10/10/2018
I can remember the day this affirmation came to me, yes, it’s my own, and as they say, the beauty of affirmations lies in the resonance with self, the complete relationship one can create by uttering a positive statement in the present tense and the first person, short, sweet and to the point!
I had been in business for 6 months or so, and the glow of constantly being lured back into a cushy corporate job was waning (I used to literally get off on feeling good about offers to go back to corporate, I would find myself making calculations on the big bucks and was not at all focusing on my business, the authority over my life was not me, but the offers out there), although my belief in self was not improving on a corresponding basis. I looked around and all I could see was employment, the value of a monthly pay cheque, the security in knowing that bills could be paid on time, I wanted that. And so I had no focus, I kept wondering about where the next dollar would come from, how I would make ends meet. Questions mulled in my head, do I go back? Have I got what it takes to stick it out in the big bad world? Freedom don’t pay no bills. I was spiralling downwards and spending more energy looking at what others had than looking inward. And I was feeling the impact. When it is said that “what you think about you bring about whether you like it or not”, it’s no lie. Having lived like a millionaire’s wife for that first year after exiting the executive arena, my savings were practically done, and my biggest fear when I left was that I would become destitute. Imagine that, with all my apparent education, experience and expertise, I was worried I would be without.
Guess what…I was robbed 3 consecutive times in my home after that. The irony being that everything I lost, I lost twice when my insurance claim was not honoured because the assessor claimed I was underinsured (truth is I was insured by the wrong company which went out of business shortly after), nevertheless, I had to replace all my electronic goodies, jewellery and my heavy heart all by myself (so thank goodness for the millionaire’s wife stint). I will never forget that day my bestie walked up the hill to my home, after the first robbery, with a brand new laptop as a gift, I felt so special, and cared for. It cost me nothing, how lucky I was, but only for some hours…that night, I was robbed again, whilst in my home, asleep. I had put the laptop in a safe place, or so I thought, but it was gone, and I had not insured it in the less than 24 hours I had it! You might be thinking, what more do you need to feel before you get that your mindset is down in the dumps. And today, I can recognise the silver linings, like friends who put me in touch with a security company for extra protection, or my son’s dad who acted the vigil at my home until he was comfortable that we were safe, there is much I can be grateful for, for that time, but I did not see it then.
It took life hitting me where it hurt hardest for me to make a change. I can remember my mom telling me to please come to my senses and go back and work for a company, my biggest cheerleader, my staunchest support, my rock was letting me know that my decision to go out there and be Afra (as my boss had written to me on my last bonus cheque letter, although I’m sure neither one of us knew then, that would be my sign that it was time to move on, lol) – was not a good one. I had to stand on my own, believe in my own value, appreciate my goodness and answer the call that there was something only I could do, that was uniquely me, that was waiting for me.
So all that fear, comparing journeys with peers, anger at my losses and sadness at the realisation that some items of deep sentimental value were gone for good, fuelled my mindset change. I had had enough. I had to turn it around, I knew the tools, I applied them with my clients and all who would listen, yet here I was battling – no more. I realised, and with all due respect to the employed workforce and the amazing entities providing work out there (without you, there’d be no business to do, so thank you 😉, that where others had to wait for a day in the month to get paid, I was lucky enough to get paid every day, including Sunday! I finally got it, in my world, every day is pay day!!! The more I repeated that affirmation when negativity gripped me, the more I noticed my bills being paid effortlessly, my savings bank filling up consistently, my world of opportunity opening up and offering lucrative, mutually beneficial deals that reminded me that I was in the right place at the right time doing exactly what was required of me. My mood lifted, I literally picked up dollars off the ground (one particular occasion comes back to me now as I write this, of the time a friend who was also on a journey in this space was squatting at my office for some time, the one day we wanted to go for lunch, but we were a little short, and as we walked we found a N$ 100 note on the tarmac – may seem like nothing, but the gratitude fuelled more – and he’s one successful bu**er today, and still a great friend).
Here I am today, a decade or so later, still repeating “Every day is pay day” every so often, saying silent and loud “thank yous” for everything that keeps going right (like Toyota ;-)), very clear that the first immutable step in experiencing wealth, abundance, safety, joy, freedom and all things spice, is getting your mindset right. Simplistic? Perhaps. Effective? Absolutely!
And that’s my story, behind this affirmation. What positive words and phrases fuel you in achieving your goals? What matters to you most? Would love for you to share your stories in the comments, cannot wait to hear what has worked for you. Because…how you do money, is how you do life!
