Living your life under the pressure of financial scarcity is enough to erode any last vestige of joy and peace you would have experienced otherwise. Even if most other areas of your life are good, you find yourself constantly worrying about having enough money to pay the bills, how you’ll afford school clothes for your kids, and whether you’ll end up a street person in your golden years because you couldn’t afford to build a retirement fund.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

If you’ve heard about the law of attraction, you are probably aware that everything in your life is there because you pulled it to yourself. That may seem hard to believe - after all, who in their right mind would create financial scarcity or any other negative situation if they could avoid it?

More often than not, these situations exist because the people who created them didn’t know they were creating them. They were simply creating blindly, or on autopilot.

How does it work?

Quantum physics is beginning to reveal the true power of our thoughts, feelings and beliefs on our physical environment. Whatever we focus on the most, and devote the larger part of our emotional reactions to, is what we create in our life.

So all the time you’ve spent worrying about not having enough money, worrying that you wouldn’t be able to cover the bills, feeling frustrated that you couldn’t afford to buy something and so on - you were actually CREATING exactly that!

So does that mean that if you focus on having millions of dollars, you’ll create it?

Generally, yes - but there are exceptions.

First, you would need to CONSISTENTLY focus not only on having plenty of money for a long period of time, but you’d also have to stop worrying and agonizing over lack and scarcity. Easier said than done, right?

Second, it’s very likely that you have underlying beliefs that keep you stuck in lack and scarcity. For example, you may believe that the only way to have a lot of money is to invent something or get famous. You may believe that only lucky people have a lot of money. You may believe that rich people are bad, greedy, selfish and rude and you want to avoid being like them.

These beliefs will block any attempt you make to improve your financial situation.

So how do you clear these negative beliefs?

There are many different ways, and not all of them will work for everyone. You could try reciting more positive affirmations to change your beliefs, like affirming that money is just a tool that can be used for good or ill, or affirming that money flows to you easily, and so on.

Another popular method is visualizing yourself having more money and feeling good about it. Simply call up an image of yourself feeling happy and rich, and imagine living in your dream house, driving the car you want, etc.

The only downside to these methods is that they take time before you see results.

There are other methods that work more quickly, like EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques). EFT is done by tapping firmly on various pressure points on your body, which clears out the energy attached to limiting beliefs, virtually evaporating them instantly. It sounds funny, but many thousands of people swear to its effectiveness.

No matter which method you choose, clearing your limiting money beliefs will undoubtedly result in a much easier, more abundant future.

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Did you know that affirmations for prosperity can be used to create more abundance and wealth in your life? We hear many successful people talk about using prosperity affirmations on a daily basis, but what exactly are they doing to create more wealth in their life?

The answer is yes– you can in fact attract more abundance and wealth into your life by using affirmations for prosperity on a regular basis. If you really want to create a change, you will use these affirmations very regularly, at least once or twice a day.

In order for prosperity affirmations to work for you, it is important that you understand what the word “prosperity” means. Prosperity refers to the abundance of things in your life– both physical means and emotional/spiritual wealth. Some people view the term as more of a physical definition and they refer specifically to worldly things such as money, cars, income, houses, and other things that can be bought. But, other people prefer to focus on the spiritual or emotional side of prosperity and instead they look at their level of emotional well-being. The definition of this word really depends on the person that is using it.

If you are planning on creating a significant change in your life by using affirmations for prosperity, it is necessary for you to first identify your desires. Write down what prosperity is to you and what specific details go along with it. Don’t be shy about your list, make sure to include every desire of your heart, even if you question whether it is attainable.

Positive affirmations are used to change mind patterns, both consciously and sub-consciously. The conscious thoughts are changed, which in turn affects the sub-conscious thoughts. When affirmations are used to attract wealth or prosperity, these positive statements are directly about the prosperity in your life. Be aware of both the negative and positive feelings and/or thoughts that you have in relation to money.

Have a list available of positive affirmations that can be used to replace the negative thoughts. It is important that you are constantly aware of those negative thoughts, because they can easily creep in and dominate your mind. If you sense that the negativity is beginning, immediately replace it with positive affirmations for prosperity.

You may not see an immediate change, but over time you will begin to experience a change in your reality. Money will become more easily, and you will be amazed at the abundance that comes into your life IF you allow it.

