Money and the Law of Attraction (Blog)

[Savage]

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Steve Pavlina's blog:

Money and the Law of Attraction

[steve0617]

If you want to enjoy more financial abundance, you must learn to become comfortable with the kinds of changes that currently make you feel uncomfortable.

How? Using the LOA to focus on the calm feelings of dollars rather than the ownership of the thing?

EFT (or some other process) to reduce the fear of success?

As a trader, I think this is what's slowing down my income. I can see money right in front of me in the form of trades that can pay me off (poker reference!), but yet I don't take them with reliability. Something holds me back and I've never been able to put my true finger on it.

[carenkh]

Why are you doing this to yourself? Why not invite larger sums into your life instead of pushing them away? Are you suffering from low self-esteem or something?

That must be it. Because rather than thinking you were elitist scum for charging $500, my first thought was, "Awesome Steve!" then, "But I'll never be able to afford it. I can't afford it because I don't believe I deserve it. I'm a failure!!" Sooooo productive.

I had an interesting dream the other night - I was at a mansion, but I was working there. The "help" couldn't do things like swim in the pool, or get in the hot tub. (And, the hot tub was *awesome*! Two stories. You had to go to the bedroom on the top floor loft to get in, and you could look down on the hot tub - dive in if you wanted! and you could also look down on the rest of the house. That bedroom is where all of the controls were, for the stereo and speaker system, and intercom, and safe.)

I was going to get in the hot tub anyway, because I thought, "If you have an opportunity to get in a hot tub like that, you have to take it!! I may get fired - that's OK! I'll just ask the owner to join me, then."

I think there's something about thinking of being in service in there - if I life my life to serve, what does that mean about wealth?

Thanks for this post!! I have noticed shifts in my beliefs about wealth, since before I joined the forum, but most definitely since I've been here. I still feel oogly about it - lots to explore!

[Savage]

Originally Posted by steve0617

How? Using the LOA to focus on the calm feelings of dollars rather than the ownership of the thing?

The next article will explain the how-to steps. It started as one monolithic article, but I decided to break it up into two parts.

The point of this first article is to help you become more aware of your current financial comfort zone, whether you agree with my points or not.

[Anand Dhillon]

Excellent post, Steve.

I espeically found these two lines intriguing

The truth is that too much excitement will actually block you from receiving larger sums because that probably isn’t how you’d feel if you were actually there.

General enthusiasm about your goals is fine, but if you’re holding yourself in a state of awe and amazement when you think about them, it’s a safe bet you’ll never get there.

So, if you're working on coming into alignment with a goal, the feeling should be one of "Of course. It's a given. Not a big deal"?

Looking forward to your next article, Steve.

[Akashic_Librarian]

Ohh when is the next article out?

[Michelle]

I'm still sorting out my thoughts on this topic ... my block seems to revolve around having more than others and others having more than me.

Isn't being wealthy about feeling rich and "enough" no matter what you have, while at the same time being open to accept more of whatever should it choose to present itself?

If you hate people who have more than you, you will never allow yourself to become that person you hate. You'll stagnate and forever be a person with "little", "less" or "not enough" just so you can stand to be in your own presence while keeping the friends who don't want you to have more than them either.

If I would begrudge others the gift of more or feel angry or jealous because they have more, then I too will never be open to that more entering my life.

[Michelle]

I'd also like to say that I get light headed and giddy when I get a free drink at Starbucks or suddenly have 1000 Swiss Francs on my account. I am so grateful for those gifts and to be honest, most of my material wishes are fulfilled. I would hate to become jaded or unappreciative of the gifts in my life. I always thought gladness and gratitude for what we have says "Yes, thank you! I'll take more of that!"? I am literally grateful for every Franc in my account, every time I can go to the grocery store, for every breathe of air in my day. Why should I "train" myself to feel otherwise?

[Savage]

Originally Posted by Akashic_Librarian

Ohh when is the next article out?

Most likely Wednesday.

