Articles about Creating Abundance and Prosperity

So you feel beaten up and bruised and you are ready to quit. You have no support system or the one you have is pathetically inadequate for the goals you have set. You are so tired that the couch is looking more and more inviting everyday. You have bills piling up and you probably ought to get a real job anyway. The failure rate is statistically high and nobody is going to fault you if you quit. Who really cares if you give up and quit now? You do.

Don’t Mock Me!

My favorite part of the Noah’s Ark story is not that he listened to his god and therefore managed to save mankind and the animals, and it is not the rainbows, or even the dove as a symbol of divine peace and love. My favorite part happens long before the rains begin to fall. I love that no matter how much people laughed and scoffed at what he was doing; Noah still went right on building that ark. Think about how many days, weeks, months it took to build that thing and all the while they were mocking him. His commitment and tenacity is an awesome example of doing what you believe in no matter what those around you might think. Noah was willing to look foolish in the eyes of everyone around him so that he could fulfill his destiny. As an entrepreneur, I find that story quite inspirational. How many of us were laughed at or mocked when we first started our adventures into self-employment.

Aspirations and Realities

For whatever reason, I have had a lot of aspiring writers come to me lately feeling worried and insecure. They feel that since their work has not been published yet that they must not be very good writers. Or they are so afraid of being turned down by publishers that they can barely get themselves to write at all. They beg me for bits of wisdom to help get them over this fear and doubt. A few years ago, it was aspiring musicians asking me the same kinds of questions. What if I’m not good enough? What if I never succeed at this? What if they tell me I suck?

Money Equals Love

When we think of prosperity and of creating abundance, it is easy enough to see how working at a job that we love helps us to earn more money than if we worked at a job we hated. We can see that if we add plenty of love and warm-fuzzies towards how we treat our coworkers, bosses, employees, and customers, then it makes sense that people will like doing business with us and we will earn more money. We can understand how putting our love into the goods and services that we sell makes for superior products and therefore raises the perceived value of our goods and services. Here is the hard part… it holds true in our personal relationships too.

Why Don’t You Get a Real Job?

How many of us have had that question hammered into our consciousness? I would bet that most musicians, artists, actors, writers, missionaries, athletes, entrepreneurs, stay-at-home parents, and inventors have all had to deal with this question. After we are successful and the big money and fame is rolling in, then everyone says how brave and tenacious we were. After we change the world with our art, our incredibly successful children, our spiritual teachings, our new ideas and business concepts, then people say we are “lucky” to be one of the chosen few as if we didn’t really work all that hard to get to that successful place. Until that day when we are fabulously wealthy and our industry grants us superstar status, we are deemed dreamers, unrealistic, illogical, and without real direction as we diligently toil away at our work until it’s worthy of acceptance as a “real job.” They see us as an overnight success or as complete failures. Until we are winners, our work is deemed as a hobby, a luxury, or as simply frivolous.

Focus Your Expertise

Yes, you are amazing, brilliant, and capable of multi-tasking to a fine art. You can do anything you set your mind to and you know that already. You have become a master of juggling multiple responsibilities and you seem to be fairly successful at just about everything you do. So why aren’t you making the big bucks? Where is all that abundance and prosperity that being so multi-talented should be getting you? You are going to hate my answer, but sit with it and you will see that it makes sense.

How Do I Get There?

The question was originally asked in reference to having a spiritual calling and not knowing how to get to the point where you are actually serving humanity. It is no different if you are an entrepreneur with an internal calling to successfully run your own company, a musician with a calling to perform on stage for large audiences, or a writer with a calling to see their books published. It’s really all the same. If you have a vision in your mind’s eye of yourself happy and successful while performing your daily work, then you have to figure out how to get there from where you are today. You can choose from three approaches.

Self-Esteem and the Entrepreneur

Isn’t it funny how people think that being self-employed is so cool? They think that you get to take lots of vacation time and spend all of the profits. What they do not realize is that you put in outrageous amounts of blood, sweat, and tears to get there. They do not know that you have to take the blame for every single thing that goes wrong. They do not know how many times you fell flat on your face before making it work. They think that you simply come up with a cute little idea over dinner one night and within a couple of months you are flying high living the rich man’s life. The reality of the situation is very different. Statistics consistently show that most successful entrepreneurs failed a handful of times before finally finding that winning formula. It is during the failure years that you earn all of those future vacations and big fat salaries. Delayed gratification takes on a whole new level, doesn’t it?

Entrepreneur’s Prayer

I feel myself moving very slow, dragging my feet. I’m nervous that success will overwhelm me and my children. Would you please come wrap your wings around us? Guide us, protect us, bless us, and love us. Make me feel safe so that I will speed up the pace. I’m letting fear rob me of my motivation. What if I really don’t know what I’m doing? What if I make a fool of myself? What if I never make a dime? What if I fail?

