My dream was to become a professional athlete. I worked harder than anyone else through high school in order to achieve that goal and become a professional arena football player. I had it all until a career-ending injury landed me broke and angry on my sister’s couch for over a year. I probably would have still been there if I didn’t take action.
I learned that the one thing that was holding me back the most was myself. I had such a poor mindset that if I didn’t change, I would have never gotten off my sister’s couch, let alone reached where I am today. I learned to live in abundance.
It was transformational coach Chris Lee who opened up the world of abundance for me. I learned that being abundant doesn’t mean having a lot of money or a lot of material things. It’s about who you are being every day. Abundance is a state of consciousness and gratitude, which is why I end my day telling the last person I talk to the three things I’m most grateful for.
Chris Lee has been on my podcast many times, but in one particular episode, we went over his “10 Principles of Abundance and Prosperity to Enhance Your Business and Life.” These steps have helped me in all areas of my life, and they can help you, too.
1. Outflowing
Outflowing is about being a giver. It’s about acknowledging what you have to give and asking yourself, What can I contribute today? It’s about being completely selfless and focusing on the support you can give people around you. At the end of the day, what you put out comes back to you and multiplies.
2. Clearing
You can’t live a life full of possibility if you’re holding onto negative thoughts or beliefs. This could mean that you need to clear with yourself or someone else. This is not to be confused with complaining or placing blame. Clearing means coming from a responsible place to create an open and loving life. It does not mean you should be defensive.
3. Integrity
Integrity is pretty straightforward. When you’re coming from an ethical, principled place, and being your word, you establish credibility.
4. Visualization
Visualization is huge for me. When I was playing football, I would always visualize the plays before they happened, and I do the same thing in business. The most important thing when visualizing is that you’re focused on what you want, rather than what you don’t want. Vision boards are great exercises for this. For digital vision boards, I use DreamItAlive.com.
5. Affirmation
Affirmation is all about opening up possibility for your business and for your life. Think about all of the areas in your life that are challenging for you. The idea of affirmation is to empower yourself to achieve some of your most challenging goals.
6. Declaration
Walt Disney said, “If you can dream it, you can do it.” That’s the exact purpose of creating a declaration. Almost 10 years ago, I started setting one or two goals per year; then I would write it down on what I call a certificate of achievement and hang it on the wall. It’s a constant reminder of what I am working toward.
7. Persistence
While I have my goals established, it takes persistence to constantly work toward them every moment of every day. I need to dig deep to stay committed to those goals rather than just thinking about them.
8. Surrendering
Surrendering doesn’t mean giving up. It means avoiding an obsession with what the result looks like. Sometimes it takes shifting our goals to open up even bigger opportunities for us. This can happen simply by asking yourself two questions: What worked? What didn’t work?
9. Sourcing
You are the source of everything that happens in your life. Sourcing is the awareness that everything is up to you while also taking responsibility for whatever happens. There is a lesson in everything. You just have to have the courage to ask yourself what that lesson is.
10. Surrounding
This is a big one. Whether it is your team or your friends, it’s important to surround yourself with people who are on the same level as you when it comes to vision, language and the things that matter. This also means cutting out toxic relationships in a responsible way.
These 10 principles can bring abundance and prosperity into your life according to Chris. I know these work because I’ve practiced all of them consistently over time and created extraordinary results.
If you want to hear Chris explain them himself, we recorded a conversation together, which you can listen to here.
