The Inner Approach to Manifesting Money
There is an old Cherokee saying that reveals a great deal of wisdom about manifesting money…
An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.
“It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”
- A Cherokee legend
I remember one particular incident many, many years ago, before I began my private coaching/consulting practice, when I was driving downtown rushing to complete my errands for the day. I remember noticing the beautiful sunset and the incredible colors in the sky. And yet in spite of the beauty that surrounded me there was an internal voice that said something like, “Sure the sunset is beautiful – but that doesn’t really matter. What really matters is that you are STUCK in your life. How are you ever going to get anywhere? You got real problems to deal with…” And the voice continued on and on – round and round.
Ironically at the time I believed this inner voice was just telling me the truth about my current situation. I assumed my inner voice was the voice of reality and reason – even though it was a huge drain on my energy and mental outlook.
Another time I was feeling overwhelmed about all the credit card debt me and my husband had accumulated after we were married. And even though we were determined to pay it off I remember wondering how we would ever manage to get rid of it. Both of us had brand new start-up businesses at the time. My mind just couldn’t grasp the possibility that life could be any different from the way it currently was.
The “scared wolf” was quite loud during these particular times of my life
Many of us hear the voice of the wolf howling at our doors. We experience a deep sense of anxiety and impending doom and gloom around our current circumstances. Sometimes the pressure is so intense that it wakes us up in the middle of the night – and we wonder how we’re ever going to break through our current circumstances and manifest more money in our lives.
I used to wonder where all this internal pressure and anxiety was coming from.
For most of us, if our beliefs remain unexplored we find ourselves thinking that our external circumstances are causing the pressure and fear. We find ourselves worrying about finding a job or making enough money to get through the next month. We have very real external circumstances that we’re dealing with, and we think – that is what’s causing the pressure and stress after all!
I remember working with a client who experienced a dramatic breakthrough when she realized that SHE was the one who was creating the stress and pressure that she experienced around money. She had thought that her current circumstances were creating the pressure. In fact, she became aware that for most of her adult life she experienced pressure and fear that she wasn’t doing it right, or doing it good enough when it came to money as well as other aspects of her life.
If we are experiencing anxiety or tension it’s a sure sign that we are feeding the scared wolf. What I’ve discovered is that whatever circumstance I am facing, I can ask in the midst of it, which wolf am I feeding? Is it the wolf of joy and peace or the wolf of anger, greed, guilt, and inferiority? What I’ve noticed is that the scared wolf is very sneaky and clever.
I mistakenly take his voice to be the voice of reality. Of truth – as if he were an impartial reporter of “just the way things are.” His voice might sound like this—“People just aren’t hiring in today’s economy… It’s not possible to increase my income by this month…It’s not possible to find my dream job.”
Which wolf are you currently feeding?
It’s one thing to hear the voice of the scared wolf. It’s another thing to feed it. When I feed it I am agreeing with the scared wolf’s reality. I know that I’m feeding and agreeing with the scared wolf’s reality when I experience fear, resentment or anger.
So what can you do? It’s not a matter of getting rid of the scared wolf’s voice. That just creates resistance. It’s an opportunity to explore what you’re believing and which wolf you are about to feed. It becomes an ongoing practice, a discipline – the personal path of the warrior.
So now when I hear the bark of an scared wolf, I stop and identify the voice. I am called to create in each moment a new possibility – I can choose to feed the scared wolf or the good wolf. Either way it’s my choice. The one I choose to feed is the one who will win.
Action Steps for Manifesting Money
- Get honest about your subjective “reality” or “truth.” What is the reason you’ve been giving yourself about why you can’t achieve something that you really want right now? Which wolf are you feeding?
- Ask yourself how your subjective reality might really be resistance to manifesting what you want (remember this may require a huge stretch on your part – because that’s the nature of subjective reality – it seems so, well real!).
- Ask yourself what would happen if your subjective reality didn’t have to come to pass.
- Notice how you feel when you make this mind shift. You will notice that you are left with opportunity. From this space be willing to take the next step toward what you want – instead of putting it off. Be willing to see that you don’t need to wait any longer – and that your “reality” is merely resistance in disguise.
Discover Your Friendly “Yes” To Money
I could feel my client’s voice BEAMING on the other side of the phone:
“I’ve been thinking about our work together and it’s caused me to explore my yeses and no’s around money.
What instantly comes to mind for me is my ‘unfriendly no’ in regards to money. My unfriendly no doesn’t give me any choices. My unfriendly no says ‘no’ to creating a spending plan – or a budget. My unfriendly no says that a spending plan will strangle me – that sticking to a spending plan means I’ll have to deprive myself for the rest of my life and say ‘no, no, no, no’ to everything.
The Unfriendly and Resentful “No”
My unfriendly no makes me feel deprived, angry and resentful. It falsely leads me to believe that I must resign myself to living a life of lack, that I can’t ever do anything fun. My unfriendly no is controlling and tells me that my life is going to be filled with misery and I’ll never have enough money. And because life is destined to be so miserable, and this is as good as it gets, why not splurge and live it up a little and have some fun?
My unfriendly no is a very intimate friend to my ‘unfriendly yes’ that says ‘yes’ to everything. I do this because I feel so bad that I’ve said ‘no’ and denied myself for the past several days (or hours) to myself or to my children.”
At this point Nancy paused, took a deep breath, and then went on to excitedly share:
The Supportive and Friendly “Yes”
“I’m experiencing a huge breakthrough around what a friendly yes is like. My friendly yes says that working a spending plan can create freedom for me. My friendly yes reassures me that a spending plan doesn’t have to be difficult and painful. It lets me know that it’s okay to buy clothes and necessities for my children and me. My friendly yes says ‘yes’ to life, and ‘yes’ to the unlimited possibilities of what I want to create, be and do. It gives me freedom! And my friendly yes also has a close friend as well. It is a close friend to my friendly no.
My friendly no is filled with choice, compassion and understanding. It says, ‘Let’s say no to this, but let’s say yes to these other things.’ My friendly no empowers me with the opportunity to make wise money choices so that I can experience true freedom. A friendly no can gently guide me and provide me with hope and security.
What I now realize is that I can choose to use my friendly yes and no in each moment. My friendly yes and friendly no support me in saying ‘yes’ to life. They are here to guide me to true freedom and the truest enjoyment of my money!”
* Names have been changed in this story
Your 1-Minute Action Step
Write down your responses to the following questions:
- What are the images and thoughts that come up for you when you think of saying “no” in regards to money or financial decisions?
- What are the images and thoughts that come up for you when you think of saying “yes” in regards to money or financial decisions?
- What are the internal conversations that come up around your unfriendly yes and unfriendly no?
- What are the internal conversations that come up around your friendly yes and friendly no?
- How might you become more empowered around managing money if you respond with your friendly yes and friendly no?
Train yourself to recognize when you respond with your unfriendly yes and no and choose a friendly yes or no instead.
Learn how to create a positive relationship with money so that you take the financial action you need to take Click here to sign up for my FREE webinar onWednesday March 31st, “Personal Transformation Through Money: How to Consciously Achieve Your Money Goals And Create Financial Success in Your Life.”
