Money is freedom or at least it should be. It enables you to live abundantly and affords you a lifestyle that is much higher than ¾'s of the world's population.
So why are so many people merely surviving? In the land of freedom and opportunity too many of us are barely getting by. Most believe the news reports that says the economy is bad. We buy into the hype and get depressed each time those words are uttered. We fall into a financial survival mentality that, instead of making things better, makes things worse for us. Financial success seems a thousand miles away and panic sets in.
Stay Calm, Don't Buy the Hype!
One way I like to help people picture this survival mentality is remind them of the scene in Bambi when the hunters come. The quail are sitting in the brushes listening and trying to survive. One quail gets beside herself with fear and....well you can look at the clip to see what happens.
Quail Scene From Bambi Movie (YouTube)
My observation is the money didn't just disappear! Where did it all go? It did not vaporize either. So that means the money is somewhere. In fact it is all around us, but we can't see it because we can't see past our media-induced fears. Like the poor quail we get nervous, excited, and fly off the handle thinking we are going to somehow change our desperate situations, when in fact, we make it worse.
Stop Watching the News!
A long time ago I made a decision to stop watching the news and stop listening to the so-called financial experts. They really don't know squat and will have everyone living in poverty in the next five years if we listen to them. Instead I began reading and listening to people who are where I want to be. I began making a mental shift and noticing that, despite the "bad" economy, I was not in bad shape financially. I didn't feel poor even though I lost my job. I didn't feel desperate even though my income had been cut by ¾. I had learned to attract money instead of repel it with a toxic financial survival mentality.
Because my mindset is different, my circumstances does not affect my overall view of life. Pretty soon the money began flowing again. I am not just surviving but I am successfully living, paying my bills, and enjoying a few luxuries.
Four Repellents to Financial Success
It is important to examine our beliefs and emotions to understand how our survival mentality affects our financial success. In my reading, listening, and experience I know there are four states of mind that literally repel or frighten away financial success. They are Financial Worry/Fear, Financial and Personal Depression, Financial Desperation, and Financial Scarcity. They literally scare money away.
1. Financial Worry/Fear
In a constant state of worry and fear you are so focused on what you do not have that you cannot possibly get what you want. What you dwell on is what you will get more of. So if you are worried about not paying the bills, worried about not having enough food, worried about paying the car note, and worried about getting nasty phone calls you will get exactly what you are worried about.
There is a saying, "what we resist, persists". If you are consumed with thoughts of the things you don't want, guess what? You get the things you are thinking about the most. I hope you are getting this concept. Worry is worship at the altar of your fears. So stop it!
Instead of worrying, begin releasing the fear. Keep releasing it until you feel confidence and love. Think about what the worst thing that can happen. Does it kill you? Does it cripple you? Probably not. Your thoughts, the anticipation of bad things, are much worse than reality. Let the worry go and begin focusing on good financial health, great relationships, and love.
2. Financial Depression
Depression is another financial success repellent. Depressed people just can't and won't succeed financially because the mental block is too strong. Emotional issues affect us all, but when it gets to the point you can't get out of bed or your mind is so clouded, you simply cannot see beyond yourself.
Negative thoughts about life, the past, people, and trauma all keep financial success away. It is only when you get help (the kind that doesn't make the problem worse) that you can begin seeing a change in your financial health.
3. Financial Desperation
This is probably the worse financial success repellent there is. Desperate people do desperate things which leads to big trouble. Have you ever seen a person on drugs who hasn't had a fix for a while? They get desperate; they get crazy and they do things that get them in trouble with their family, land them in jail, or worse, land them in the grave.
Desperation is the enemy of success (in money and in love). It makes you weak and vulnerable to scams, get rich schemes, and all kinds of other trouble. You lose more money than you make and end up in a worse situation. I've wasted thousands of dollars on money making schemes because I felt desperate. I needed money now and I would do whatever I needed to do to get it.
When you are desperate you can't see beyond today and you do not plan effectively. You have no vision of what you want your life to look like so you accept anything. When you are living in a calm, clear state of mind you begin to see what you want. You create a vision and with deliberate steps you begin moving toward your goals. You no longer live in desperation. Instead you are clear and sure of the path you should take.
4. Financial Scarcity
A scarcity state of mind sounds a lot like worry and fear, but it is really a combination of worry and desperation turned inward. A scarcity mentality is about hoarding and saving because you fear the worse. You think you will never have enough so you hold on to everything from money to clothes to trinkets.
We are taught that saving for a rainy day is important to ward off trouble in the future. This is true to a degree, but it goes too far when your savings deprives you and your family of necessities. It goes too far when you are too stingy to help others in need.
Scarcity is about lack and limitation, which repels financial success. Scarcity is about financial survival to the extreme. A person who has this mentality suffers from closed fist syndrome. They are holding on so tightly to what they have, nothing else can get in.
Something Happens When Your Mind Shifts
But something happens when we open our hands (and hearts). We are able to give and receive. You see, money is about flow. It flows and cycles through our world and our lives; at least that is how it should be. But if the money is not flowing and becomes stagnant, it eventually stops altogether. This is not financial success. The person with the scarcity mindset loses out instead of gaining like they thought they would by holding on to everything.
When I lived in a scarcity mindset I didn't experience money flow. The more I held on to my money (the little I had) the worse things seem to get. But when I began giving and being generous, my money began to flow. I was no longer afraid to let money go out of my life because I knew it would come back to me in even greater amounts.
Generosity is the flip side of scarcity. A generous person always has more of everything. They happily give to others out of a grateful heart and with the understanding they will see the money again soon.
Now That You Know
Hopefully by now you understand how detrimental financial survival is and what the four repellents to financial success are. The cures for financial survival are confidence, joy, calm, and generosity. They put you in a position of financial success. When you change your mindset, you change your life, because what you think about is what comes about!
So if you are ready to make the mental shift from financial survival to financial success, examine your thought life and habits. If they include any of the four financial success repellents discussed above, do whatever it takes to change it for a truly prosperous year!