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What is creative visualization you ask? Simply said, it’s a form of imagery that makes use of positive thinking to enable a person to believe and affirm that life is indeed “positive”. Everything in the universe was created to support a person in achieving his/her higher purpose in life. It stems from the belief that the mind has the power to transform any concentrated thought you focus on into reality.

Like a “Barney episode”, it urges us to look into our child-like selves once more and imagine the great things we can accomplish, the greater version of ourselves through the magic of our imagination. Here’s how…

First, think of a focus. Something attainable and quite within reach like losing weight or getting a promotion. As you practice, you can venture on goals that are more difficult later on.

Find a little “sanctuary” of your own, any place that can give you the peace and quiet you will need in order to concentrate. Make certain there will be no distractions as you perform this exercise. When you’re ready, assume a position of comfort; some people find lying or sitting as most conducive, but you can explore which position would grant you more comfort and focus.

Breathe deeply and relax. Empty your mind and concentrate on your focus. Count slowly from 10-1.

Now, imagine the thing you want most to happen (your chosen focus), in exactly the way you would like it to occur. Think of as much detail as you can, gradually making the image as vivid in your thoughts as if it were really happening right there and then.

Afterwards, you must affirm the image you visualized in your mind. An affirmation can be said silently or aloud, whichever is stronger in impact to you. It is a statement of profound belief that what you imagined can truly become a reality. Make certain you avoid negative affirmations. Instead of saying “ I am not ugly and worthless” state that you are beautifully made and worthy of all the limitless opportunities this world has to offer.

The best time to do this would be late in the evening, before you go to bed, or upon waking up after a good night’s rest. At these times, your mind would be calm and relaxed. By improving your deepest attitudes towards life and towards yourself, you enhance your self-image, strengthen and improve relationships, and more importantly, you contribute to your physical wellness and mental health.

Our thoughts can be a weapon of destruction or our most loyal ally. Remember, they are but energies stored within, and when unleashed into positive forces, we change the balance of the energy surrounding us. By doing so, it naturally brings about changes in our surroundings in accordance with what we imagined.

Some people talk of imagination as something far-fetched and fantasized. Creative visualization talks of imagination as a thought away from reality.

Procrastination is common amongst all of us who create. But then that’s no great shock to you, is it?

How often does procrastination effect your creativity?

Be honest, in a typical day of creating, how much of that day would be taken up using procrastination techniques to avoiding creating?

There are many ways to overcome procrastination. Ultimately, they all involve thinking less and creating more.

Here’s why that is:

What happens when you think before you create:

You spend ages trying to find the perfect place to begin creating.

The longer you spend thinking, the more you feel your motivation to create draining (or gushing!) away.

The more you think, the more you open up the possible options. Hold on, isn’t creativity about new ways of thinking and doing things? Yes, but spending time considering EVERY possible option isn’t so good.

It means you get confused and overwhelmed with too much choice.

For example, if you went to buy a new car and they had blue cars, red cars and green cars, making a choice would be much easier and quicker then if the car dealer said: “Here’s our colour palette for this model, we have 27 different solid colours and 14 metallics, 7 of those being pearlescent. And for a small extra fee we can have our paint technicians mix the exact colour you’d like. The choice is yours…”

Decision overload!

You then start to also question whether this is the right medium for the idea you have, and the choices that were already overwhelming have now been opened 100-fold to encompass every other possible form of creative expression that exists.

Overall, your confidence, your faith in making a good decision, and your desire and ability to create gradually slips away with every moment you spend THINKING about creating rather than just creating.

So what’s the alternative? Is there a better approach?

What happens when you create first, think later:

You start with a high level of enthusiasm and get creating right away. This creative energy carries forward and quickly builds momentum. Creating comes far more easily as a result.

You learn as you go what works and what doesn’t. Rather than pondering and speculating over what might work and what might not, you simple find out by getting stuck in and experimenting. The best way to learn is in the doing.

Also, when you get creating, you teach yourself to be more creative and to trust your creative instinct more.

In time, this makes it even easier to create, you need less time to think and ponder which might be the best step to take, you just trust yourself, listen to what your creative instinct is telling you and create!

Your confidence builds as you create more, as well as your enjoyment and desire to create more and more. Plus, you know that you’re learning and developing all the time.

As you can see, the advantages of “create first, think later” are multiple.

How can you start to take on this behaviour today to help yourself be more creative?

Pick a project, get creating.

