How to Have an Abundance Mindset

mindset

Learn to break the cycle of scarcity and develop an abundance mindset. Believe there is more than enough and attract what you need and want into your life.

The news cycle lately has been filled with stories of shortages. We’re told there’s not enough to go around, whether it be oil, food, or money. On top of the deep-seated fears we all deal with, hearing news like this further contributes to a scarcity mindset. We believe we won’t have what we need to get by, and when we expect to have less than we need, it often comes true.

We want to help you break the cycle and develop an abundance mindset. Believe there is more than enough and attract what you need and want into your life.

Let us show you how to have an abundance mindset so that you can have more for yourself and your family.

5 Steps Develop Your Abundance Mindset

1: Believe to Raise Your Expectations

When thoughts of doubt creep in, you must push them aside. This is easier said than done but tune into your thoughts, and when you hear negativity, actively replace that thought with the belief you can have what you want. When you start to believe, your expectations grow. When we truly believe and expect something to happen, we’ll begin to see doors opening to direct our path. You just have to be willing to listen and trust.

2: Slow Down & Connect – Use your ABCs

Several times throughout the day, follow this protocol:

    • A: Acknowledge – Developing an abundance mindset won’t be possible if you are fearful and hopeless. To remove what is blocking you (most commonly fear), acknowledge what you are feeling by saying this statement out loud to yourself: “The truth is I feel (insert).” Most of the time, you’ll find yourself saying: “The truth is I feel afraid or scared,” or “tired, “or “frustrated.” It doesn’t matter why you feel this way. Just acknowledge the feeling.
    • B: Breathe – Rather than obsess over the feeling, acknowledge it and then take four deep breaths, breathing in through the nose and out of your mouth. This will clear that energy so you can move towards abundance.
    • C: Connect – After deep breathing the emotion out of your body, connect to your spirit by placing your hands on your heart. FEEL the connection.

Once connected (and quiet), pull all your energy into the present moment. Be present, so you’re not focusing on the past or worrying about the future.

3: Clarify the Desire

Most of us don’t know what we want (or deny it because we fear we can’t create it). However, once you’ve cleared your energy and focused on the present, it’s much easier to identify what you want—then you just have to ask for it.

You can ask for a specific thing, like money, a job, or a relationship. And although there’s debate about whether it’s best to be general or specific, it really doesn’t matter. The most important thing is that you feel good about the desire, and the desire is something you really want or need. Our research has confirmed that the more we want something, the easier it is to create it.

You can ask for a solution or guidance too. Maybe you need to know what job to apply for, whether to start that purposeful business or how to address a faltering relationship. If you want a solution, it can be co-created.

4: Focus Your Energy

Before acting, take a few minutes to focus your energy through thoughts and emotions.

Just visualize having what you want, or write down,”I’m so happy and grateful now that…”

Feel what it feels like to have it. Feel grateful for having received it before it comes.

It’s important to focus your energy before you take action. This helps us become open to possibility rather than try to force something to happen.

5: Take Action

Once you have your mind in abundance, you become more aware of the opportunities around you.

When that happens, you’ll feel a sense of confidence in knowing what action to take, and it won’t feel like an effort.

At the same time, there is no role for blame or a victim mindset. We become victims of our circumstances when we allow ourselves to wallow in our perceived weakness. When we know what we want, we are motivated to move forward. When we embrace an abundance mindset, there is nothing we can’t be, do, or have.

Once we know the next step, take action. Be ready to move forward with the first step. You can’t just sit back and wait for something to be served to you. As they say, you can’t win the lottery if you don’t buy a ticket.

Have More with an Abundance Mindset

Implement these tools if you’re ready to put scarcity in the rearview and focus on the abundance ahead.

Go at your own speed: take baby steps, giant leaps, or anything in between. Take a break once or twice a day and reconnect (ABCs) to re-evaluate your plan, so you’re moving forward in the right mindset.

Source: succeedonpurpose.com ~ By: STEPHANIE RENNA ~ Image: Canva Pro

The Secret To Lacking Nothing

Cultivate An Abundance Mindset

How To Cultivate An Abundance Mindset

Henry Ford famously said, ”Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t—you’re right.”

