Cultivate abundance and get passionate about your finances

By Dawn Goodman

Here’s the thing: Prosperity involves fiscal mastery. But fear not! You can cultivate abundance and master your budget.

Money is energy

Louise Hay, author of You Can Heal Your Life, writes, “Prosperity involves the quality of our lives as well as any amount of money that we possess.”

Money is energy, which is why Mind Key often refers to finances as currency rather than money. Being able to love your finances—regardless of your current financial situation—feels abundant, and leaves room for more abundance, joy, health, happiness and ultimately prosperity. Money can fuel your passion, and according to some studies, can even make you more passionate.

Cultivating abundance: the prosperity/passion connection

Kate Northrup, author of Money: A Love Story, said in an interview with spiritual coach, Danielle LaPorte, “When it comes to your life goals, it can’t all be about the money—because nobody wants money for money’s sake, actually. Money in and of itself doesn’t do anything. We want money because of what it will allow us to do in our lives.”

Kate equates our relationship with money to self-love. Her book contains first-person accounts and advice on how to overcome money challenges by boosting self-confidence and reducing money shame.

J.D. Roth, founder of the personal finance website and course, Get Rich Slowly, and author of the book, Your Money: The Missing Manual proposes having a personal mission statement that dictates how you spend your money, and having “a plan so amazing, so glowing, that you’re willing to walk blurry-eyed to work every day to make the money necessary to achieve it.”

In the article “How to think like a billionaire,” Roth proposes conscious spending: Matching up your money with your values so spending is not a result of reflex, habit, impulse (or worse, retail therapy). He advises spending mindfully because, “you pay for the lifestyle you choose” and because sometimes, spending money on one thing means you don’t have it to spend on something else.

Finding passion for your finances can lead you to success!

Prosperity involves fiscal mastery: get to know your budget

There are numerous programs, gurus, and websites available to help you master conscious spending. Here a few ideas to help you achieve the goal of having enough money to live your dreams:

You Need a Budget (YNAB)

YNAB is an online software program that offers guidance on budgeting according to your priorities so that your money is doing what you want, not the other way around. This method follows four simple rules. Rule one is: give every dollar a job. A job that aligns with your goals, lifestyle and in the end, allows you to do what you want with your life.

Financial Therapy

There are many coaches out there, such as Northrup and Roth, who can help get you back in line with your financial goals. Many of them work remotely or have online courses or support groups.  For example, financial therapist, Bari Tessler, whose recent book and online course, both entitled The Art of Money, offer a wealth of tools to heal money shame, solve money koans and other paradoxes, develop money practices (including money dates with yourself and with your spouse/partner), and rejoice in yearly rituals. Tessler puts engaging with your money on par with a spiritual practice (which can include candles, tea, and chocolate!). In her recent podcast, she even compares bookkeeping to a form of meditation. Tessler substitutes “maps of intention” for the term “budget.” This is the place to align your categories of expenses to reflect your personal lifestyle, values, and spending habits. Here again, the concept of mindfulness governs spending.

Build a FIRE

Finally, the ultimate model of money fueling passion is FIRE. This is short for “financial independence and retire early.” FIRE suggests that money, not age, dictate retirement. Save enough cash, and you become the master of your time. There are countless financial blogs and methods available to help would-be FIRE-ers gain financial freedom.

Some early retirement bloggers propose extreme frugality in order to build wealth quickly and shed that nine-to-five job. Or follow the advice of Chris Mamula. He accomplished FIRE status by tracking expenses and spending with intentionality. Being able to live off of savings allows you to “pursue whatever it is that you are passionate about for the rest of your life, regardless of whether or not you make money in the process.”

In order to have true prosperity, you must have full mastery of your fiscal concerns. But beyond this, understand what the bottom line of those monetary concerns are. In other words, what is that money bringing you? Remember, where you put your energy is where your life follows.

Prosperity involves fiscal mastery. That means educating yourself often on the many ways to expand on and improve your knowledge of budgeting. So, stay up to date with our monthly financial articles and check out last month’s financial article, Focus on Finances: Practice self-aware spending.