Too Good To Be True

September 7th, 2011, by Shelley Riutta

“Doing what you Love is the cornerstone of having abundance in your life.”  Wayne Dyer

When I work with people to connect with their Authentic Self and align with their Life Purpose–their lives get better and better.

A big challenge can be letting all of this good in and getting comfortable with it. A recent example of this was client of mine, Karen, (not her real name.)

Karen had connected deeply with her Authentic Self and got clarity about her Life Purpose. She took the courageous steps to align with and follow her Life Purpose.

She was so surprised to find the more she followed her true purpose–the better things got in every area of her life–including her finances. She was able to do what she loved and was making three times what used to make at a job she hated!

She was flying high until she attended a recent party of one of her friends. One person after another complained about the economy or how much stress they had at a job they didn’t even like.

Karen began to feel guilty for all of the joy and abundance she was experiencing. She said “I felt ashamed–like I was bad for having it so good–who am I to have all of this when others are struggling so much?”

I explained to her that what she was experiencing was what EVERYONE is meant to be experiencing–a connection with their true self, loving connections with others and work that they love–including amazing abundance.

I shared it was her own commitment and investment in her own growth that had paved the way for what she was experiencing. “Karen, every person at that party can experience what you are—it is up to them to love themselves enough to invest their time, energy and money in their growth—like you did” I said to her.

Karen nodded her head as she listened to me.  “But what about the money—I can’t believe I am earning so much money for doing what I love—it seems like it is too good to be true!” she questioned.

“Again, Karen, this is how it is meant to be for everyone. Abundance flows to us when we are aligned with our True Life Purpose. The other people at the party are struggling so much because they aren’t aligning with their true path.  They are instead chasing security—but true security and abundance comes from doing what you love and what you are meant to be doing on the planet.  That is what you are experiencing now.”

Karen said “When you explain it that way—it makes so much sense.  I feel so joyful and happy—I want everyone to be experiencing what I am!”

“And Karen, everyone can experience what you are experiencing but it is up to them to make the choice to invest the time and energy to explore just what their true path is—and then take the steps to align with it.  Then their life is not ‘too good to be true’ but what their life was meant to be like all along— incredibly joyful and abundant.”

Please post below how this article inspires you to align with your Life Purpose!  I would love to hear from you:)  Shelley

Life Breakthrough Transformational Workshop

August 31st, 2011, by Shelley Riutta

Life Breakthrough Transformational Workshop

8 Steps to Clear Through Your Blocks and Have a Breakthrough in Your Life

August 23rd, 2011, by Shelley Riutta

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took blossom.” Anais Nin
1.    You need to commit to your Breakthrough—You need to want it more than anything else. One of the reasons my clients experience so much success is they are really committed to themselves—they prioritize their personal growth at the top of their list—devoting plenty of time, energy, money and focus to their inner growth—because they know it is going to positively affect every area of their life.

They are willing to travel across the country to go to a Workshop and to take big risks to change ingrained patterns. The clients I have seen who have the most success are the ones putting all of their energy into their healing.  Honestly ask yourself—am I willing to put my personal growth as the highest priority in my life right now?.  If the answer is yes—you will certainly have your breakthrough—if you say no then you are committing to what you are currently experiencing in your life.
2.    You may Struggle with Committing to your Breakthrough because of Fear. It means you have been giving the voice of fear validity—you have been listening to it, believing it, and then staying stuck because of it.  If you deeply want to change and you would like the tools to do this—trust that what you need is probably right in front of you right now—but it will involve taking a risk of some kind.

