Develop An Abundance Mindset

Imagine that you and I are walking down the street.

You breathe in and out, I breathe in and out. We both need oxygen to survive. Would you worry that there would not be enough oxygen for both of us? Of course not, air is abundant.

Now imagine suddenly that air becomes a precious commodity.  It is scarcity that makes us worry.  What if there is not enough for both of us?

Our attitude towards scarcity and abundance in other aspects of our lives greatly influence our success. 

Most people see life as having only so much, as though there were only one pie out there. And if someone were to get a big piece of the pie, it would mean less for everybody else.

The Scarcity Mentality is the zero sum paradigm of life. People with a Scarcity Mentality have a very difficult time sharing recognition and credit, power or profit, even with those who help in the production. They also have a hard time being genuinely happy for the success of other people. 

The Abundance Mentality, on the other hand, flows out of a deep inner sense of personal worth or security. It is the paradigm that there is plenty out there and enough to spare for everybody.  It results in the sharing of prestige, recognition, profits and  decision making. It opens possibilities, options, alternatives and creativity.

Covey tells us that when you live in a world of scarcity, you compete for available resources, even when there is an abundance of them.

More often than not, the challenges people face stem from a scarcity mindset.

Leaders who allow a scarcity mindset to work its way into their culture pay a high price. When resources (money, opportunity, recognition) are perceived to be limited, paranoia, fear and politics thrive. In this environment, people become nervous and afraid to make a mistake. As a result, teamwork and innovation suffer.

Effective leaders, on the other hand, develop and model an abundance mindset. By doing so, they create an environment where they can positively influence the people around them  and help them to thrive. 

Here is how to spread this positive mentality: 

Offer words of appreciation. 

Let people know how much you value their contributions. People want to know that their work matters. Your influence and happiness will increase in direct proportion to the appreciation that you show them.  This is one of the fastest and simplest ways to build a more abundant life.

Choose to see opportunity. 

The next time your are faced with an obstacle, flip it around and consider it an opportunity. Face the challenge with optimism and make sure everyone sees you modeling that attitude. You willl be surprised at how quickly problems dissolve and how soon optimism becomes your default mechanism.

Remind yourself that there is more than enough. 

As Covey said, there is enough pie to go around, so break that nasty habit of comparing yourself to others. Repeat after me: There is plenty for everyone. Say the sentence often enough, and it will become second nature.

Carefully select the company you keep. 

Mindsets are contagious, limit your time with the "glass is half empty"type of people.

Spend time in reflection. 

Learn to acknowledge and appreciate all the positives in your life. Gratitude is a powerful aspect of an abundant mindset. A grateful heart is at the centre of an abundant life.  People with a grateful mindset tend to see the message in the mess. And even though life may knock them down, the grateful find reasons, if even small ones, to get up..

Give more of what you want. 

Although it may sound counterintuitive, one of the best ways to increase your abundance is to give. Do not feel like there is not have enough time to slip away from your obligations, even if just for an hour, to help someone in need.  Or feel like you do not have enough money? Give to someone less fortunate. In other words, be a river, not a reservoir. Giving is sure to put you in a more abundant and appreciative frame of mind.

Reflect on the influence you have on other people.  Which mindset do you model? Do you see a positive, abundant mentality reflected in your family and friends? Or are they pessimistic, stingy and competing among themselves for your attention? Remember, you set the tone.

I challenge you to foster an abundance minded culture. Encourage people to see options and opportunity when they face obstacles or challenges. Express appreciation regularly, and recognise others who do the same. Communicate and share your hopes for yourself and  the people around you.

Remember, we are all leaders. Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less. We influence the people around us wherever we are, whether it is at home, work, on the motorway or in the checkout line. As you build an authentic and sincere abundance mindset, you will find that your positive outlook can spill over and influence the people around you.

William James said, “The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind.” Let your mindset be your biggest asset!

With thanks to JJimenez

https://www.success.com/john-c-maxwell-6-tips-to-develop-and-model-an-abundance-mindset/

Thoughts Are Things

“Change your thoughts and you change your world.” — Norman Vincent Peele

Thoughts are things. They are powerful and preemptive. The very thoughts running through your mind can help to manifest the life of your dreams, or draw you closer to your greatest fears. But most people do not realise the inherent power of their thoughts. We go about our lives steeped in one mindset or another, without the clear realisation that whatever it is we think about or focus on consistently, we move towards.