Create first, think later.

And procrastinate later! You’ll find it’ll increase your creativity – and your enjoyment of creating – many times over.

Lateral thinking problems are often just simple puzzles that lead you to make certain assumptions. To solve them, then, you have to look at the assumptions you’re making and try to get beyond them. Let’s look at an example.

A librarian used a book he had never read to destroy thousands of other books. How was this possible? This simple riddle or lateral thinking puzzle relies on the idea of a "librarian" and "never read" to encourage you assume that it is all about the kinds of books you read. Get away from that assumption and you might stumble upon the solution - that he used a book of matches to burn all the others.

Such puzzles are good mental exercise, and fun as well, but not all lateral thinking problems are word play or simple puzzles. Many are designed to require or encourage creative thinking about more realistic scenarios. They often have many possible solutions.

You may not like the inconclusive nature of this kind of puzzle or problem - at least at first. It is common to want one definitive solution, so you know you’re "right" once you have come to a conclusion. But the more open-ended lateral thinking problems are just as good for exercising your creativity, and the thinking skills developed from working on them may be more applicable to real life situations, where there is rarely one definitive solution.

Situational Lateral Thinking Problems

In these problems, there is usually a scenario or situation which is explained, and a goal to accomplish. For example, suppose you need to get a basketball out of a 12-foot deep pit that has smooth cement for the floor and walls. It is square, about four feet per side. You are alone, and have only what you are wearing, plus what is in your pockets. Using nothing else, how can you get the basketball out?

This is a lateral thinking problem because it requires you to think "laterally." This means coming at problems from other angles, as opposed to the more traditional linear or logical approaches. In this case, it means using what you have in ways that these things are not normally used.

For example, you might make a "basket" of your t-shirt, tying shoelaces to the four corners. Then you could unravel the threads from your socks to make a string that would lower the shirt. The idea would be to move the basketball onto it and then pull it up. Moving the ball might be accomplished with a shoe hung on the end of a string made of strips of clothing, which you use to "kick" the ball into the right place.

Another solution: A piece of paper from your pocket might be chewed and dropped onto the ball using shoe laces and clothing for a string. When it dries it would perhaps "glue" the line to the ball, so it could be pulled up. A tall person might "chimney" his body up and down the pit to get the ball, as climbers do with rock walls that are a few feet apart. There are undoubtedly other possibilities here.

Life itself presents us with many lateral thinking problems, at least if we look at situations the right way. For example, a judge in a Michigan child custody case went beyond the traditional thinking about how much time the children would spend at each parent’s house. Instead, he decided that the children would stay right where they were in the home they knew, and the parents would move in with them on alternating weeks. That’s a good example of applying lateral thinking to real life problems.

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Of all the negative character traits, envy is the only one with a redeeming factor. A healthy dose of envy is even good – think of it as fuel to drive your way to success or contentment. Take heart, it’s perfectly normal for people to look at others and wish to have what they have. Partly because it is in our nature to make changes; and partly because we really are not easily contented. The trick is to use that envy to better your life instead of using it to fuel your hate.

Use your envy to make changes in the status quo for the better. Let’s say for example that you saw your friend’s new home and think it’s very nice. You can either wallow in self pity that you do not have the same house or be jealous and start to distance yourself from that friend. What if you use that envy instead as a blueprint? Think about how you can also make your own furnishings more organized or better arranged. Or in business, for example – the other account group is a consistent top grosser and you really wish to be on the top too. The negative way is for you to start bad-mouthing the manager or the members or the company. The positive way is to observe and apply the way how the other group works to your own. Wouldn’t that be better? You not only benefit on it but your group gets a more positive outcome too. You see, envy is that little flavor that makes competitions exciting.

You can also use your envy to channel your energies to a worthy goal or to refine your ambition. Use the person you envy not as someone to compete with but someone to emulate. For an athlete, it could be following your idol’s moves or training modules. For an entertainer, it could be practicing the same techniques. In business, it’s called benchmarking. The key is to focus on the reason why you like your idol and try to be like him/her. Be positive that you can also have what they got. You might find that you can’t exactly duplicate their style or rise to fame but trying will give you an idea on how to do it on your steam. Who knows? Maybe you can even find a better way and surpass your model. Envy is also that little power surge to get you to break that glass ceiling.

Envy is a two-edge sword – choose to wield it for the better and it becomes good to have.

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