Stepping out of your comfort zone by doing something new, learning new skills, exploring blocks on the inner level deeply, investing your time and energy into it. So if you are stuck—it means you are not willing to do what is in front of you. Ask yourself—-what opportunity is in front of me that I am ignoring?  How do I have my blinders on to my next step?. It is important to bring this fear to the light of day—otherwise you will stay stuck for years.
3. Get Clear about why you want your Breakthrough. What would that do in your life—write this out in detail. Here is an example: “ If I had a breakthrough in my life with my anxiety meaning my anxiety went away—what would this allow me to do?”  Your life would be better—how so—write this out in detail.  Painting a picture of what life will be like will help motivate you—or if you never felt depression again—what would that do for you? Write this out in detail.
4. To make a Breakthrough—you must release the Past-–Old beliefs, past experiences, old emotions—all need to be released to step into that higher level that is on the other side of your Breakthrough.
5.    To make Your Breakthrough—you need Support. Write out who in your life would be supportive of a Breakthrough in your Life—and who would not.  You might know this very easily or you may need to think about it.  Ask yourself—who would be supportive if I was happy, joyful and my life was amazing on all levels?

Once you get this list you will have a clear picture of your current level of support right now. If you don’t have a lot of support it is important to get it. This will make such a huge difference for you.  I will say to clients you are stuck because you aren’t getting enough positive support.  That is why I like people to attend my workshops because you get the feeling of full on support at a very deep level.
6. To make Breakthrough===you need to Connect fully with your Spirit and your Spiritual Connection. Alll profound healing is spiritual healing.   Oftentimes the protective behaviors that keep us stuck are because we are operating from our Conditioned Self that wants to control things to keep us safe—rather than opening up to the faith and trust of our own Spirit and Spiritual Connection (whatever this is for you.)
7.  To make a Breakthrough—utilize methods that get you out of your head and into your Body. Your Spirit is in your Body.—and you need to connect deeply with your body—to connect with your Spirit.  If you do not do this—change will not happen.  Methods that do this are Breathwork, Inner Bonding, Yoga, Dancing.

The reason for this is that the energy blocks created by our stuck patterns oftentimes cannot be released except through the release of blocked emotions and energy. Talking is not enough to do this—the release has to be deeper to move this oftentimes very deep energy.
8. To make a Breakthrough your must commit to Loving Yourself. You need to fall in love with yourself—your Unique Spirit.  This is the core of any sustained Breakthrough.  That is why I work so deeply with clients on this Core of Self Love—because without it—change will only be fleeting and superficial.  Self-Love will both help you step into your Breakthrough—as well as sustain it at a deep level—so it becomes a permanent change for you.

Which one of these Breakthrough Steps will you do first?  Please post your comment below!

Want more support for your Breakthrough?  I am leading a  NEW 3-Day Life Breakthrough Transformational Workshop on Sept. 16-18.  For all the exciting details go to Life Breakthrough Transformational Workshop.

Why You Are Stuck

July 26th, 2011, by Shelley Riutta

Why You Are Stuck

“Don’t ask what the world needs.  Ask what makes you come alive and go do it.  Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”    Howard Thurman

Do you feel stuck in your life?  Do you feel there is something more for you in your life  but you don’t know what that is?  Or you know what it is but you don’t know how you are going to get there? The “feeling stuck “feeling is an important feeling to pay attention to.  It is a signal that something needs to change in your life—but the change first needs to begin on the inner level.  You see we are all meant to live magnificent lives filled with joy and purpose—we are actually hard wired for this.  The stuck feeling is giving you a signal that you are out of alignment with your true self—your Authentic self.

Your Authentic self is the truest you—the you that you intended to be when you came here. Your Authentic self is already filled with Joy and knows it’s purpose on the planet—this is already within you—it is not contained outside of you—where many people get sidetracked looking.

So many of the clients I work with feel a sense incredible untapped potential within them that is just not being expressed. They feel the frustration of this knowingness– coupled with confusion they feel about how to tap into this energy and express it more meaningfully in their lives.   The most powerful thing that I share with them that begins to transform their lives immediately is beginning to distinguish the voice of their conditioned self (all the fears, false beliefs and patterns they have been taught) from the voice of their Authentic Self.

Many listen to the voice of their Conditioned Self and allow this voice to dictate their decisions in life. Listening to this voice will lead to confusion, lack of confidence, unwillingness to take risks, despair, anxiety and even anger.  This voice will keep you stuck in old patterns and situations that aren’t good for you for YEARS.  The Joy that is inside of you will not be able to be felt or expressed with this Voice running the show.

