Mastering the Mindset of Wealth

When my brother was 18 years old, I remember him telling me, "Abbie, Lexi (little sister) and I both know you are rich." This quote has stuck with me because I have never been rich. I like to say that since I was 20 years old, I have enjoyed "financial freedom." I would take my little sister to the mall and spend hundreds of dollars at once. 🛍️🛍️ I would go out to eat, go where I wanted and when I wanted, go on vacations, go to the casino and spend hundreds (or more), and order clothes online as if I didn't have a budget. Until I sold my condo in 2016. I made a lot of money in an amazing Utah economy and then it hit me. I paid off $30,000 in debt. Not only that, but most of it was credit card debt. This didn't include my student loan! So, to my brother who is now 21, I have never been "rich", I have just enjoyed living outside of my means. 💳💳

I have always had a love/hate relationship with money. Mainly love because when you have a credit card, there is a lot of love there! I have been reading this book, "You are a Badass at Making Money" by Jen Sincero. It has really helped me with my mindset on money. One thing that really stood out was.....what if you wrote a letter to "money" as if it were a person. I haven't written my letter but I assume that it would say something like this 💌💌

When you are here, I love you. When you aren't here, I need you and I want you. When you leave me, I get emotional, stressed out, angry, lash out, and question myself and my skills. I feel like I think about you more than I should. I think about you before I make any financial decision.

Have you ever viewed money as a person? This perspective provides a unique view that I have never seen or thought of before. I never thought of money as energy. I never thought of viewing it as unlimited potential. Did you grow up thinking that rich people are terrible people and that if you made millions of dollars, you wouldn't know what to do with it? I totally did. For years I would say, "I don't want to be a millionaire" because having money doesn't equal happiness or I wouldn't know what to do with all that money. We all have our lists of if this happened but I just didn't see myself as becoming this person. Until I read this book. My mind has shifted to if I were to become a millionaire, I could change the world with that money. I could do what I wanted to do in life and have financial freedom. I have been sitting here for the past three months trying to figure out what I'm going to do with my life, not taking risks, and possibly missing out on certain opportunities. But since I have read this book, I have been more open to applying for jobs that I may not necessarily have experience in or maybe haven't tried. I have been doing more arts and crafts and reading to gain knowledge. I have been trying to be more proactive with my money and budgeting and making more rational decisions. I wanted to share a few quotes from this book that I learned from because I feel like some of my life has been stuck in the same pattern. It's consistent decisions that don't lead to different results.

"Time wasted rationalizing the mediocre could be time spent creating the magnificent"
"I just suddenly couldn't take listening to myself complain anymore, I just finally woke up"
"People love to tell you what you should and shouldn't want, regardless of how you feel about it"
"We exist in a world where nearly everything involved in your growth, pursuit of happiness, and self-expression costs money"
"You are not meant to just survive, to stay stagnant, to settle; you are meant to keep growing and thrive"
"What you focus on you create more of"
"What you can and can't afford is all in your mind"
"You can't experience new lands from the confines of your comfort zone"

Let's stop complaining about how broke we are or how we aren't happy with our lives and, instead, take what steps are needed to change our lives. We tend to go back to our patterns, go back to what we are used to, go back to how we are taught, what we think, what others say, what others do. Instead, let's change the world, let's change our mindset, let's believe and focus on positive things and faith. Let's think thoughts that lead us to action and truth. Money is not evil. Money is all around us and is energy. We have to take risks and believe. We have to find out what is stopping us, what's holding us back, and take risks even if we have no idea where it will lead. "Pay attention to the things that you're drawn to, the things you're good at, the things you lose yourself in..."

For me, this is writing, cupcakes, pinatas, crafts, blogging, sports, family, working out, and cooking:

Yesterday I decided to take this book and adapt it to my real life. For those who don't know, I am currently on unemployment (I don't see that as being that bad after reading how Jen Sincero started out before publishing her books and taking risks) and have been for a few months, with a few part-time jobs here-and-there. I received a letter in the mail last week saying that my unemployment will be put on hold until I speak to someone at the unemployment office about a past job. Unfortunately, the next available time I can speak with them isn't until the 22nd of August. This means that I didn't receive the $800 they were supposed to pay me on Sunday. I went in to full-on panic mode. I decided that I wasn't going to let this freak me out, and, instead, try to set a specific dollar amount and focus on that amount for the next two weeks. This is what the book is about, being specific on your money goal and the use of this money. I wrote down that in two weeks I wanted $800 more in my bank account. This money will be used for moving out in six weeks (whether a deposit or part of the first month's rent). Here is what I have done to help increase this number. Keep in mind that this is stuff that you can do at home and feel free to add to this list! 

-Shared my clothes on Poshmark and I will be adding some more to my shop. You can visit my shop here: https://poshmark.com/closet/abbielynn0202
-Went through all of my change and found $10 just in change that I am going to cash in
-Entered cash giveaways on Instagram. If you want to follow me and be tagged in giveaways, you can click here: https://www.instagram.com/abbiefisher0202/
-Here in California, we pay 5 cents CRV for every water or coke bottle we use. I am currently saving up all of my water bottles so I can cash them in two weeks from now
-I decided to run several Ads on my Instagram account and I also changed my Instagram account from a Personal account to a Business account (yes, this may cost money upfront, but I am trying to build a brand). You can click here to see my account: https://www.instagram.com/abbiefisher0202/
-I have decided to try out Adwords on my blog so if you see an Ad pop up, it's because I approved them so I can get paid everytime they are clicked on ;)
-I decided to start up my Etsy account again and I will be listing craft items on there such as the mini pinatas I have been making. I just started the account yesterday but feel free to follow the page: https://www.etsy.com/shop/AbbiesShop
-I have a part time job that I just started and I will be writing articles online and from home. I am starting this tomorrow which is the final day to get paid by August 22nd. I will also be receiving $20 from them for completed training
-Being a brand ambassador. This is something that has taken awhile to do with my Instagram but every once in awhile, I have companies reach out to me who pay me for selling products through Instagram. Conveniently, I was offered an opportunity yesterday with www.roxjewelryshop.com and if you use ABBIE15 at checkout, you will receive 15% off your entire purchase!
-Selling my book. For those of you who don't know, I wrote and published a book about my Dad who passed away in the 2003 Lifeflight helicopter accident. If you would like to support an author, you can click HERE and purchase the book on Amazon

Goal: $1,147.96 in my checking account by August 27, 2018 (I will keep you updated on the results!)

If you are looking for a book that is motivating, truthful, questions your current beliefs, confrontational, powerful, and wants you to take action, this is the one for you! I purchased this book on Amazon HERE. If you have any comments or questions on this book or what you have done to change your beliefs, take risks, I would love to hear about them in the comments below! Every view is different and respected. Money has always been a unique topic so I would love to hear your feedback below ⬇️⬇️