give us value? What does success mean to you?

I can't answer any of those questions for you. All I know is you need to figure out what success means to you, for you. And we shouldn't compare ourselves to others when determining our success.

Why Success?

I wanted to write about success today because it has a lot to do with your self worth and in the end, your happiness. 

Let's face it, if we become very sad and depressed when we feel unsuccessful. And that has to do with the means that you determine how successful you are.

We can't compare ourselves to any one else. We don't do it with our kids. We don't do it with our family. And we don't do it with our friends. So why are we so hard on ourselves?

We have to set our goals then celebrate when we reach them. Yes! Let's CELEBRATE! YOU ARE SUCCESSFUL!

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