Creating Your World of Abundance

I suspect all of us prefer living from a sense of abundance rather than scarcity. Moving from scarcity to abundance, however, requires that we change our unhealthy beliefs and behaviors, many of which have probably become habits.

Over the years, some of my clients have found it helpful to make the abundance contracts that I describe in this post. Each contract is based on principles I have learned in my personal and/or professional journey.

Principles:

1. In order to achieve your vision you need to create one!

2. Nothing is as powerful as gratitude for changing your mood and your outlook on life.

3. 100% commitment to your vision is important if you are to get it!

4. The current state of your mind will not change unless you actively work to change it.

5. If you surround yourself with bad news and negative people you will become negative yourself (if you are not already).

6. Addictive processes such as overuse of television and computers are among the ways we medicate ourselves and create scarcity in our lives.

Preparatory questions::

Are you willing to have abundance in your life? ____ Yes _____No

How committed are you to having that abundance? (Identify your percentage of commitment- between 0% and 100%). _________. Examine the reasons behind any lack of full commitment.

If you decide to commit to completing the abundance contracts are you willing to come from a place of I will rather than I will try? ____ Yes _____No

The first step in manifesting your vision of abundance is to create the vision. Close your eyes and see yourself as you would like to be when you have abundance in your life. What does abundance mean to you? Notice in your vision how you feel, how you think, how you act, where you live, who your friends are, what you do with your time, and what you look like. Notice all there is to notice. Take some time to journal what you saw as you connected with this vision of living a life of abundance.

Take another look at the percentage you chose to indicate your level of commitment to your vision.  What part of your vision are you willing to give up if you are not fully committed to manifesting it all?

The Abundance Contracts:

Consider keeping the following contracts for the next 21 days. At the end of each day add up how many you completed and give yourself the appropriate reward or consequence.

____ 1. Today I stood in front of the mirror for at least one minute, looking the way I would look if I was living fully in a state of abundance (how would you stand, what would the look be on your face, how would you feel inside, etc).

____ 2. Today I told two people something I appreciate about them.

____ 3. Today I wrote CTMV (Committed To My Vision) on every check I wrote or any credit card slip I signed. If you didn’t write any checks or sign any credit card slips it is okay to check this one off as completed.

____ 4. Today I practiced good self care. (Therapists and clients in my therapy community use the following agreements to guide their self care: I will not hurt myself or others or provoke or allow others to harm me; I will not run away from problems; I will not make myself sick or go crazy; I will not be sneaky or lie; I will not be passive; I am accountable for my thoughts, feelings, actions and attitudes.)

____ 5. Today I did not gossip.

____ 6. Today I said the affirmation, I thank you at least 1000 times. (It is easiest to count using a tally counter from an office supply store. Also, iPhone has an app called Counter+ that works well.  You should be able to complete this exercise in less than 20 minutes.)

____ 7. Today I focused on good news.

____ 8. Today I put myself in the company of people who have positive attitudes.

____ 9. Today I distracted people who had negative attitudes or found a way to end the conversation. Or I avoided being around negative people altogether.

____ 10. Today I was disciplined in focusing on positive thoughts rather than negative.

____ 11. Today I watched less than one hour of television.

____ 12. Today, excluding work times, I was on the computer for less than one hour

Score (Total number of checks for the day): _________

If your score was 10-12: Look in the mirror and tell yourself you did a really GOOD job of keeping your abundance contract today.

If your score was 7-9: Write the affirmation I deserve abundance in my life 50 times.

If your score was 6 or less: Write the affirmation I deserve abundance in my life 50 times and take a good look at why you broke the contract.  Determine what you will do differently in your life to prevent yourself from breaking it again.

At the end of the 21 days, identify how your thoughts, feelings, actions and attitudes have changed as a result of doing this exercise. Consider whether or not you are willing to make these behavioral changes an ongoing part of your life!

Commitment:

Are you willing to work with this creating abundance process for the next 21 days? If so, sign and date the following contract.

For the next 21 days I will do the 12 items listed in the abundance contract. At the end of each day I will add up my score and give myself the appropriate reward or consequence.

_______________________        _______________________
Signature                                       Date

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(I originally published this article in The New Spirit Journal, January 2010.)