There are many ways to create an Abundance Mentality; many are genuine and applicable. I have broken down the five steps I take daily, and it helps me retain my mental abundance throughout the day. When I say take five steps daily, in the beginning, these were actual tasks and jobs I would perform in a ritualistic style to commit to creating an environment of consistency that would pattern my behavior moving forward. They have become automatic because of years of practice and understanding of how they fit into my lifestyle. Although I do certain rituals daily, they are purely for the practical and spiritual benefit I get from them and not for any disciplinary reason. The journey is always one of your understanding and making, and we never suggest or advocate for strict adherence. Everyone is unique and should design their program as they see fit. However, certain principles are essential, and that is what we find in these five steps.
#1 There is always a new opportunity around the corner
The first and most crucial step expresses itself in a principle or concept, but you cannot exclude it from the foundation that creates a mental capacity for abundance. I am sure you are all familiar with the acronym “FOMO,” Fear Of Missing Out. FOMO is precisely that, a fear. Fear serves its purpose in the case of caution and rational concern for your well-being, but it does you no good when you employ the emotion out of unsound, illogical, and fallacious thought.
How many times have you heard a story that goes along these lines? A person loses his job, and then two weeks later finds another one to get injured in a terrible accident two weeks after that. Because of this accident, he has multiple X-rays, discovering a tumor. Because the doctors found his cancer early, he is now out of danger. He goes home and back to his new job. His old company goes bankrupt, and he loves his new occupation. I had this experience. Not cancer, but my boss wanted to fire one of my subordinates, and I said no, he was too valuable, so he fired me. I did get six months severance and all my vacation pay, but it was tough. A year later, the company went under, and nobody received any compensation. They were all just let go. By then, I was already in a new career and established.
I do not want to make light of these severe circumstances that most all of us have faced at least once in our lives, but I want to make a point that this too shall pass. Unless we make incredibly drastic and irrational decisions, we usually get back on our feet. Another example is seeing an opportunity that we do not take advantage of, and it pans out for whoever did. FOMO can get in the way of our abundance mentality in a big way. To ward off such a preposterous concept, we have to be of the mind that there will always be another opportunity and most likely a better one. I see opportunity in my life all the time. My problem is not having to miss out on it but to try and take too much of it. It's called the “Shiny Tool” syndrome. It is the cousin of FOMO. It puts opportunity in front of you repeatedly in the form of advertisements and lucrative offers. Shiny Tool presents it, and FOMO says to do it now before you miss out; combined with Tony Robin's culture, “take massive action,” it's no wonder we struggle. I maintain that opportunity will always be there. I am a big fan of taking action but not on everything. Take your time to find something or even a few things you want to accomplish and get good at those things. Once you are satisfied with what you have accomplished, and only then, go ahead and move on to the next opportunity. It's that feeling of accomplishment by persistence that I like to refer to as Rubik's Cube Logic. It says that you can break down, even something that seems impossible, into small pieces and learn the skills needed to accomplish that challenge.
No matter what you choose, there will always be the temptation to move on to something more exciting or painless to accomplish. That in and of itself proves the point of endless opportunity. Decide and stick to it.
#2 Abundance follows from routine
When everyone speaks of routine, I realize the images conjured by this thing are usually strict actions taken and done in a specific order. You must do this and do it at this time and, of course, do it in this certain exact way. That might have been the case many years ago, but it does not have to be the case in today's environment. Routine is simply a parameter allowing all kinds of different tasks designed to get you moving and in a productive direction. Morning routines are usually the most effective. However, just sticking to a morning routine is not enough. Triggering yourself throughout the day with other suggested activities that keep your objectives at the forefront of your mind creates your Cognitive Momentum. It is the foundation for an abundant mentality. The mere fact that staying busy keeps your mind focused and away from idol thoughts of challenge or even despair. Routine's bedrock gives reason to abide, but it's attributes go much further than just keeping you busy. A routine builds habits that lead to automatic discipline. Once you have attained this level with specific tasks or jobs, you reach a tipping point where you feel more psychological discomfort not to get the thing done than to do it. Trust me, this is a strange feeling when you come up against something you don't feel like doing at the time, but you have conditioned yourself so thoroughly to do it, you can't physically stop yourself from doing it. It goes way beyond forming a habit, and it becomes mental muscle memory. It is not so much that you create a feeling of abundance through routines as it impugns your thoughts with those of denial, justification, and procrastination if you don't make and evolve them. Without multiple and diverse but succinct choices throughout your day, which routines provide, you could fall into obtuse and reactionary patterns of complacency.
