What does it ACTUALLY mean to have an "abundance mindset"
Image by: @ashin_k_suresh
On a literal level, abundance is having a lot of something.
The mental and spiritual concept is harder to grasp. Example: there are more than enough clients for us all. Really, if that's true, where are they? š
How to actually have an abundance mindset and make it work for our benefit is elusive. Do you visualize something, like water spouting from a fire hydrant, or a money falling from the sky? Fields of corn as far as the eye can see? It can be frustrating that some people seem to get it and are winning at life, and here you are imagining endless corn fields and not getting anywhere. Is it all just fluff?
I don't mind some woo-woo stuff in my life, but there is a pragmatic side to me too. My superpower is translating ambiguous concepts into concrete action, but while Iāve heard the term of having an abundance mindset a million times, I also didnāt have a concrete definition of it. Until last week.
The AHA moment
My 18 year-old daughter now needs the car on the regular. She also recently found a job, and is making her own money. Last weekend, she was invited to a housewarming party about a 45 minute away. Knowing the gas was getting low, I told her she needed to fill up. She filled gas, but she didn't fill the whole tank. Haha, I should have figured! Just enough to get her somewhere and not leave me on empty š¤£.
When I got into the car next day to drive to a client session, I noticed the tank was about a quarter full. And I noticed a feeling. I'd felt it before but never sat with it until that very moment. A slight discomfort about how much gas I had. Kind of a dread - do I have enough to get to where I need to go? What if I donāt fill up and then Iām stuck in terrible traffic? Will my stress level go through the roof if I hear the chime of the car telling me my tank is empty, and Iām not near a gas station? Do I have time now to fill up because I didnāt plan for an extra stop?
When I see a full tank of gas, I feel a sense of elation, mixed with a sense of security and possibility. It's not just relief that I don't have to find a gas station. There is another element to it. Like a freedom that I have everything I need, that there is nothing pressing on me; that there is lots of runway in front of me. For many years, I have ensured my gas tank is full the night before shooting a wedding to feel that freedom the morning of, and now I know why. That roomy feeling is abundance. It feels so good to have an abundance of gas in the gas tank. Aha!
An Abundance Mindset is an Admissions Mindset
I donāt need to sit in a lotus position in a quiet room and visualize fire hydrants spouting water, money falling like rain, overflowing vegetable baskets at a farmerās market and then hoping that somehow this translates to having abundance in my life. The simple trick I learned from my gas tank? Admit the exact things you appreciate having an abundance of:
An abundance of gas in the tank
An abundance of food and healthy snacks in the fridge
An abundance of cash in the bank that you donāt have to check the balance before you buy something
An abundance of photo sessions on the calendar
There isnāt anything woo-woo, or ambiguous about how we would prefer to live. So here is my conclusion:
To live in an abundance mindset you simply have to admit what you love.
But if it were so easy, why do we struggle? Because weāre often burdened under an impostor and a heavy dose of societal toxicity:
We shouldnāt want nice things when we and others are struggling
If we want too much, we are greedy
We need to sacrifice to get ahead
We donāt deserve good things
Weāve somehow become used to living with that mild sense of dread I felt with a near-empty tank. Always on the edge of stress, tension, difficulty. Iām not good enough. I have to fight a saturated market for crumbs. I have to discount to get clients. I canāt ask for a lot of money because people will think Iām holding their memories hostage. Iām not sure why it seems that our society as a whole supports this; so many messages that keep us tense, fearful, doubtful. Yes, sometimes life sends stuff our way. But must we live in dread 24/7? I say NO.
When you can admit what you love, you are living with an abundance mindset. Youāre giving yourself permission to want what you want. Admission is like unlocking a door and walking through it - on a path of actually getting the things you want. Only imagining that there are enough clients āout thereā doesnāt cut it. Thatās trying to rid myself of a sense of dread of having of having no clients, but powerless and even more dreadful because those clients are only in my imagination and gone when I open my eyes. But imagining and then fully admitting that I love having a full calendar rather than an empty one, brings things into my reality and can lead me to figure out how to get more bookings.
If youāre worried or scared of what others think, DONāT TELL ANYONE. You can keep your desires private if you need to. But within yourself, fully ADMIT what you would love to have, what you prefer. The act of living daily life evaluating and stating what you love has a magical way of leading you directly to those things. And then, something even more magical may happen; that you will start worrying and being scared less about what others think. That you will live less in dread. This is on the road of being truly free to not just have the mindset but to actually live in abundance.
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