Today my blog highlights a great article by my friend and mentor, Kathleen Gage, written specifically for my readers -that’s you!
Currently doing a Blog Guest Tour, Kathleen Gage has personally chosen MotivationalResources.com in order to meet with you and offer FREE professional expertise in the form of high value and content rich information! Today, Feb 11 2010, Kathleen – aka The Street Smarts Marketer – will be reading your comments to my blog, and answering your questions. Wow!
Read the article below and please post your comments (appreciations?) here on my blog. Questions? Post them there too and Kathleen Gage will respond.
Resolving Deep-Seated Conflicts About Money
Guest Post By Kathleen Gage
Conscious entrepreneurship is a topic of conversation for many people these days. Long gone are the days of running a business simply to make money.
Today, many business owners, and soon to be business owners, want to do more than simply run a business to achieve the outward rewards. They want to make a contribution to the betterment of society, specific organizations that make a difference in the world and they want to sincerely improve the lives of their customers and feel great about the good they bring to their vendors by virtue of the fact they hired them.
There is much more of a spiritual element to business today than ever before. Yet for many entrepreneurs there seems to be a deep seated conflict that making money is not spiritual.
The fact is, making money can be one of the most spiritual things you do. Doesn’t it make sense that when money is not an issue there is more good you can do for others and for those organizations you believe in?
The belief of money being a bad thing is a deep seated one that was handed down by others. “Don’t be greedy,” we were warned. “Money is the root of all evil,” we heard in many different ways. “Who are you to think you can be THAT successful?” we were scolded by authority figures.
Truth be told, the more you have the more good you can do if in fact, your moral compass is on track. So how does one move from the place of disempowering beliefs to those that will not only serve us, but all those we do business with.
Begin with this.
- Write down all your beliefs around money
- Determine when you first formulated these beliefs
- Decide if each one serves you
- Focus on the good your money can do for others
I used to live in a very lack filled reality. I was so filled with fear that I would never have enough; I conveniently created this as a reality so I could be right. You see, no matter what our beliefs we want to be right. It doesn’t matter how painful our existence is, we want to be right.
Until we realize some beliefs no longer serve us and until we willingly change them, we will be unable to live the life we say we want. Until we change, nothing is going to change.
Yet, as we allow ourselves to acknowledge the story we have consistently told ourselves no longer serves us, we shift our energy in such a way as to move away from old beliefs to new beliefs. This allows us to not only live an incredibly abundant life that brings us great joy, but also brings joy to others.
Think of it this way… the more abundance you have the more good you can do for others whether it be family members, friends, community members, organizations and causes.
It is very fulfilling to know when you are called upon to help; you can do so without wondering if you will be able to pay your bills.
Success and abundance is a mindset. It is one that requires diligence. It also requires being willing to move away from those things that pull you down and move towards those that lift you up. It may even require you change the people you hang out with.
If you are surrounded with people who are constantly talking about how bad things are, you are making it very difficult on yourself. Rather, surround yourself with people who believe in possibility; people who can be a model for you to emulate possibility living.
Granted, it may be uncomfortable to make some changes, but as your life changes you can look back and realize that by willingly taking steps towards a better life, you are in such an incredible position to improve all things you come in contact with.
About the author
Kathleen Gage is an Internet marketing adviser who works with spiritually aware speakers, authors, coaches and consultants who are ready to turn their knowledge into money making products and services. Find out how you can learn from Kathleen on how to build a successful business using the Internet through her Street Smarts Marketing VIP Club by Clicking Here
PS. Like many of your peers, other success-minded small business owners, I am a member of Kathleen’s VIP club. I encourage you to check it out for yourself.
Currently doing a Blog Guest Tour, Kathleen has personally chosen MotivationalResources.com in order to meet with you and offer FREE professional expertise in the form of high value and content rich information!
Today, all day, Kathleen – aka The Street Smarts Marketer – will be reading your comments to my blog, and aswering your questions. Wow!
Read the article below and please post your comments (appreciations?) here on my blog. Questions? Post them there too and Kathleen will respond.
Many people did get hurt in the stock market over the last few years. Some lost everything while others lost substantial amounts. I am not really qualified to give stock advise but I do know in stocks, as in business, it is best not to rely on one item in our portfolio.
In business it is wise to have multiple streams of revenue. Multiple streams begin with one and grow from there.
With stocks, a good financial adviser could make recommendations that may be very helpful.
Kathleen
Thank you for the sage advice. I wanted to correct my website address spelling, Turn On Your Senses.com.
Since losing a lot of money in the market, I am afraid to invest anything. I would like to have some green power stocks but I’m afraid to invest anymore of my retirement funds while my house is not paid off. Is there any so called safe stocks that will pay dividends?
HELP
To stay focused can be a challenge for many people. Something I like to do is start my day with my “attitude of gratitude” time. This is especially helpful when life gives us “bumps” in the road. Staying in the space of gratitude opens us up to more possibility and less, “Why in the world is this happening to me?”