Whether or not you believe that statement is rather subjective. The truth of the matter is that we are the product of our thoughts. Think, and you shall become. It is part of the manifestation of our destiny. But not everyone holds to this credo. Not everyone believes in the fervent power of their thoughts. They brush it off while dwelling on the past or fearing the future, not quite understanding that the very things that they are thinking about, they are inching closer towards.

At the very fundamental level, thoughts are purely energy. They move across the synapses in our brains, jumping from one neuron to another, moving from one cluster to the next in lightning-fast speed. It is a near instantaneous process. If you think about moving your hand, as you think it, it happens. There is no lag there. You  are not waiting for some CPU to crunch directives. The mind is the most powerful computer in the world at the moment.

That energy moving across the synapses of your neurons, has potential to revolutionise your life. A single thought can spark a flurry of activity. In a moment we can decide and commit to something, anything, that will move us in one path or the next towards our hopes and dreams. Those same thoughts can also fester and marinate in our minds, infecting every emotion and behaviour until it manifests itself into reality.

There is no denying the power of your thoughts and no hiding from something that is so real and exact that it can either be harnessed for good, or leveraged for extreme bad. But what are thoughts exactly? How do they work? Is everything in our lives right now the product of our thoughts? Have we truly manifested whatever reality we might be experiencing at this moment in time?

Understanding Your Thoughts

The human mind is still something that perplexes us. While we have an abundance of information on how it works, we have not quite grasped all of its nuances and complexities. Just how is it that we are experiencing reality? How does consciousness work? Why are we in this body right now and experiencing these things? If you stop for a moment to think about it, the thoughts will daunt you. It is an overwhelming fact, something that we cannot quite wrap our heads around.

To add to that equation, as humans, our bodies are made up of 99.9999% empty space. The atoms in our bodies, at their most finite scales, are simply empty space, held together by electrical charges. On a quantum level, things get even stranger. Those atoms can actually appear in two places at the same time, which is called quantum superposition. Matter exists in a variety of forms and states due to complex quantum wave functions. So, what we are experiencing and feeling is not quite 100% real, so to speak.

I know it all sounds very strange. And we do not need to understand how it all works or get into an indepth discussion about quantum physics to be able to understand that reality is merely a projection of our thoughts on a finite scale. But we do need to be able to leverage it. Since everything is held together by electrical energies, and our thoughts are pure energy, it is easy to see how thoughts, on their most fundamental scale, can permeate everything. On the macro scale, it is harder to appreciate. But think smaller. Think nano-level and beyond.

However, another problem that arises is that the human mind is a computer that has been pre-conditioned. It has some software that is installed at birth in the form of our DNA, but after that, every new experience is another memory logged that might create a variety of functions. As we grow older, those functions turn into habits. But at the very basal level, everything is created by our thoughts and how we perceive things.

We are all unique in our own special little ways, and even identical twins can grow up to become wildly different people. That is because their thoughts evolve differently, permeating their lives in ways that are unique only to them. It is the nature of mankind, and the divine chisel that carves us into who we are. I doubt we will ever understand it all. But for those that can appreciate it and harness the true power of their thoughts, anything is possible.

Living In Fear

Did you know that the human mind processes anywhere between 50,000 to 70,000 thoughts in any given day? Obviously, not all of those thoughts are conscious. And, not all of those thoughts are unique. Many of the thoughts are repeated and replayed in our subconscious minds. They stem from our deepest and most darkest fears. These are the what-if scenarios that we cannot seem to escape no matter what we do.

Fear-based thought is one of the most prevalent thoughts that pervade our minds. On the other end of that spectrum are thoughts that are founded on the purity of love, honesty and forgiveness. Yet, not enough of our thoughts are love-based thoughts. Much of them are fear based. The problem with living in a fear-based mindset, is that those fears have a tendency for transmuting themselves into reality.

When you live in fear, not only does it tax you mentally, but also emotionally, spiritually, and of course, physically. Mentally speaking, you spend much of your time dwelling on the what-ifs, and thinking about all those doomsday scenarios. Much of our fear-based thoughts revolve around our finances and relationships, but also extend into our careers, health and other areas of our lives.

