Money Thoughts from a Recovering Manifester
There have been many books written on manifesting, particularly on the subject of money. These include Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich], published in 1937, and Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret from 2006.
And perhaps one of the most well-documented examples of money manifestation is Jim Carey’s decision in 1985 to write himself a check for $10 million dollars, payable ten years in the future (Thanksgiving 1995) for “acting services rendered.” And, right on schedule, in November 1995, he was cast in the movie Dumb & Dumber for, you guessed it, $10 million dollars.
My Initial Experience with Money Manifesting
Back in 2012, I was early in my financial planning practice and had signed up for a coaching program that taught marketing to small business owners. I had read both Think & Grow Rich and The Secret and was familiar with Jim Carey’s amazing story. And so, I was very receptive when the instructor gave me the assignment to take three empty folders, label them Client 1, Client 2 and Client 3, put them in my filing cabinet and watch how quickly they were filled with new client paperwork as long as I did my coursework and kept thinking positive thoughts about money.
The 3 clients did eventually come. However, this took many months to happen and didn’t seem to at all be impacted by my efforts at money manifesting.
While I do believe that it is important to release negative money thoughts that aren’t serving us well, simply writing a future check to oneself for $10 million dollars will not work for most people. My opinion is that, in most cases, some foundational work needs to take place before changing these thought patterns will truly take hold in the form of increased wealth.
Accepting Divine Timing
My background in Engineering led me to believe that I could control almost any situation with enough thought, planning and effort. While this has often been true for me, I now know that not all of life can be forced to adhere to getting the outcomes I want on the schedule I want them.
In the case of money, I always want to have far more than I need, and I always want my businesses to be rapidly growing. But, I’ve experienced what most people and entrepreneurs have experienced, which is that sometimes I have an abundance, sometimes I have just enough to get by, and sometimes I have needed to dip into savings to cover some shortfalls.
When I’m in a season of my life that I am not achieving my money goals, I have come to accept that my soul is working on learning more important lessons that are requiring my focus. Accepting this divine timing is not only comforting to me, but, ironically, typically unblocks the flow of money and opportunities which invariably begin to flow my way again.
Defining a Higher Purpose
Early in my career, making money simply for the sake of paying the bills and buying stuff was enough. It was wonderful to have my own apartment, buy a car and have money to go out with friends. Over time, these things lost meaning and putting money first on my list of motivations eventually left me feeling lost and empty.
Why do you get out of bed in the morning? What is the why behind your actions? Behind your career? Behind how you intereact with others?
Defining my “Why” as a central focus and allowing the money to follow has lifted a lot of the pressure I used to put on myself over our personal finances. Focusing first on my Why and not on the money has unlocked tremendous creativity and (counterintuitively) much larger business opportunities than I have experienced in the past.
Accepting Your Relationship with Money
Will I ever make $10 million in a single year like Jim Carey? Will you? I don’t know. But what I do know is that each of us is on a unique journey here on earth and each of us will land in a different place in terms of money, career, relationships, physical well-being and spiritual growth.
I have found great guidance in the area of accepting my relationship with money in Tosha Silver’s It’s Not Your Money. She beautifully states, “This book comes from a singular premise. Everybody has a different set of abundance lessons they are learning in any given lifetime. It may not be your own destiny to have $10 million. That might actually be the last thing your soul needs. You might be learning this life to trust you’ll always have enough.”
And she continues, “I’m constantly struck by how resting in Divine Source is about trust. You start to feel at the deepest level that one way or another, perhaps for the first time in your life- every true need will be met.”
This five minute read captures just a portion of my 50 year journey with money. And this journey continues for me. Be patient with yourself. Listen for guidance from God (or Divine Source or however you refer to a higher power) and trust that you will find your own unique path to have all of your true needs met.