People have waxed lyrical for millennia around the notion that how you think directly influences your feelings, actions, and behaviors. Buddha once said, “With our thoughts, we create the world.” Lao Tzu said, “When you realize nothing is lacking, the whole world belongs to you”. And Chicken Soup for the Soul author, Jack Canfield wrote, “You only have control over three things in your life, the thoughts you think, the images you visualize, and the actions you take.

Now there’s a wide range of quantitative research to back up how critical our mindset is to achieving success, boosting everything from sports performance and stress management, to how you learn and even how long you’ll live. It turns out that adopting an ‘abundance’ mindset over a ‘scarcity’ mindset could well be the key to realizing your dreams for work and play.

What is an abundance mindset?

Coined by Stephen Covey (best-selling author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) in 1989, having an ‘abundance’ mentality means you think there are plenty of resources out there for everybody to share equally. In other words, if you believe the glass is half full, rather than half empty.

Those who hold a ‘scarcity’ mentality believe there’s only a finite amount of water in the glass, and you can never refill it. If someone takes a large gulp, that means there will be less for everyone else. Forever. In other words, when someone else wins, you lose. Studies show this kind of thought pattern leads to lose-lose scenarios across the board. For example, one Harvard study found that focusing intently on one thing leads to missing other opportunities right in front of your nose.

Scarcity makes you myopic, focusing on present limitations rather than future possibilities. Someone with a scarcity mindset engages in short-term, limited thinking—there can never be enough promotions, resources, information, money, time, or creativity for everyone to succeed, so you better hoard what you can for yourself now.

Developing an abundance mindset means being open to every possibility, listening without judgment, and brainstorming win-win solutions that give everybody more to work with. For those who opt to live life to the full, big thinking is in their DNA. As the famous saying goes, the secret to having it all is believing you already do.

Thinking makes it so.

Whether you see the road ahead as paved with scarcity or filled with abundance at every turn is up to you. You can choose which path you travel. Here are six ways to make the mind shift from scarcity to abundance today:

1. Count your blessings.

Actively thinking about what you’re grateful for in your daily life has the power to switch your mindset from scarcity to abundance. Research by the world’s leading expert on gratitude, UCal professor of psychology, Robert Emmons, has found that regularly expressing gratitude improves your mental and physical well-being, and boosts happiness levels, relationships, and productivity for the long term. When you’re grateful, fear disappears, and abundance appears, explains Tony Robbins. And, best of all, you don’t need anything special to start—simply take a little time each day to say what you’re grateful for. It can be as simple as a good night’s sleep.

2. Learn to recognize possibilities.

If you believe something’s impossible for long enough, eventually you train your brain to stop looking for opportunities. Thankfully, you can retrain your inner critic by consciously expanding your awareness. Cultivating an abundance mindset means seeing more—options, choices, and resources. Notice what ideas typically circulate through your head. Whenever you catch a negative train of thought, try to reorient it—how can you counter a scarcity mentality towards abundance?

3. Take the busy out of business.

How often have you responded “Busy!” when someone asks you how you are? But when we do so, we reinforce a scarcity mentality—that there’s just not enough time in the day for us to do everything we want to do. Yes, our world’s limitless demands and distractions make it seem as if life has sped up faster than we can manage. However, the stories we tell ourselves, and each other also shape our reality. The path to abundance means noticing the language we use daily and reframing it more positively.

4. Go for growth.

According to psychologist Carol Dweck, nurturing a growth mindset leads to greater success—whether in life, career, or relationships. “In a growth mindset, people believe that they can develop their most basic abilities through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment,” Dweck writes. Ultimately, it isn’t about how good you are at something, but how good you want to be. If you believe your talents are fixed in stone, you’ll never see or relish opportunities that challenge you to change and grow.