[Savage]

Originally Posted by Michelle

I'd also like to say that I get light headed and giddy when I get a free drink at Starbucks or suddenly have 1000 Swiss Francs on my account. I am so grateful for those gifts and to be honest, most of my material wishes are fulfilled. I would hate to become jaded or unappreciative of the gifts in my life. I always thought gladness and gratitude for what we have says "Yes, thank you! I'll take more of that!"? I am literally grateful for every Franc in my account, every time I can go to the grocery store, for every breathe of air in my day. Why should I "train" myself to feel otherwise?

It's wonderful to feel appreciation and gratitude for what you have. That's part of feeling normal because it falls within the realm of belief and acceptance. Gratitude is simply a deepening of acceptance. It would be different if you pushed gratitude all the way to shock and disbelief at your amazing or extraordinary luck -- if you do that, you'll actually be pushing those things away from you.

[wulph]

Michelle, Erin shared some interesting thoughts that may address your points.

[Anand Dhillon]

Michelle,

It doesn't have to be either/or. I think you can completely believe $1 million is a small amount while simultaneously be grateful for every dollar or Franc you receive.

You can have full expectation of it while being grateful for it because Gratitude is just a part of your way of being.

It would be quite terrible if you had sacrifice your gratitude in order to make the law of attraction work for you but I don' think it's necessary.

***

On a side note, whenever you think you need to sacrifice one thing in order to gain another, it is often the case that you are stuck in either/or thinking. If you engage in both/and thinking you can transcend the dichotomy and get both things that you want.

For example, you might want to ask yourself the question: How can I believe that X Francs is a normal amount of money while simultaneously feeling grateful for every Franc that I receive? Keep searching until you find an answer that allows you to have both.

[Anand Dhillon]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

Gratitude is simply a deepening of acceptance.

I like that.

[Michelle]

Gratitude is simply a deepening of acceptance.

This is helpful and makes sense!

I probably do go a bit overboard with the

amazing and extraordinary luck.

Some days my life does literally seem so unbelievable to me ... so blessed, so lucky, so marvelous beyond all my wildest dreams I can't understand how I got so lucky and why it is happening to me.

[Michelle]

Originally Posted by Anand Dhillon

On a side note, whenever you think you need to sacrifice one thing in order to gain another, it is often the case that you are stuck in either/or thinking. If you engage in both/and thinking you can transcend the dichotomy and get both things that you want.

For example, you might want to ask yourself the question: How can I believe that X Francs is a normal amount of money while simultaneously feeling grateful for every Franc that I receive? Keep searching until you find an answer that allows you to have both.

I will consider this - thank you!

[Michelle]

For example, you might want to ask yourself the question: How can I believe that X Francs is a normal amount of money while simultaneously feeling grateful for every Franc that I receive? Keep searching until you find an answer that allows you to have both.

I am starting to get this :-). This is about responsibility, right? Taking responsibility for and caring for the money that comes in is a way of displaying gratitude for it. And trusting that I will do so, regardless of the amount that comes allows for "more".

[Mr.Mustache]

My point is to demonstrate that if you think something is out of reach for you, it is. If you think it’s normal or expected, it becomes so. Realize that your comfort zone is totally arbitrary though. To many people on earth, getting adequate nutrition is a luxury. To some people, a million-dollar home would be slumming it. You define your own comfort zone.

Ok Steve, imagine yourself having a billion dollars as your financial norm, if its so arbitrary. Lets see what happens.

[Savage]

Originally Posted by Mr.Mustache

Ok Steve, imagine yourself having a billion dollars as your financial norm, if its so arbitrary. Lets see what happens.

Right now I don't actually want to experience that. I wouldn't be a match for it anyway. I feel ready to take the next progressive step for me, so that's what I'm working on.

Jumping ahead to a billion dollars would be premature. That would be like buying a level 50 character in a role-playing game straight away instead of enjoying the adventures in levels 1-50 first. It defeats the point of playing the game. The point isn't to get to level 50. The point is to enjoy and learn from the experience.

[MelissaThinks]

Steve,

Great post, by the way.

You have just hit on a great point, regarding the billion dollars. It is critical to believe that you can have more and if you set the bar beyond what you are truly capable of believing you'll miss it. What you are ready for, as you say, is the next step and you can believe in the next step realistically so it will surely happen.

