Abundance Is My Experience

And getting paid money is never the dominant consideration for anything I do

Part 3 in a series of conversations about meaningful work and money…

I distanced myself from working for corporations and large scale business years ago as a way to have more control over my time and well-being. And in midlife, with so many productive years still in front of me, it made sense to start my own small business.

Many entrepreneurs try to make money the same way corporations do, by gathering large numbers of followers, trying to create viral influence and killing themselves in the process with minimal results. Money, influence, and coercion is the language used by corporations. But most small gig entrepreneurs don’t have enough leverage to win at that game, nor does it feel good to do so.

Instead, I use a different language, the language of heart and inspiration.

Just for a moment, imagine with me what you could accomplish if you didn’t spend so much time thinking about making* money and instead put your focus on following only your inspiration.

If you release money as your main goal for your business, you gain an advantage the big guys don’t have. You can put your genius out into the world without the usual heaviness that accompanies capitalistic thinking.

You’re free to work to your heart’s content and let the resources flow organically as you get more experience and exposure, without strangling new ideas or growth potential because ‘I don’t see how that will make money’.

We never know how the things we create ripple out into the world. We don’t know what their full potential is from our small human minds or how it may translate into paid work down the road. I’ve seen it happen so many times that a paying project landed in someone’s lap because a seemingly insignificant post or art piece or random in-person connection created an opportunity completely different than the original intent of the creator. This is the magic of Source energy always working on our behalf.

When you’re not getting entangled in the money/fear paradigm, you’re that much freer to follow your own instincts. And there’s every chance you’ll land in a place that starts to pay you back from all that inspired action.

With one caveat; money may not always come to you directly from your business.  This is one benefit solely profit focused businesses can’t cash in on. When money isn’t our sole focus, the Universe is free to bring us resources in many different ways.

But before I talk more about that, here’s a few fundamental questions to ask yourself about money and entrepreneurship: 

• Has our capitalistic society colored everything you offer to the world, with the constant expectation of getting paid for your work, now or in the future?  In other words, do you create for the sole purpose of making money?

• In what ways does this reduce the process of creation to a lower standard, or more importantly, in what ways does it stifle the flow of what wants to come through you? How does the expectation of getting paid strangle what you create? 

• Do you only make things that are ‘marketable’, palatable to your perception of what people want? Do you compromise yourself or your creations by making them smaller, more acceptable? Conversely, do you continually polish and add shine to make it good enough for consumption, agonizing over its value?  

• Likewise, what do you stop yourself from doing, even when you love it, because it’s not ‘paying off’? Where do you force yourself to fit in? Or what do you let go of when the money doesn’t come?

• How have you contorted yourself by constantly reaching for the almighty dollar?

Living a rich life can look like many things.

It’s my belief that when our Soul work is a labor of love we’re good at, and the world needs this work, we’ll be resourced in many, many ways, some we can’t imagine or plan for. Some that aren’t even related to our work output. This happens because your Soul/the Universe/Source energy wants us to be resourced for our contributions to humanity. This is our birthright.

When we expand our definition of ‘rich’, an entire world of new possibilities can come to us.

I’ll give an example that’s happened to me recently. I wanted a new piece of luggage for a work trip I’m taking but the price tag was too high on the one I really wanted. After sitting on it for a few weeks, I decided to put it on my credit card and went back to the website to order. The luggage was now on sale for 20% off! As I checked out on Paypal, I saw a notice under my credit card option saying that I had the exact number of reward points to purchase the now lower priced luggage. I didn’t even know I was accumulating reward points on this card! Suddenly the suitcase I coveted for weeks was free!

The story doesn’t end there. The fancy luggage company sent me the wrong piece of luggage. When I contacted them, they sent me the correct one I’d ordered and told me I could keep the ‘wrong’ one because they didn’t believe in creating more emissions from returns. I now own two pieces of gorgeous modern luggage for absolutely no monetary output. :-0

This happens quite often because I believe in an abundant Universe, and that riches can come to me from anywhere. I don’t stress about money or put pressure on my business to cover all my needs/wants. Even when large unexpected expenses come in, there’s somehow always a way to cover them.

And for this, I say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU every single day.

So, I’m not saying don’t charge for your work but I am saying that if some part of your work that you love is not making money, don’t let that stop you from doing it, thinking that time/effort has to equal money. Let yourself think more expansively and enjoy your work without putting unnecessary pressure on it.

In my experience, heart combined with effort = fully resourced.

I’d love to know what others think about some of these ideas. Please jump in with comments below!

With great love and respect,

Kimberly

*The term making money is a fallacy. We don’t ‘make’ money because it’s an energetic currency of abundance that’s always present on our planet. We connect with abundance as a balanced act of open receiving that’s the natural result of our generous giving.