“You cannot continue to tell the same story without continuing to live the same circumstances.” Abraham-Hicks

So you’ve heard all about the importance of keeping a budget, saving a cushion of cash, paying off debt, and planning for retirement. These are all important, and sometimes challenging, endeavors. So it’s our pleasure to mix it up every now and again to give you an alternative viewpoint to money management. (Here are our instructions for self-hypnosis, part 1 & part 2, as well as 5 Signs You’ve Been “Brainwashed to Buy” or Financial Self-Sabotage: What Is It?!)

Today we feature Jim Donovon, author of “Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck“. His unconventional advice? Start ignoring your reality in order to change it. He explains:

Ignore Reality to Improve Your Finances
By Jim Donovon

Ignoring reality may seem like a strange suggestion but that’s precisely what we have to do to create change in our lives. It’s really quite simple but can be subtly deceptive.

For example, it is pretty much accepted in psychology that we attract what we focus on or, put another way, our minds move in the direction of our thoughts.

Taking that a step further, it becomes apparent that, in order for our lives to change, we must be focusing on not what is, but rather what we want, hence ignore reality. We must start telling a different story about how our life is.

So many people cling to their “story” about how their life is and why and then wonder why it’s not changing. It can’t!

As long as you’re constantly reinforcing conditions as they are, they cannot change. Only when you are willing to let go of your “story” and start telling yourself a new one, will things on the outside begin to change.

If, for example, you wanted to drop 10 pounds you cannot be talking about how hard it is to lose weight or how overweight you are. You cannot keep looking at how slowly the weight is dropping, if at all.

Instead you have to affirm that you are, in fact, losing the weight and shift your self-talk to that of having already reached your ideal weight. Visualize yourself as already having completed the process.

Affirm, “I am in the process of reaching my ideal weight” (income, lifestyle, or whatever).

Right now, with everything going on in the financial industry, most people have their attention on what’s wrong, how much they’re losing in the market, their bills and how bad things are. The problem here is that they are still holding their attention on the problems. All that can possibly produce are similar conditions; namely problems.

The only way to change this is to notice the abundance you already have and, as like attracts like, you will begin to attract more abundance into your life.

You may have to pretend that everything is getting better. You have to start acting “as if” you are living the life you desire. Start telling yourself how great it is having the body you want, the income you desire or the great relationship you’ve been wanting.

Just doing this for a few minutes a day will “trick” your non-conscious mind into believing it is true and you will soon start to see evidence of your new life showing up. Pay attention to even the slightest sign of your dreams becoming manifest. If you’re affirming an increase in finances and someone buys you lunch, see that as evidence of your new abundance.

This, by the way, is what President Roosevelt did during the depression of the 1930’s and as a result, conditions began changing.

Roosevelt called to the White House the leading positive thinkers of his time, Napoleon Hill, Norman Vincent Peale, etc., and everyone agreed, with the help of the media, to start telling a story of economic recovery.

Following the law of attraction, as people started hearing how things were getting better, they began repeating it and believing it and, sure enough, things did get better. Everything begins with thought and, manifests according to our beliefs.

The quickest way I know of creating positive change in one’s life is to start making “appreciation” or “gratitude” lists each day. By putting your attention on what you appreciate and are grateful for in your life, you put yourself in the energy of attracting more things to appreciate. These, of course, are things you want.

If you doubt what I’m saying, just try it for a few weeks and see what happens. I know, from personal experience, that your life will begin to improve.

Jim Donovan is an international bestselling author, motivational speaker and business coach. His books, include “This is Your Life, Not a Dress Rehearsal” and “Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck.” To receive a subscription to his “Jim’s Jems” ezine and a bonus gift, visit http://www.jimdonovan.com

Thanks, Jim!

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Tags: Law of Attraction, Motivational speaker, Napoleon Hill

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