Developing an Attitude of Abundance by Brian Klemmer

In days of economic uncertainty, it's especially important to cultivate an attitude of abundance. How can we switch from a scarcity mindset to one of abundance?

One key is to recognize opportunities. Here's a story that illustrates this. Once there was a fisherman who caught a large fish. Bringing out his ruler, the man measured his catch: twenty inches. The man threw the fish back. Soon after, his rod wiggled again. This fish measured only five inches and the fisherman dropped it into his bucket. And so it went. The fisherman kept every fish under twelve inches and threw back every fish of greater size. Finally, a nearby fisherman could no longer hide his disbelief. "You keep throwing back the fish larger than twelve inches," he said. "Why the heck are you doing that?" "It's real simple," the man answered. "My wife only has a twelve-inch frying pan."

This is a silly story, but it shows how some of us think. We often don't recognize great opportunities when they land at our feet. Such opportunities must be "too good to be true," illegal, or scams at best. But if an opportunity does present itself, research it. If the opportunity looks legitimate, go for it!

Hanging out with wealthy people is another way to increase your abundance consciousness. For one thing, you can learn how they think and by their example. They have connections with experts that you don't have; they know the experts. Wealthy people also have the money to finance your ideas and they have ideas they don't have time to get to. An illustration of a third principle, pushing against your comfort zone, is discussed in chapter 8 of my book When Good Intentions Run Smack into Reality. Several years ago, my friend Randy needed to move. One apartment he was considering cost $800/month, the same amount he was presently paying. Another apartment cost $1,200/month. Randy called to ask my advice. I told him that his choice depended on how each apartment influenced him. The less expensive apartment wasn't in a very good neighborhood and Randy didn't feel comfortable in it. But he was excited about the more expensive apartment. He felt good in it. My advice was this: Randy couldn't afford not to take the $1,200/month apartment.

For some, the less expensive apartment wouldn't have had the impact that it did on Randy. Renting the more expensive apartment was a stretch for Randy financially, but he needed to push against his comfort zone. The $1,200/month apartment gave a message to his subconscious that helped him along the road to the success that he desired. Ten years later Randy owns the third largest stock seminar company in the world and owns a house worth over one million dollars. Now, I'm not encouraging people to go out and buy just anything! But I am saying that "going for it" will often make you feel uncomfortable because it pushes against your belief systems. We shouldn't reject something just because it's outside our frying pans.

Going for new opportunities, learning from others with an abundance mentality and pushing against our belief systems are all ways to help us expand into an attitude of abundance.