Today has been perfect so far. I started the day with a blustery and rather soggy run along the coast. Followed by a visit to my family, where I ate far too much homemade ginger parkin – it was delicious! And I’ve changed the bedsheets so tonight I can snuggle into a cozy, clean bed. Life is feeling pretty abundant right now.
Some of you may be aware that I’m currently part of MamaFurFur’s Prosperity Accelerator Mastermind community. It’s been an amazing adventure and I’m learning so much, but one thing I never expected to be focusing on when I first signed up was having a mindset of abundance.
Focus on giving
When the discussion about giving first came up I thought I had all the boxes ticked. I give a fixed amount every month to charity and I consider myself to be a generous person who helps out others whenever I can.
But what I didn’t realise is how much more I am able to give. Now I’m not talking about being a martyr here and bending over backwards at the expense of my own wellbeing. But as I took an honest look at myself I realised I could give more.
Why give more when I was already giving on a regular basis? Well it’s about creating a mindset of abundance.
As I’ve mentioned previously, when I was striving to be mortgage free it was so important to enjoy the journey and not just focus on the destination. And the same message applies now as I work towards financial independence. But from what I’ve learned recently, my journey will include developing a mindset of abundance through giving.
Why is giving so important?
Aside from the obvious feel-good factor, giving is important because it lifts you out of the scarcity mindset. We can’t be our best selves if we’re stuck in the primative ‘hunter-gatherer’ mode of survival.
Giving lifts us out of this by creating a mindset of abundance that opens us up to so much more of what life has to offer.
I know it sounds a bit ‘out there’ but stick with me on this one.
Think of yourself as a caveman (or cavewoman!). You spend your days looking for your next food source. This set-up is akin to the scarcity mindset, there is no space for anything else other than your survival.
Now picture yourself as part of a community. You’ve found enough berries so you give some to your neighbour who, it turns out, has plenty of meat so you trade wares. Suddenly you have an abundant food supply, your brain relaxes a little and comes out of scarcity mode. As a result, you find yourself feeling more content and becoming more creative as you have more ‘head-space’.
That’s exactly what has happened to me over the last few weeks. As I’ve focused on giving more, I’ve felt happier and more settled within my own skin and I’ve noticed how abundant my own life is.
It’s a very subtle change but it seems that the more I give, the ‘freer’ I feel. My focus has shifted and I’m more confident about my financial situation, even though ‘technically’ nothing has changed.
Take, for example, my ‘freedom’ fund. Basically, it’s a stash of money I have saved up in the event that I ever find myself temporarily without an income source or if I felt I needed to walk away from my job.
Up until recently, despite having the fund, I felt that I could never walk away from my job. But since giving more, I’ve developed a new-found confidence and I now know that I can walk away if I choose to.
Like I said, it’s a subtle but very real change and it’s happened within weeks of me focusing on giving.
But what if I don’t have anything to give?
You might be reading this and thinking that you don’t have anything to give, but you do, everybody does.
You don’t have to give money, instead you could give your time, advice, skills or unwanted posessions. The key is to try and give something every day.
Some of the things I’ve given over the last couple of weeks are: books, eggs (from the little cluckers), advice, random acts of kindness and donations of money. And it has made me feel great.
Everyone’s circumstances are different but we all have something we can give. So my challenge to you for the next month is to focus on giving and see what changes you notice in your life.
If you decide to take me up on this challenge then be sure to leave me a comment at the end of October and let me know how you get on.
Have fun developing a mindset of abundance and have a wonderful Sunday!
Image courtesy of Thought Catalog on Unsplash