Abundance Only Works If You’re Willing to Receive it

What have you forgotten to receive?

I blinked a couple of times after hearing that question. I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. Then Ken Honda, Japan’s most well-known financial educator, went on to explain that sometimes we get so focused on a few areas of our lives that we forget to look for and receive abundance in others.

Like relationships.

Okay, Ken…slow your roll. Have you been peeking in my journal at night?

And it’s true; I’m so focused on building a business and a career that I haven’t taken the time to pause and ask for what I want in other areas of my life. And to be honest with you, it feels a little scary.

I started working with a new coach recently, and she asked me to write down the five or six things I wanted to work toward.

It was easy rattling off things around my business – expanding my offers, building a speaking platform, creating a more robust onboarding system for my clients. But the thing that made me the most nervous was when I wrote…participate in dating.

Participate in dating? Dang, that is the most non-committed way of saying I would like to be in a relationship with someone.

And what I realized was that by putting that desire out there, I have to be ready to receive it when it arrives.

I think a lot of us struggle with receiving. It can feel vulnerable to ask for what we want. And then to receive the thing we want in a totally different package than expected.

A few days ago, I was speaking to my friend Jill. I asked her how she and her husband met. He had seen her in a show, she’s an actress, and he reached out to her afterward. He was, at first, totally not her type. He has tattoos, a little bit of a belly, and he’s a bit rough around the edges.

Over time, she realized the wrapping paper was a bit rumpled, but the inside gift was total gold. So she let go of what she thought she wanted to receive what she needed.

There are a few great lessons in that for me, and perhaps you too.

 Be open to receiving

Don’t focus on over pleasing or constantly over serving others and forget to receive too. That’s the energy behind abundance…it’s a gift of giving and receiving.

Ask for what you want

Feels way easier to say than it is to do. We’ve been conditioned not to want too much. To not dream too big. So it can feel wildly vulnerable to have clarity around what you want and ask for it.

Jill’s husband did.

Don’t judge the gift by the wrapping paper

Several years ago, while working as a project manager and going to school, I remember saying to a colleague, “I need a break.” Sure enough, that night, while performing in an improv show, I stepped off the stage, twisted my ankle, and broke two bones in my foot. Finally, I got the break I needed, just not the way I expected.

If you’re someone who has a difficult time receiving, you’re always on the end of giving out to others; you will eventually burn out. It’s not sustainable. You have to be able to receive as well to keep your energy elevated.

And if you’re having difficulties getting over this hurdle, I got you. Reach out, and let’s have a conversation and see if I can help you. Go ahead, allow yourself to receive this offer.

You might want to watch my live talk about the topic, just click on the video below.