5. Observe the abundance surrounding you.

We’re all wired to focus on threats—our ancestors used their healthy regard for potential danger to ensure their survival (and therefore ours!). However, with the likelihood of encountering a sabretooth tiger in the boardroom next to nil, it’s time to counteract the tendency to focus on the negative—especially when the research shows us an abundance mindset can improve and prolong our lives! How do you turn a difficult situation around? Look at it again from a holistic perspective. Focus on what’s working and decide how to boost the positive outcomes instead of focusing on the negative.

6. Find your abundance tribe.

We’ve all met individuals who seem perpetually energized, focused on growth, and endlessly optimistic. Spend more time with them! The company we keep has a direct effect on our state of mind—if you surround yourself with scarcity-minded people, it’s so much harder to stop thinking that way yourself.

When you’re looking to cultivate more abundant thinking, it’s essential to acknowledge that your mindset continually evolves with your experiences. Remember, no one is perfect—a ‘pure’ abundance mindset doesn’t exist—and thinking otherwise may reduce the benefits you seek by setting you up to fail.

However, with a consistent commitment to expanding your awareness, remaining mindful of when you’re working from a scarcity mindset, and persistently focusing on possibilities rather than limitations, you can transform your life with abundance.

Source: thedesigncoach.com.au ~ By: Andrew and the TDC Team ~ Image: Canva Pro

How To Use Email To Build Your Brand

Use Email To Build Your Brand

Email is a powerful business tool. We’ve become dependent on it for communicating with customers and coworkers, using it as a marketing tool and a customer service channel, and more.

We can’t live without email, although there are some things we might like to change about it, such as spam messages, unintentional group emails, and so on. The reality is that even with all of its flaws, email makes sense. I did a little research and came up with seven effective ways we can use email to enhance our communication with customers and employees, promote our brand, and improve customer relations.

Nate Skinner, Chief Customer Officer of Campaign Monitor, a company that specializes in email marketing, had this to say: “When it comes to sales, marketing, and customer service, it’s important to think of email as a channel that can accelerate the customer journey.”

In other words, email provides a fast connection to your customers. Think about the many ways email can be used. Skinner shared a few ideas about the effective use of email, and I’ve added a few more, along with some commentary. Here are seven ways to effectively use email to build your brand and create a better customer experience:

  1. Create awareness through newsletters and special offers. This is a common use for email. Just be careful you don’t send too frequently. You can ask your customers how often they want to hear from you. Today’s technology will allow you to customize your contacts based on their preferences.
  2. Customers can give you feedback. Email provides a great way to survey your customers. An important consideration, however, is to respect your customer’s time. I stay at the same hotel several times a year. The first time they sent me an email survey, I answered it. It took almost 15 minutes. Three weeks later I stayed at the same hotel and, you guessed it, they sent me the same survey. I didn’t take it. Be smarter than that. Respect your customer’s time. Don’t send repetitive appeals for feedback – or other too-frequent requests.
  3. Use automated systems to re-engage with customers who haven’t had contact with you or your brand for a certain amount of time. Technology has given us some gifts, and this is one of them. It can track our customers’ buying patterns and frequency … or lack of frequency. When it spots a break in a customer’s buying pattern, it can jump in with engagement email.
  4. Share value-added information, such as tips on how other customers are using your products and services. Customers love to get tips, tricks, and helpful hints on how to best use the product they’ve purchased. And, they really love to hear how other customers are using it. It not only validates their purchase but also gives them ideas on how to gain more use and enjoyment from the product.
  5. Use email as a tool for onboarding new customers. Amazon.com AMZN -1.06% does an amazing job of this with its Echo, one of the coolest inventions ever. The Echo sits on a table and can best be described as a cylindrical object with a microphone and speakers. You ask it questions and it answers. It can play the music you request, give you a weather report, order a pizza, and much more. Amazon sends weekly emails introducing customers to the amazing things that the Echo can do. I look forward to those weekly emails, as do many other Amazon customers.
  6. Use email for internal messages to employees and coworkers. This isn’t about individual messages from one employee to another. Similar to the way you use content marketing to deliver value-added ideas to customers, you can communicate with your team. At its most basic level, an employee newsletter can be sent via email. The nice thing about creating and sending emails through an internal communication program is that you don’t have to worry about anyone unsubscribing!
  7. Analyze your customers’ buying habits and use the data to create targeted personalized email experiences. One of the great opportunities for data collection is tracking an individual customer’s buying patterns. Smart companies are using this information to create a customized, personalized experience. Emailing content that the customer sees as 100 percent relevant to him/her will create a stronger connection that can lead to trust, and ultimately, more business.