Secret Savings Fund

If you are anything like most Americans, then you have a hard time setting money aside for a rainy day. We’re supposed to put it away before we spend a dime on anything else, but just knowing it’s there can be half the problem. Knowing that there is still money at the end of the month can be tempting when the craving for pizza and movies comes along. I have found an easy way to save money without knowing that I am saving it. This method will work no matter how rich or poor your bank account is.

The Go to Hell Fund

Years ago, an elderly gentleman friend of mine gave me a piece of advice. He said that true personal freedom comes from having the resources that create the ability to tell someone to ‘go to hell’ metaphorically. He said that everyone regardless of race, gender, or income level should have a nest egg stashed away with at least 4-6 months worth of wages safely held aside. With that amount of income in savings, one has the ability to say ‘no’ to things that do not serve them. Too many people are stuck in bad situations because they don’t have the financial resources needed to walk away. With enough money to live off of for 4-6 months, one can leave a bad relationship, quit a job that they hate, or be completely ready if they should suddenly find themselves unemployed and looking for work. The Go to Hell Fund gives you the ability to look adversity in the face and thumb your nose at it, knowing that you have the time and resources needed to change the situation into something that works for you.

Marketing Yourself

Every good salesman knows that you must believe in your product or else be able to do a good job of acting like you do. It is no different whether you are marketing products, policies, revolutions, or people. Marketing is marketing. Overall, image and believability is king. So how does that play out when you are trying to market yourself?

Giving Circle

I think we forget that money is a form of the old barter system. We get ourselves all wrapped up in marketing analysis, job promotions, stock options, and visualizing the all mighty dollar. The truth is, it is all a circle of giving and you get as much as you give. Call it perceived value, comes around goes around, or the transference of love. It’s all the same concept.

Affirming Money

Creating abundance is probably the hottest topic across the Internet. Whether you are looking to start a business from your home computer or trying to payoff your mortgage in time to retire with comfort, everyone seems interested in how to get more money. There are personal growth and spiritual growth lessons involved in creating wealth that have been oversimplified. Most people have issues around money that cause them to block themselves from actually creating a life of wealth and abundance. A major piece of changing one’s self-talk is in stating positive affirmations. However, without hard work and a bit of old-fashioned elbow grease, affirmations are worthless.

Why’s It Taking So Long?

You have been studying prosperity and abundance and you understand that there is an endless flow of wealth moving about, money is passing hand to hand, as are goods and services. You have decided that you want to jump in and participate in the game. You want your fair share of the abundant flow. You have found in your studies that your attitudes around earning money stink and you have done a lot of work to change your belief systems. You really do believe that you are good enough and worthy of some cash rolling your way and you have been diligently affirming to the great cosmic forces that you are ready, willing, and able to accept your piece of the pie. So where is it? Why’s it taking so long?

Professionalism

Professionalism is an umbrella term used to describe many different aspects of business conduct. Customer service, work ethics, and business integrity are often grouped together with professionalism and it’s all mixed up in people’s minds as one big concept. Each of these are actually very different aspects and have nothing to do with professionalism. Just like fondness, friendship, and lust are all lumped under the word ‘love.’ In truth they are not exactly the same as ‘love’ but when we think of saying “I love you” many of those ideas cross our mind. When in fact love is something completely different but very similar to those other things. Such is the case with the word ‘professionalism.’

Fantasy versus Reality

Building wealth is not something for the frightened, ignorant, and lost. You have to be emotionally strong, prepared, and standing in the right spot. So many of us fantasize about making more money and call it prayer. We then wonder why the universe is not delivering our fortunes to us. I cannot tell you how many people I have listened to grumble about how they have taken all of the steps to manifest more abundance into their lives and yet it just does not seem to be working. As someone on the outside looking in, it seems so obvious why their money has not arrived. They are usually sabotaging their own plans and do not even know it. But why? Because they are living in a fantasy and not looking at the reality of what it takes to make their own fortune.

In Search of a Spiritual Calling

Since I'm self-employed doing my spiritual work from home, I can usually ignore self imposed deadlines if I'm called to do something else. For example, the last two books I wrote just hit me out of nowhere. "Today, I'm supposed to write about xyz," then I just do it. "Today, I'm supposed to channel/co-write some articles," then I just do it. Most of my work is done when I'm naturally 'in the zone' for that particular project, so everything pretty much flows. It does mean that I work bizarre hours and sometimes do not sleep much for a few days because I’m too far 'in the zone' to come out just yet, but it always balances and I will get to crash for a day or two afterwards.

Sell Your Love

It is well documented that if we love our work, then we usually become experts at it and eventually the money shows up. Makes sense, but this is a slight shift on that concept. I want you to literally look at the concept of selling love for money. This has nothing to do with prostitution. Prostitution lacks love, which is the core of what is wrong with that industry. No, I’m talking about infusing your product with love before selling it. Love is a magical indescribable element that uplifts, nurtures, blesses, and lightens the recipient. Add it to your product and watch the profits soar.