To start to get you to distinguish this voice from your Authentic Voice—here are some examples:

1. Conditioned Self Voice-“You better stay right where you are right now, it’s safe, secure and the money is good—don’t rock the boat.  The economy is bad and you should be lucky you even have a job.”

Authentic Self Voice-“I’m so excited to find my life purpose!  I know there is something special I am meant to do—I can just feel it and I can’t wait to figure it out.  I am going to sign up for the Life Purpose Mentoring Program so I can start moving forward as soon as possible.  I am so excited—what an adventure this will be!”

2. Conditioned Self Voice-“I probably don’t have a Life Purpose—life is just meant to be how it is now—not awful—but not really great either.  I think I want too much in my life.”

Authentic Self Voice- “I know life can be better—I can feel it inside of me.  I have made positive changes in my life and I can do it again.  I am willing to take the risks to be all that I came here to be and I know I will be supported as I step out in faith”

3. Conditioned Self Voice-“I could never make money at my Life Purpose –that is just a pie in the sky dream there are only a few lucky people who get to do this.    I better just stay realistic and resign myself to what I am doing now—it’s not so bad

Authentic Self Voice-“I know I can make money at my Life Purpose.  I might need to learn some new things and grow in different ways—but I am willing to do it because I LOVE what I am doing.  And remember the phrase “Do What You Love and the Money will Follow”  I will remember this as I move forward.  I am so excited—it is going to be even better than I imagine!

4. Conditioned Self Voice-“I don’t think we are supposed to be happy.  I see everyone around me and they are just as unhappy as me—that is just life.

Authentic Self Voice-“Happiness is meant for me and everyone else and I am going to open up fully to my happiness and live fully now.  No more waiting on the sidelines—I am going to make choices that support what brings me happiness–NOW.  I will be a role model for others to move into their happiness too—won’t that be fun!

5. Conditioned Self Voice- “I can’t do that because……….I”m too old, too young, don’t have the money, don’t have the time, I will fail, I will succeed, I don’t deserve it, it’s too late, I don’t know what will happen, I will regret it, I’m scared, I will do it later…….

Authentic Self Voice-“I CAN do it because………I have what it takes, I deserve to be happy, I say so, it is my time to really live, now is the time, I’m not going to hold back anymore, It will be a success no matter what happens, I will be supported by the Universe every step of the way.

See how different you feel reading each of these statements? Feel the heaviness and constriction of the Conditioned Self and on the other hand the lightness, joy and expansiveness of the Authentic Self.

Use these examples to track the voices inside of you—practice labeling the voice of the Conditioned Self and begin to NOT listen to it. Instead–  Listen to that soft, subtle, joyful, hopeful, light voice of the Authentic Self inside of you—it will lead you on a path of more Joy, Love, Peace, Lightness and sweet Adventure—the kind of life you were meant to live!

An Inspired Life Can’t be Planned

July 14th, 2011, by Shelley Riutta

“An Inspired Life Can’t be Planned”

“I love to laugh, it keeps my soul alive.” ~ Mark, River Falls, WI

We are Spirits housed in human bodies.  There are things that fuel our bodies and things that fuel our Spirit.  If you neglect feeding your Spirit –you will feel drained and like you are a robot going through life.  Being inspired is a powerful way of nourishing and uplifting your Spirit.  What inspires you?  How often are you around the things and people that inspire you?  Just reflecting on what inspires you and making sure you are surrounding yourself with these things will lift your Spirit and energize you.

Tips To Get Yourself Inspired
1. Who are the people in your life that inspire you? What about them inspires you?  This is a quality that you value and more than likely possess yourself but maybe you aren’t expressing in your life. Use this to open up more to this quality in your own life.  Make sure the people you have in your life inspire you.

2. What music inspires you? What about the music uplifts you—is it the voice of the singer—the words–the rhythm?  Do you like music that you can dance to or music that is calm and soothing.