Skinner says, “To successfully use email marketing, you need to be aware of what the customer journey looks like for your business and use email strategically to directly impact team or company goals. It’s surprising how many people think ‘email is a good idea’ without stepping back and thinking about how it can work in tandem with other channels, or actually deliver value.”

Yes, email is more powerful than ever, but it must be used the right way. And even with all of the great uses of email, the customer has the ultimate control. If you have been given permission to interact with the customer on this channel, don’t abuse it. All a customer has to do is delete the email, or worse, unsubscribe from being connected to you.

So relish email, but respect it. And most of all, prosper from it!

Source: forbes.com ~ By: Shep Hyken ~ Image: Canva Pro

5 Ways to Keep Your Productivity High All Day

Keep Your Productivity High All Day

We all get to that time of day sometimes when you look at the clock thinking 4 hours have passed and it is only 2 minutes later than when you looked last time… Know what I mean? So when we see an article like this it spikes our interest. I know I would try what I could to keep productive. Unfortunately, time is just one of those things that we cannot control, but what you do with it could make a huge difference. Ayodeji Onibalusi has contributed this awesome article pinpointing five ways to keep us productive. Let’s give them a go, shall we…

There are a few things we can actually control in our lives; sadly, time isn’t one of them. But we can control how productively we use it. Certainly, we need to: Most of us have been in situations where we wished there were “more hours in the day” to get things done.

However, a recent Stanford study throws water on that notion, suggesting that simply devoting more time to getting things done isn’t as helpful as it would seem.

The study revealed that productivity falls off dramatically after a 50-hour work week and that those working 70 hours accomplish little more with those additional 20 hours. So, the issue isn’t about having more time to get things done, it’s about using the time you already have more wisely. Consider these five productivity hacks to optimize your daily hustle.

1. Start your morning right.

How you start your morning sets the tone for the entire day.

Waking up earlier and getting into full activity mode can help you get more done the entire day. You should also start your day on a positive note. While most people tend to focus on what they’ve not been able to accomplish the previous day, resetting your priorities and attacking the new day’s goals is key to making the best use of your time.

Keep the phone and emails aside and start with some mind-stimulating exercises such as lifting weights and doing yoga. The workouts will get your blood flowing and pump you up for work, while yoga will help you clear your mind.

2. Employ the Ivy Lee productivity method.

This an old productivity strategy recommends that you close each day by writing down a list of six important things you want to do the next day. Each task is listed according to its level of importance. The most important one comes first, the least important, last.

Your aim is not to clear your tasks as soon as possible but to focus only on completing the first task. Move on to the next task only once you’ve completed the first one. Do this until everything is done.

James Clear, productivity expert and author, explains in a blog post how in 1918 Ivy Lee, a productivity consultant, counseled Charles Schwab, then the president of Bethlehem Steel, to adopt this plan for his employees. Schwab did just that, saw productivity soar, and presented the consultant with a $25,000 check — a princely sum back in those days.

3. Try polyphasic sleep.

According to research reported in the New York Times Magazine, sleep deprivation costs businesses in America more than $63 billion annually. While it’s in our nature to sleep only at night — which for most people is insufficient — taking short naps or siestas during the day may be just what you need to keep your productivity high.

Polyphasic sleep is a sleep hack that aims to boost productivity by disrupting the normal straight seven-hour sleep (monophasic sleep). With polyphasic sleep, you sleep only 30 minutes every six hours. This approach gives you roughly five hours extra in a day, while your body still gets the rewards of a normal six-to-seven-hour sleep.

4. Always wear a cheerful outlook.

Our productivity seems to be connected to our mood. That statement seems obvious, but now there’s proof: A University of Warwick study found that happy employees work harder. The study established that by working alongside cheerful people, employees studied were 12 percent more productive.

