You know there’s more to life. You can feel it.
You’ve worked hard, done your best. But you still see a gap between where you are right now and where you could be—you just can’t seem to get across it.
Dissatisfaction may show up most clearly in your financial experience. (People often think of affluence in terms of money.) But I’ve found that a truly affluent life is actually rich in 6 main areas: spiritual, mental, emotional, physical, financial, and in relationships. If one particular area is troubled, you feel it. No amount of money changes that.
What exactly is affluence, and what keeps you from achieving it?
Affluence is a state of being. It’s an inner state of knowing that all is well. It’s an ability to maintain a state of peace, regardless of life’s outer circumstances. It is mastery over the inner self. Once you create internal affluence, your outer reality transforms in many ways to reflect back to you a life free of lack, pain, and struggle.
Affluence is living the life you know you’re meant to live.
So why exactly are you stuck? What keeps you from living true to your potential?
Here are six likely possibilities:
Reason 1: Your spiritual authority has been given away.
Really? Spirituality? When we’re talking about affluence?
Yes. Affluence starts in your inner world.
Truly affluent people are connected to a higher purpose and have a strong connection to their personal intuition. The richness of their lives begins internally.
For a long time, people looked to outside sources for spiritual guidance. Giving your decision-making power to an outside authority compromises your ability to take personal, inspired action. Shifting away from that experience and turning within will allow you to find individual answers and connection with the divine.
All you need to do is pay attention for inspiration that comes—and act on it.
Reason 2: Negative thoughts overrun your mind.
In the next hour, you will think around 3,000 thoughts. What will they be?
Your thoughts determine your focus. They guide your actions before you ever act.
Observe your thoughts for the next hour. How many thoughts are positive? How many are negative? How many thoughts judge you harshly or tell you what you cannot do? Those negative, limiting thoughts are poison to a mind that’s trying to create an affluent life.
What grateful, empowering thoughts can you use to replace your negative ones?
Reason 3: Old emotional blocks are keeping you afraid.
If you’re like many people, you carry certain unresolved emotions with you. Those emotions often express themselves as fear, because you don’t want to risk feeling painful emotions.
Do you experience fear of loss? Fear of failure? Or even fear of success?
Fear blocks you from stepping into an emotionally affluent life. Take a moment to write down your fear. Which uncomfortable emotion are you trying to avoid by staying afraid? Let yourself feel it fully and then envision letting it go.
Reason 4: Pain is your enemy instead of your friend.
You can have all the money in the world, but chronic pain or disease can leave you feeling frustrated and less than affluent.
Most people try to avoid, alleviate, or get away from pain. But what if you saw it differently? Pain is a wake-up call that brings your attention back to yourself. Pain is an unwelcome guest, but if it isn’t going away, can you befriend it and welcome the lessons it has to teach you?
Reason 5: Blame invades your most important relationships.
Relationship troubles derail affluence. They take up time and energy, and sometimes even money. In most relationship breakdowns, blame is front and center.
Think of something that’s easy to blame your partner for. Consider the possibility that holding your blame is keeping you stuck. Your partner certainly has room to improve, but stop waiting around for that to happen. Move forward by letting the issue go, or deciding what you will do, no matter if your partner changes.
Reason 6: Your family’s story about money keeps you stuck.
Whether you’re aware of it or not, your family’s beliefs, attitudes, and stories about money were handed down to you. Those stories are so powerful.
If your parents judged or resented people who had more money, you will subconsciously limit how much money you allow yourself to have. (After all, you don’t want to be judged or resented!)
Consider what your parents or grandparents said about money. How did they handle tricky financial situations? Did they believe they deserved an affluent life? Do you? Identifying unhealthy stories is the first step to changing them.
True affluence is something for you to create right now
You are innately designed to experience affluence in all areas of your life.
Yes, you are 100% capable of being spiritually inspired, thinking clearly, feeling peace, enjoying a healthy body, having enough money to support your desires, and experiencing supportive and loving relationships.
You might see a gap between where you are now and where you could be.
But consider the possibility that a truly affluent life is not a destination that’s far away from you. It’s right here, in this minute, in the next thought you think, in the next action you take. Who knows how affluent your next choice will make you?
If you choose, your truly affluent life starts right now.