We can be taken off course for any number of reasons: a client choosing not to work with us at this time; difficulties at home; illness of a family member, and on and on.
The reality is, life continues to happen. It is not what happens, but rather our response to what happens that makes all the difference.
Thanks for all the comments.
Kathleen
Thank you for all the comments. I like the idea of the imaginary delete button. Good tip Noelene.
Karen, on your question about paying down payday loans, something I learned that has helped tremendously is to seek out the experts in any particular area we need help with. In that I am not a debt consolidation expert by trade, you may want to talk to someone who specializes in this area. Another thing, is to have the desire to change the behavior of using PayDay loan centers. If a behavior does not serve us we have to make different choices and take different actions. Sometimes that can be very painful in that the short term gain can cloud long term benefit. Thus, the experts who can help with a situation of virtually any nature. They can remind us of our commitment to making things better.
One thing I would invite you to do is check your language patterns. You mentioned, “I am dead broke.” Ouch. Although at this time, money is not abundant for you, you are actually not completely broke or dead. Every bit of money we have is created from a thought and an action. For the next 72 hours, write down things you say that may be keeping you stuck in the current mindset. You may be surprised at how often you affirm the “dead broke” statement.
From there, ask the question, “What do I need to do to generate revenue? What can I let go of that is costing me time that I can apply to generating money? What ideas have I had that I have put on the back burner without ever trying them? Ideas that may in fact be the solution to some of my current financial situations?”
It’s about asking ourselves better questions. Questions that serve us rather than defeat us. It’s about being vigilant in what needs to be done to create a better life for ourselves and our families. Thus, surrounding ourselves with people who lift us up, books that inspire, blogs (like this one) that focus on possibility and abundance, CDs and DVDs that have great messages, etc.
It is easy to forget how important this is. Believe me, at times I have been known to forget. But fortunately, my home and office is filled with things that can quickly, very quickly take me from a mindset of desperation to one of inspiration.
I do not say any of this to invalidate your experience, but to let you know, I know exactly what the experience of being without is. Years ago I was so convinced of how much lack I had, that in my early twenties I created a perfect scenario of becoming homeless. Not a shopping cart pushing experience but no home, no money, no resources. Or so I thought.
Little by little I found books that allowed me to shift my perception. I also had people who had the willingness to guide me to a different way of viewing my situation and seeing it as an opportunity to change what I needed to change.
Dawn, what I have done in years past and continue to do is find out what my market wants. Surveys work great for this. The thing you want to know is what do they want, what do they need AND what will they pay for? From there, you can pre-sell or package some type of program that creates a cash flow.
Something that can serve each of us is to not engage in the conversations of how bad the economy is. Rather, engage in the conversations with others who believe in possibility. Mastermind groups can be very helpful.
Perhaps there are mentoring programs in your local market where someone who is in your industry would share their insights with you about building a business.
As Cathy mentioned, she is a member of my VIP club. If this program resonates with you, I would recommend you check it out. I have purposely priced it as low as possible while creating incredible value for those interested in learning my insights, strategies and systems for building a successful business using the Internet.
In success,
Kathleen Gage
Excellent article! Right on the money, so to speak! I loved the insight about wanting to be right. For a long time I held myself away from prosperity thinking it was not spiritual. Then I met some really loving, community-minded people who were quite wealthy and it began to challenge those beliefs I had held. One thing led to another, as the Universe will do when you ask, and I have shifted my beliefs around money considerably. As I am starting up my coaching practice I have had to make other shifts in honoring my value. It’s not just money for time. It’s about the value you offer that people experience long after the coaching has ended. I have found when I get into alignment with that, I attract clients for whom this is not a problem. They are happy to pay my fee because the recognize the value I offer. That was a big shift for me!
Good morning, I find it difficult to keep focused with these issues. It’s easy to get side-tracked. the blogs and seminars help.
Thanks for the great work.
Hi Kathleen,
Great article and so true about limiting beliefs. I have an imaginary delete button in my head that gets pressed every time a belief that does not serve me comes up.
I am trying so hard to make a go of
my business…we are in social marketing
and our products are the best out there
…all natural health & wellness products..I am dead broke and now got my
self in a situation of owing on pay day
loans that are consuming all my money
each month ..do you have a solution to
pay off pay day loans? My other big problem is that I lost my job and want my business to explode..I have tried flyers, talking to folks on the street..no one seems to want to hear me…HELP
This was an eloquent article that really spoke to the essence of what money really is and the significant power we bestow on little green pieces of paper. I love the saying, Money makes you more of what you already are. So true! All of the good that I can do with money really lights a fire in me. I am starting a small business to help caregivers choose toys effectively, stress the importance of play, and ultimately offer strategies on how to instill a sense of optimism, resilience, and emotional awareness in our children. What do you recommend to attract short term revenue for start up costs in an economy that throws up roadblocks every step of the way for a young and new business?