Seven Steps to an Abundant Life
step 1
You have to have the desire to change
As simple as this sounds, you would be surprised how many people want changes to happen to them in their lives but the desire isn’t completely there. They are used to a routine that has become predictable and safe, governed by doing the same things, often at the same time and that brings a sense of control to them.
So, the question to ask yourself is, how much do I want to change an area of my life? 50%? 75%? Be honest with yourself here. If you are not wanting to change an area of life 100% then is there enough desire there? If you want that change but are not prepared to let go of the old way of doing things, then your intention will be weak and the effort negligible.
Desire is an essential component to get to the next stage in our experience of life because it unlocks the next stage on your journey.
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step 2
You have to drop your expectations of how that change will manifest
We can have very fixed views on how change should manifest and what we will go through to get it and more often than not, it is in a completely different way than we expect.
Going through a process of transformation can be painful, fun, heart-wrenching, confrontational, joyful and enlightening, all at the same time. We cannot control HOW that transformation is going to affect us or how it manifests. We have to be prepared to accept that we may have to go through a complete change in circumstances to get to where we want to go and we are not in control of how or why things happen the way they do.
Once we start changing our inner thought processes and releasing our judgements, our external world will reflect that and so it is inevitable that change will ensue but how that change manifests is not up to us. The ego wants safety and predictability and wants to control the outcome, but we have to let go and trust that the Divine that runs through us all is working on our behalf at all times. So, whatever we may think is good for us may not be and this is where the saying, Let Go and Let God, is asking us to trust that process.
step 3
You have to own it!
You have to own your feelings and reactions – whatever they are and however they have been triggered.
When you go through a transformation process to reveal that abundance you desire, it’s going to bring some deep stuff up from your shadow that needs light shone upon it. That means you have to face it honestly, deal with it, feel it, love it, accept it, forgive it, release it or integrate it – whatever is needed.
What sits in the shadow are the unintegrated parts of you that you haven’t accepted or expressed, for a variety of reasons. These can be “good” or “bad” attributes, skills or behaviours. It’s not all “ugly” stuff. There can be parts of you that you have pushed away because of guilt and shame, yet by accepting them, you can grow and transform.
When you own what comes up instead of blaming others, that leads to more empowerment and freedom. Are you prepared to take full responsibility for how you feel and act? That does not mean blaming yourself for circumstances that have happened. It means being honest with yourself at every level and accepting that how you feel is your choice. We can’t control what life brings to us, but we can control how we respond to it.
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step 4
Identify the blocks and behaviours holding you back
Once we recognise there is an area of life that is not flowing abundantly, we know we have a block. That means we are holding judgements, feelings, memories or emotions there that are like clouds blocking the sun.
Much of the stuff that presents itself is symptomatic and we have to delve deeper to find the root cause underneath it all, which is often not what we would expect. It’s not always easy when you have a strong mind too as the ego is like the inner child, fearful of change and wants everything to be familiar and predictable, so be prepared for there to be some resistance.
Once you identify an area of your life that is not flowing abundantly, write down the thoughts and fears that come up with it on some paper. When you see it written down it is much easier to notice a pattern there. For example, if there is a block to money, write down all your thoughts and feelings about money on one side, and on the other side write down all the obstacles you believe you have to receiving the money. See if you can identify which are your thoughts/beliefs and which are your parents’ thought/beliefs. Notice if there are any quick wins you can manifest to change some of the beliefs you have or change the patterns, straight away. That is, what can you do consciously that would change the situation and make you feel more empowered or valued? What behaviours or beliefs are you struggling with? This process alone can be very revealing as to where the block may be.
step 5
Set the Intention
Setting the intention is about where the desire is manifesting from and this is where you need to be clear. Is the intention to manifest coming from a place of lack or is it coming from a place of abundance?
You have to know you are abundant to manifest abundance so where the intention comes from is crucial to anything you wish to bring in. What is the underlying motivation? If you do not recognise you already have something, how can you create it? In the same way that you cannot have a fear without first experiencing/learning something that then creates that fear, you cannot create what you want without first knowing what it feels like to have it.
We have to work backwards to manifest what we want. We have to see it, feel it, sense it, know it, program ourselves to it to manifest it. It’s why when people set the intention to heal, often nothing will happen because they are coming from a place of lack or illness rather than from a place of balance/abundance. The same with money, joy, love, romance and so on.
As an exercise, now that you have identified an area of your life that is not flowing abundantly, look at your intention to manifest change. Where is it coming from – lack or abundance? How can you reveal that abundance if you do not believe you already have it?
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step 6
You Have to be Committed to Change
This is such an important part of the process and it is here that people feel that they fail. In reality there is no failure because it is really just a name for a process based upon subjective expectations. What you might regard as failure, another would regard as success.
Getting the transformation you desire in an area of your life takes commitment. It’s not about having a session here or there, or dipping in or out of making changes. It’s about committing to a course of action and that takes discipline, devotion and determination.
This is why you have to be motivated to change. You have to want it so much to be prepared to invest in it and you because you will unlearn what you have been conditioned to believe and you will deconstruct the programming, release the emotions, evict the judgements and integrate it all to bring the freedom that you desire. But it doesn’t happen overnight and nobody can do it for you. People, like me, help you along the process. We can guide, assist, research, mentor, coach, support and hold you, but ultimately, it is up to you to transform and through that transformation you feel empowered and reveal your already abundant nature and life becomes infinitely more pleasurable and enjoyable than it has before.
How much are you prepared to commit to a course of action? How much is that investment worth to you? Are you noticing any resistance or feeling in the body or mind to this commitment? Can you hear yourself already making excuses or reasons why you can’t commit? What are the fears coming up? Are you noticing ‘lack’ presenting itself?
step 7
How will you know it is working?
So, you’ve embarked on a course of action, perhaps being guided or mentored by someone like myself, using my experience and tools to help you uncover deeper layers and blocks and you are determined to undergo transformation in at least one area of your life. How will you know it is working?
How much change you notice straight away depends solely upon the individual’s character and programming. Some notice every little sensation in their body, the way they feel and are aware of every nuance and shift and their perception of the world changes immediately.
Others can feel very little, if anything, to start with but notice subtle change growing within them. It’s not unusual either to find that as you deconstruct all that you have known before, to feel completely lost and in “no-mans-land” for a while because we take away the control and familiarity and allow our true nature to come to the fore, which is one of abundance. That can often bring up all kinds of fears of feeling a failure, abandoned, unsafe, angry, shameful, and so on. When we observe what arises, it can be very enlightening as to what is running in our shadow.
So, you will know if it is working because you will start to feel different and little changes may start happening. Old friends may fall away and new ones start coming in. You may lose your job out of the blue only to find a better one comes in soon after. There are all kinds of scenarios and what you are looking for is change. Change in the way you feel, change in your circumstances or an area of your life. It isn’t always pleasant either, so the change can be very unnerving for the ego as you let go of those old programming and routines, but ultimately you will come through that stage and into one of greater and more pleasurable freedom.
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