3. What things visually inspire you? Is it certain things in nature—the ocean, mountains, trees?  Is it certain colors?  Is is certain architecture of buildings?

4. Which restaurants inspire you? What food do you love?  What decor do you find appealing?  Do you make sure to go to restaurants that inspire you.  I love going to Cafe’ Mario’s because I love how they have decorated it, the music they play (Andrea Bocelli–my favorite:), the smells of the food, the laughter and connection that happens there.

5. What books do you find inspirational? What words uplift you?  What authors inspire you?

6. What creative activity inspires you? Dancing, painting, playing music, singing, making jewelry.

7. Do you inspire yourself? Are you daring to live your dreams, express your creativity–living with passion?  Are you committed to a vibrant, inspired life?  Like the quote above–an inspired life can’t be planned.  Are you willing to let go and allow yourself to be inspired—and more importantly to act on these inspirational impulses?

8. What geographic areas inspire you? Does your Spirit lift just thinking about Italy, Hawaii, Alaska or the California coast?  Make a plan to travel to the areas that inspire you.  There is a reason you are drawn to that area—it is a place that will feed your soul.  If you can’t travel there just yet, put up pictures of that area that you can see every day.

9. What movies inspire you? Look for movies that inspire you—don’t settle for anything less than that .
For those of you who have read the “What Do You Really Want Workbook”, I mentioned one of my favorite inspirational movies, “Miss Potter”, about the amazing life of Beatrice Potter (the artist who created Peter Rabbit).

10. Talk to your friends and family about what inspires them—you will deepen your connection with them from having this discussion.  Ask them “What inspires you?”

11. Surround yourself with things that inspire you. When you look around your home—are you inspired?  Put up pictures that uplift you–buy art work that inspires you.  Buy flowers that you love.

Open up to feeding your Spirit with all the the things that inspire you—and watch your energy level soar and your life expand into grand new possibilities!

I would love to hear what Inspires YOU.  Please share this below (in the comments section).

Do you Rise Up or Go Down in Relationships?

July 12th, 2011, by Shelley Riutta

What I have noticed in working with clients over the years is that many people have difficulty holding their own in a relationship. What I mean by this is taking 100 % responsibility for their happiness and holding true to the highest vision for their life and relationships.  People can have sense when their partner is on a different path and maybe doesn’t have the same type of dedication to growth that they have.  In response to this–they may do a variety of things to deal with this.  The most common thing can be to start holding themselves back from their own growth.  They sense that if they keep growing that they will “grow” out of the relationship.  So they make a decision that they are willing to hold themselves back, rather than lose the relationship.  They ended up bringing themselves down.

When I work with a client who is doing this–I have them look at the consequence of doing this. Typically they start to struggle with depression and or anxiety.  It takes a lot to hold their own energy back–and typically they will start to feel very drained from this.  The origin of doing this can come from their childhood.  In order to get their parents’ approval they had to be more of who their parents wanted them to be–rather than who they truly are.  They actually are used to holding themselves back in a relationship because they started doing this at a young age.  The belief underlying this pattern is “I can’t be all that I came here to be and be loved too–I have to hold myself back to keep my relationships.”

I encourage them to love themselves for who they truly are—and commit to allowing themselves to be all that they came here to be. They will not really know the truth of their relationship until they do this.  I have seen the other partner in this kind of relationship “rise up” and start to grow as well when their partner holds their ground in their own growth.  They will never know if this is a possibility until they do this.  If they do embrace themselves fully and not hold themselves back—move forward in their lives—and their partner continues to stay stuck for a period of time–they will know that they did everything they could to give the relationship a chance.  They can walk away with peace—opening up to a healthier connection with someone with a similar commitment to growth.

Dreams Come True

July 7th, 2011, by Shelley Riutta

When we have dreams there is a waiting period between having the dream in our mind and it coming into physical form. For some dreams this waiting period is very short—we have the dream and soon after the dream comes to pass.  For many dreams there is some longer waiting period—a gestational period where we are preparing on the inner level to receive the dream and things are being prepared on the unseen level to manifest this dream as well.  Also during this gestational period we may be taking physical actions to move us towards the dream.

