The Abundance Project - Joe Vitale

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www.TheAbundanceProject.com

The Abundance Project:

Unlocking Your Health, Wealth, and Happiness

Edited by

Jade Koyle

The Abundance Project

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Copyright 2014 By The Abundance Project

www.theabundanceproject.com

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited unless written

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The Abundance Project:

Unlocking Your Health, Wealth, and Happiness

Table of Contents

Foreword

Introduction: The Abundance Project

Do You Have a Gap in Your Abundance? (Take the Quiz)

Chapter One: Your Barometer of Luxury

Chapter Two: Educating Your Desires

Chapter Three: Receiving Abundance

Chapter Four: An Abundant Mindset

Chapter Five: Action Inspires Action

Chapter Six: To Plan or Not to Plan

Chapter Seven: The Wealth Gap

Chapter Eight: Beyond Wealth

About The Abundance Project

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Foreword

By Dr. Joe Vitale

Few subjects are as dear to my heart as abundance, and I was extremely

pleased when Jade asked me to write the Foreword for The Abundance Project e-

book.

I think they’re on to something here.

One of the reasons The Abundance Project as a whole appeals to my senses

is that I, too, have found that “…holding people by the hand in a process of

personal growth is a big part of whether or not someone will achieve the success

they want.”

We get literally hundreds of calls a day in my office from people who’ve

seen me in movies like The Secret, or have read one of my books, and want to

know where they can learn more. The Abundance Project is a powerful force in

this conversation.

You’ll find a lot of fresh, “meat and potato” ideas in this e-book, or “skills of

prosperity” as they call it. It’s full of down-to-earth practical wisdom, and I like

that. It’s something you’ll need to act on the inspiration you receive and bring it

into manifestation. If you’ve read my books, you know that I agree with them that,

next to inspiration from the Divine, God, the Universe, whatever you call it, taking

action is of the essence. And for many people, this is a huge missing link.

As a self-confessed bookophile with an “abundance” of books on this topic,

I appreciate what they’ve accomplished in this ebook. The Abundance Project

covers a lot of ground in a short amount of space to bring you plenty of value. I

even learned a turn of phrase I hadn’t heard before – “educating your desires” –

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about how to expand your purpose and power as you set out to fulfill your dreams,

and I highly encourage you to sit down and do it right away. It will open you up to

thinking big about what is possible for you.

Why limit abundance to your own life when you can receive so much more

and bless the world with it? Perhaps more importantly, why would you when,

“After all, isn’t that really the way abundance works?”

Well, guess what? They’re right. It is.

And I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Expect miracles.

Love,

Joe

Dr. Joe Vitale

Creator of Miracles Coaching®

Author of way too many books to list here

www.JoeVitale.com

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Introduction

The Abundance Project

We are buried beneath the weight of information, which is being

confused with knowledge; quantity is being confused with abundance

and wealth with happiness.

Tom Waits

How do you define abundance?

It’s a big question with definitions ranging from having an excess

of money to having an abundant mindset about what you already have.

To be sure, abundance is widely available and we’re interested in

helping more people get on board – not only those who don’t have it, but

also those who do and simply don’t realize it.

Our desire is to add value to a conversation that will never be

rendered obsolete by technology, no matter how much we advance. If

anything, it’s only going to get louder as we race headlong into the

future at ever-increasing, breakneck paces.

There’s been a huge shift in interest towards the idea of abundance

in recent years as movies like The Secret captured the attention of a

larger and more mainstream audience, yet people were often left

scratching their head. While The Secret raised people’s awareness of the

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importance of having an abundance mindset, its magical feel didn’t

always resonate with viewers.

For example, the Law of Attraction was presented as a somewhat

highly mystical concept when, at its heart, it’s simply the notion that

thoughts become things and what you're seeing in your life is really the

result of who you are. Rather than magic, it’s more on par with author

Stephen R. Covey’s (The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) comment:

“You can’t talk your way out of something you’ve behaved yourself

into.”

That’s not to say there is no magic to life. If ever there was

validity to fiction and science writer Arthur C. Clarke’s statement, “Any

sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,” that

time is now.

Over the years, as we have helped tens of thousands of people to

learn the skills for prosperity, we found that what they needed most was

at the personal development level. Although we had plentiful

information and resources to help people grow their skills for increasing

income, it seemed that the majority of the issues and challenges people

faced in improving their lives came down to their personal ability to

receive abundance.

This is where they struggled.

As business owners, while they did need to learn about SEO, or

how to do market research and pay-per-click advertising, their

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abundance blocks were more personal than that and prevented them

from being able to put the kinds of specific skills that we were teaching

them into practice.

Beyond that, we discovered that the personal issues went into

mindset, limiting beliefs and how people sabotaged their own desires.

They might, for example, create an intention to move forward with their

business, but then their belief about “how it won’t work” and “how it

can’t work” would end up being a huge stumbling block.

We learned that most people were just a small tweak from success.

They didn’t need to make a 180 degree change. Just a small, one to three

degree, change in course could radically change their results for the

better.

So we began doing more personal development training along

those lines and, based on what we’ve seen, holding people by the hand

in a process of personal growth is a big part of whether or not someone

will achieve the success they want.

Even after working with over 80,000 students in various capacities,

we’ve learned a lot about what people need to make their lives and

business flourish. We know that more people need personal help and

coaching and they need it to be affordable. With that personal help, they

especially need motivation and inspiration.

And so, with that, The Abundance Project was born.

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The Abundance Project will constantly be sharing new ideas and

breakthroughs on achieving abundance. You can follow and explore the

movement at www.theabundanceproject.com, and we invite you to join

our e-mail newsletter or Facebook page to receive daily inspiration, as

well as participate in free online events about achieving abundance.

To join the conversation about abundance, and this book, please go

to www.theabundanceproject.com/talk.

Not only will you find that learning abundance is easily accessible,

you’ll feel regularly inspired and uplifted. The Abundance Project brings

the best teachers and mentors to its community so those involved will

have the latest, greatest, and proven information available.

We have relationships with many authors and speakers who have

dedicated their lives to the areas of health, wellness, personal

development, relationships, financial success and small business. The

Abundance Project is like a hub where we can bring it all together.

There’s so much more abundance you can receive if you prepare

yourself for it. Part of this is mindset and part of it is taking action in

your life on the important matters. Sometimes this might mean

correcting actions you’ve taken in the past and working to repair those

things. In all of this, you will feel more open to receiving the greater

good that is available to you.

The truth is there is abundance and plenty for everyone, including

you – not just financially, but in every way. And receiving abundance is

http://www.theabundanceproject.com/

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closely tied to living a life that attracts it and then recognizing it and

giving to others as it flows in. Yet so many people live in lack and

despair because they don’t realize they can receive what they need and

desire in their lives.

In this ebook, we’ll touch on some of the major issues around

abundance, like the “Wealth Gap,” things that, from a macro level, we

view as opportunities for abundance and receiving abundance. With this

understanding, as you go through the process of creating and receiving

more in your own life, you’ll realize that the more you receive, the more

you can to give.

After all, isn’t that really the way abundance works?

Even with all its many faces, this basic tenet of abundance, tied

into value, applies to all of them: if you are receiving, you also need to

be giving.

For example, in business, you give value and you receive value,

monetarily and otherwise. In personal relationships, the value is

forgiving and being forgiven, loving and being loved.

While we often believe we have to have more of whatever we are

wanting, in reality, when we can appreciate what we already have now,

value it and have gratitude for it, we actually become open to receiving

more. It becomes a way that we can actually improve our relationships

by serving and loving one another.

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Abundance is also about taking care of yourself – everything from

ways to raise your energy, increase your income in business or at a job,

improve your relationships with your spouse and family, and enhance

your health. Real abundance has no limits. You can reverse diabetes or

correct irritable bowel syndrome.

It’s all part of abundance or, in other words, how you can move

towards personal peace and happiness, and our goal is to bring the best

of the best from the experts to help people in all of these areas.

At the same time, we want to illuminate the notion that what you

have and are right now is enough, even in the midst of desiring more,

and show you ways you can “educate your desires,” to deepen and

expand your reasons for and ability to receive. Going through this

process allows you to bring clarity to your prayers (or however you

communicate with God). Then, as you reach for inspiration on what you

can do and prepare yourself to receive by taking action in your life, you

are more aligned with truth.

Think of it as your own personal mentor and coach, a place to

come for help when you need it as move along the many stepping stones

of abundance.

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Do You Have a Gap in Your Abundance?

(Take the Quiz)

Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into.

Wayne Dyer

If you feel like you “have enough,” you’re a rare soul indeed.

After consulting with thousands of individuals, we discovered that most

people have huge “gaps” in awareness around their own abundance, so

don’t despair if you feel you’re far from living the abundant life. Not

only are you in good company, you’re probably closer than you think –

and we’ve got many ways to help you get there.