Loved the role-playing game analogy! That takes me back in time ;-)

Great post and I can't wait to read the follow-up!!

[DivaLion]

Paul wrote a great blog post here that complements this wonderful post very well. It was a real epiphany for me-- suddenly I "got" it so much better!

What brought it to mind was his analogy of thinking of the thing you want as though it were a DVD that you planned to buy when it comes out in the stores in a few days. You don't physically have it yet, but you might as well-- you have absolutely no reason to believe you can't just go and get it when it hits the store.

In this case it's almost like looking at the kind of money you want to manifest as though it were the annual bonus or cost-of-living raise that you know your job will be paying you. It's just business as usual, right?

[GreenTea]

Thanks for this article Steve. I was about to ask if you were aware that Abraham-Hicks has a book coming out tomorrow titled "Money and The Law of Atttraction", but before I started typing I said to myself, "Duh, of course he knows and that's why he used this title."

I really enjoyed this article and what you said about toning down your emotions when it comes to making a certain amount of money familiar to you is really interesting.....although I'm a little bit confused. On the one hand this makes a lot of sense, on the other hand, I thought that the law of attraction responds to vibration which is indicated by our emotions--so we would need to be putting out strong emotions of joy, etc. to help speed up the attracting process.

I get that we need to imagine that we already have what we want and the desire for the manifestation of money, etc. is really just an excuse to allow the well-being/life force to flow through us. I also get that we must make what we desire a familiar vibration within us so it seems like the next logical step....

I feel like I'm really close to connecting what you've said in this article to what I already know, but somehow there's still a little confusion with this emotion thing....

[DivaLion]

So much of this article hit home. The pushing-away is what I think of as "It Must Be Nice" Syndrome.

My parents, whom I adore, also frustrate the hell out of me because they have such terrible attitudes about money-- I mean, it's blatantly obvious that they're driving away any chance of the prosperity they say they want.

My mom's eternal refrain has always been "it must be nice", and *always* said in a voice that drips with bitterness and resentment. One friend gets a new car-- "it must be nice..." Someone else goes on the vacation she always wanted to take-- "it must be nice..." Another friend gets a massage a couple of times a month-- "it must be nice"!

What horrified me most was the first time I was aware of that awful phrase coming out of my *own* mouth. I think I literally clapped my hand over my mouth like I could stuff those words back in! After that I started policing myself ruthlessly-- any time those words tried to bubble up, stamping on them and consciously replacing it with "that's great news!" or "hey, that must be nice-- so I should try it out!"

I started challenging my mom. She'd say, "So-and-so got a manicure. It must be nice to afford things like that!" and I'd say, "Yes, it really is, so why don't you treat yourself to one?" Of course, that would prompt the litany of excuses...sigh. But, I keep trying. And continuing to work on my own re-programming when it comes to money.

I got past resenting rich people and thinking money was dirty or evil; what I seem to keep getting stuck on is a) believing that what I really love has monetary value, and b) this persistent, weird mindset I have in which money is controlled by some amorphous authority figure who doles it out fairly stingily and will take it away if you don't keep constantly proving you deserve it. I never literally had money taken away from me for not doing what I was supposed to, so I don't know quite where that particular bogey came from. All I know is that financial misfortune feels like a punishment, and if there was a punishment, it feels I must've done something to deserve it. Argh!! Demons, begone!

(I really don't act like an abused child in other areas of my life, I swear!!)

[dalante]

Question: if everybody suddenly decides that having $1,000,000 in cash is a normal thing, would the universe respond with a 99999% inflation?

[Savage]

I knew the Hicks had a new book coming out with that title -- I saw copies of it when I visited Hay House last week -- but I haven't read it. I'd already picked this title for the article though and didn't want to change it since it seemed like such a good descriptive fit for the content.

Two years ago the Hicks came out with a book called The Law of Attraction, which matched the title of one of my articles. My article was published Aug 18, 2006. Their book was published Dec 1, 2006.

Maybe I'm downloading new article ideas from Abraham.

[Sam988]

Great article, makes me happy because i already have the mindset suggested in it.

