I am tired. Tired. TIRED of juicy, bright, beautiful people being held back in their lives by not having the financial means to meet their needs.
OR, wonderful people who are meeting their needs well but compromising all their values to do it.
Your Financial Health + The Health Of Our Planet.
This is not an “either-or” equation! You can do work you love, contribute positively to your community and the Earth, AND meet all of your needs. It is possible, you are capable, and it’s within your reach.
It will take dedication and focus to find the right path that works for you.
First, you have to firmly decide that you will STOP:
- STOP doing work you don’t love;
- STOP working for less than you’re worth;
- STOP working because of economic “have to’s”;
- STOP doing work that goes against your values.
Then, and only then, you can find your own path to doing the work you’re meant to do, while meeting all your needs as you do it.
At Eyes Wide Open we call this Financial Liberation.
Start By Reframing Your Financial Stories.
Most of us were brought up with heavy social conditioning around what it means to survive and thrive in the modern world. Student loans. Mortgages. Car loans. Credit cards. Retirement plans. Crappy corporate jobs that drain your joy, so you can make all your payments. Dreading Monday morning. Knowing secretly inside that you aren’t serving the planet, or giving the precious gifts you have to offer others.
UGH.
You have to let go of that whole way of thinking and working in order to make space for a new way: the way to your Financial Liberation.
“Financial Liberation is knowing you can earn what you need, when you need it, on demand” – Ali Shanti
Your Personal Financial Liberation.
Though the picture looks different for everyone, there is a consistent method to discovering where your own financially liberated sweet spot is, at any given moment. It sits right at the intersection of:
1. Your Passion for the problem you want to solve
2. Your Expertise to solve that problem
3. The Global + Local Marketplace, their desire to have that problem solved (and how valuable the solution is to them)
This is a very dynamic place, ever evolving to meet where you are in the present moment. Your passion might change, your expertise might shift, and the marketplace is always evolving — that’s fine. As long as you can identify your authentic sweet spot in this intersection, you’ll always know the right way for you to experience your financial liberation.
I’m not suggesting that you shouldn’t set money aside for things you want. What I am saying is that you can set financial goals (REALISTIC goals that are based on your inner definition of what you truly need, not some external idea that you’ve been fed and swallowed), create an income plan within your sweet spot, and create the financial means that you need in a way that’s consistent with your gifts and values.
This Is NOT About Money.
Imagine for a minute that the world operated on a trade-based or gifting economy. What would you be doing, what would you be offering? Would you make sure that your gifts connected with the actual needs and desires of the people in your community? WHY are you doing anything other than that now?
You’ll know you’re on the right track when you feel energized, you feel authentic to who you are, and your Ideal Customers/Clients light up when you describe your offers to them.
There’s no, “Oh God, I have to work again.” It’s more like “Oh Yay, I get to go help & give again.”
There’s integrity, and you feel good every day about what you’re doing to meet your needs – because it’s in alignment with your values.
Where You Might Get Stuck.
You’re not clear what your passion is. Sometimes it takes years of exploration to find the problems you’re truly passionate about solving. If this is where you’re stuck, you need to give yourself plenty of time and space to play around. This isn’t something you can force. While you’re figuring it out, choose to help with a problem in your local community that someone else is working to solve, that you at least feel good about contributing to. Stay in your integrity, and let yourself be playful with what you choose to support.- You don’t know what your expertise is. If this is where you’re stuck, you need to gain more experience. Find people/groups who are solving something you’re passionate about and help them. Get paid to learn and develop your expertise.
- You’re not clear on the needs of the marketplace. If you know what your passion & expertise are, but you aren’t clear whether people want and value what you have to offer, then you need to do market research. Identify people you know who have this problem / want this solution and ask them:
- How big of a problem is this for you?
- Where are you most stuck on it?
- What is it costing you to be stuck?
- How much would it be worth to you to solve this problem?
- What value would the solution contribute to your life?
- What would you be able to achieve next from this place?
A Word On Money Mindset.
A lot of people who identify as being heart-based, spiritual, healers, etc. have deeply held beliefs that money is bad, they secretly feel they don’t deserve it, or they have a really hard time claiming their own value.
It’s time to wake up. To contribute anything of value to the world, you have to be well resourced yourself, and you have to work practically with things as they are in order to make them better. Period.
You know you have gifts to give and people need them, so you have to just do it.
