How many of us remain ‘stuck’ in inertia while knowing we really need to take some sort of action, but what?

Let me share some ideas gleaned from being a business development coach inside a nationwide  financial planning firm. My intention is that you may gain some insights and ideas you could apply to help you create a better future. Here are the basics.

An idea –

It all starts with an idea. A simple thought or concept.

Desire –

By holding the idea and considering the ‘possibilities’ it might bring we start wrapping feelings around the idea and turning it into ‘desire’. Desire is an idea that feels good without having the solutions or knowing the actions to get there. It is simply a concept that would feel great to be living or having. Desire starts pulling energy in, which simply contains opportunities, events, people and resources that will help achieve the desire.

The stronger the desire or feeling that goes with it, the more energy gets pulled in.

Allow time to clarify ‘What you want’ and ‘Why you want it’. Play with the idea and desire to refine and sharpen it. You can be assured that as you get hold of a strong desire, you will begin to notice things around you related to the desire. Use these to refine the ‘What’ and the ‘Why’. Make sure they are in your greatest interest and include the best interest of others that might need to be involved.

Beliefs –

Now this where it gets interesting. We can either kill the energy being pulled in or build it up depending on the beliefs we hold. We need beliefs that align and support our desire as against killing it dead.

Beliefs are the ideas we have learnt or picked up along the way, often quite unconsciously. So often we are really aware of them and they are sort of ‘automatic pilot’ or default setting that we have never explored nor checked out as to whether they are actually true or not. When we are quite young (under 6 years old) the adults around us have a significant influence on us. We often pick up their beliefs that they talk about. In addition to this, we experience life and take meanings out of this about ourselves. So we make decisions about who we are and how life works and usually run these on an ‘automatic pilot’ setting.

There are beliefs that support us – for example, “I can achieve what I set my minds to” or “I deserve good things to happen in my life”. These typically feel good when think of them. Then there are those that block us and we feel pretty negative or awful when we think of them. For example, “I am not good enough” or “I do not deserve good things to happen in my life”. Often we combine the above into a single stream of thought. For example how many of us can relate to the thought of “Wouldn’t it be great have ….. but ….”. The big ‘but’ comes along to kill the idea dead. Or how about “If only …… then I could …..” 

When it comes to finances and money there are some deeply engrained beliefs that can block our desires. A great book has written by Julie Ann Cairns on this subject called ‘How to Bust the 7 Money Myths for a Rich Life Now’. My experience would validate what Julie has found. The key beliefs that typically block many of us are –

1. Scarcity – Money does not grow on trees
2. Time equals money – Time is money
3. Work equals money – You have to work hard for your money
4. It takes money to make money – The rich get richer, while the poor get poorer
5. Easy come, easy go – Money in, money out 
6. Money won’t make you happy – There’s money more to life than money
7. Money corrupts – Money is the root of all evil

We need to develop beliefs that support and line up with our desires. Finding a way to constructively challenge our negative beliefs is key to allowing our desires to turn into results.

Create a gap

We need to allow the energy to build around the desire and beliefs. 

This where the ‘magic’ happens. All sorts of coincidences and synchronicity is possible as people, resources, opportunities etc get lined up for you to make everything happen.

We need to develop our trust that this magic is occurring and we need to work cooperatively with. 

Follow your intuition

Ideas will start to occur as to possible action steps to take. We need to allow these quiet thoughts to surface. Quietening the mind so we can hear them is important. In addition, we need to recognise our gut feeling and explore those that feel good. Apply common sense.

A Plan

Consolidating the ideas into a Plan with actions is the final key step.

All too often this is the step that is missed.

When addressing the complexity and long term nature of creating a sound financial future, a Plan brings it all together, consolidating the ideas into tangible action steps.

What is more, it brings all the above processes together to reviewed, refined and improved on.

I have listened a number of senior financial advisers who have shared the experience of working with individuals and couples that had little in the way of financial resources but had a passion and strong desire to do something. So they worked to create a Plan. And as time went by amazing opportunities and resources came up to support them achieve their Plan. That is the power of a Plan.

Craig Galloway