15 Lessons about Money and Abundance I Wish I’d Known About Earlier

I never lacked money. Admittedly, I always had enough of it.

On the one side, both of my parents have always worked full-time, and on the other side, I started earning my own money at the age of 15. Now, I am 22 years old and running my own business.

And even though I am living a great life, I’ve always been economical.

Ever since I understood what money is, I appreciated it. I believed that I had to work hard for money, and I was not interested in wasting it.

However, I was indeed interested in making more money than all the people I was surrounded by. I knew that money was nothing more than energy and that it was an enabler for many great things.

Last summer, I came across the book “You Were Born Rich” of Bob Proctor, and even though the title sounds like it’s mainly around money, it’s not.

It’s one of the few books I’d love to punch into anyone’s face who is doubting himself and his own greatness. It’s one of the few books that show the scientific perspective about woo-woo topics like the law of attraction and manifestation but also teaches how to apply them practically.

Here are the most powerful lessons about money, mindset, and an abundant life that I learned from reading “You Were Born Rich” by Bob Proctor:

“Success is not always “reaching out” for something that you don’t have but rather only “reaching over” and rearranging the pieces already there.”

This is one of the first sentences I highlighted in the book, and admittedly, I found it quite thought-provoking.

For me, reaching over and rearranging the pieces means reflecting on the status quo.

I often talk and write about the power of self-reflection, and this passage, once again, reminded me of the fact that we usually already have everything that we need. We just need to open our eyes, grab the pieces, and put them together.

“Freedom is not free.”

I honestly believe that the desire for freedom is one of the few things almost anyone on this planet has in common.

There’s hardly anyone that wouldn’t want to be free.

Location-independency, financial freedom, being your own boss…all of these things are well-desired by the majority.

However, almost all of those who can enjoy the perks of freedom invested heavily in order to get there. Sleepless nights, lots of risks, loss of friends, and a lack of social life are only a few of the trades they needed to make.

“If you’re going to live your life, the way you want to live, understand the price is high. And it does not come easy. However, the rewards are phenomenal.”

“Money will have a greater influence on your life than almost any other commodity you can think of.”

I never strived for a lot of money. I always had enough of it. Even though they don’t earn particularly much, both of my parents have always worked full time, and I always received anything I wanted.

Additionally, I started working at the age of 15, and I always earned a few bucks through different side jobs so that I wasn’t dependent on my parents at all.

However, in the past months, I realized the power of money in our lives for the first time.

I started my entrepreneurial journey at the age of 19, and I always made extra money through several projects, digital products, and workshops. However, in January 2019, I finished my studies, and suddenly, I was a full-time entrepreneur. Despite my beliefs, this came with a lot of struggles.

Suddenly, it was not about making a few extra dollars per month but about making a living. And I was certainly not striving for the average. I always had big goals in life, and in my entrepreneurial career, of course, I was aiming for big success and surely for big money.

My intent was not to live paycheck to paycheck but rather to be financially free.

So I had to figure out how to get there. And it wasn’t easy. To be honest, it was quite hard. I spent 12 months worrying about how I’d make more than a couple of hundred dollars per month.

The problem was not that I didn’t have any money left. I had a good amount of savings and a very low base of fixed costs, but I was freaking out thinking about the future.

I wanted financial abundance, but I was living in a financial nightmare even though I had enough money.

These were the months I realized how much power money has in our lives, just as Bob Proctor describes:

“There can be no denial of the fact that money is important to any person living in a civilized society.”

“Ninety-five people out of a hundred settle for whatever they get, wishing they had more all the way from the cradle to the casket, never understanding that they could actually have had all they wanted.”

I am a personal growth coach, and I mainly work with people who are already intrinsically motivated to improve themselves and unleash their full potential. And even though most of my clients are already into topics like mindset and success, the majority don’t really believe they can have it all.

They’d like to make it big in life, but they settle for whatever they get.