An easy way for you to find out how you are doing at living

abundantly is by taking our Abundance Gap Quiz.

To take the quiz, click here.

This short quiz, available on our website, is designed to show you

what’s keeping you from living a life of abundance. It offers a way to

“measure” or notice your thinking, emotions, and behaviors as it relates

http://www.theabundanceproject.com/quiz.php?linkid=428485&subid=link1



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to this, and will give you some idea about where you are on the road to

becoming a person of affluence in every respect.

Regardless of where you are at this point, by increasing your

awareness, you can enhance your ability to receive more of the good

things in life. There is plenty to go around, you just need to learn how to

receive it.

If you haven’t already done so, take our short quiz right now

and find your abundance gaps:

To take the quiz, go here:

http://www.theabundanceproject.com/quiz.php


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Chapter One

Your Barometer of Luxury

You can't have everything. Where would you put it?

Steven Wright

A businessman took a trip down to Mexico. While there, he met a

fisherman who would go out to sea in the morning, put his nets out and

wait a bit, then bring them in with his catch for the day.

The businessman said, “Wow, that’s amazing. You weren’t out

there very long. What do you do afterwards?”

The fisherman replied, “I go down to the market and sell it, then go

home, have a siesta with my family, do a few things around the house

and go to bed. I enjoy life.”

Astonished, the businessman said, “Just think what you could do if

you put in twice as much time. You’d make twice as much!”

The fisherman asked him, “Well, and then what?”

“Then you could hire employees and build a highly profitable,

large company.”

“And then what?”

“Then you could retire with great wealth and stop working.”

“What would I do then?”

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“Why, you could spend time with your family, take siestas, and

enjoy life.”

Puzzled, the fisherman asked, “Señor, but isn’t that what I am

doing now?”

As the above story suggests, everyone comes to this world with a

different “luxury barometer,” which means that the quality of life you

are naturally drawn to will vary according to your background and

experience.

For example, we know someone who grew up on a farm and was

very happy when he was around his tools. Growing up on the land, food

and the hard work that comes with that life were something his family

valued.

Their luxury barometer is very different than those who are more

visually motivated and, for example, may be uplifted by beautiful homes

and surroundings. And, unlike our farmer, not everyone can appreciate

animal, feed, dirt, and manure odors around them, however much they

might benefit from those things.

Unfortunately, humans tend to judge others based on their luxury

barometer – in both directions. Those who have “less” judge those who

have “more” just as often as those who have “more” may judge those

who have “less.” Yet, interestingly, in an abundance survey we

completed, many of our contributors shared (and we agree) that

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abundance means you feel like what you have – however much or little –

is enough, and that you are using it to uplift those around you. In other

words, it isn’t so much the actual outer material wealth itself, but the

inner sense of wealth that matters most.

Wherever you fall on the spectrum of the luxury barometer, what

we have found is that you still need to “educate your desires.” In other

words, when you want something, you need to ask why. What is the

purpose behind it?

When you ask this question of yourself and become conscious

about it, you may discover that you can do with less or without

something entirely. Abundance is about becoming resourceful and being

able to make the best of whatever you have.

As someone wise once suggested, “We should use it up, wear it

out, make it do, or do without.”

In one example we know, a woman found a small table at a yard

sale that she fell in love with, even though it was warped on top with

paint all over it. She bought it for a song, took it home, and set to work

restoring it. She dug in the corners with pins and needles and poured

water over it as she sanded and smoothed it out. Little by little she

shaped this little, insignificant table back into the beautiful piece of

furniture it once was that would cost hundreds of dollars in a store.

We’re not suggesting you have to have an artistic eye or special

talent here. A little bit of creativity and willingness to invest yourself in

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something can go a long way in increasing its value. And it isn’t about

money. This family has plenty of that, but they believe in being

resourceful. It’s the same way they created a beautiful, luxurious home.

Like the table, they put themselves into it.

This is not to say that you shouldn’t hire a craftsman who sells his

art or services. If you value their work and want to pay someone for it,

there can be a good purpose for that.

When people buy things it employs other people. On the other

hand, you can run into problems with this, especially as more and more

products are outsourced. Americans have gotten used to getting things

cheaper and cheaper, which can hurt people who’ve invested their whole

life into an art or craft. For example, a local saddle maker designs and

tools beautiful, leather Western saddles that are so durable they will

literally last for a lifetime. How do you compare this to a factory-made

saddle from a mass production factory in China and what value do you

place on it? The answer to this question is a function of your luxury

barometer and whether or not you are operating out of an abundant

mindset. Both buying from the craftsman and resourcefully creating it on

your own can have a huge impact in the world.

In one of his “Portraits of Craftmanship” television commercials,

Ralph Lauren says, “My goal…is to offer the best in the world. The

concept of making a product by hand with the expertise that’s been

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handed down to you through the years is rare in our world. The care and

attention to detail is what you’re getting.”

When you have an abundant attitude, you want to pay people for

true value – for the worth of things in your life. In turn, supporting

others whenever possible becomes a way for you to feel more abundant.

It’s like an upward spiral. That being said, there are times when you

simply don’t have the funds and the solution will be to buy something

less expensive. Sometimes you just have to get by and there’s that is also

a way to live abundantly. The bottom line is that you’re responsible for

your luxury barometer, however it gets measured. There’s no right or

wrong – only differences based on unique preferences and desires.

And regardless of your barometer for luxury, how you are making

your current existence a peaceful and happy one is directly attributed to

your ability to live abundantly.

As a concept, abundance can be compared to pulling back the

layers of an onion. As you grow and evolve, you experience it on many

levels although, by its nature, it has no limits.

Even in a world where much of the monetary wealth is in the

hands of a relative few, bringing with it a number of political and other

ramifications, you can choose the type of life you want to live. The

decisions you make are tied in to your luxury barometer, which can shift

as you educate your desires and get conscious about what you really

want. This process allows you to follow a thought pattern to the end, to

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see where it leads you, so that you can decide if that’s the kind of a life

you want to live.

For example, if you want to seek for and control more wealth, you

may have to live the kind of life they do and give up a lot in the process.

This is for you to decide. It could very well be that your mission and

calling is to amass wealth and use it to the benefit of others. Educating

your desires around that type of life might be quite different than

somebody whose primary desire is to provide for the needs of their

family and have plenty of time together.

We’re not saying you can’t have both, only that you should

consider it in its fullness and decide beforehand the direction you are

pursuing. Educating your desires simply suggests that if you’re going to

seek to amass wealth in your life, you should know what good it will do.

It’s much easier to achieve your desires if you’re clear about them

without conflicting intentions.

Max Lucado, author of You Are Special, wrote, “When you are in

the final days of your life, what will you want? Will you hug that college

degree in the walnut frame? Will you ask to be carried to the garage so

you can sit in your car? Will you find comfort in rereading your

financial statement? Of course not. What will matter then will be people.

If relationships will matter most then, shouldn't they matter most now?”

In the abundant life, we seek to understand truth as it relates both

to the larger purpose of life itself and to our own, individual purpose. It’s

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about consciously considering who you are and what you can do on this

earth – so that you don’t wait until your deathbed to figure that out. You

figure it out now and live as if it’s going to be the last day of your life.

We each have an important value. We may not be aware of what

that is on a conscious level, but we trust that God does know and is

working within us to bring it to bear on the world.

Your Barometer of Luxury: End of Chapter Exercise

What is your luxury barometer? Describe the kind of life you want to

live. Write it down and share it with your spouse or a close friend.

________________________________________________________

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Chapter Two

Educating Your Desires

I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If

today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to

do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days

in a row, I know I need to change something.

Steve Jobs

Often when people talk about personal development and receiving,

concepts like the Law of Attraction, unlimited abundance, and becoming

wealthy and rich are the first ones to arise. It’s easy to miss out on the

purpose of “why?”

Why do you want these things?

In educating your desires, you ask until you know the answer. For

example, perhaps you’re seeking for wealth and fortune. If you say,

“The reason why I want this is so that I can leave my children a legacy,”

ask yourself what that legacy would be because, after a certain point,

having a big bank account doesn’t necessarily do you or them any good.

In fact, unless planned with great purpose and care, you could

damage future generations by leaving them with money and not the

wisdom to use it for good.

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In educating your desires you might ask, “How am I going to reach

out and bless others with this?” If your answer is, “I want to bless the

people that helped me achieve that wealth,” then you could ask, “How

can I do that?” Will you pay them more? Help them have more skills

and increase their ability to provide value? You work on this until you

come to a point that you feel like you have a solid plan based on the true

desires of your heart.

Many desires are born in you and may be there because you have a

particular mission or calling in life. But sometimes you may believe

you’re going in the right direction when, really, you’re off track. In this

case, you reach a goal and discover in the end that you didn’t truly have

the right desire. It’s like a close race and you came in second.

