Fear is something that keeps many underearners stuck in their underearning.  They tell themselves that this is the only way to be.  The fear of taking action is overwhelming.

In my cleaning up after the move I came across this book I read many years ago, “Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway” by Susan Jeffers, Ph.D.  As I started to read it again I remembered how great this book is and how it helped me to move forward with my life despite the fears.  I also noticed how the fears became less of an issue.  We grow through doing and by moving forward, as I talked about in my last blog.  And to get different results we have to do things differently.

But resting in our comfortable ways is not going to yield us different results.  We have to stop letting fear hinder us from doing something different, feel the fear and do it anyway.  This will allow us to live a Life of Abundance.

Love and peace,

ElinAnna

Is it the economy or the fear of becoming a bag lady?  Is it the fear that no one will love you and don’t want to take care of you?

For so many of us it is the fear of ending up on the street.  It is the fear of not being able to take care of our self and our family.  It is actually the fear of failure, the fear of your inadequacy and living in darkness.

Marianne Williamson in her book “Return of Love” offer a different perspective.  There she says: “It is our light not the darkness that frightens us the most.”  It is our fear of how powerful we are, the fear of what happens when we do NOT play small.  We are afraid of what happens when we allow ourselves to be and do what we are meant to be and do.  As Marianne Williamson says: “There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so other people won’t feel insecure around you.”  Yes, who am I to play small and to shrink so other people feel secure around me.

Having done that for most of my life, where has it gotten me?  It has made my world so much smaller.  I am playing in only a corner of the world, dark corner.  How come I am in the darkness?  It feels safe, secure.  Where are all the people that I worked so hard on trying to make them feel secure around me?  They are not any where around me now.  They have moved on.  It is now up do me to open up my world and dare to step into the light.  It is horrendously scary to be in the light and be the powerful woman I was meant to be.  What I have accomplished when I stay in that mindset is many times more than being in the dark.  It can be scary to see what gets done when you stay in the light.  It takes courage to be there.  I have to remember that this is who I am and it is in the light that I become stronger.

It is by staying in the light, allowing myself to grow and become stronger, that I can live a life of abundance.

Love and peace,

ElinAnna

Gratitude is a powerful tool in the quest of a better life and leaving underearning.  This is something I have heard from my mentors and many other successful people.

I am currently reading the book “Magnificent Mind at Any Age” by David G. Amen, M.D.  In it he talks about the brains health and how we can improve its health.  He scanned a brain after a thought of appreciation and the same brain after a frightening thought.  Guess what he found.  Frightening thoughts decreased the activity in the brain, especially in the part of the brain that is involved in physical and thought coordination.  So, frightening thoughts make us clumsy and slow thinkers, and we get more easily confused.

That means gratitude is like brain training.  The brain responds like a muscle to exercises in gratitude, which makes the brain sharper.  With a sharper brain we can more easily accomplish the change we are making in our lives, from a life of underearing to a life of abundance.

This is something that I have also experienced.  It is amazing what an exercise in gratitude at the end of the day has been effective.  I notice a difference the next day how better the brain in functioning, and I am very grateful for that.

Love and peace,

ElinAnna

I just talked to a client about money and what she described as her problems with money and managing her money.  At the end of the talk she came to the conclusion that this was only a story that she was telling herself.  This story did not have much merit.

By telling herself this story she became powerless with money and afraid.  When she shifted her perspective she became more powerful and resourceful.  The fear was gone.  The economy is still in a bad shape, but she is not.  Instead of fear, the naturally resourceful woman stepped out of it, knowing that she could handle whatever would come her way.

It is amazing the power that our stories can have over us.  Our subconscious mind takes the stories we say as being the truth and does everything to make sure they are true.

I have tested this in a very simple way when I misplace things.  I used to berate myself for doing so and kept on about I couldn’t find anything.  One time I caught myself, stopped the old story and said “I always find it in the end”.  Then I looked around and found what I was looking for and in a place I had looked before.  Since then I have used this again and again, and always with the same results.

By changing the story I saved myself a lot of aggravation and time.  My subconscious mind was only fulfilling the order that I had given with my story.  That is what it does.  The same thing happens when we talk about how bad the economy is and so on.  The subconscious mind picks that up and points to all the things that support this view of the economical situation.

To change the story we have to change the story we tell.  Give the subconscious mind something good to work with and make it come true.

Love and peace,

ElinAnna

When the market went tumbling down fear took over.  The news media focused on the downside.  As people talked about how bad the market was, how the economy was going down to new lows, fear came into people’s minds.  People’s minds were full of fear.  In all of this I noticed that my energy level went down with the economy.  Even people around me said the same thing.  Was it the economy that was dragging the energy down?  Or was it the fear that gobbled up the energy?  When I took a step back I saw a big monster that was feeding on our fear and the energy we were putting into the fear.