If you aim to see increased productivity at your business, stick with employees who are cheerful and happy and stay away from those who tend to share negative stuff. You can also contribute to the productivity levels of others by staying happy yourself — which is great for everybody.

5. Drink coffee.

Hey, all you Java fans, multiple studies show that drinking coffee can boost our productivity levels. Jeff Bickley, founder of Gayo Kopi, an exclusive coffee brand, validates this in a chat.

“Coffee can play a powerful role in boosting our productivity,” he says. “Throughout the day, a compound known as adenosine is produced, as neurons in the brain are fired. We end up feeling tired and worn down as a result of its continuous production.

Coffee helps combat this by impersonating the A1 receptor, which helps block adenosine.”

Source: Linkedin ~ By: Juliette Ryley ~ Image : Linkedin

Adjusting to Life as an Entrepreneur

Life as an Entrepreneur

My palms were clammy, and my heart was pumping blood to my face so quickly that I was sure my cheeks were already beet red. It was a moment I’d been dreading — putting in my two weeks’ notice. I knew it would come as a shock, mostly because I really did love my job and the people I worked with. But deep down, the desire for freedom — to steer my own ship — won out. I knew that as long as that itch was there, I’d never be able to ignore it. I’d be living a lie.

Up until that point, the most surprising thing to me was that when I told close, trusted friends that I was going to quit my job, the response wasn’t “Are you crazy!?” like I was expecting. Instead, they said, “I wish I had the courage to do that.”

I’ll be honest. This wasn’t the first job I’ve left, but it was the best job I left.

It has always fascinated me how people resign themselves to clocking in and out every day. They waste time and energy convincing themselves that they need the job to survive, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Expenses inflate, and all of a sudden they’re trapped in a cycle they can’t break.

Don’t let that happen to you. There are some key things you can do to make sure your transition to self-employment, when you decide to make it, is as seamless as possible. This will probably be the toughest part, but if you can overcome these first five steps, you’ll have the heavy lifting behind you.

10 Tips for Leaving Your 9-5 and Adjusting to Life as an Entrepreneur

Keep your expenses low.

Easier said than done, but this is what your self-employment success will hinge on. Lower expenses mean greater flexibility. Keep the business of YOU lean, and reduce your overhead costs as much as possible. This means having a roommate (or two), not giving in to your shopping habits, and watching every discretionary expense. For some, this might be too much, and I’m not saying you can’t have little splurges every now and then. But if you are reliant on your full paycheck to fuel your lifestyle, you will never get your freedom.

Establish a parachute fund.

Trust me, decisions are so much easier when you have a stash of cash handy. Personally, I have about 3-6 months’ worth of expenses, which is lean for some, but as a single person with no dependents and a steady stream of rental/dividend income, it’s plenty. I typically reinvest most of my rental/dividend income, but I know that if I have higher than average expenses one month, I could just re-divert those dividends for a month to knock out the unexpected expense and be okay. I’ve never had to do this though — it’s definitely for a true emergency, which happens rarely.

I left my job mainly because I had so much going on outside of work that I felt the job was getting in my way. That is the “problem” you want to have, but it’s not going to happen unless you build up other potential streams of income. I’ve invested in rental properties, built up a real estate brokerage business, doing freelance writing/social media work, run my own personal finance blog, and flipped textbooks — and I’m still getting pitched different job opportunities without me even asking.

The key to this is always hustling and being open to what comes your way. Just like with money, your hustle will have a compound effect over time. When I officially left my job, I had three more people approach me about working with them. It truly is a snowball, and every skill you add makes the snowball even bigger.

Remember that you’re not alone.

Don’t forget that everyone, at one point or another, has been where you are. Some of them wish to be where you are. You probably expect people to tell you that you’re crazy like I expected. That’s natural, but you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how many will actually look up to you. Some may even follow in your footsteps and pull the trigger as well! In the end, you have to live for yourself, but remember that you’re not alone, even when it seems like you are in certain isolated moments.

This is not forever!