Clearly, spending much of your time living in fear also does a number on your emotions. Thoughts produce emotions. Any thought based on fear is going to produce a set of resultant emotions that will develop a foundation for stress and anxiety. When your emotions are taxed, it weighs heavily on your spirit, but also produces stress hormones that negatively affect your physiology. It suppresses your digestive and reproductive systems along with reducing your immune system into shambles.

The power of our fear-based thoughts are abundantly clear. They can ruin us. They can make us head for the ropes and run for the trenches. It is a terrible state-of-mind to have to live in a constant mindset of fear, but countless people from around the globe cannot help but live in that very state. However, if you are serious about achieving your goals or accomplishing anything notable in life, you have to extricate yourself from a mindset of fear.

As difficult as it might feel, we have to gravitate towards love. Fear (and also hate) take a great deal of energy, whereas love is effortless and empowering. The sooner you move from a fear-based mentality to a love-based mentality, the sooner you will feel that cathartic cleansing that comes along with pure and unconditional love. It is not a gullible state to live in. That is simply the inherent power of thought at play on a constant basis in our minds.

How to Shift Your Thinking

We are all creatures of habit. We have very set ways of doing things because we have conditioned ourselves to think, feel and behave that way through years (and sometimes decades) of practice. It is this type of habitual thought patterns that can set the stage for an empowering and fulfilling life, or help to play a hand in our resultant downfall over time. Thoughts quite literally are things since they lay the foundation for any type of life we might decide to lead.

If you are serious about achieving your goals and accomplishing anything worth noting in life, then you have to leverage the power of your thoughts by shifting your thinking. Albert Einstein once said, “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” You cannot expect to think, feel and behave the same way but garner different results. You have to take drastic measures by sowing the seeds of change to reap powerful results.

Yet, it does not happen overnight. For those that are serious, there is a pathway to achievement. As long as you can shift your thinking into the right direction, you can quite literally manifest your dreams. So how does this work? This multi-step process is born through the application of a few fundamental principles to help manifest and attract whatever it is that you want in your life. As long as you appreciate the power behind focused thoughts, and you can apply these steps, you can achieve anything.

Refine Your Focus

The power to achieve anything lies in your focus. The more you can focus your thoughts on something, the more likely you wiil be able to achieve it. If you focus your mind on the wrong things, then you will have a harder time achieving anything in life. Learn how to direct and refine your focus to help guide you in the right direction. If you do not, you will feel at the mercy of the events in your life rather than at the helm of them.

Gain the Proper Perspective

Sometimes, we take things for granted in life. We live in the status quo, with the expectation of a certain standard of living, or that people around us will be there for us in our times of need and so on. But, oftentimes, it is the things that we take for granted, which were once not a part of our lives, that we need to appreciate and be grateful for if we want to succeed. There are hundreds of millions of people living in complete squalor with no hope for the future, so be sure to have gratitude for whatever it is that you do have, no matter how meek it might seem.

Set Meaningful Goals

If you want to leverage the power of your thoughts to achieve great things, you have to set meaningful goals. What do your goals mean to you? They cannot be superficial. When we set superficial goals, it is easier to lose sight of them. They have to mean something so profound that it allows us to focus solely on them no matter what tends to get in our way. That only happens when we set goals that truly mean something to us beyond things like money, fame and prestige.

Find Ways to Add Value

We can harness our thoughts to achieve wild success when we are constantly seeking ways to add value. Life should not always be about a direct return on investment from your time spent on things. You have to look at the long-term implications of doing things the right way today, even if it takes a considerable amount of time for that to materialise into real results. When you search for shortcuts, you cut yourself off from the abundance that awaits the person who goes out of their way for others.

Follow a Detailed and Intricate Plan

We can help to guide our thoughts in the right direction when we follow detailed and intricate plans. Whatever it is that you want in life, as long as you do the right amount of planning, you can achieve it over time. It just will not happen overnight. But it is the right plan that will take you from Point A to Point B. Without it, you will be left scratching your head and wondering why you are not making the amount of progress you want to achieve.

Manage Your Time Effectively

Effective time management is a skill that some of the most successful people on earth institute. We all have the same amount of time in this world, no matter who we are. However, it is how we use that time wisely that dictates just what we are capable of achieving. Guide your thoughts in the right direction by first auditing and analysing your time, then institute a system to use the little time you do have wisely towards the achievement of your goals.

