I understand what it’s like to be constantly stressed and feel out of control in life. It happens to all of us at some point. The more things pile up, the more insurmountable they feel.
I was there too.
I feel bad physically, worried about the state of my relationships, the clutter that is building around me, and above all, my finances. I had unpaid bills, credit card debt, and an overwhelming sense of anxiety every time I went to pay for something.
A feeling of not providing took over and affected my self-esteem.
I was afraid to even think about money because the negativity surrounding it was so all-encompassing that it became easier to avoid those thoughts altogether.
Sound at all familiar?
What amounts to this problem is a basic lack of self-care and a toxic relationship with the idea of money and abundance.
Self care for me is not just about having a bubble bath and getting a massage or treating yourself to a slice of cake.
It is actually much more about your daily attitude towards yourself.
How you talk to yourself, how you treat yourself, what you put in your body, how much you move, sleep, laugh, cry, meditate, stretch, spend time in nature, spend time with friends, read books, think, appreciate , feeling, love.
All those things are self care. Balance is essential, in all areas of life and emotional, mental, physical and spiritual health.
If you want to be rich financially and spiritually, you have to take care of yourself and your life. And you can start with small, simple and effective solutions.
Small acts of self-care that add up over time to a life of joy, contentment and abundance.
For me, this looked like adding ten minutes to my morning routine to do some yoga stretches. Those ten minutes quickly became a habit that became 20 minutes and then sometimes an hour.
I took the time to go for a walk in my lunch break, and forced myself outside to breathe the fresh air.
I decided to finally deal with the clutter that was building up in my house. I started flossing my teeth. I learned about meditation. I got into the habit of cleaning up after myself right away. I return messages and phone calls immediately and address the things I always put off.
What I learned during this time, was that my anxiety was totally out of proportion to the actual task required of me.
Over time I had built my life to look much more monstrous and out of control than it actually was. When I faced my fears and looked my problems in the eye, well, they shrunk.
I began to think that it might be a good idea to apply these small acts of self-care to my financial matters as well. Perhaps, by being proactive, instead of burying my head in the sand, I could learn to rebalance and strengthen my abundance.
It was worth trying. So here is my strategy for personal financial care:
My steps to personal financial care:
- I made a simple list of all the accounts and the amounts owed, whether to the bank, to a loan or to a friend.
- I created a budget and an action plan to pay off my debts. If I had small bills, I paid them first just to lighten the load. If they were urgent, I made a specific plan to pay them as soon as I knew I could.
- I canceled subscriptions and other payments that were not essential. I had to take a deep look at what I actually needed in my life, how it contributed to my happiness and well-being.
- I made a decision to save some money every week, even if it was as little as $1.00 at first! Nothing helped to make me feel like I was taking care of my future.
- I made a list of all outgoings to keep track of where my money was going. This has helped me feel more in control and understand my finances in general.
- I began to imagine the possibilities of creating more money through unforeseen avenues. I meditated a lot on the idea of abundance.
- I wrote the affirmation “I create my abundance from an infinite source” every day in my journal.
For me, it was a relatively slow process because I had spent so much time in debt relief, but over time these steps changed my life and my finances. I learned to manage my debt and my outgoings, my savings grew and my bills were under control. I felt a sense of security and confidence that I hadn’t had in years.
A combination of meditation and positive action steps is the perfect tool for success.
As your debt decreases and you gain a sense of security over your bank account, your spiritual wisdom grows and you open to the idea of infinite abundance.
I reconnected with my true self, I found the feeling of worthiness and grace necessary to vibrate higher and to receive the blessings that the Universe can always offer and provide for us.
I learned to redefine my relationship with money, and decided to focus on it as something I had control over, and not the other way around.
I taught myself that I had the freedom to create my own solutions and that the chance to be financially abundant existed in the realm of all possibilities.
I firmly believe that my financial steps above are essential to taking care of yourself. Your income, expenses and savings are just as important as other areas of your life and require your attention and care.
If you treat all areas of your life with the same kind and loving attention as you would want others to treat you, you have grasped the key to happiness and spiritual wealth.