Walt Disney once said, “I want to make money from my movies so

I can continue making movies.” He knew why making money mattered

to him and how it served his greater purpose. But we could even ask

Walt why he liked making movies. His answer to that question would

be interesting, indeed. The point is that when you don’t know why you

are doing something, it’s easy to fritter your time and resources away on

lesser or conflicting intentions.

While there are plenty of models for making money in business

and economics, what if you want to help in areas where a model doesn’t

exist, like world hunger or a disease?

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John Huntsman, a local philanthropist, is a great example of this.

He established the Huntsman Cancer Institute and every year puts on a

free fireworks display in southeast Idaho. Over 10,000 people show up

to this fun and amazing patriotic experience. The only thing they ask is

for people to donate to the Huntsman Cancer Institute.

Bill Gates is another example. He continues to give increasing

amounts of his money in philanthropic ways that benefit others. Of

course, not everyone at these levels does, but rather than judging that,

you’re better off spending the time to educate your own desires and

motivations. Most of us can give so much more with what we already

have. It may be a small amount, but it can be very powerful when used

to bless others.

And yet, most of us will never be on the level of Mr. Gates. That’s

ok because when it comes to making a big difference in the world, it’s

usually at the hands of many people rather than the money and efforts of

one.

And you don’t have to just give money away.

As the saying goes, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for day;

teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” Teaching and

investing in people is usually a wiser idea for long-term sustainability

than simply handing money out. And it doesn’t have to take much to

create a system along these lines, whether it’s providing for agricultural

needs and food production, health and wellness, or business. Obviously

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there are times when a family or someone may simply need money,

some sort of short-term assistance to get back to fishing on their own. In

those cases, you have to do what’s immediate and best.

Dire situations aside, for most of us, the problem is that we simply

feel trapped in life. We feel trapped financially. We feel trapped

socioeconomically. We feel trapped in relationships. To add to it, deep

down we don’t believe we can have our desires and point to all the

reasons why.

But what if you knew you could? What if you could see it

differently? Even if you aren’t in the elite wealth class, you can still

declare your desires. This doesn’t mean they have to be “perfect." You’ll

always change and evolve over time as you educate your desires, so just

begin where you are. Declare your desires in some way. You can write

them in your journal or share them with your loved ones and friends, but

start putting those desires that come from your heart out into the world.

Once you’ve done that, start taking action on and evaluating them:

How can you educate them? How can you add more purpose? The more

purpose you can attach to a desire, the more power you’ll be given to

accomplish it.

For example, let’s take the Christmas holiday season. As you

probably know, in America, Christmas is the most consumer focused

season of the year. With such a focus on “What are you going to ask

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santa for Christmas?”, how do you bring purpose that will bring true

joy?

A good friend shared his story about he and his wife added more

purpose to their Christmas of 2013.

In the late summer of 2013, my wife and I were talking about our

plans for Christmas that year. We wanted it to be special for the family

but our value system rejects much of the typical Christmas traditions for

making Christmas special…especially the notion that you have the

receive to be happy. We wanted to give our family a special gift this

Christmas. One that would teach our Children the real meaning, like

Jesus taught.

We came up with the perfect plan. We would have special family

meeting with the entire family (we have young children) and talk about

the real purpose of Christmas and explain to them what their life is like

compared with most children in the world. Many children don’t have

toys let alone a family and a nice home to sleep in.

We taught them about children in Mexico who live in an

orphanage – no family to love them. We asked them what they think this

Christmas would be like for those kids. It was apparent that they were

getting it.

We invited them to – instead of getting gifts for Christmas - what if

we give our gifts to these children? They said, “Yes!”. They were so

excited to give to others instead of worrying so much about receiving.

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As a family, we bought gifts for the children in the Mexican

orphanage. Our family really enjoyed thinking of how happy it would

make those children to open these gifts on Christmas.

As you can imagine, when Christmas morning came, our children

were left without the surprised and excitement of opening gifts. That’s

when my good wife and I came in with the real surprise.

We sat down with our children and asked them how they were

feeling. Their shared their happiness that they had shared their gifts

with children who needed them more than they did. They also expressed

some sadness for missing out on the usual Christmas tradition of

opening gifts.

We shared with them that although we had selected and purchased

the gifts for the Children in Mexico, we needed to get them down there

somehow. Our children had ideas about how to do that and then we told

them that we were going to deliver the gifts.

They were to each get dressed and in the car because we were

going to Mexico to deliver the gifts.

We had their bags packed already so we were literally on the road

within an hour! The children were absolutely surprised and excited.

We arrived in Mexico at our hotel near the orphanage by that

evening. The next day, we went to the orphanage and our children were

able to share their gifts with those at the orphanage. Our children held

them, played with them, and just gave their love.

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That Christmas, our children learned that truly, we receive by

giving.

Or, let’s suppose you want to have a happy marriage because you

want to feel fulfilled. Rather than getting stuck in the “me, me, me” of

the relationship, you begin to educate your desire in this area, which

leads you to consider the “we” instead of just the “I.” In this process,

you think about the other person and their needs: “What can I do to

make my partner’s marriage better? What can I do to be better for my

partner?” Your thoughts have now turned to being a blessing to your

spouse.

You can educate your desires in any area of your life. Simply name

the desire, such as good health, and ask:

Why do you want good health?

Is it because you want to live a long life, go fishing and travel the

world? Why do you want that?

How can you add purpose in blessing other’s lives by doing that?

These are the questions that help you educate your desires and, at

the same time, grow, transform and evolve.

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Sometimes when you start trying to add purpose to what you are

doing in life, you fall into the trap of judging other’s desires. You think,

“Why does that person feel inclined to do that? I want to live my life this

way and why don’t my friends want the same?” Rather than worry about

what others are doing, continue to seek for inspiration, educating,

sharing, and evaluating your desires. As you do so, you will realize a

brighter and more abundant future for yourself and those you care about.

Those around you will be inspired to add purpose to their path in life in

ways they feel inspired to do. In this way, we can help each other along.

At the same time, we’ve seen people with wonderful desires

they’re trying to accomplish who appear to be on totally opposite ends

of the spectrum, much like the businessman and fisherman in the earlier

story two very different lifestyles. That’s the wonderful thing about all

this – we each have our own personality, desires and blessings that we

bring to life.

Sometimes people come into this world with these desires already

burning in their hearts and they become famous or well known for

certain accomplishments. Others discover and learn their desires

throughout their life. Either way, you don’t need to judge your desires

by what others think about, but by how you feel about it based on the

inspiration you receive and the wisdom you have gained.

You play a role in abundance, whether you’re focused on putting a

meal on the table for your family or helping other people put meals on

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their table. Abundance in these terms is about preparing to receive it and

then giving to others. You don’t have to wait to “arrive” to start living

abundantly, just start receiving and giving. This is how the circle works.

Zig Zigler gave powerful insight on how giving begins the cycle of

receiving when he said, “You can have everything in life you want, if

you will just help enough other people get what they want.”

Some of the most amazing givers we’ve met were not necessarily

well off. They didn’t have all the time in the world to give, they didn’t

have all the money, they didn’t have the best relationship – and still they

gave from their hearts. For example, one of our friends was going

through bankruptcy because his business partner had run off with all the

money. His life was in turmoil and the business struggled as his

customers stopped trusting him. All this affected his family

relationships, as well, strained from the financial hardship. Yet he

continued to give and to live abundantly.

Today he has recovered and is doing very well in all of those areas.

He and his family now travel together, living in different parts of the

world and doing service for their church and community wherever they

go. It’s amazing to see how this has played out in his life. Yes, there

were hard times but, throughout it all, he continued to live abundantly

and everything in his life is so much better as a result.

Ultimately, educating your desires brings many kinds of blessings

and, in the process, you’ll find yourself operating from a foundation of

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deep purpose that not only can strengthen you through tough times, but

benefit your life and the world around you tenfold.

Educating Your Desires: End of Chapter Exercise

What do you feel inspired to read and study to educate your desires?

Write down what you will study and when you will set aside regular

time for it.

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Chapter Three

Receiving Abundance

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and

it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he

that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Matthew 7:7-8 (KJV)

Jesus said, “Ask and you shall receive, knock and it shall be

opened unto you.” Even if you don’t read the Bible, you’re probably

familiar with this scripture. Yet who hasn’t had an experience of asking

for something and not receiving it? What does it mean?

It may simply mean you have to prepare yourself to receive it in

some way and that, once you do, it will eventually come. It could also

mean that what you’re asking for is not the best thing for you. As James

said in chapter 1 verse 4, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss,

that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” In other words, there’s a

wisdom going on behind the scenes you may not fully understand as to

timeliness and what is best.

As Garth Brooks crooned in his famous song, “Some of God's

greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.”