Things Are Good Because I Say They Are

The subject of positive self-talk regarding our goals and dreams reminds me of the childhood story, The Velveteen Rabbit. The boy loves the toy so much that a magic fairy comes and turns the toy bunny into a real rabbit. She tells the bunny it has been loved so much that it has earned the right to be real.

God Don’t Like Rich People

I will never forget the day that my daughter’s sixth grade friend told me that. We had been discussing someone who had recently lost a fortune and had become very bitter as a result. She suddenly piped up with that all knowing scowl that only a twelve-year old girl can truly master while proclaiming, “God don’t like rich people!” She said it as if it was a mortal sin worthy of an eternity in hell. She immediately made a snap decision from that point forward to dislike the person we had been talking about. I have met her dad. He is a nice enough guy and from what I can tell, he agrees with his daughter. They are very regular attendees at their church. I don’t know what church they go to, but all I could think to myself at the time was, “Who in the world is teaching her that!?”

9 Ways to Motivate Yourself When You Just Don’t Feel Like It

Achieving big goals and dreams always involves breaking them down into little do-able steps to be taken one at a time. Assuming that you have picked a goal or dream that you really love working at, then most of the steps are a delight to take. No matter how much you love your dream and no matter how much you love your work, there are going to be tasks along the way that you really do not want to do. Avoiding those pieces of work that we hate doing is often the very thing that sabotages our success. How do you stay motivated during those parts of the journey?

How to Choose Your Ideal Career

They say that most people do complete and total career changes at least once, often twice in their lifetimes. Very few people chose the ideal perfect career for themselves when they are in high school and blissfully happily work those same jobs for the rest of their lives. With the way that technology and everything else changes so fast, I think it is ridiculous to expect to stay in one job from the time you leave school until you retire. Even staying in the same company can be a huge challenge. So how will you pick your first career? Your next major career change?

15 Ways to Create Some Extra Holiday Money

Originally, this was going to be a list for my two teenagers but some of these ideas are better suited to adults with a valid driver’s license and a bit of know-how. Some of these take a bit of planning and organizing, but most of them could be done on a fairly spur of the moment case-by-case basis. The great thing about a lot of these ideas is that you are spreading holiday cheer by helping to make someone else’s otherwise stressful and overwhelming to-do list a little bit easier. Who wouldn’t pay to have someone come do a few of these things for you? Mostly, what is important is that you remember to provide a quality item or service to the buyer with a smile on your face and in your heart. Have fun with these!

Paying for Enlightenment

You cannot put a price tag on spirituality. Jesus, Buddha, and the others did not charge people for their words of wisdom. Truly spiritual and enlightened folks give their gift away for free to those in need. It is not about the money; it is about helping others. It is the greed and hypocrisy of the mainstream churches that turns us away from them. You cannot buy your way into heaven. If we in the New Age Movement are to learn from the mistakes of the churches, then we must learn to give our spiritual gifts from the heart and not for any monetary reasons.

Demanding Miracles

Have you ever had an overwhelming problem or issue? Was there some circumstance in your life that seemed beyond your ability to handle it? Have you ever called out to God, Buddha, guardian angels, The Force, your higher self, Mohammed, Mother Earth, whatever name you give that spirit? To find an all-encompassing name without prejudice towards any one belief system, I will just hereby use the word ‘god’ to refer to whatever or whoever it is that you pray to for assistance and guidance. Have you cried out to your god for help and guidance with some crisis in your life? Did you get an answer? Did you get help?

Thanksgiving: The Holiday of Abundance

Harvest sure doesn’t look like it used to. It used to be a time when we worked really hard to pull in the crops and also prepared them for winter storage. It took a lot of people working together to reap the full harvest without losing any of it to spoilage. Men were breaking their backs pulling it all in from the fields and women were breaking their backs canning, freezing, and drying it so that it didn’t all go to waste. Things are very different now. For most of us, harvest just means there is a different set of vegetables available at the grocery store. We don’t have to break our backs digging up and hauling it all in and putting it all into storage. I for one, find that cause enough to celebrate and give thanks! The change of seasons at this time of year causes me to reflect on what our modern day harvest is really all about.

The First Step

Today is an anniversary of sorts for me. Three years ago today, I publicly launched Tomorrow’s Edge after years of getting ready, talking about how I was someday going to do it, and researching everything but advertising! It was a huge first step in the middle of a bunch of first steps that I had taken up to that point. Naturally, it fell flat on its face because of my lack of education in the marketing area. So, here I am three years later, better educated, dusted off, boot straps pulled up, repeating that first step. I take a deep breath, psyche myself up, wiggle my toes a bit, bend my knee, lift my foot, and sit back down with another cup of coffee…. Maybe in a minute or so.