What do you do during this waiting period? Do you stay positive and expectant this dream will manifest—or do you move into worry and fear?   What we do during this waiting period is important.  We can cause needless suffering if we move into worry and fear.  To help yourself not move into worry and fear–it is important to embrace a feeling of faith and trust.  Faith is having trust that the dream in your head will manifest in the physical world.  It is having trust in the unseen process of manifestation that is taking place during this waiting period.  Look for signs that you are on track.  You may meet someone who has already manifested the dream you are wanting—this is a way that you are being shown that this dream is possible.  Use this as reassurance that it will happen for you too.  Don’t use it in a negative way where you say “That happened for them—it will never happen for me”.  You may also get signs in a real literal way.  This just happened to me yesterday.  I had a few moments of doubt about a dream that I am manifesting and just as I thought those thoughts I saw a sign for a store called  “Dreams Come True”.  Now I have driven on this road 100′s of times and I had never seen this sign for this store before until yesterday!  This has happened to me before during times I really needed the support—and it is so reassuring and magical.

If you are in a waiting period for your dream stay in a state of faith and trust.  Look for signs and markers along the way that signal that you are on track–you just need to be patient.  I would love to hear of some of the signs you have had as you moved towards your dream.

Let Go of the Outcome–The Universe is on Your Side

July 5th, 2011, by Shelley Riutta

Practicing letting go of the outcome can be one of the most powerful things you can do to bring more lightness and peace into your life. When we try to to control the outcome of things it takes so much energy and it ends up stopping the natural flow of things.  The core issue why people don’t let go of the outcome is that they don’t trust that the Universe is truly on their side—and not working against them–but for them.  What if you really got that there is an incredible amount of support around you each and every moment—wanting you to succeed and flourish?  The very thing you want—the Universe wants this for you as well and is supporting this unfolding.  By letting go and trusting that what will unfold will be better than anything you could have imagined or tried to force into place.

Set your intention for what you want–take action on what feels right to do—and then let go and trust the unfolding of the manifestation of your dreams.

Who is responsible for your financial life–you or the economy?

June 30th, 2011, by Shelley Riutta

I am a member of a networking group and it has been interesting to watch the different members reactions to what is happening in the economy. Some of the members who are in the same industry are having different reactions—thus are having different results.  Some people are attributing the slowness in their business to what they hear in the media–that we are going into a recession and people just “aren’t buying”.  Then other people in the same industry make no mention of a slow down in the economy and are busier than ever.  One guy has been so busy he hasn’t been able to attend out meetings!  I went up to him after the last meeting and we talked about this—he said “I don’t focus on what is being said–I just kicked it into high gear and pursued these projects and things are going great–I am busier than ever!”

I have noticed too with my newer clients–many of them are mentioning the economy and their fears about how this will affect them. The clients I have been seeing for awhile—make no mention of this at all.  They keep their focus on the positive–take action in their lives to move their business and lives in a positive direction.  The phrase “What you think about expands” is a factor here.  The clients I have worked with for awhile learn that their own thoughts and actions lead to the results in their lives.  If someone is in fear and believes that external circumstances determine what is going to happen in their lives—their results will reflect this.  They will not take action and be immobilized—they will then create the very think they fear.  Going to my example above—the people that felt the economy was slowing down and “people weren’t buying”—stopped marketing their business because they felt “they won’t buy anyway”.  The person with the booming business didn’t stop pursuing business and started marketing even more–that is where he channeled his energy–his results were dramatically different.

Notice in your life how you are creating your own reality by the thoughts you hold—whether positive or negative—then these thoughts impact the kind of action you do or do not take.  Make the connection and really get that you are more in charge of what happens in your life than you may think right now.

Transforming Your Relationship with Money

June 28th, 2011, by Shelley Riutta

What is your relationship like with money? Do you have a lot of stress about not having enough?  Do you feel you never get ahead financially?  Do money issues prevent you from pursuing your dreams? Do you feel stuck in patterns that keep happening over and over again in your financial life?