Handle Your Bad Habits Before They Handle You

The right thoughts directed in the right direction can be powerful. But the wrong thoughts directed in the wrong direction can be fatal. Poor thoughts help to instill bad habits. And those bad habits can run rampant on our lives. There is almost no way to accomplish and achieve great things in life when our bad habits consume us. Take control of your bad habits before they take control of your life you if you are serious about reaching your goals.

Avoid Negativity Like the Plague

Negative thinking will lead us nowhere fast. Do what it takes to avoid negativity. Remember that all of reality is merely an illusion. On the macro level, it does not seem that way. But on the quantum level, it is hard to believe that what exists actually exists. There is true power in the positive energy of good and pure thoughts. But there is also true catastrophe in negative thinking. Avoid negative thinking like the plague because like attracts like.

Contribute Your Time To Others

Contribution is at the heart of success. Our fellow men, women and children are struggling, even right in our own backyards. Find ways to contribute to them. Contribution will open you up to an enormous source of good energy from the universe. Do not look for ways you can take from others, but rather what you can give to them. No matter what the situation, nor how little you think you might have, others have less. But you do not need to give them money. Just contribute your time. That is all it takes.

Stay Persistent No Matter What

Life can be hard at the best of times. And it can be downright unbearable at the worst of times. But the true pathway to achieving anything is to stay persistent no matter what. No matter how many times you fail or feel like giving up, do not throw in the proverbial towel. Stay strong, persistent and keep pushing. You can do and achieve anything you put your mind to as long as you stay persistent. It is all in your mind. It always has been and it always will be.

With thanks to Wanderlust Worker

https://www.wanderlustworker.com/the-power-of-your-thoughts/

Creative Visualisation

Visualisation is the fundamental technique underlying reality creation. It is the process of using your thought power to consciously imagine, create and attract to yourself that which you intend to experience in your life. Mastering creative visualisation grants you direct control over your thoughts at the subconscious level. While there are several ways to programme the subconscious mind, visualisation is the most effective and its results the most rapid.

The visualisation techniques outlined here will enable you to harness the creative power of your thoughts to change your circumstances and consciously choose the life you create. There are five basic steps to visualising your intentions for reality creation. 

Step 1 – Relax

Learn to relax your body and empty your mind. Find a comfortable seat, sit upright, breathe deeply and steadily, count down slowly from 25 to 1 while relaxing all your muscle groups from head to toe. Empty your mind by focusing on your breathing.

Step 2 - Imagine 

Imagining your intended outcome. Your imagination is the engine of your thoughts. It converts your thought power into mental images. Imagine your ideal reality in the present moment, bring your pictures to life as if watching a movie, concentrate your thoughts with laser like precision and indulge all your senses.

Step 3 - Feel

Feeling what it would feel like if you already had that which you have mentally chosen in the present physical moment. Where imagination is the engine of your thoughts, your feelings are the fuel. Your e-motions are energy in motion they bring your images to life.

Step 4 – Believe

Believing that you already have your mental intentions in the present moment. The words of Jesus Christ were clear on this in Mark 11:24, "What things so ever you ask for when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them". This is not about wishful thinking or lying to yourself. It is about knowing the scientific truth behind reality creation and having the kind of faith that is the "evidence of things not seen".

Step 5 – Detach

The fifth and final step in the creative visualisation process cannot be emphasised enough, detachment. Detach yourself from the outcome you intend to see manifest in your life. Whenever you are attached to someone or something, you effectively strip yourself of your authentic power to consciously create the life you choose. You cannot be grateful or feel unconditional love or enjoy peace of mind when you are attached to the unfolding of a specific outcome, so detach, detach, detach.

Practice is Key

You must practice, practice, practice. Set aside a time each day for your creative visualisations, preferably once in the morning upon waking and once in the evening before you go to sleep. Both these times are ideal as your mind is already in a semi-relaxed state. Once you have mastered this simple five step process, you will see your life transforming in miraculous ways.

Getting On With It

Once you have completed the process, get on with the rest of your day. To bring yourself back to a normal waking state, simply continue to breathe deeply and rhythmically and count up from 1 to 5 consciously waking yourself from the relaxed state and slowly opening your eyes. Alternatively, if you are visualising while in bed, you can allow yourself to drift off to sleep although it is perferable that you do not.