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Most often, though, it’s just a matter of preparing yourself by

aligning your desires with inspiration, asking for it, and then letting go

until it comes. It may call you to be patient, to continue to be faithful and

work towards it. If you don’t do those things, you may never receive it.

Or, perhaps worse, you do receive it but don’t realize it because you

don’t have an attitude of gratitude or you weren’t prepared.

If you don’t feel grateful for what you already have, what makes

you think you’d be happy with more? This goes back to educating your

desires.

We’ve found it to be true too, unfortunately. We technically

cannot receive if we don’t see the blessings when they arrive.

When it comes to receiving, we also need to keep it in context with

life.

Everything in life has an opposite – joy and sorrow, light and dark,

happiness and sadness, wealth and poverty – and usually when you go

through them you distinguish them as good or bad. “This experience is

bad,” you think, “I shouldn’t be here.”

The truth is it’s just a natural part of life and, as such, it’s best not

to get overly dragged down when you’re going through the opposite.

Life is too full of irony for that. You may look back on a certain

experience and find peace in it, even the traumatic ones like the death of

a loved one. You see it in a positive light although it felt bad at the time.

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It doesn’t change the fact that it happened, but now you see it

differently, “This is what it helped me to become who I am and this is

what it helped me to learn.”

Dr. Joe Vitale, in his book Miracles Manual, Volume III, gives a

great illustration of this:

…[I]n my book, The Attractor Factor, I talk about a pretty

harrowing, traumatic experience I went through when I was betrayed by

my therapist and best friend.

It sure looked bad at the time.

I also talked about the author, Kurt Wright, who said, and I am

paraphrasing because I do not have the book in front of me, “Have you

ever noticed that a year, two years, or five years after some bad event

happens to you, that you saw the humor in it or the positive reasons for

it?”

Almost all of us can have that experience. We can reflect back and

see that at the time it was an aggravation, but then later, when the thing

is long gone and the wounds have healed, you actually tell it as a funny

story, or you tell it as a story where there is an insight or an observation

that changed your life.

But Kurt Wright went on to say, “If that insight was available from

a five-year distance, wasn’t it also available in the moment it

happened?”

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Think about that. If we can find the positive in the negative years

from now, it means that the positive was available in that so-called

negative at the moment it happened. What you’re being asked to do here

is to have trust. Trust that everything is working out for your highest

good, even when it does not appear that way.

This perspective offers value and can make your life a whole lot

more enjoyable. Being able to stop and look at what’s happening from

an objective viewpoint makes a difference in the way it feels and often

in the way it plays out.

This also works in day-to-day, mundane activities. For example,

imagine the clutch goes out on your car and you’re towing it through

crowded and busy streets when suddenly the rope breaks. This happened

to someone we know. He tells the following story:

My wife was towing me and, while we were driving, I began

reflecting on other times in my life when I was growing up and this kind

of situation didn’t go well. I was thinking how pleased I was that this

was going okay as we pulled up to the next stop sign. When my wife took

off, suddenly the rope snapped from the slack.

When she came back, she thought I was going to be mad at her. I

just smiled and said, “Isn’t it nice we can tow the car home and if

something goes wrong, it’s not a big deal?”

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Going through that experience actually allowed me to change that

situation forever for myself. Instead of being a contentious and a

difficult situation, it was a good one.

I’m grateful for the life experience I’ve had that helped me.

Without it, I would have just reacted and not been prepared for the

situation.

These kinds of potentially stressful situations happen all the time.

They’re endless, but the results can come out quite beautifully and

wonderful instead of having a negative experience.

Ultimately all truth, all the good of life comes from one Source.

Regardless of the name you give the Master of this universe, it’s

important to come to know who that is and what knowing that means for

your life.

And while you can receive truth in different ways, for example,

through reading the good books or seeking inspiration through prayer,

pondering or meditation, it will most often come to you in small and

quiet ways, as gentle as the lapping waves of the ocean. It might even

come to you as an idea from a comment someone makes during a

conversation. It could be an unrelated comment, yet trigger a thought or

feeling in you.

The answers you need can come to you in the most surprising and

subtle of ways. This is the voice of inspiration and, if you watch or listen

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for it, following where it leads, it begins a cycle of receiving and taking

action.

As you take action towards your desires, the key is to believe that

things will work out if you continue on the path of pursuing truth – truly

being open to it and attaching yourself to it. The ups and the downs and

opposites will eventually smooth their way out but, in the meantime, you

trust that it’s important for you to experience them. The more familiar

you are with the opposites that inevitably you’ll encounter, the more you

can decide what leads to the ones that you like, that that are good for you

and work, and those that clearly do not. Understanding opposites is a big

part of recognizing truth and something you want to consciously pay

attention to throughout your life.

You can be enlightened in many ways about the truth and

distinguish everything that’s good in a very easy way: If it inspires you

to love and serve God, the Master of this Universe, to care for your

fellow beings, and care for the abundance and blessings you’re already

given, then it’s inspired by God. On the other hand, if it causes you to

reject any or all of that, then it’s not.

The simplicity of this guideline can help immensely in your day-

to-day life when things aren’t going the way you think you want. You

just have to remember which direction you’re headed to put yourself

back in the way of good things, the way of abundance. And, the more

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you can do this, the more you will receive and want to reach out and

bless others.

Still, as you step on to the path of abundance, undoubtedly you’ll

notice there are times in your life where you’re able to pray and receive

a clear inspiration about what to do and go do it, and other times when

you feel inclined to do something but aren’t sure if it’s just in your own

head.

Is the uncertainty coming from your ego or is it a message from

God? Learning to hear and act on God’s messages to you will lead to

greatest possible breakthroughs in your life.

When you’re in that situation, the best thing to do is to fill your

mind with as much knowledge as you can about the issue. Seek the right

answers from people you trust. Pray for help to understand it. If you’ve

made a decision you feel is the best thing to do, take that to God and say,

“This is what I feel I need to do.”

After you’ve done these things, be aware of whether it feels like a

priority to you. Are you constantly forgetting it or not feeling drawn

towards it? If that’s so, you probably need to let it go for now. If, on the

other hand, you make a plan and continue to feel a desire to move

forward, then as Nike said, “Just do it.” Don’t delay. Start taking action

and pay attention to inspiration along the way.

In spite of the fact that the guideline for discernment is simple,

living it is not always easy and having a perfect answer is rare. In reality,

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most of the time you’ll need to sift and filter through many thoughts,

fears, doubts, and conflicting desires that create fear and resistance.

Often you’ll need to make a choice first and work through the inner

turmoil as you go. This is why it’s valuable to seek as much wisdom and

knowledge before making it as you can through all the means available

to you.

It is in this process of choosing, in discerning those truths that are

good and those that are not that will ultimately help you to become all

you can be in this life. Learning to become something is important to the

cycle of receiving. As you grow and gain by choosing and attaching

yourself to the good things of life, those truths can then bless you.

Stretching to live by true principles will guide you not only to

abundance, but to your true joy. As Stephen Covey pointed out, “Life is

not accumulation, it is about contribution.”

There are many “secrets” to an abundant mindset and the ability to

choose what is good for you is a part of it. The realization that truth

shows up in various forms but ultimately comes from one source and

that you have the ability to easily discern between good and bad – allows

you to quickly learn truth, hold onto it and live it. In fact, the more you

do it and are willing to actually begin to take action now as opposed to

waiting, you’ll find it can actually put you in to an abundant mindset

where you can easily receive your desires.

Receiving Abundance: End of Chapter Exercise

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Think about two or three people you can give value to in the next week.

Write it down below and take action on it in the next week.

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Chapter Four

An Abundant Mindset

Instead, I have an abundance mentality: When people are

genuinely happy at the successes of others, the pie gets larger.

Stephen Covey

Everyone is capable of living abundantly.

No matter what the situation you’re in at any given time in your

life, you have the ability to know what abundance feels like and can go

to that place mentally.

When you can get to that point of peace about it regardless of

present circumstances – where you feel like you're there but you're not –

it allows you to be content with where you are today. It's like a blessing

from God showing you're heading in a good direction. It’s a

confirmation that you will continue to receive more and have the ability

to give more as you pursue this course that you're on.

The interesting thing about an abundant mindset is everyone has to

work it out for themselves. Your parents may or may not have lived

abundantly, and the good news is it doesn’t matter. Everyone has to do

their own work – there are no free rides.

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That doesn’t mean we can’t learn from others. There are wonderful

books and audio programs, authors and speakers who’ve devoted

themselves to sharing the abundant way. For example, books like The

Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale or Acres of

Diamonds by Earl Nightingale have resonated with hundreds of

thousands of people over the years since they were written.

When you read books like this, you begin to realize a different

perspective on life.

Without awareness, you may not be sure what it feels like to know

if you’re on the track to abundance or not.

