It’s a pretty common complaint: “Why does money seem so hard?” It seems hard to earn, and even hard to keep around once it has been earned. ?
Money has been my primary topic since I started this work. It’s the thing that challenged me the most in my life. When I started as an LOA coach, I was receiving government assistance (SSI), and not much else in the way of money.
Then within about two years of that, I was off of SSI, and making more than I ever had before. I consistently set, and achieve, money goals.
Honestly, to me it is one of the most important topics, because it is so ubiquitous. You really can’t go without it, and there are so many beliefs that we pick up about it, how much of it we can have, etc.
So why does it seem so hard? I believe there are three main reasons that people experience challenge around money. I’m not saying these are the only three reasons, but I can’t think of many people with money problems that don’t fall under at least one of these reasons.
1. You Tie Money to Your Job
The first reason people struggle with money is that they tie it to their job or other income source.
You get a job, which is great. But then you believe that this job is the sole source of your financial wellbeing. People say something like, “Well I’m on a fixed salary, so what I get is what I get.”
Not true. Your job is not the source of your abundance. The Universe is. The job is just a useful conduit, but that’s really about it.
If you could open your mind to the possibility of money coming through infinitely varied and unexpected sources, you’d get money from places that you would have never imagined. The Universe can be very creative when you give it a chance, but we shut off the tap, so to speak, by restricting money to only coming through a job.
This can often be problematic because people will stay in a job they hate for years, just because they believe this is the only source of their abundance.
If you realized that money could come from anywhere, then you wouldn’t be stuck in an undesirable job. And then, money would start to feel fun, like a natural expression of life, instead of as an exchange for putting up with work for 40 hours a week.
That lighter feeling around money would also do a great deal to help you manifest more of it.
2. You Aren’t Thinking Big Enough
The next reason that money can seem hard is because we have so much limiting thinking around money. Many people don’t choose to make more, so they don’t.
I remember one of my favorite things that I heard from Lester Levenson was (paraphrased): the only reason you manifest small things is because you refuse to think big.
I remember when I was on SSI, the idea of making more than, say, $1,500 in a month was inconceivable. Now that amount seems so small that I can’t even imagine how one might live on it.
But it only changed because I dared to think my way into bigger and bigger sums of money. First it was $1,600. Then $2,000. Then $3,500 in a particularly difficult manifestation. And then I got totally off of SSI and my income increased even more.
But I chose how much I would make, and then the Universe followed. I could have remained stuck at that $1,500 level for far longer if I hadn’t tried for more.
3. You Don’t Manage Your Money
The third reason that money seems hard to people is, well there’s no easy way of saying this, many people are terrible at managing it.
I mentioned a story about my own mother and her money habits in my last blog post.
So here’s the thing: many people who believe in the LOA also like to do a lot of hand-waving when it comes to their money. “Oh, if I’m a bit short, the right amount of money will just show up.”
And indeed this may sometimes be the case. I’ve had many situations where this has happened.
But the point is, if you find yourself in a situation where you have to do that hand-waving to convince yourself everything’s okay, then something has already gone wrong.
It boggles my mind, because it’s the only resource we do this with. If, say, you baked three dozen cookies for an event, and then someone came in and gobbled up 20 of them (it very likely wasn’t Christine, promise), you wouldn’t just say, “Oh, I’m sure some more cookies will show up.” You’d very likely get a bit upset, ban [not Christine] from your kitchen, and get to baking some more.
Note: if they were oatmeal raisin cookies, then I was the culprit. Oops.
But we treat money differently. When we are receiving it, we believe it’s a limited resource, and so it is. But when we’re spending it, we often treat it as some ethereal resource that can just “show up”.
As I said I’m not debating that it can indeed show up. What I’m saying is that the need for it to “show up” is often indicative of some deeper issue.
Let’s say you made $3,000 in a month. You buy some groceries and other essentials, but then you just sort of spend on whatever you want to.
But then, the bills come due, and suddenly there’s not enough to go around.
Yes you can just say, “Money will show up to meet this need,” but the fact that you’re having to resort to that means that something has already gone wrong.
Now I’m using an exaggerated example, as usually it’s not so blatant. But, it does still happen. Spend a little here, spend a bit there, and oops, maybe there’s not enough for all the bills now. So let’s put it on the credit card, to hide the problem, and so the cycle continues.
I’m a big believer in budgets. I know, budgeting is one of those bad words when it comes to the LOA. But to me, it’s been essential in growing my level of prosperity.
Why? Because it lets you be in control of your money, instead of letting your money control you.
