I’d like you to scroll back, back, back in your mind to your childhood, and start to reflect on what you heard and what you saw with regard to money and prosperity. You may have heard comments or conversation at home, at school, or at church, for example. You may have heard comments or conversation from a parent or parents, from a teacher, coach, pastor, relative, friend or authority figure, or witnessed certain behaviors.
For a moment, pause to reflect on the following:
- What did I hear?……..
- From whom did I hear it?………….
- What behaviors or choices did I see around me?………
When I reflect on my childhood, I now realize that I was receiving two very different and divergent messages about money within my household. I had my dad sending one type of message about money and prosperity and my mom sending another.
I grew up in, what at the time, was the relatively small town of Olympia, Washington, the capital of Washington state. At the age of seven, my dad started to build a successful business. As a high schooler, I can vividly remember my dad being one of the first individuals in our entire county to have a phone in his car, and in his sleek black Lexus 400 Sedan at that. My dad sported the latest Italian suits, the finest leather wing-tipped shoes, a $100 Mont Blanc fountain pen in his suit breast pocket, and a Rolex watch (he was like a real-life black James Bond 007).
It was not uncommon for us to discuss money, business, wealth, and pending client contracts at the Jackson’s dinner table, among other lively topics. And along with these conversations, what got cemented into my belief system from my dad about prosperity was that there was plenty of money to be made “out there,” money was to be pursued, money had to be chased, money was elusive so you had to work hard for it, you had to be crafty and persevere in order to “catch” it, and having money meant having power. At that time, from my dad’s words and actions, the message I “absorbed” from him was that image was everything, be a risk-taker with money, buy the best, money gets you power, and use money to create a powerful image.
On the other hand, my mom rarely mentioned money or talked about money unless it was in the context of items for the household or household expenses. She, too, became self-employed a few years after my dad, but her message, not from what she said, but how she behaved, said save your money, be conservative with your money, be disciplined with your money, live beneath your means, be frugal, and don’t take big risks with your money.
So as you can imagine, as I got older and started exploring my money and prosperity beliefs, I came to realize that I had a tug-of-war going on within me with regard to money and prosperity. There were two conflicting forces that arose from two conflicting sets of beliefs.
And growing up in Olympia, our family attended a small Baptist church. And sitting in the pews taking in the preacher’s message, when it came to matters of money, the message equated being rich with being greedy, and being rich with being evil or un-Christian. How far from the truth! According to the messages from the pulpit, being rich was considered to be negative and supposedly was undesirable, because, after all, it was harder for a rich man to get into heaven than for a camel to get through the eye of a needle, right? And somehow money and the love of money became synonymous and treated as one in the same. So as a little girl taking in these money-related messages at church, I noticed that, though money was supposedly evil and negative, there seemed to be a secret desire for it and certainly the need for a lot more of it amongst the families in our church. So there seemed to be both a disdain and a desire for money. Again, conflicting messages.
Now pause for a moment and reflect again on the “messages” you received growing up. Did these “inputs” amount to you believing that prosperity was your divine birthright? That you deserve to prosper? That being prosperous is based in a certain mindset and a way of perceiving the world? That prosperity includes more than the dimension of money but also involves creating healthy relationships, and contributing your gifts and talents in meaningful ways? We often weren’t told how to break the cycle. We weren’t told that manifesting a prosperous life first starts with preparing the soil of your mind for prosperity and for attracting, receiving and experiencing prosperity. We weren’t told that you deserve to prosper – regardless of your race, creed, color or background?
What are the beliefs you currently have about prosperity for yourself?
The clearest evidence of your current beliefs are revealed in your current reality. What is going on in your life? Do you experience stress and anxiety on a day to day basis as it relates to your life? To your relationships? To your health, and to money? Or do you experience gratitude, appreciation, an experience of plenty, joy and peace? If not, you are operating from the wrong set of laws.
A powerful way to get to the underlying beliefs that may be blocking or hindering your prosperity is to look at the excuses, rationalizations or justifications you have about why prosperity is not more real in your life.
Yes, your excuses, rationalizations and justifications may be very compelling, and even seem insurmountable, but I am here to tell you that the invisible realm is much more powerful than the visible realm. The invisible realm is the source of the visible realm, and has dominion over it.
What is your current reality telling you about your level of belief in prosperity for yourself? What is your current reality revealing – that you’re attracting or repelling prosperity? What do your comments, conversations, words, and behaviors reveal about your current relationship to money?
Is it one of respect or it is one of dishonor? Is it one of relaxed and positive expectation, or is it one of “uptightness,” anxiety, stress and worry?
Once you literally start to “change your mind,” you can begin to change your life.