A friend of ours said:

“When I started reading these I actually started feeling a change

inside of me. Instead of having fear about the future, worrying about it, I

felt a confidence in it and started taking actions. I had ideas about a

business I could start and went to a few guys to talk about it. They didn't

help me start that business, but they hired me. I got a good job that

ended up being part of my career for the next 10 years. I grew up and

developed and gained a lot of experience. They were a big part of

helping me with all that. And they always believed in me. Now we’re

partners in another business and it’s a continuation of the experience

that I had then.

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We’ve continued to be able to develop relationships together, to

grow and trust each other and our vision. We still have desires to do

better for the company, as well as for those people that we're helping.”

There will always be moments of doubt, despair or worry,

particularly when there are delays in your personal life or in the

economy in general. It can feel like you’re locked in or stuck. But as you

grow in an abundant mindset, you’ll begin to feel an abiding

contentment that everything's going to be okay and that things will all

work out in time. You’ll be led forward into action and as you take that

action, you’ll feel your way forward until you get there. And it can work

out much faster than you thought it could.

Keep in mind that reading or learning from others doesn’t mean

you want to absorb their desires. Going back to the story of the

fisherman, this is where a deep understanding of your own luxury

barometer comes into play.

What are your true needs for yourself and your family?

Who do you want to help in your future desires?

What kind of a difference do you want to be able to make?

What are you doing to line up your actions with your desires?

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These are the sorts of questions that determine what sort of income

you need, as well as the relationships you need in your family. Do you

want to be a very industrious and productive family? Or, are you going

to be focused more inwardly with your family? Like the individuals that

comprise them, families are of all kinds of variations. They don’t all

have the same needs and desires. It’s a wonderful thing about life that

we have so many differences.

Of course, all those differences can pose a challenge. The best way

to handle this is by counseling or talking with each member of your

family about whatever your desire is and what you’re doing. If you're a

single parent, talk with your children. If you're married, you and your

spouse – and your children to the degree that it makes sense – would

counsel together. Sometimes this can mean spending the emotional

exhaustion and pain to discuss things that, in the past, you only talked

about in the heat of the moment, and may have caused aggravation or

arguments.

Thinking about things in terms of your goals and talking about

them ahead of time supports everyone. Instead of being focused on the

problem in a negative way, it becomes an opportunity to improve by

taking action on it together.

This doesn’t mean everyone in the family has to be involved in the

same activities at all times. It simply means that when the family

understands and agrees that, “This is the direction we’re going and how

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we plan to do this,” everyone feels supported, which in turn will propel

you faster. You’ll be able to mentally bear changes together with ease.

Instead of fighting against them – you're working together.

For a single parent this is especially important because it's

sometimes hard for kids to get what's happening. They don’t always see

the big picture and this is a chance to bring them in on it. They become

part of a bigger discussion. But be forewarned – kids will hold you to it

and they’re very good at this. If you’re not following through, they’ll ask

humbly, "Why are we buying a new car when we were going to make

extra payments on the house?”

When you bring your family into the conversation from the

beginning, they'll understand when you have to make sacrifices, like

doing homework late at night as you work on your degree, hold a second

job or start a business on the side. They’ll also serve as reminders to plan

holistically and not run yourself into the ground. Too much of anything

can wear you down to the point that you don't believe you can keep

moving forward.

One family we know would have an annual executive retreat where

the husband and wife would go away for a few days, come up with a

plan, then come back to the family and work together. Another family

creates a two-page document that says, “These are our desires and

intentions for the next year.” This guides how they’ll proceed and carry

forward. Including the people you care about and who count on you by

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involving them in defining your desired outcomes is part of having an

abundant mindset.

While a family’s needs and lifestyle may vary, the common thread

is that you can have whatever you want in our future and receive

inspiration in ways to go about it. For example, you might be an artist in

a field that doesn’t necessarily make much money. We have a friend

who is a professor at a university. The pay isn’t enough to supply all

their needs as a family so he subsidizes it with his passion for music. He

has a vision of every family as a band and every person in it plays an

instrument. His family lives that and they help other families to do it, as

well.

In pursuing this passion, he's developed curriculum to teach others,

so that even parents who don’t have a lot of time to learn an instrument

can quickly pick up a basic instrument and participate, too. Through his

vision, he’s influenced others to sit down and learn a song together.

He’s also used his passion to record and sell CDs and sheet music,

making extra money for his family.

There are unlimited ways you can be inspired and led forward

while doing good out in the world, and receive value in the form if

money, satisfaction, or some other measure of joy and abundance.

Another key aspect of an abundant mindset is having a grateful

heart. If you compare your life to a beautiful garden, and an abundant

mindset to the seed you're planting, then the seedbed for that is gratitude.

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Nothing will sprout and come forward without that. What’s important

about this analogy is that, like a seed in the ground, there will be

changes that you may not be able to see with the naked eye. Things will

be happening “below the surface” that you can’t fully understand.

Unfortunately, this is when many people lose faith in the process.

We recommend keeping a journal as a way to stay actively aware

and engaged. This will help you recognize all the blessings you receive

because you’re always receiving but not always connecting the dots. For

example, you might get a small raise or promotion that doesn’t seem like

much, but it might be the doorway to meeting certain people or giving

you certain qualifications on your resume. Or maybe something

upsetting happens in your business, like a supplier stops working with

you. Emotionally, you can overcome those events with gratitude and

through your recognition of the good things that are happening. Noting

and appreciating the ways you are blessed opens the gateway to

receiving more, whereas a mindset of lack, worry and fear acts like a

block. When you’re in those kinds of negative spaces, you'll have a very

difficult time receiving inspiration.

There are many other mental and emotional barriers that can block

the perception of your abundance, and probably one of the biggest is the

belief that we have to do things perfectly. For example, you have a

project due in two weeks that you need help on, but everyone who has

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helped you get it done in the past is unavailable. You don’t know what

to do and are growing concerned it won’t be done on time.

What we’ve learned is to go ahead and just take action anyway,

doing your best as you go, and things will work out. It may not be

perfect, the end result may not be exactly what you wanted it to be, but

it’s actually a step forward. You’ll arrive at the end of it, step back and

see what can or needs to be changed. You’ll see a path for improvement

in the future.

Many things in life happen this way. Choosing a career is a great

example. With all the choices available to us, it can take a while to find

the one we’re best suited for, but you can’t sit around waiting. It’s quite

common to change majors in college, and later to change jobs. We

change all the time. Yes, it can be detrimental and set us back in the

short run, but ultimately you have to do it when you feel inspired to do

so. You just make it work knowing you are on a path to somewhere

better.

One person we know went to engineering school. He took every

required course, working his way through calculus, chemistry and

physics, and he put a lot of effort into it. Then he decided, “I don’t want

to do this.” As tough a decision as it was at the time, his life quickly

changed after that and other, more fulfilling, doors opened for him.

It’s not often you make the perfect choice at first, so the most

important thing is simply to continue taking action and moving forward.

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Get experience as soon as possible because, ultimately, it will help you

find what you really enjoy.

It even works with parenting. Many people have concerns about

being parents and feel like, “First we have to get all our education done

and our finances set, then we’ll be ready.” More often than not, the

sooner you take action on the things you want in your life, the sooner

you’ll have them. Rather than waiting for the perfect day to come, you

grow to meet the experience.

The idea of becoming all you can be in this life is that you gain

wisdom and experience, which, when coupled with inspiration from

God, translates into intelligence. That intelligence is what gives you the

ability to begin making wise choices.

Many people are familiar with the biblical account of Solomon, the

son of David. As the story goes, when he was very young he took over

as king, and the Lord came to him and asked him what he desired of

him. Solomon said that he desired an understanding heart. The Lord

said, “Blessed are you because you didn’t desire wealth, you didn’t

desire a long life, but you desired wisdom – and because you desired

wisdom, you’ll have both a long life and wealth.” Solomon became one

of the most powerful and richest rulers in the land, and people from all

around came to him seeking his wisdom and bringing him gifts.

So while the idea of perfection is difficult to attain, if not

impossible, you can seek to gain wisdom and knowledge and try to act

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on that. You can become the best person that you can. Just try to make

as many good decisions in a row as possible.

It comes down to what you desire and what you’re trying to obtain.

If you’re trying to obtain wisdom and knowledge and intelligence, this

will translate into better decisions, which then helps you to be more

capable of blessing and helping others. In the process, your own needs

will be met as well. On the other hand, if you’re looking for ease,

comfort and pleasure, you’ll struggle to gain the wisdom and intuition

that you need to achieve it.

Letting go of the idea that you have to be perfect in every way

allows you to get comfortable with who you are. You learn to work with

yourself on all levels, including the way you look and your defining

characteristics instead of despising them or wishing they were different.

It also helps you to stop being afraid to take action because it’s okay to

make a mistake. You know you can and will change courses and try to

do it differently the next time.