I believe that this dual approach—raising your money vibration, but also taking the practical step of budgeting—is the fastest, easiest way to limitless abundance.
In fact, in my upcoming class, Effortless Money Manifestation, I’ll spend one or two of the calls in talking about why budgeting is so important, and teaching you how to use what in my opinion is the best budgeting system out there: You Need a Budget (YNAB).
You can get a trial of it here, and I suggest it if you’ll be taking my class, but I still suggest it even if you aren’t. And hey, I’ll even answer your questions (within reason) about how to use this system, because I believe in it that much. Just comment on this post to ask your questions.
If you’d like to get control over your money, instead of it controlling you, then I invite you to join my upcoming class, Effortless Money Manifestation. It’s going to be 7 live calls over a period of 3 months, teaching you everything you need to know about how to manifest limitless abundance, but also how to deal responsibly with that abundance as it flows into your life.
You may think that wealthy people just love spending money, and that’s true. But there’s something wealthy people tend to love even more: saving money and dealing with it frugally—setting limits for themselves of how much to spend here, how much to invest there, etc. Until you have learned how to spend, save, and invest responsibly, you really won’t have the full vibration of a wealthy person.
If you’d like a new perspective on money, then check out the course by clicking below:
How About You?
Now it’s your turn. Do you see any of these three reasons in your own financial situation? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
Hi Brandon. I would like to ask you a very banal question and the reason is I just like your blog and the way how you describe about LOA. So the question is : How to win a jackpot? Well, technically I know what I should do- just go and buy a ticket…But it`s getting on my nerves, literally, not getting any result. And what is more it freaks me out when the numbers are soooo close, like any closer and I would hit a jackpot or would have some quite big lump sum. Is Universe, god or my subconscious mind does not allow it to happen? If so how can I make it to happen? See, I do not want to meditate, visualise, I do not want to go to zero state or to any other state, i do not want feel the feeling of winning a jackpot or feeling happy and enlightened with positive energy. I just want to win a jackpot with all my fears, doubts, negativity, with all my resistance and blocking…And live happily ever after. I am confused because i am not getting wanted results neither with good vibes nor with negative ones. Would like to hear your thoughts. Thank you. Apologies for my English grammar.
Sorry, I hit post before I was ready. Should be edited now. ?
Hi LB. Thanks for your question.
Well, what you ask is quite common, but I’m sorry to say it’s impossible, in the way you are asking it.
What I mean is that of course, people can win the jackpot. It happens all the time.
But, let me quote this in particular:
Well, then, you’re in a bit of a bind, because what you ask is literally impossible. You are getting what you are getting because of your fears, doubts, negativity, etc. You can’t stay the same and expect the world to change: that would be like expecting your reflection in the mirror to smile while you were not. If you want a different result, you have to be different.
Certainly nearly all my clients say something like this: “I want X without having to do any of these stupid exercises or without changing myself.” But, as I said, that’s literally impossible.
So let me ask this: why do you really want to win the jackpot? Surely you don’t literally feel you need hundreds of millions of dollars, or whatever the amount is? There’s a reason you want that: perhaps security, perhaps fun, perhaps something else entirely. What is that reason?
Then, cut your goal to size. Where you are now, you’re not going to win the jackpot. But you can be abundant, beyond your imagination. But you do have to do all that inner work you don’t want to do. You do have to change on the inside first.
I suggest joining the Effortless Money Manifestation course I have coming up, as I’ll be covering all of this and far more, in greater detail.
But you have to be willing to put in the work first.
Budgeting did the opposite for me. Extra income went away and huge expenses manifested. Budgeting is lack mentality. And people who just blow money are also functioning from lack. Once I got into an abundance mindset, I stopped spending so much because I was no longer scared of money and chasing it away by spending it. I went from $20,000 in debt to no debt and over $50,000 in savings in a matter of months by changing my mindset to abundance, no budget needed.
Hey Luna, thanks for your comment.
I want to emphasize that the way I do budgeting is nothing like the traditional way. In my opinion it’s highly difficult to handle money well while not having a budget. Some people can do it, but it’s not recommended. But again the way I do it is nothing close to what the idea of traditional budgeting entails.
In my own life, when I’ve not used this system, money has become unpredictable and stressful for me. When I have, it’s become easy. I’m happy for you for the change you have created, but I just wanted to point out that it’s not exactly what you are thinking.
Just like anything in life, you can budget with an abundance mindset, or you can budget with a lack mindset. But if you follow the specific suggestions I give around budgeting, then it is far more likely to actually support your abundance mindset, not negate it.