What happens in your financial life is determined by your money blueprint. Your money blueprint is your conscious and unconscious beliefs about money.  These are beliefs that you have inherited from your family, the culture and beliefs you determined from your own experiences with money.  If these beliefs are positive and expansive—you will experience abundance and ease in your financial life.  If these beliefs are negative and limiting—you will experience scarcity, fear and frustration in your financial life.

Examples of limiting beliefs about money are: “I don’t deserve to have abundance” “Money is the root of all evil” “I don’t have what it takes to earn more money” “People with a lot of money are materialistic” “You have to work really hard to have a lot of money” “If I have a lot of money other people won’t like me or be jealous of me””Other people are stopping me from having more money”.

Examples of positive, expansive beliefs about money are: “I deserve abundance in my life” “Working with money is easy” “I can bring in more money and still have balance in my life” “I will be an inspiration and role model of abundance for those around me” “I have everything  I need to bring more abundance into my life right now.”

The challenge is that many of the beliefs that you have about money are unconscious—meaning you are consciously unaware of what these beliefs are.This can be frustrating because if you are unaware of these beliefs—you can’t change them– and they will continue to keep you stuck and unable to get to where you want.  Here are some exercises that you can do to flush these unconscious beliefs to the surface so you can deal with them directly.

Exercises to Uncover your beliefs about Money:

1.      Write down the word “Money” on a blank piece of paper. Write down all of your associations with the word money.  Anything that pops into your mind.  Look at the words that you wrote down –are they positive or negative—or a mix of both?  Can you see from this exercise some of your negative associations with money.  Now write down the words that you want to associate with money—examples could be : fun, ease, joy, giving, freedom. Write and affirmation with this word “Money is fun” “Working with money is easy” “Money is good and I deserve to have it”.

2.What beliefs to you have about people who have a lot of Money?- Write these beliefs down. These beliefs give you a lot of information about your own beliefs about money.  Example—“People with a lot of money did something dishonest to get it”  This indicates that you believe that in order to get more money you will have to be dishonest—and of course you don’t want to do that —so you block yourself from having more money.  Or you might cap off how much money is acceptable for you to have before you fall into what you perceive as the category of “People with a lot of money.”  Or your belief could be that “People with a lot of money use people and take advantage of them to get money.”  Or “People with a lot of money are stuck up or superficial”.

Any negative association or judgment about people with a lot of money ends up sabotaging your capacity to bring in abundance—because you believe you will be perceived this way if you have a lot of money. There is a whole range of people who have a lot of money—some are kind and generous—and some may be unkind and greedy. The reality is that you get to decide what kind of person you will be with your abundance.  Shift your belief by focusing on the people who do wonderful things with their abundance. The more you embrace positive associations with people with money—the easier you can move into bringing in more abundance yourself.  And then know that you can have a positive impact on the world by the way that you channel your wealth and abundance.

3.Write out your financial biography- Each of us has a financial biography—a history of how money has been viewed and handled in our family’s history and in our own lives.  It is important to think about this because it will give you clues to your unconscious beliefs.  An example of part of my financial biography is that my Mother’s father (my grandfather) grew up very poor—his parents were emigrants from Croatia and his father died when he was 9 years old.  When he died it was also during the Great Depression so it was a very difficult time for his Mother and 3 siblings.  All of the kids started to work to bring in money—by grandfather was good at this and developed this skill and became a young entrepreneur.  He later went on to build a hotel and bought a bar.  He was very frugal with his money and I recall him noting each time we ate how much he paid for each item.

