“All too often, we become blocked and blame it on our lack of money. This is never an authentic block. The actual block is our feeling of constriction, our sense of powerlessness. Art requires us to empower ourselves with choice. At the most basic level, this means choosing to do self-care.”
(The Artist’s Way)
Today I am starting back up with Chapter 6 of the Artist’s Way.”Recovering a Sense of Abundance” is the chapter heading for this section.
Money is something that I talk about quite a bit on this blog, and it’s also a topic that I’m always seeking to learn more about. I specifically just listened to a podcast (The Kick-Ass Life with David Wood) with an interview with John Assaraf (from the secret) that was all about money and our relationship to it (if you’re interested in listening to this episode yourself, it’s episode 89: How to Win The Game of Money).
Based on all that I’ve learned so far, here’s the conclusion I’ve reached. More often than not, you don’t make money when you’re seeking to make money. You make money when you follow your passion, and pursue an outward focused goal. I can sit here and think to myself: I want to be an actor, I want to be an actor, pay me to act! But unless I learn to direct my energy outward instead of inward, I’m not going to make a lot of progress. It can’t be all about me, I need to focus on how I can influence, teach, and inspire others through the acquisition of that which I want. Obviously I’m saying all of this from a position in my life where I’m not making any money, but the information and the strategies I’m about to share are being promptly integrated into my own life, so hopefully you will be able to see the result of what I have learned and absorbed in real time.
Yesterday, after searching the job postings on craigslist for the 3rd time in one day, I closed my computer and sat back in my chair exasperated. I was frustrated because I didn’t really know what I was looking for. What sort of part-time job would fulfill me as I pursue my acting career? I’m getting to be more and more testy at my current work as this confusion consumes me. Fed up with the nagging of my inner self, yesterday I turned off my music, found a spot on the floor in my living room, closed my eyes, and entered into a visualization where I tried to picture what my ideal life would look like right now. At first nothing came to me, my thinking brain was trying to control the pictures that were coming into my consciousness, and filtering those images through the “oh, this is realistic” strainer. Then… I suddenly saw myself on set of a television show as a central character, I saw myself personal training clients (people I recognized from my spin classes), I saw myself working on my fiction book (a series I have been constructing in my mind since I was in grade 8). When I came out of the visualization, I remembered the ads on craigslist that I had been entertaining: copy-writers, reception jobs, sales. No! How much longer do I plan on delaying my life? I have it in my head that what I want takes time… and sure, it does to some degree. But I feel as though I’ve been phoning in my efforts and instead of focusing my energy on acting, I’ve been putting a lot of my energy into figuring out how to make money while I “wait” for my dreams to come true. Why am I waiting? Once I’m out of school (I graduate in one month by the way), what’s stopping me from just go go going? Actually, what’s stopping me from starting today?
I hereby promise to no longer put any energy into waiting. I know that you can create your reality through visualization. I’ve done it on numerous occasions. Just today I won season 1 and 2 of Game and thrones after (3 days ago) standing in front of the contest poster and visualizing what it would feel like to win. I used this same strategy prior to winning a book on Goodreads. There is a reason why some people seem to win all of the time. It’s because they expect to win, and part of their identity is the assertion “I’m someone who wins all of the time.” What and how we think is overwhelmingly powerful. It’s going to be scary, and it’s going to launch me far outside of my comfort zone, but I think I’m finally ready to channel that power into living my lifestyle fantasy (as Dean Dwyer would say). I’m not going to devote any more energy looking for a job to sustain me while I wait. My energy is hereby going to be focused only on the end goal.
Here’s the plan:
Along with the completion of the exercises that are apart of the Artist’s Way, I will also complete:
Monthly Video Check-In
Every month will now begin with a video recording of my goals, fears, and thoughts pertaining to the up-coming month. This idea came to me while watching “The Biggest Loser” last night. In the final episode before the finale, each contestant had an opportunity to watch a video recorded by their prior self pre-weight loss. More than anything else, this video reminds the contestants how far they’ve come. Likewise, this will also be the purpose of these monthly videos. I want to have a concrete and visible representation of my growth to which I can refer.
Weekly goals will also be made, but only in written form.
Meditation/Visualization: 15 minutes every day
This is as it sounds.
Limiting Belief = New Habit or Daily Affirmation
Life is all about growth. So every week I’m going to identify a limiting belief that I have, and then integrate a new habit into my life that should help turn this belief on it’s head. This week that limiting belief is “making money is hard.” I have a lot of habits listed here, but none of them involve a significant amount of time… just commitment. Luckily, I have a lot of that.
Keeping Track of my Money
This is assignment was actually assigned by Julia Cameron for this week, but if I plan on making money I think that it’s definitely necessary that I become more aware of the money that I am bringing in, and also how I’m spending it. No more ignoring my finances.
Gratitude & Breaking Through my Comfort Zone
Finally, every night before going to bed I promise to record 3 things that I am grateful for, and one way that I challenged myself. This could be anything, but I want to aim for at least one major challenge each week.
At the end of each week, along with an update on how the Artist’s Way is going, I will also include an update on all of this. Let the adventure begin.