This isn’t to say you shouldn’t be careful about your decisions; it’s

just that you can’t sit around and fear that you’re going to make the

wrong one. If it’s time to make a decision, and you have the knowledge

and intelligence you need to do it, go do it. If you don’t, continue to

study as long as you can, and then make the decision and move forward.

Act with confidence and be open to saying, “You know what? I would

change this or that.”

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In other words, if you’re going to expect something, rather than

perfection, why not expect that you’re going to live a long life and have

chances to make that decision again? Sure, some decisions are life

changing but most of them are not. They’re just ideals you hold because

you want it to be “just so.” Okay, so maybe you don’t have the money to

do the things that you thought you’d be able to do at that phase in your

life, or maybe you didn’t get the promotion, or the career isn’t working

out. Maybe it’s a family or relationship issue or something else that’s not

going just the way you hoped it would, but if you make the best decision

that you can based on the wisdom that you have and keep moving

forward with faith, it’ll get worked out through refinement and

adjustment – through who you’re becoming. This is the ultimate goal.

Perfection or not, there are times when you’ll feel completely

stuck, unable to feel the way you want. You want to feel joy and

abundance and love and wonder, “Why don’t I feel that way?”

The good news is that you can actually influence the way that you

feel by simply getting to work and taking action on something. This

means reaching outside of yourself and taking a step in the dark when

you don't necessarily know the steps. It means having faith that your

desire will eventually come – that things will change and your condition

will improve.

This is one of the greatest secrets of an abundant mindset: Action

inspires action.

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An Abundant Mindset: End of Chapter Exercise

Choose two or three quotes that inspire you to think, feel, and live

abundantly. Write them below, print them off, and place them

somewhere so you can read them each morning.

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Chapter Five

Action Inspires Action

We don’t need to know the specifics on how to get something done

– by taking action on inspiration it evolves and unfolds.

Dr. Joe Vitale

No matter what’s going on in your life, there are actions you can

take to move forward. This is especially important when you find

yourself in a state of despair.

The key is to continue to take action consistently even if it’s only a

very small one. For example, you might feel impressed to go talk to a

certain person, to read a certain book, or subscribe to a newsletter. In a

relationship issue, you may feel called to apologize to a friend or spouse

about something going on between you, even if you feel you didn't do

anything to offend. You can still be sincere and reach out to make

amends for any part you may have consciously or unconsciously played

in it. In this way, you take responsibility for your life as much as

possible.

We all get into that place where we feel desperation. The best path

out of it is to seek for inspiration on what to do next, and then do it.

Praying is an action, and the guidance may be to wait. Almost any

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positive action will get you started as long as you’re being conscious in

your intentions, which goes back to your desire and what you want to

accomplish in your life.

Unfortunately, as humans, we can be somewhat shortsighted in the

way that we approach life, focusing on just a small part of our future,

like one certain financial, career or relationship goal. Usually this is

because we haven’t yet educated our desires so that we’re giving and

receiving the most we can and truly living as abundantly as possible.

Most people have a bucket list of things to accomplish, and that’s good

because it teaches you to look beyond the situation or circumstances

you’re in. But more than reaching any one of them, you want to look

deeply at your desires, at what you want to become, and how you're

willing to help those you love and care for. It’s in these opportunities

that you start to move into a mode of being conscious about where

you're going versus being sort of mindless about it.

Can you go too far with this? Perhaps, but the greater danger is not

going far enough. Clearly there's not anything out in the objective world

to say, “This is the perfect amount,” so you have to trust the process of

taking consistent action. For example, if you have a burning desire to

help care for the needy and homeless in your area, you know you're

going to need certain resources to be able to do that beyond what you

have now. Rather than wait, though, you might begin serving in small

ways, like volunteering in a soup kitchen.

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When you look at it consciously, you’ll tend to start a lot sooner as

opposed to waiting. You bring your far-off hope into your present and

ask, “What can I do now to work towards that?” Not only will you gain

experience, you'll receive more inspiration about ways that you can go

about it. You might be completely surprised to learn that your big,

grandiose plan might not be exactly what's needed and the right plan

may be very different than what you originally thought. By taking action

sooner, you begin to receive inspiration about what to do.

Another aspect of being conscious is that you start to direct the

course of your life early on, which puts you squarely on the path to

achieve your ultimate desire. A lot of times you want something and

may even tell others you want it, but you're not doing anything to work

towards it. You’re expecting it to come, yet you aren’t being conscious

or deliberate about it. Days and months pass, and nothing changes.

As an example, let’s say you have a goal to be out of debt and have

enough money on hand for an emergency fund and other savings. In this

case, rather than asking yourself, "Okay, how much can I begin to apply

towards debt right now?” the better question would be, “What are the

priorities here?” As you consciously question deeper, you may be

inspired to read a book or find someone to help you.

There are plenty of financial experts who teach different

methodologies. Dave Ramsey, a best-selling author and personal money-

management expert, suggests getting an emergency fund in place by

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putting so much of your income towards that end. Once you've built that

up, then you start paying off your debt starting with the highest interest

rate debt first.

If your income and situation are so dismal you're not able to do

that much, you’ll want to consider how you're going to rise above that.

One way would be to increase your education, which might give you

more opportunities at your current work. Through education you could

learn how to provide more value and receive more value in return.

Another idea would be simply to negotiate a better pay. You could also

start an extra business, working in the evening on the side.

Obviously there are many different ways you can go about setting

the wheels in motion, but as pointed out earlier, you want to be mindful

and not get carried away with your intentions, expecting that it has to

happen just the way that you declared it. Declare your intent and desire,

but then let go of the ultimate end goal to some degree. Don’t hold on to

it in a desperate way; simply trust that you will receive the inspiration

you need and that it will come to you as you take that action. Living

consciously, you know that if it's a good desire and you’re taking action

on it, it will eventually come in some way. It could even appear as

coincidence or a stroke of luck.

Speaking of “luck”…if you look at the word coincidence, it’s

actually the word “incidence” with “co” in front of it, which means

“together.” It’s two things happening at the same time – a “co-incident.”

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This is the idea behind the saying, “Luck is when preparation meets

opportunity.” So, yes, maybe you did get “lucky,” but there was some

preparation first. You come across opportunity by being in motion and

receiving inspiration from God about what actions to take. This is how

you get in front of that opportunity.

Living consciously also keeps you from acting out of fear and

having behaviors such as being aggressive or pushing too hard to make

something happen. You know you don’t have to because you have a

powerful ally in God who is the source of everything good that you

receive, whether it comes through another person or not. You are not

alone.

This builds confidence and patience in everything that you do,

allowing you to simply declare your desire and take action towards it

with faith that your desire will come – perhaps even better than you

imagined.

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Action Inspires Action: End of Chapter Exercise

Take a few minutes right now to open yourself to inspiration from God

through prayer and pondering. What is one action you can take right

now to life a more abundant life? Write it below and then do it.

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Chapter Six

To Plan or Not to Plan

If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into

someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not

much.

Jim Rohn

We’re not big believers in goal setting in the traditional sense

where you try to plan out exactly when and how everything will happen

in your life. You’ll get lost in the details. Detailed goals will be useful at

some point but first you have to have a big picture plan. This type of

planning is often called “thinking big.”

Whatever your goals are, at the end of your life, hopefully you’ll

be able to look back and say, “I accomplished these things in my life. I

feel like I lived my purpose.” It’s much more probable you’ll get there if

you continue to educate your desires and refine them by thinking big

versus spending too much time on a detailed goal plan and finding

yourself lost in the desert, so to speak.

When you think about planning your life this way you may have a

reaction like, “Oh, that’s really overwhelming. I don’t want to think

about it.” It could feel depressing and completely out of your control.

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The antidote is to build up your belief level, educate your desires, and

begin to open yourself up to the possibilities of what you can do – the

power of your true potential. Start thinking about what you truly desire.

Once you break through, though, it’s not uncommon to flip in the

other direction and try to go too far too fast in what you want to do. This

is natural and often part of the process. It isn’t long before you realize

that you’ve worn yourself out trying to do that. We’ve all done it and

watched others struggle with it, too. The good news is that as you

start to educate your desires and understand the feasibility of them,

you’ll get a good feeling for just how much you can actually achieve in

your lifetime. It helps to continually prioritize and say, “Ultimately, I

think these are the really important ones that I need to make sure

happen.” Then you pare back a little bit, and eventually come to that

place again where you say, “Okay, this is really what’s important.”

Continuing to go through this cycle allows you to plan your own life.

For example, we know someone who was living in Utah with his

wife and family and they loved it, but weren’t able to provide their

children with some of the experiences they wanted to give them. They

knew they needed to find a place that would allow them do that, and

finally decided to move back to Idaho to be near family and the culture it

offered, but didn’t how it would be possible. He’d been working with a

group of people at a job where he’d been for years and wasn’t sure how

this could work out. So, for a while, they didn’t do anything.