And most of the time, it’s out of convenience. They’d like to achieve big results, but they can’t convince themselves it would be worth giving it all, so they refuse to go the extra mile at all.

“Most people think they want more money than they really do, and they settle for a lot less than they could get.”

“Although “luck” obviously plays some part in financial success, it is never sufficient in and of itself. Money is an effect, and it must always be earned.”

Luck is a tough topic.

Yes, some people were lucky enough to be born into a rich family and will probably never need to work at all.

But I don’t care about their luck and their circumstances.

It doesn’t bother me.

I just focus on the things that I can influence, and that’s obviously my own financial success.

“There are no free rides in this life and the only people who are making money the easy way either work in the mint or are on their way to jail, if they have not already arrived there.”

“Money is not meant to be taken out of circulation — rather, it is meant to be used, enjoyed and circulated!”

I see so many people who are afraid of using money. Admittedly, I was one of them for a couple of years. I refused to spend any extra dollars in order to save it for the future.

But here’s the thing: that’s not what money is made for.

Money is nothing more than energy. And energy increases if you use it. If you, however, don’t use it, it will slowly but surely fade away.

It’s the same with money. Storing it under your bed just doesn’t make any sense.

So, what I did was learning how to invest my money, spend more money on activities that I enjoy and also donate parts of my money in order to put it back into circulation.

“People don’t feel comfortable about money because they have it; they have it because they feel comfortable about it.”

Sometimes, I feel as if talking about money is even more taboo than talking about sex.

I never lacked money because I worked hard and saved smartly. Yet, I’ve not been comfortable to talk about it openly.

I don’t know about other countries, but I am living in Austria and here, talking about money is absolutely taboo. Hardly anyone shares how much money he makes, and we are quite strict when it comes to separating bills and sharing costs.

Even though I grew up with this mentality, my money-mindset is slowly but surely shifting.

In the past few months, I’ve invested a lot of time and energy into my own wealth consciousness and gave my best to be comfortable when talking about money.

“The best way to develop a prosperity consciousness is to start seeing yourself, in your mind’s eye, already in possession of the amount of money that you desire.”

Money is a mind game.

If you don’t believe you can possess more money, you won’t.

Visualization is one of the most powerful tools we have at disposal, yet only a tiny amount of humans actively use it.

I know that many people doubt the law of attraction and techniques like manifestation.

But here’s the thing: It doesn’t matter if you believe in it or not. Universal laws work equally for everyone, and the law of attraction is one of them.

You always attract what you focus on, and if you want to change your present reality, you need to visualize yourself living a better future.

“The subconscious mind cannot distinguish between the actual possession of money and mere visualization, you will soon become very comfortable with the “idea” of money.”

Once you get comfortable with the idea of yourself being wealthy, finding ways to create that reality will come easily.

“When you succeed in convincing your subconscious mind that you are wealthy and that it feels good to be wealthy, your subconscious mind will automatically seek ways of making your “imaginary” feelings of wealth manifest themselves in material form.”

Of course, you can’t sit on your couch and visualize becoming rich by doing nothing. That’s not how it works. Hard work is at least as important, but using your mental power will make your life easier, and your success will become inevitable.

“If you really want to significantly increase the amount of money you are presently earning, the first thing you must do is learn to pay substantially less attention to what others around you are saying and substantially more attention to what that “quiet voice” that speaks within you, is saying.”

I didn’t grow up around rich people. I don’t know how to properly define rich, but the fact is that I’ve never been around wealthy people at all.

And I always paid attention to what others in my social circle said about money. No wonder I didn’t come any further than they did, right?

That’s actually one of the mistakes many people have in common: We take advice from people who we don’t admire.

“Most people who fail to accumulate enough money to live in the style they choose are the same people who are most easily influenced by other people’s opinions.”

Yes, you love your mum, and yes, your mum loves you but if your mum didn’t achieve the financial success that you are striving for it might make sense not to listen to her advice but instead talk to someone who is already wealthy and can give you profound advice in terms of finances.