What are the beliefs about money that I inherited from this story? Some of them are positive beliefs and some are limiting.  The positive beliefs are “No matter what the financial challenge, there is always a creative way to bring money in” one of the limiting beliefs is “I have to work non-stop to bring money in, I can’t take time to enjoy the fruits of my labor”.  This limiting belief comes from a time period when there was a lot of challenges in my grandfathers life around money—and he did have to work quite a bit.  But now is a different situation and I can embrace a more positive belief which is “I work and also allow money to flow to me—when I take time to relax I open myself to even more abundance.” The fears about money from an earlier time can echo down through the generations and fuel an unconscious fear in you today.  Notice which of your limiting beliefs come from a painful time in your family history—and that you still may operate from it—even though that event is over and not happening in your life.  The more you can operate from beliefs of faith and trust rather than fear and scarcity—the easier it will be for you.

The important thing to remember is that whatever we believe acts as true. Look at the financial beliefs that you have inherited from your family and carefully choose the beliefs that you want to operate your life from.  Question—is this belief coming from fear or trust?  If is coming from fear—it is going to limit your capacity for abundance.  If it is coming from trust—it will expand your capacity to bring in abundance.

4.Write down your families beliefs about money- After doing the financial biography you can begin to write out the financial beliefs operating in your family.  Write down how much you adhere to this belief in your own life.  Or you may have rebelled against a belief and went to the exact opposite.   An example of this is if your family was very frugal and did it in a way that was very fear based and restrictive—you may rebel by overspending.  Their belief may have been “The priority is to save money and not have fun—saving for the future is the priority” and you may go the opposite and say “Money is to spend now—I don’t have to worry about the future.” Both beliefs are limiting.  The reality is that there can be a balance of saving for the future and having fun in the present.  The underlying limiting belief in both of these statements is that you can’t do both at the same time—have money AND fun.  Look at the beliefs you have inherited and decide which ones you want to keep and which ones you want to replace.  Write out an affirmation to replace the limiting belief.  For the beliefs listed above it could be “I am able to balance saving money and having fun in my life-they both are important.”

5.Notice the problems you have in your life around money—What are the reoccurring themes and patterns you have about money?  Is it that you are able to save a certain amount of money, but then some emergency happens that depletes your money and your back to square one?  Is it that you run out of money and then have to borrow from others?  Do you have people who always borrow from you?  Are you stuck in earning the same amount of money you have earned for years?

Your outer world reflects your inner beliefs—so you can look to your outer world to see your beliefs. What beliefs would someone have to create this experience?  If the theme is just when you get ahead financially some external circumstance brings you down—you have a self-sabotage pattern going on.  What are the beliefs supporting this?  Is it “I don’t deserve to have abundance” or “I am only allowed to succeed this much—I can’t go beyond this” “It is not OK to be make more money than my parents did” “I feel guilty if my life goes well when other family members are struggling so much.”  It is important to get to the core of the beliefs that are fueling reoccurring patterns in your life.  These beliefs are causing needless suffering in your life.  This exercise is great to do with a friend or a therapist—they can give you feedback on a pattern that you may be so close to that you aren’t able to see how your own beliefs are creating it.

As you uncover and shift your beliefs about money your outer experiences will begin to change.Here are some other things you can do to bring in more abundance.

Tips to bring in Abundance

1.      Give Yourself a Raise- Determine how much money you would like to make this year above and beyond what you already make.  Pick a number that feels like a stretch, yet somewhat realistic.  Now brainstorm ways that you could bring in this extra money and list these out. This is on the practical level.  Now shift gears and open up to the universal flow of abundance—consciously open up to receiving money in ways that you never dreamed possible.  Money can come to you in so many different ways—just open up to receiving it.  One of the more magical ways I have heard of money coming to someone is when she was driving in the country money started blowing all around her car.  So she stopped to gather it up—it was like to appeared out of nowhere!  To open up to this you can use the affirmation “Money comes to me in magical and unexpected ways.”  Combine doing things on the practical level to bring money in and also stay to open money flowing to you in these unexpected ways as well.  This is an important technique to use in our current climate of fear around money.  Instead of moving into fear and becoming immobilized—move into faith and action.  What can I do to bring money in now matter what is happening externally?  Focus on bringing it in both practically and magically.