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Eventually they came to the point where they realized it wasn’t just

going to fall in their lap and came to the conclusion they were going to

have to take some action to make it happen. They felt so inspired about

this that they drove to Idaho and bought a house on the spot. Afterwards,

he went into work and told his boss, “This is the date we’d like to move.

I understand if I don’t have a job, but I’d like to know as soon as

possible so I can decide what I need to do.” As it turned out, he was able

to keep his job and continue working with the company.

Sometimes when you make your desire a priority it can seem a

dangerous way to go, like in their case buying a house or making

financial commitments before you know all the details. However, while

everybody’s story is going to play out a bit differently, it’s important to

take whatever action you’re inspired to do.

For them, it meant buying a house and scheduling a date when they

were going to move first, which opened up discussions at work and new

opportunities for his family. From there they making a plan and worked

out the logistics. A year later, after the move, he started another

company with the same group – a door that might never have opened if

they hadn’t moved.

Once you know your priority, taking action is a way of making a

commitment. It can be anything, even a baby step, to get the process

started. From there, you will be guided forward in the right direction. It’s

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amazing how quickly little steps can turn into big steps when you act on

your impressions.

If this person had done it a more traditionally, he probably would

have gone to Idaho to look for a job first, moved into a rental, and then

bought a house. People do it this way all the time. In his case, he didn’t

want to lose his working relationship, but he also knew that, ultimately,

moving to Idaho was a higher priority.

As he describes it, “The way that God helped me to carry it out

ended up in the best possible scenario. I was able to continue my

working relationship and still move where we felt called. If I had said,

‘Oh, what do I do? How do I make this happen? The only way I know is

to go up there and look for a job,’ it just wouldn’t have happened this

way and could have resulted in a very different future.”

We’re not suggesting this is the right decision for everyone. The

only clear thing is that you never know which way it will go. One person

could go to their work first and have it play out the same way, and

another may be told no and end up getting talked out of it, falling back

into letting someone else plan their life.

Making decisions like this is much easier when you understand and

use principles to guide you. Like the analogy we used earlier about

abundance, perfect principles can also be likened to an onion, where you

have an outer layer which opens to an inner layer, and continues to get

deeper the further you go with it. This is often case with spiritual

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matters. You can know something on one level and take action, but then

look back and see you didn’t fully understand it at the time.

As an example, let’s say you have a young married couple talking

about having a family. One spouse feels like, “Let’s wait until we both

get our degrees and established in careers,” and the other says, “No, let’s

start having children now.” In this case, the principle of giving up

something of value for something of greater value (also called

“sacrifice”) could be applied, and how you work with this principle will

determine its outcome. But you have to balance that with acting

responsibly.

Having children may be important and an intrinsic part of other

major goals you have as a couple that will allow you to enjoy a life of

abundance and prosperity.

Somehow you have to find a way to bring all these goals together,

but how do you go about making this decision when you have differing

inclinations? There can be merits and true principles for both sides and,

either way, there are going to be lasting consequences you can’t avoid.

It’s not good or bad, but you are making a choice about the type of life

you’re going to have and you have to be willing to live with the results.

This is why it’s best to know and understand the principles you’re

working with up front so that you’re consciously choosing the life that

you want. You always have to look down the road and ask, “When I’m

35 or 45 or 60, what do I want to my life to look like?” Of course, there

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will be many times when you just have to start making choices using the

“good, better and best” decision-making process. After, if you find

yourself saying, “You know what? I would change that,” you can simply

start from that day forward to make different choices based on the new

end result you want.

This is how we let the truth inform us as we go and remain ready

to act on that at any time. As you gain knowledge, you’ll see things

more clearly and take action accordingly. It can even inspire you to

completely give up on an idea or a direction you were taking.

For example, let’s say you’ve always wanted to start a business.

You’re young and feel like, “There’s never going to a time when my

cost of living is this low, so now’s the best time to start a business.” It’s

not until later that you realize you don’t have the experience you need

and will have to invest more time and energy than you originally

thought. Suddenly a job opportunity comes up that appeals to you and

you decide to take it. While there, you gain more resources and

experience, and eventually you come back to your business idea much

better prepared.

An abundant mindset allows you to let things unfold and trust in

the process. Ironically, your great idea may not be so wonderful, and the

things you think won’t be often are. If you’re stuck on any one thing you

might not see the potential for greater blessings. On the other hand,

there’s always an equal and opposite idea. For some people, taking a job

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opportunity, however good it seems, could simply be a distraction from

their true focus and what they should be doing in their life. If they do

take it, later they may realize, “I should have stayed the course.”

This goes back to the idea that everyone’s path is unique. Listening

to your heart and doing what you feel inspired to do is the best plan for

achieving what you want and not falling into the trap of living someone

else’s life. In addition, it will allow you to navigate the shifting sands of

economies as we move into greater globalization and the changes that it

brings.

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To Plan or Not to Plan: End of Chapter Exercise

Not concerned with how you will do it, think about the day when you

will be sitting on your death bed. You’ll reflect on your life and what

you did, who you were. Write down two or three things you want to do

differently starting today so that will be pleased when you look back on

your life. It’s never too late. Think big and bold but also be open to

even the smallest tweak that would make all the difference.

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Chapter Seven

The Wealth Gap

You have two choices. Either you’re a victim or you’ve succeeded. And

as long as you embrace victimhood, success is never even a possibility.

Patrick Gentempo

Ever since the economy tanked back in 2008, it’s been fodder for

the media. Is it up? Is it down? Is it sideways? In other words, where on

earth is all that money going?

That answer to that question is what’s known as “The Wealth

Gap,” which essentially says there’s a widening gap between the rich

and the poor, with the middle class getting squeezed out. Jeff Hays, a

documentary filmmaker who is working on a film about this subject,

says that, “85 people have as much wealth as the poorest half of the

entire world.” And, in the United States alone, that wealth gap has

grown more in the last four years than ever in history.

In many ways, this is both alarming and problematic and we can

only guess that huge numbers of people are focusing resources on

figuring out why this is happening and what we should do about it at the

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macro level. We’ll leave that to them in the moment and make it more

personal by asking you:

How can you think about it in terms of educating your

desires?

What are you going to do about it?

How will you position yourself to live abundantly?

.

Patrick Gentempo, interviewed by Jeff Hays for the film, says, “You

have two choices. Either you’re a victim or you’ve succeeded. And as

long as you embrace victimhood, success is never even a possibility.”

We believe, like a good many people, that the answer lies in

entrepreneurship and stewardship. Rather than focusing your energies on

tearing down the rich, you can use your creative energies and passion as

entrepreneurs and join forces to create a new generation of value

creators who use their position to help others do the same – and

perpetuate abundance rather than hoard it.

Entrepreneurship allows you to take a bigger piece of wealth for

yourself and employ other good people in that process. Then, as you

bring more abundance into your life, you can further use it to bless

others. Or, if you already control wealth and have money sitting in your

bank account, you can educate your desires about how to use it to bless

others and serve God. Regardless of which side of the wealth gap you’re

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on, educating yourself and your desires is a key to greater life for

everyone. You need to prepare yourself no matter where you are on the

spectrum to care for it and use it to bless others.

For example, if you’re rolling in the dough from a business

standpoint, why not consider paying the key people who are helping you

produce that more money? Bless and take care of them, and teach them

how to bless others with it. Try to get as much money into the hands of

people who will create value with it and put it to work.

Like Walt Disney said, you want to make money so you can keep

doing what you enjoy doing. Yes, there’s a role behind having money,

but you can also prosper others in ways that helps them live abundantly

and fulfill their own passions and desires.

At the same time, the wealth gap is not just about having money,

or moving money from the people that have it (including yourself) and

getting it in to the hands of those who do not by teaching them how to

create value. We’re not talking about making lottery winners here. It’s

about lifting up everybody to receive abundance, to care for it and bless

others with it. This is the only way abundance is truly sustainable. As it

stands, it would be very difficult to continue on our current

socioeconomic trend and sustain our economy, let alone lifestyle.

For example, people in the U.S. live a relatively good lifestyle.

They generally have a roof over their head and the food that they need.

They may be stressed over money and in debt, but they have quite a lot

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compared to somebody who doesn’t have food to eat at all, as can often

be the case in places like Togo, Africa. In fact, we live in a country that

wastes about 40% of its food a year.

Without a doubt, we don’t have a food shortage – we have a

technology shortage. We don’t have a way for people around the globe

to participate in the abundance that’s available. We can focus on

technologies for teaching and mentoring people on the food production

in their area on concerning soil development, irrigation and water

retention methods, and how to provide plants the required nutrients. We

can help them get access to water, in ways that common as well as the

ways that are not so common. Fortunately, there are people working on

this.