“Thinking is the highest function of which a human being is capable…”

“…yet, unfortunately, very few people “think.” They merely trick themselves into believing that because there is some mental activity taking place in their mind, they are “thinking.” But the truth is, most people are simply exercising the mental faculty called “memory.” They are playing old movies, so old pictures just keep flashing back on the screen of their mind.”

You have the power to think. And by thinking, you have the power to create a reality wilder than your wildest dreams. Make use of that incredible power to transform the way you think, feel, and make money!

“As you begin to hold thoughts of prosperity and begin thinking of yourself as a very wealthy, prosperous individual who is surrounded by an ocean of thought energy, swimming in a sea of plenty, your body and mind will instantly move into a prosperous vibration and you will begin to attract — just like a magnet — everything necessary for you to become wealthy.”

“You must begin to see money as an obedient, diligent servant, that you can employ to earn more money, and that you can use to provide services far beyond the service that you could ever physically provide.”

Money is evil.

Money spoils the character.

The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.

How many of these limiting beliefs around many have you already heard at least one time?

I’ve head about them a lot.

And, of course, I believed them until I started working on my money mindset. These are the beliefs that most families and society, in general, teach us.

Yet, the reality is different.

Money is energy. It’s just a resource, a servant, as Bob Proctor describes it. And yes, you can use it for evil purposes. But you can also use it for good.

Money is not evil. The person who uses the money for destructive purposes is evil.

“Lack and limitation can only exist when we make room for them in our minds.”

Don’t live a small life by allowing limiting beliefs to dominate your mind.

The first step to live in abundance is believing in it and focusing your mind on wealth. Distant yourself from small-minded people and allow yourself to think big and act big in order to create big results.

“It is an absolute law of your being, that you must have something mentally before you will ever have it physically.”

If you can’t imagine yourself living in abundance and financial freedom, you won’t ever be able to create that reality.

As mentioned above, that’s one of the universal laws, and it just works, no matter if you believe in it or not.

The law of attraction works both ways: You can attract wealth, but you can also attract misery. It’s your choice.

“Think of some of the things you would do with that money and then mentally start doing them. Since your subconscious mind cannot tell the difference between actually doing something and visualizing yourself doing it, this exercise will very quickly help you to develop a prosperity consciousness.”

“Understand that thinking, by itself, is not enough — you must move into action.”

Of course, you need to be aware that you can’t attract anything only through the power of your mind.

You need to take action.

You need to do the right things in order to reach your goals, and you need to believe in yourself.

The law of attraction works together with eleven other universal laws, and one of them is the law of action.

“William James (1842–1910) — one of the world’s most distinguished early psychologists — reached the conclusion, the average individual was using only a small portion of his or her real potential (perhaps as little as 10%).”

You are capable of so much more than you think.

Nowadays, we hardly leave out comfort-zones. Instead, we prefer staying there and living our lives in misery rather than taking risks and action.

That might sound like a plan in the short run, but sooner or later, we regret it.

Life is not about playing it small. It’s about making experiences, making mistakes, and learning from them in order to grow into an even better person and unleashing our full potential.

I was not made to play it safe and do the same things for 90 years until I finally die in peace. Neither were you.

“Most people live, whether physically, intellectually, or morally, in a very restricted circle of their potential being. They make use of a very small portion of their possible consciousness, and of their soul’s resources in general, much like a person who, out of their whole bodily organism, gets into the habit of using and moving only their little finger.”

You Were Born Rich by Bob Proctor definitely made it onto my list of favorite books. Even though the title is provocative, the lessons are incredibly valuable.

What I liked most is that the lessons are not only applicable to financial success and wealth but to any other area of our lives as well. No matter if you want more happiness and success in your relationships, regarding your health or your social status, the advice that is presented in You Were Born Rich can help you to get there, and it’s undoubtedly one of the books I will revise regularly.