[Cyllya]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

The next article will explain the how-to steps.

Good to hear. For now, it sounds pretty impossible (and/or unwise) to think of $500 as a small amount of money when it really does have a big impact on your finances.

I guess you have to take baby steps? (Start with the largest amount that isn't a big deal, add 10%, and try to convince yourself that's not a big deal.)

[Savage]

Originally Posted by Cyllya

Good to hear. For now, it sounds pretty impossible (and/or unwise) to think of $500 as a small amount of money when it really does have a big impact on your finances.

I guess you have to take baby steps? (Start with the largest amount that isn't a big deal, add 10%, and try to convince yourself that's not a big deal.)

Changing how you feel won't compel you to spend $500 you can't afford to spend. This is about how you feel, not about how much you spend.

Try this for starters: Estimate how much cash you normally carry in your wallet. Then double it for two weeks to see how that feels. Once you get used to that, try doubling it again for another two weeks. This will help to bring some of your limiting beliefs to the surface, where you can finally heal and release them.

[dalante]

Sometimes I think it would be more beneficial to focus on what it is that I want to buy, and the feeling to be able to afford that object, rather than the money itself.

Let me explain: since yesterday, people have been discussing the $500 figure (by the way, us Europeans with the Euro can easily afford those $500, our currency is so strong, it's like going to buy a candy at the grocery store... just kidding ) Anyway, people have discussed: $500 and as Steve mentioned, if it was $50 or $1500, there would still be discussions.

But is that number important? I mentioned inflation earlier. If you had lived in Germany between the two world wars, chances are you would have been a millionaire, and chances are you would have been starving. Indeed, inflation was so rapid that one million mark barely allowed you to buy anything. But I am sure that a lot of people, a decade earlier would have dreamed to own that million mark.

Today, if I think about: "I want $1,000,000", to me it is a meaningless goal, because the dollar can be devalued so much that it would represent nothing. And at the current state of the American economy, this is not an improbable scenario (though not so likely)

Therefore, focusing on what it is I want to buy may be a better way to deal with wealth attarction and the figures will come into place; if I respect Steve and think his coaching could be beneficial to me, shouldn't I practice the feeling of being able to afford his coaching, as many hours as I will need... rather than looking on the price tag? (because if steve continues to grow like that, chances are the price tag is going to go up)

Just some thought... that made me realize that all I ever wanted to afford was the mere necessities to get by (housing, utilities, food) some cultural products (books, cds) and a few gadgets. If I start on imagining that I want to afford more things in life, do I necessarily need to focus on the price?

[nique]

I can definitely see the benefit of having a lot more money than you strictly need. Being able to use it to make the world a better place is a good thing.

What I have a hard time envisioning is spending my money on what I see as extravagances. I just can't envision myself in a situation where having a tennis court in my backyard or a full 20 car garage is OK and normal. And when I hear about and see "rich people" that's what I see: extravagances. Yes you're spending a lot of money on other people, but you're spending a boatload on yourself too. Way more than you need. Is that actually OK?

I think the root of the problem is that I see such things as unsustainable. I can envision a world where everyone has their basic needs met and has enough means to pursue their heart's desire. I can't envision a world where everyone has palatial estates, so who am I to have one?

In other words, a world in which everyone is living at a level comparable to where I am now seams reasonable to me, but much more than that feels wrong. So if I spend too much money on myself just because I can I'll feel guilty.

What does this mean in terms of LOA? Is it bad for me to feel guilty about wanting things that I know not everyone can or should have? Is this line of thinking all an illusion? (i.e. the things I want everyone probably could have and the world would survive.) Should sustainability even factor in? (Chances are most people aren't actually going to make their lives better, so getting what I want isn't Actually a bad thing.)

[Savage]

Originally Posted by nique

Yes you're spending a lot of money on other people, but you're spending a boatload on yourself too. Way more than you need. Is that actually OK?

From a certain perspective, aren't you doing this too? Aren't you spending way more than you need? Is that actually okay?

Many people earn and spend no money at all. Do you count yourself among them? If not then why not?

Money is social debt owed to you by society. Isn't money in any amount an unnecessary extravagance then?