I’ll admit I fall victim to black-and-white thinking all the time, too. Just because you are leaving your job doesn’t mean you will never be able to get another one! If trying the whole entrepreneur thing for a while tells you that it’s not the right fit, you can always go back to traditional employment. Being an entrepreneur is NOT for everyone, so don’t feel guilty if it just isn’t right for you.

After The Talk

So, you did it. After rehearsing what you were going to say and summoning up the courage to have that dreaded, painful conversation with your employer, you officially have turned in your two weeks. They’ll go by faster than you think, as you’ll be busy tying up loose ends.

What’s next, you ask?

Here are some tips to ensure your first week as an entrepreneur is a productive one.

Continue with a routine.

When I was working, I would wake up around 6:00 a.m. I’ve found that I would wake up tired and grumpy, regardless of what time I went to bed the previous evening. The important thing here is to pay attention to how your body feels and adjust accordingly. Now I wake up a little later, usually between 7:00 and 8:00. Some entrepreneurs are probably appalled at how late that is! But I have found that by doing just that one thing, I feel better and don’t succumb to the customary afternoon haze.

However, to make sure I was sticking to that timeline, I scheduled appointments my first week at either 8:00 or 9:00 a.m. There’s nothing like a client appointment early in the morning to light a fire under your behind. Whatever you want your routine to be, plan it out and stick to it. Everybody is going to have a different style so what works for me may not work for you.

Have a designated work area.

For me, it’s my kitchen table. I know that if I have my laptop with me at the table, it means business. I’m not doing my work in bed or on the sofa because it’s just that tempting to procrastinate and turn Netflix on.

If I find that I really need to pound some work out, I either go to a coffee shop or a local free co-working space. The energy there alone is often enough to pep me up even more and get me in the zone.

Talk to people.

This goes beyond your first week (as should all the steps, really), but set up meetings with people ahead of time. Maybe it’s an acquaintance that you’ve been meaning to catch up with but haven’t found the time to. Or perhaps it’s someone new you met at a networking event. You completely control your own schedule now — so fill it!

I can’t highlight this point enough. My network has grown exponentially because I take the time to sit down and get to know people one-on-one; in fact, I prefer it this way! You can really get to know someone, and as an entrepreneur, you can truly never know too many people.

It’s okay to reward yourself with food/coffee.

This may not apply to you (boy, do I feel sad for you if that’s the case), but I love food. I don’t drag my feet much, but if I find that I need to work on a project that I just don’t really feel all that excited about, I head to Bruegger’s Bagels. Feel free to go wherever you want. In my city, there are a few spots that are Bruegger’s and Caribou Coffee combined. I know — heaven, right!?

You have to tempt the little kid inside of you sometimes, and that’s totally okay. As soon as I’m on my way to Bruegger’s/Caribou, I find that I look forward to working on whatever it is that I need to work on. It’s like magic!

Set up a to-do list or goal checklist.

My previous employer turned me onto a nifty Google Chrome extension called Momentum, which makes opening a new tab a reminder of what your main priority is for the day, along with a pretty picture and a to-do list on the sidebar. And I know you (like me) open a lot of tabs. It allows you to check things off, prioritize, and be inspired with a little quote and a picture, all in one minimalist little dashboard.

It doesn’t matter how you do it, but having a list of what you want to accomplish for the week is super helpful. That way, if you find that you have a moment where you’re not working on anything productive, you can re-focus your mind just by referencing your to-do list. Aim to have everything checked off by the end of the week!

Your Future is Bright

Leaving your 9-5 (I’m personally not a big fan of the word “quitting”) is difficult, regardless of the individual circumstances surrounding your decision. Growing up, getting a corporate job was just what was expected. I am so glad that I’ve learned that being entrepreneurial and going my own way is not “weird” — frankly, it’s darn courageous. I hope this article helps you make the leap when you’re ready. This is where the fun really begins!

(If you liked this article, be on the lookout for a follow-up from me on how I’m building up my real estate business! Even if you’re not a broker, it should give you some business insights that are applicable to any industry.)

Source: biggerpockets.com ~ By:  ~ Image: Canva Pro

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