#3 Gratitude is worth its weight in gold
Do you realize it is impossible to maintain two states of mind at one time? Again not to make light, but unless you have schizophrenia, you cannot be happy and sad at the same time. I have a technique I use called psycho projection. I will go on a walk in my imagination and what starts out being a simple disagreement between my brother and me in my mind turns into me wanting to move thousands of miles away and never speaking to him again. Don't sit in judgment; you know you have been there. I have taken some of the wildest rides in my mind. Usually, inside a minute, that puts me in a mental space I don't like to admit. It can get so bad sometimes that it stops me in my tracks. I call this psycho projection, and if not held in check, it can be a horrendous habit for anyone, no matter how positive they think they are in their lives. When my thoughts get to this point, I catch myself and acknowledge it by stating either to myself or aloud, “Psycho Projection,” and I stop it in its tracks. However, there is the second part of this process: filling the void or the vacuum.
You are always thinking. Your mind is still working. Unless you have mastered meditation while engaged in any activity, you will have some thought in your head. For this psycho projection to reverse, you have to make sure you interject planned thoughts that immediately bring images of joy and gratitude into your mindset. Set them up ahead of time so that you do not have to fumble for them when you need them. Make them powerful enough to put you in a state of gratitude right away before you have the chance to relapse. I have a few, but one that works particularly well for me is a memory of my granddaughter's excitement from various Disneyland trips we have taken. It is like a film roll. I recall many encounters, all with her completely enthralled and thrilled with the ride we are about to go on or the souvenir we are about to purchase.
Instantly my mental and emotional state is transformed into pure joy and gratitude. I can only tell you this works and if you are skeptical, try it out the first chance you get and see what a miracle technique it is.
The end goal is to stay as close to a state of gratitude as often as you can. It is hard when things are tough, but you can do it. The Stoics have a phrase, “Amor Fati.” It means a love of one's fate. You may be down, but you are not out. You may be down and out, but you are not dead, and you can decide to own your fate and make of it what you will. Gratitude in its purest form is to have it when you have no reason to, and if you can be grateful in these times, you can be grateful anytime. A grateful heart is an abundant heart.
#4 Take time and relax already
I am not a workaholic by any means, and I do alright. I will never be a Tiger Woods or Elon Musk, nor do I care to be. I will never go without, and I will always show a loving heart to each person I encounter in my life. I will rejoice or at least endure every circumstance. If I get caught up in the fray of life, I know it is time to relax. I am a firm believer in the art of moderation, and believe me; it is an art. As a recovered alcoholic, I know about taking things to the extremes; if anything, recovery has taught me the phrase, “Everything in Moderation,” well.
I am not just talking about on the weekends or vacation but during every day. It is crucial to take a break if you hit a roadblock in your work. We all know this, but our nature is to push on and get past whatever we are trying to conquer. On so many occasions, I would take a break, and upon return, a solution would inevitably present itself. It has happened far too many times to ignore it now.
I take the relaxation of both my mind and my body seriously. I know when it is time to take a breather and when it is time to shut down altogether. There are varying degrees of reaching these points, but nobody can go on forever without diminishing returns.
#5 Be true to you
Up to this point, we have rid ourselves of FOMO, we have our routines in place, we are grateful, and we have learned to take a break, but not much of what we learned up to now will matter much if we are not true to our mission. If we set a task or goal, we must stick to it. We must see it through to the end. I have done both. I have set goals and reached them, and I have given up and never have learned anything from giving up.
Make sure you stick to your routines, expect all kinds of opportunities, and appreciate it every day. The minute you begin to justify breaking away from these principles, you start down a slippery slope that is much harder to climb back up than it would have been to stay the course. If you are consistent, you will find that it gets easier all the time. Your mental muscle memory will get stronger, and you will begin to crave more challenges and achievements in your life. It will become a game that you love to wake up to play every morning, and you will win the day.
Sometimes this means just don't quit or do the bare minimum. That is OK, I have been there. You can't always be at your best, but you can always push on, and that is where you find and develop your character.
The rest is up to you
When I read or even study subjects vital to me, even taught by teachers, I immensely respect, I always take it with a grain of salt. That is to say, I listen and absorb with my filter. A filter that begs the question, “Does this ring true for me?” It has to feel right to you, and if it doesn't, either look at it from a different perspective or let it go completely. You and I will see somethings eye to eye, and others we will not. There will never be one perfect set of instructions to follow. There will only be your interpretation of the things you learn and how you can apply them in your life.
I believe what I have explained in this post is what works for me in achieving an abundance mentality. You may not agree with all of it or go about getting to the same destination differently. All I can do is share my experience, strength, and hope. It is honest and accurate for me. Please take what you want and leave the rest but pay it forward as much as possible.
