Wednesday, February 6, 2013

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

www.findingdulcinea.com
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?


4 comments:

  1. I know that my negativity is constantly holding me back. I also know that my poor self-esteem and shyness really holds me back, too.

    These are two things I need to work on, but it can be really difficult to start. In the past I have noticed that starting is the hardest part, and it always gets easier with more practice.

    Now I just need to push myself.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You really need to keep practicing gratitude. You have come a long way. Keep up the good work.

      Delete
  2. Stepping out of your comfort zone is hard, but when you do there is a world of opportunity waiting there for you. This is a great post! Thanks Darlene!

    Tabby
    http://www.shoppingwives.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by TabbyAnn. And for the compliment!

      You're right, it can be hard stepping out of our comfort zone but it is definitely worth it.

      Delete

Blogging tips