As the elections came closer the media focused on it and put its energy and resources to report on it.  The markets started going up slowly.  Where were we putting our energy?  Not in the fear monster.  Life was somewhat better.  The bowl of breakfast cereal is the same as before.  Was it helpful indulging in fear?  Did anything improve? No, we only let our energy be gobbled up by the fear monster.  What will be different if we focus on what is good and how we can feel better?  How about taking the energy and go out and run to build up our mind and body?  When we go to bed we can at least have a good night’s sleep.

As we all know the results of the election were historical and we will remember them forever.  Now that the energy around the elections has dissipated the focus is back on the economy.  Market is again spiraling down and the monster is back at the table feeding on fear.  Maybe we are living the prophecy, the self-fulfilling prophecy that is feed by fear.

Love and peace,

ElinAnna

Wall Street is still suffering form fear.  Fear of everything going down further, which makes is it go down even further.  SURPRISE!

Fear is something underearners know well.  It is the fear of not earning enough.  Fear of being fired.  Fear of not finding another job.  Fear of changing jobs.  The fear is a very controlling emotion.  When we give into fear it has us by the throat.  Somehow it is very difficult to stop the fear.

What does fear do for us?

Are our lives better when we live in the state of fear?  My answer to that is NO.  My life is not better.  Fear lowers my quality of life.  My body is tenser.  My energy is stuck in the fear mode so I get tiered more easily.  There is less energy to do the things that give me pleasure and restores my energy.

It is easy to get trapped in the fear mode.  It doesn’t seem so bad.  Often we think we are protecting ourselves from something worse.  The fear of going from bad to worse is very powerful.

The problem is that in the state of fear our brain is protecting status quo.  We are not looking at how we can enjoy life more.  Our mind is not marveling in our glory.  Or thinking up new and better solutions.

How can we get away from the fear?

Fear has controlled my life in many ways.  To learn how to take control I have read a lot and talked with many people.  The solutions can be very complex or very simple.  From all the advice this is what I have come up with and it works well for me.   Three simple steps.

1. Notice the fear

Starting to notice how our body and our mind respond to fear.  There are physical symptoms.  For me the shoulders go down.  Somehow I get smaller.  My mind starts to focus on issues without coming up with solutions.

2. Take deep breaths

What we tell our body to do is easier to do than deal with our mind.  It is an old trick to focus on the breathing, and the results are amazing.  I find that for me the focusing on my breathing takes precedent over all other thoughts.

3. Give thanks

Giving thanks for what we have and what we are about to receive.  It can be hard for some people to give thanks.  How can I give thanks when everything is going down the drain?  I find that it doesn’t have to be a big thing.  I am breathing, I give thanks for that.  I can walk and thank a higher power for that.  And so on.  It is amazing that when I start, more things come to me.  My mind opens up.  Opens the mind up to receive, and I give thanks for that.  It all opens me up to abundance.

With only these three simple steps I am able to open my heart and stand taller.  My mind becomes clearer and I have more energy to deal with what caused the fear.  I become more resourceful and I can realize that fear is only making things worse.

Love and peace,

ElinAnna

The Feds cut the interest rate along with some of the central banks in Western Europe, Canada, and China.

The hope was that by doing this the market would respond favorably.  No such luck.  The market went down even further.  Fear is in the air.  If the banks are lowering the interest rates then the situation must be much worse than was thought.  Right?  So the markets went down.

Now it looks like it does not matter at all what is being done.  Everybody has decided that THE RECESSION is coming and does everything to fulfill the prophecy.

What can an underearner learn from this mess?

One thing is that if we behave like we are not worth much, then the market will put the price on our services, i.e., not much.  We are not going to be paid more than what we ask for.  By not asking for what is fair we are underpaid and everything in our lives reflect that.  We feel miserable and our performance reflects that.  Which in return validates what we are paid.  It is a vicious cycle that will not stop until we step out of it and stand up for ourselves.

Another thing that we can learn is the effect of fear.  People on Wall Street are not the only ones that are affected by fear.  We are to.  It is scary to ask for a raise even when you know you deserve one.  It is scary to negotiate what you are worth.  Women are especially afraid to negotiate.  What if the employer or customer doesn’t like it?  They might get offended.  And then there is the myth that what you are offered is what you are worth.  Negotiation was always the men’s game.  In reality we are supposed to negotiate for our pay.  What is offered is how low they think they can get away with.  It is our job, no duty, to negotiate for as high pay as possible.  Fear will only keep us down, like the Dow Jones and other indexes around the world today.

Love and peace,

ElinAnna