Andrew Faust, co-founder of the Permaculture Center for

Bioregional Living, is one of them. As his website explains:

Permaculture is an ecological design science based on the resilient

patterns found in nature. It is a vision of what we would rather see in the

world and how to achieve it in a step by step manner. The ethics, tools

and techniques of Permaculture are focused on creating vibrant

bioregional cultures and economies providing long term comfort and

security for our families, communities and future generations.

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When you think of it like this, the problem isn’t one of abundance.

There’s plenty of what we need. Again, this is why educating your

desires matters so much. Ultimately, what you accomplish in life has to

fit because everyone’s accountable for a solution. We all contribute to

the problem in some way. When you educate your desires and expand

your vision of what can be, you’re lifted to greater creativity and levels

of achievement that includes the larger whole. Instead of getting buried

in the politics of things, an abundance mentality allows you to figure out

how to take the resources you already have and give to others. You don’t

have to wait around for some big organization or someone else to do it.

From this perspective, living abundantly isn’t about how much you

have, it’s about a flow you participate in consciously, where giving and

receiving is in process at the same time no matter your level. The more

you culture your desires, the more you’ll give and, in turn, be prepared

to receive. Whenever you’re not giving, then, the clue is to look at your

desires. Even when you’re in a situation where it feels like you’re

fighting tooth and nail to provide for your family and working 24/7, you

can position yourself to rise above that. As we saw earlier, this is when

inspiration can really come to your aid and provide ideas about what you

can do.

For example, you might be inspired to get more education,

traditional or otherwise. You could feel a pull in the direction of a

university to become a lawyer, or to trade school for specialized training

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to become an electrician. Or maybe you have a passion for writing and

feel inspired to learn to write for a specific market that you don’t even

fully understand yet.

What you’ll find when you follow your inspiration, is that outer

world conditions, like the “Wealth Gap,” have much less effect on you

financially or emotionally. Ideas will come to suggest ways to improve

your life, whether it’s to continue what you’re doing or to begin

adjusting your course by looking at different ways you can provide value

in your current economy. As you follow it, opportunities will eventually

appear to help yourself and bless others.

It is in this conscious choice to live abundantly – whatever that

means to you as an individual –that the notion of the “Wealth Gap”

becomes far less insidious to the grand scheme of your life. In many

ways, it can play no part at all. Here, you are “beyond wealth.”

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The Wealth Gap: End of Chapter Exercise

Describe your current condition as it relates to you money and finances.

Do you have sufficient for your needs? Do you need additional income

to meet your needs and the needs of those for whom you are

responsible? Do you need additional financial resources to act on the

things you want and feel inspired to do in your life?

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Chapter Eight

Beyond Wealth

Not what we have, but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance.

Epicurus

As the saying goes, there's more to life than money and beyond

wealth is coming to the realization that abundance is not just one thing.

We’re not sure who said, “If money is your problem, you don’t have a

problem,” but we couldn’t agree more.

We’ve all had thoughts like, “If I could just buy that[fill in the

blank] ...it would solve all my problems.” Sounds a bit silly, doesn’t it,

thinking that buying something would solve everything? But, have you

ever thought, “If I just had extra money, life would be better?”

It’s the same belief couched in different words.

There's no doubt that when you’re just getting by day to day it can

seem very difficult to rise above yourself and look to serving others. It

does take a certain amount of money to get to the point where you’re not

buried under the weight and burdens of life. But, strange as it may seem,

usually what's going to solve your problems in your life is improving

your relationships and blessing the lives of others by providing value to

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them. If you focus on that, inevitably your ability to make money to fuel

your needs and desires will expand.

The reason that money isn’t the problem is because the problems

are in you, not outside you. Shifting your focus away from the tendency

to blame lack of money or people and situations (like the “Wealth Gap”)

for your problems allows you to start working on your own abundance

mentality. When you do, you'll find that many of your problems in life

simply go away – or that you're very capable of dealing with them. With

an abundance mindset, you realize that, as much as you’d like it to,

money is not going to solve your problem.

For example, let’s say your car breaks down and you don't have the

money to fix it. It seems obvious that having money right now would

solve this problem, right? But there's a bigger issue here. The real

question to ask is, “What’s causing me to continue to go into this

situation and how am I going to work out of this position?” Then the

next question becomes, “Do I believe I can do it?”

As we’ve looked at, living abundantly means that you not only

know you can rise above your own needs and wants, but that you can

also bless others more. This makes sense when you consider that there

tends to be a correlative effect between being strapped financially and

not having rewarding relationships, as well as chronic unhappiness and

poor health. Not always, but often enough to create a pattern. Why is

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this? Because emotionally you’re focused on lack and what you don't

have.

According to Karol K. Truman, author of Feelings Buried Alive

Never Die, this affects you in more ways than you realize. For example,

you can go too far in trying to fix things yourself. Soon you’re not

getting enough sleep and running yourself down – along with everyone

who is supporting you. This causes a negative spiral. Contrast this to

living abundantly where you spend your time and energy educating your

desires and focusing on this question, “What is the right thing for me to

do from this higher standpoint?”

Everyone is in a different position in their lives. You can have

abundance with money, but lack with relationships, or abundance with

health and lack of money. Somebody else might have abundance in all

areas except they lack spiritually. One of the biggest deterrents to greater

abundance is comparing yourself to others, and worse is believing that

somehow it’s easy for them and not for you. People point to all kinds of

reasons and excuses they can’t have something and someone else can.

“My life can’t be that way. She’s got an awesome husband…a great

career…plenty of money.” But this is a victim position, which, as

Patrick Gentempo said, you have only two choices: Will it be victim

or success? You choose.

All blessings are tied to living the laws that promises that those

blessings. It’s like a law of the universe that every blessing that we can

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obtain comes by basically living the truth that it’s based on. And you can

see how certain truths have played out by studying societies throughout

history – what’s lead to their rise and demise.

Some of the greatest empires of all time were built to become great

and powerful because people supported the lifestyle that perpetuated it

and allowed it to continue. They fell as people stopped living by what

brought them to success.

It’s the same with companies. One of our good friends, Greg

McKeowen, author of Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, has

long had a burning question he wanted to answer and has spent 15 years

working on the answer: What is it that keeps otherwise capable and

driven people from breaking through to the next level?

Working with executives in the Silicon Valley, he discovered the

answer was “hidden in plain sight” and counterintuitive – success. He

says:

The paradox of success is that when they were focused on a few

essential things – the right things – they could get unified behind it, it

coalesced to momentum, and with that they were able to produce

success. But success came with it – options and opportunities – which,

although they’re the right problems, they do, in fact, turn out to be

problems because they undermine the very focus on essentials that led to

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success in the first place….Suddenly we’re just consumed with all the

good things.

In other words, as companies stop doing the things that brought

them success, it leads to failure.

It’s true in your personal life as well. When you lose track of the

habits and practices that lead to your success, you may soon find you’re

not doing them altogether. You’ll know it because the results prove it.

For example, when life feels difficult but, as a family, you’re

caring for each other and working together to come through it, these are

often the times you feel the most uplifted and happy. As the situation

improves, you can start to lose touch with the essential things you were

doing that brought you close together.

We knew one person going through a painful divorce who said

that, after his income grew, he bought a beautiful, big home but that,

instead of bringing them more joy, over time it split them apart –

literally. The house was so big it was easy to not see each as much or

spend time physically together. Eventually they drifted apart emotionally

and were divorced, which brought on a wave of sadness and trouble to

his life.

This is why we stress the need to understand which truths bring

blessings into our lives and to seek after those. The more you surround

yourself with this kind of wisdom – whether it’s from reading and

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listening to the words of wise people or studying scripture – the more

you’ll take the good things and consciously put them to use in your life.

You can get your family or, if you have a business, your employees

and/or co-workers involved to create a flywheel effect.

In the end, it all begins with taking ownership. You have so many

tools and so much power because of who you are in your divine

potential to solve any problems in a partnership between you and God.

Living abundantly, in many ways, is about focusing on what

matters, which, as it turns out, is a relatively small core of essential

truths. It just makes sense to plan your life around them to produce the

positive results you desire – and to live a life beyond wealth.

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Beyond Wealth: End of Chapter Exercise

Describe what abundance means to you. In what ways do you desire to

live more abundantly? Write it down, pray for help, and take action to

do something about it today.

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About The Abundance Project

The Abundance Project will constantly be sharing new (and old)

ideas for breakthroughs on living abundantly. You can follow and

explore our movement on our online site

www.theabundanceproject.com, our Facebook page as well as through

our e-mail newsletter. We are making abundance learning easily

accessible, inspiring and uplifting. The Abundance Project also brings

the best teachers and mentors on board so those involved will have the

latest, greatest, and proven information available.

To take the Abundance Gap Quiz, visit our home page at:

www.theabundanceproject.com



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