Leave the How up to the Universe

The focus of your visualisations must be on the outcome, not the process. Once you accept the truth about your thought power and that you are one with the Universal Mind, you will be able to release any need to control the process. Instructing the all-knowing Universe "how" you want things to come about is telling Omniscience that you know better.

With thanks to Tania Kotsos

https://www.mind-your-reality.com/creative_visualization.html#Part_2

Master Your Own Destiny

Are you the master of your own fate, or are you a slave to fate? That has been a question mankind has been asking since they first became cognisant of their own existence. Why does it have to be one or the other? Could not both co-exist?

It can be very difficult, especially for a spiritual person to accept that life, the universe and everything are just the results of a gazillion years of random, meaningless occurrences.

Many of us have had experiences that are all too meaningful to think they were not contrived. Tell a person who got a bad feeling and changed his flight that it was just a coincidence he was not on the plane that burned and crashed.

Destiny

Tell the mother who dreamed of the birth of her child before it happened that she was just dreaming. If you have ever had a good psychic reading that foretold you of events to come, you will find it impossible to believe in the idea that everything that happens is an accident, that it is all coincidence and not contrived. How can this possibly be, if nothing is determined?

Free Will

At the same time, it is easy to understand why some people believe in free will. Think about how much our choices and actions (or lack of actions) guide our lives. Most of the time, we can trace things that happen to us back to a choice we made at some point.

If there was no free will, there would be no point in ever trying, would there? We could just sit back and let the chips fall where they may; and we would not have to take any personal responsibility for any outcomes. But the fact is, people who are responsible and smart, who plan well for their goals and their future, will usually succeed at most things.

People who blow off responsibilities, who do nyt make smart choices, will usually end up suffering for their mistakes. We cannot deny that we have a hand in how things turn out for us.

Working Together

Everyone does have a destiny. We are all born for a purpose, and there are lessons and experiences we are meant to have in this lifetime. However, we also have the right and the responsibility of choice. We get to decide if we are going to do things to pursue our destiny, or move further away from it.

Yes, you can create your own destiny. We need to accept that life can be hard, and some of us are here to learn some hard lessons, or do some difficult things. You can certainly opt out, you can take an easy road , or at least a road that seems easier at the time. You can even change your destiny with your free will.

The Power Of Negative Thought

Negative thinking appears to be more prevalent than positive thinking. It seems that with most people, positive thinking requires some effort, whereas, negative thinking comes easily and often uninvited. This has much to do with education and the environment one has been living in.

If you have been brought up in a happy and positive atmosphere, there is more probability that it will be easier for you to think positively. However, If you have been brought up under poor or difficult situations, you will more probably be attracted to negative thinking.

You view the world through your predominant mental attitude. If your thoughts are positive, that is fine, but if they are negative, your life and circumstances would probably mirror these thoughts.

If you believe that you are going to fail, you will unconsciously sabotage every opportunity to succeed. If you are afraid of meeting new people or having close relationships, you will do everything to avoid people and relationships, and then complain that you are lonely and nobody loves you.

The power of negative thinking in action

• Do you often think about difficulties, failure and disasters?
• Keep thinking about the negative news see and hear on the TV, or read in the newspapers?
• See yourself stuck and unable to improve your life or your health?
• Frequently think that you do not deserve happiness or money, or that it is too difficult to get them?

If you do, then you will close your mind, see no opportunities, and behave and react in such ways, as to repel people and opportunities.

The mind often, does not judge or examine thoughts and opinions before accepting them. If what it hears, sees and reads is always negative, it accepts this as a standard.

The media constantly bombards the mind with a lot of information about disasters, catastrophes, wars and other unhappy events. This information sinks into the subconscious mind, and then, manifests as your habitual manner of thinking. By occupying the mind with depressing and pessimistic thoughts you radiate negative energy into the surrounding world, and therefore, create and recreate more negativity, failures and disasters.

The mind is neutral energy. The way you think determines whether the results are positive and beneficial, or negative and harmful. It is the same energy acting in different ways.

The good news is that persistent inner work can change habits of thinking. You must be willing to put energy and time to pursue positive thinking, in order to change your mental attitude.

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