Looking backwards, it seems like everything I wanted to be when I grew up happened; I wanted to travel the world and go on adventures. Now that I have spent the last five years doing exactly that, I am ready for another type of adventure: stability.
I didn’t realize it as it was happening, but I used the law of attraction. This law states: ask, and your shall receive. I was asking for the life that I wanted, visualized living it, and it came to me.
Five years into my globe-trotting adventure I have lived the life I secretly wanted. I say secretly in reference to The Secret, a book/ documentary/ audiobook by Rhonda Byrne. In the audiobook, she lists the two steps to getting anything you desire.
I won’t take you through the spiritual journey of The Secret – I rather cold facts; I don’t like the kitschy nature of the audiobook. Still, the message is worth baring through it, and I have used her book as a foundation for this blog with an additional step that I think is important. I barely made it through that audiobook.
However, I will ask you to have a bit of faith and, to some degree, embrace some spirituality because the law of attraction relies heavily on trust. The faith I am talking about here is the one as defined by René Brown in The gifts of imperfection:
“… a place of mystery where we find the courage to believe in what we cannot see.”
René Brown
To be wealthy is to live a fulfilling life. To live a fulfilling life must use the law of attraction consisting of three parts:
- Thinking positively
- Appreciate what you have.
- Accept the difficulties
Thinking positively
Wealth is a mindset, not a number. You can be wealthy even if your bank account is empty, and you can be poor if you have millions in the bank. Your mindset is how you see the world and will define the world around you.
I have been participating in Peter Diamandis’ 30-day Mindset Bootcamp; it has been a great source of inspiration because it focuses on the good in the world.
Whether you are asking consciously or unconsciously, your desires will be fulfilled – eventually. If you want money, believe that you have money, and it will find a way to get to you. If you want a sexy body, visualize yourself having that sexy body, and it will come.
This week I really wanted to buy a bike I found online. We had arranged to meet, but the guy completely forgot, and I was left running the six kilometres there for nothing. The thing is that while I was running there, I could see myself riding the bike home, so I was very reluctant to leave without it. Like a fool, I waited an hour outside his house before giving up and starting to walk home.
Ten minutes into my walk, I decided to check my email one last time to see if he had messaged – he had. I walked the ten minutes back to his house and got the bike. He even gave me a nice discount because of the wait, meaning I got paid to sit there and do things on my phone I would have been doing later anyways.
I believed I would get that bike, and now I do.
If you spend time thinking about what you lack, you will have even less of those things. The law of attraction brings your thoughts into action. If you think about debt, you will be more indebted. The difference between the rich and the poor is not There are two ways to address a desire for more money:
- I want more money.
- I don’t have enough money.
Both these sentences show a desire for more money. However, one is optimistic while the other is pessimistic. Happy thoughts will bring good things such as more money into your life, while gloomy thoughts will bring bad things into your life like more bills. If you believe you will succeed, you will. If you think you will fail, you will. Or, in the words of Henry Ford:
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right.”
Henry Ford
In Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki explained the importance of paying yourself first – decide what to invest and stick with it. When you pay yourself first, you are thinking about wealth and will find creative ways to cover your bills. Meanwhile, when you pay yourself last, you are thinking about debt and will invite more costs into your life, leaving you with less money to invest at the end of the month.
In Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill wrote:
“Riches begin in the form of thought! The amount is limited only by the person in whose mind the thought is put into motion. Faith removes limitations!”
Both these quotes are now dated, but their validity has remained. The internet has drastically altered the way that the world functions in positive ways. People are now more flexible than ever in controlling the outcome of their lives. Overnight, billionaires like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerburg and Bill Gates are living proof that mindset matters.
All of these people had a dream and followed it until it came true. Many more unknown individuals have had better ideas but did not have enough faith in themselves to continue the struggle. Appreciating what you have is the best way to keep yourself motivated and your thoughts positive.
Appreciate what you have.
Finding joy in the fallacy of consumerism will have you constantly seeking more and being indefinitely discontent. Joy comes from finding satisfaction in what you have, not what you want.
You can cultivate an appreciation practice through meditating as part of your morning routine or writing a gratitude journal as part of your evening routine. To bring joy into your life, start appreciating what you have.
It is important to note that joy and happiness are different. Joy must be worked at and is not an endless stream of good times. It is derived from meaning, appreciating your blessings and accepting the hard times. Happiness is the temporary positive feeling experienced when something good happens.
This quote by Wilhelm Schmid clearly illustrates the difference between the two:
“Happiness is capricious, meaning is more durable.”
Wilhelm Schmid
We can all experience happy moments that make us smile, laugh or feel warm and fuzzy. Trouble arises when we are unable to appreciate happiness. In The gifts of imperfection, René Brown writes that to truly feel happy, we must let ourselves be vulnerable. It is impossible to only blunt our negative emotions; defending ourselves from pain prevents us from feeling joy. [Pardon all the Brown quotes, this blog was inspired by her book].
To feel the joy, we must allow ourselves to feel the pain while appreciating the good in our lives. An inability to accept the difficulties of life is what prevents a lot of people from feeling fulfilled and accomplishing their goals.
Accept the difficulties.
Trying to avoid the hard times will only make them harder. We allow ourselves to become more fulfilled through suffering through them. To develop wealth, we must practice patience and discipline.
“The problem with patience and discipline is that it requires both of them to develop each of them.”
Thomas M. Sterner
This methodology can be applied to more than just wealth. Still, like accumulating wealth, it takes time and hardship to craft a sexy body or learn a language. The path to your goal won’t always be obvious; it will be full of obstacles, but if you continue, you will make it – just don’t stop.
All you need is to see yourself being successful in your mind’s eye, and the immediate next step, the rest, will fall into place. The stronger your vision of success, the more likely you will accomplish your goals. Success is the product of repeated failures.
Key points for developing a wealthy life:
- Maintain a positive attitude towards your goals.
- Appreciate the things you have – believe that you are already wealthy.
- Accept the difficulties on your path to wealth.
Longevity Coaching 
Leave a Reply