2.Declutter your home- If you think of money as energy it will flow more easily to you if you are open and unblocked.  We can “block” ourselves in a variety of ways—one is with our own negative thinking which I addressed earlier in this article.  Another way we can block ourselves is by hanging on to clutter.  Clutter can literally block the energy in our home and in us—stopping the flow of abundance that wants to come to us.  Hanging on to clutter is based on fears about scarcity—“if I let go of this I am afraid I may need it someday.”  This is an inherent lack of trust in the abundant flow of the Universe bringing to you what you need when you need it.  It again is operating from fear rather than trust.  I had a client who decluttered her basement and a week later she received a check out of the blue for $10,000!  Delutter and open up to the flow of abundance that wants to come to you.

3.Treat what you do have with Care- How do you handle your current finances?  Are you mindful and wise with how you spend your money now? Keep monthly totals of what you bring in and what you spend.  Know what your net worth is every month.  Is your spending in alignment with your highest priorities?  Do you have debt that you need to address?  Develop a repayment plan for your debt and put it into your budget—and then take action to bring in more abundance.  Focus more on ways to bring money in than spending time in worry and fear over the debt. Do you overspend?  Look at what this is about for you.  Do you overspend to fill up an inner emptiness, does it give you a “high”, or do you feel a sense of power.  Address these deeper issues with a therapist so you can release this pattern. Do you have a financial plan for your future? If not make an appointment with a financial planner.  Ask your friends if they have a recommendation of who to work with.  Make sure you are handling what you do have with care.  List ways you could handle your current money better.  You will not be able to bring in more abundance if you are mismanaging the money that you currently have.

4.Improve Your Self-Worth- The better you feel about yourself, the more money you will bring in.  This works on three levels—one if you are confident about who you are—you are a magnet for people and opportunities.  Good things will be drawn to you.  People will want to work with you and be around you.  Second—if you feel good about yourself you will be more likely to see the value of the work you do and expect to be paid accordingly.  You will be able to more confidently go to your boss and ask for a raise because you really believe in the value of what you do.  Or if you have your own business and value what you do—others will value it too and will want to do business with you.  List out the value of the work that you do—all that you bring to your job or business.  If you get stuck with this—brainstorm with a co-worker or trusted friend.

The third and more important way that self-worth affects the money that we bring in is that low self-worth makes you feel that you don’t deserve abundance—that you’re not worthy of having it.  If you don’t feel worthy of abundance you will unconsciously block it from coming in to begin with—or it will come in but something will happen for you to lose it.  If this is the pattern for you look at this deeper belief of not feeling deserving and shift it to “I do deserve abundance, I am worthy of tremendous abundance.”  For tips to increase your self-worth read my article, http://www.radiantlifecounseling.com/articles/i-am-fabulous.htm

5. Examine What You Think More Money will Give You- If you had all of the money you wanted to have—what do you think that would bring you—peace, freedom, time, joy, happiness, love—you could spend time doing things you love to do? Look at making changes in your life to bring those things into your life NOW. What could you do to feel more Joy in your life now? Sometimes people can chase after the idea of more money as a panacea for the things that they could actually have in their lives this very moment. The more you open up to creating what you want now—you will lift your vibration and you will naturally draw more financial abundance to you as well.

6. Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow- This is one of my favorite phrases—it is from a book that was published years ago. As you align yourself with your life’s purpose—follow what you love—the money will come to you. Set your intention that you can do what you love and make money. Here is a good quote “Often people attempt to live their lives backward; they try to have more things, or more money in order to do more of what they want, so they will be happier. You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want.” Margaret Young.

7.       Feel the abundance you currently have in your life—your home, your health, the people you love and feel the deep appreciation for all of your blessings.  This deep appreciation will fill your heart and will give you the deep satisfaction that you are yearning for.  While it is wonderful to reach for more abundance and to bring more money in –it is important to always rest in the appreciation of what you have now.  This appreciation is one of the biggest magnets for money and will insure your path to even greater abundance will be a joyful one.

Wishing you fun and joy as you transform your relationship with money and open up to the incredible abundance you deserve!