Photo credit: Rayna Ramsey

“Often people attempt to live their lives backwards: they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want so that they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then, do what you need to do, in order to have what you really want.” – Margaret Young

I have been thinking a lot about wealth, abundance and success lately and what it means to manifest what you want. Abundance can mean different things to different people, and can include both the tangible and intangible areas of life.  Concrete achievements like a successful career, a beautiful home, financial accumulation, a great wardrobe and a fit body, as well as the non-physical richness of passion, loving relationships, creative pursuits, a Spiritual connection and serving others are all important.

Living abundantly encompasses creating and balancing your definition of wealth relationally, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically and financially. The most challenging of these areas for many women is around money and their thoughts about financial success.

In mid-June, I had the privilege to work with a group of women to assist them in to creating an abundant life by having the right mindset to create more success in their business and their lives.

I taught them to fearlessly claim what they want based on who they are, what they want, how to think about it and what they need to do in the world because of it. We started with defining abundance, discussing the importance of knowing your values, being in your right livelihood, unearthing limiting money beliefs, doing an exercise on deserving and finally, developing tools for manifesting money.

I thought you might benefit from some of my thoughts from that evening.

We defined abundance to mean plentifulness, a large quantity, profusion, wealth, money in an unlimited form. I believe there is enough for everyone and as Wayne Dyer in The Power of Intention states, “Know that you don’t have to ask for less, or feel guilty about wanting abundance. It’s there for you and everyone in an unlimited supply.”

Next, we discussed the importance of knowing your values. Living in your values sets a foundation for creating wealth. The way you spend your money and time as well as what you have in your life are good indicators of what is most important to you.

When you live in your values, you are happier, focused, more authentic, more receptive, and you open the channels for more money to flow to you. Many people have a tendency to undervalue self. If you undervalue what you do, the world will undervalue who you are as well.

We moved into talking about being in your right livelihood. Finding and doing your life’s work will bring more satisfaction and abundance than anything else you could do, especially when it is of service to others. In Laura Berman Fortgang’s book The Prosperity Plan, she writes, “Just be who you truly are through your work, no matter what it is, and you will be living in the vibration that attracts the most money to you. Use what you are blessed with and the world gets to benefit- it’s a prosperity-making formula.

Next up, we unearthed money beliefs and fears. All things start with a thought, including your path to prosperity. It is important to align positive thoughts about money- what it means to you, how you receive it and what it does for you- with your actions. When a client hits a block, it is often in the form of a self-limiting belief or fear that must be turned around in order to keep moving forward. Finally, we were ready to talk about manifesting money.

Contemplate what you want, not what you don’t have. Visualize what your own definition of a rich life looks like. What are you doing, who are you doing it with? Where are you? What kind of impact do you have? What do you love about your life? How do you want to live it more fully?

I believe one’s ability to manifest is directly connected to believing it’s possible, having trust and faith, aligning fearless thoughts and actions in one’s right livelihood, feeling the success, expressing gratitude and putting positive feelings out into the world.

What do you believe and what do you truly, deeply desire? Here are some keys to manifesting what you want:

• Decide you deserve it and fully believe it without a doubt
• Create a manifestation visualization
• Do daily affirmations as if what you want has already arrived
• Create a vision board representing the things you want in life
• Engage in your right livelihood
• Express gratitude often and along the way
• Love yourself first by engaging in consistent self-care

Ultimately, you must see money as a relationship and tend to it as you would any other close friendship. How is your relationship with money? What does money do for you? Why is money important to you? What do you want to do with your money? How much is enough?

Finally, I concluded with the 8 Qualities of a Wealthy Woman, according to Suze Orman in her book Women & Money: I hope that you will think about this for yourself.

1. Harmony– The positive interaction of what you think, feel, say, & do
2. Balance– The state of emotional stability in which you are calm and able to make sound decisions
3. Courage– The ability to face danger, difficulty, uncertainty or pain without being overcome by fear or being deflected from a chosen course of action.
4. Generosity– To give the right thing to the right person at the right time, and it benefits both the giver and the receiver.
5. Happiness– The state of well-being and contentment.
6. Wisdom– The knowledge and experience gained through life that enables you to make sounds decisions and judgments.
7. Cleanliness- The state of purity, clarity and perception
8. Beauty– The quality or aggregate qualities in a person that gives pleasure to the senses and exalts the mind and spirit.

Now, choose your dream and start seeing, feeling, imprinting and believing in your own wealth. When fear, self-doubt or old stories arise, learn to replace the disempowerment with new, positive thought patterns and you will begin to appreciate your own greatness. Your soul’s desire and true essence will emerge and you will cultivate your own definition of success. Mint your abundance by making it happen, money and all.

Meet Jennifer: Life Coach, Inspirational Speaker and Author Jennifer M. Blair is founder of Excavive™ Coaching and Consulting, based in Louisville, Kentucky. Her work focuses on empowering people to pursue their passions, increase their self-confidence, communicate powerfully and build the kind of lives they want to live. If you love these Blog posts, many have been adapted from her first book, The True You: Tools to Excavate, Explore and Evolve, published in 2011.

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