OK, here’s the Truth. I still get a little squeamish when I write the word ‘rich,’ such as in my article title, “Visibly Rich”.
Sure, I’ve done several teleclasses with “Rich” in the title. But that was about YOU being rich, inside and out, not about ME being rich… on the outside, where you can see it.
Has the Universe Lost It’s Mind?
I’ve learned to understand my messages from the Universe (aka intuition), even when they come in uncanny ways. I’m sure I’ll deepen my awareness of this and life will move even faster in the future, but for right now, I know when my attention is drawn to something and I get this sort of “click” sensation, that I’m meant to pay attention.
Two years ago I was given the message to buy a new car. I was driving a highly reasonable Mazda CX-7. And the Universe said, “get a Mercedes.”
I thought, “Universe, have you lost your mind? I’ve got no business with a Mercedes! I’ve got events to pay for. Business trips to take. And by all means, I must maintain my pedicure. Who cares about a damn car!?”
And I meant it. I drive about 2 miles a day on average. I’ve no need for a nice car. I don’t even like this car you’re showing me… in fact there’s no car I dream about. So I said, ‘Thanks for the message, but I’ll pass.”
Lately the message has been re-emerging, and 2 weeks ago I traded in my Mazda for a brand new Audi. I spent a couple weeks trying to talk myself into a more practical Jeep Cherokee (I live in Colorado after all). All my same arguments still held – the Audi was completely UNNECESSARY. But this time I listened. The Universe was telling me, and the Universe wouldn’t steer me wrong.
As I drove home from the dealer, I was shaking, a little nauseated, and quite frankly, a bit grumpy. I could literally feel my cells rearranging.
I’m the girl from Tower, MN population 502, who had to beg for a pair of Guess jeans in the 8th grade, and even then got them at a damaged goods discount store. Who am I to drive a luxury vehicle?
And I parked my car out front, told no one, and went about my day.
The mystery of visibility
So here’s what’s interesting. I’ve been making great REVENUE in my business for a long time. I am not a discount provider. I charge for the transformation I empower. I invest in myself and my business liberally. I shop for my stage clothes with a personal shopper and do not look at price tags during that process. Each and every one of these things have been a breakthrough for me, and taken a big ass committed decision to make them happen.
But something happened when I drove home in that car. Something happened when I noticed myself hiding it from my Facebook family and my email list. There is something different about this investment, and it allowed me to pinpoint a phenomenon I’ve seen in my business. There are two aspects to this purchase that makes it different. It is:
- UNNECESSARY
- VISIBLE
As I started to look at my patterns in my business I realized that while I’ve made great financial leaps, all of my ‘scary’ investments have had two things in common.
1) They felt “necessary.”
I won’t say they were necessary, but they felt necessary. I have upleveled my business every single time I’ve committed to an investment outside of myself, because in my value system, paying based on what you’ve agreed to is absolutely non-negotiable. It is a need.
I am beyond thankful for this value system as it’s enabled me to grow in big ways as I’ve increased my need.
I buy clothes I love because it is necessary to command the stage. I invest in speaking and sponsorships because they are necessary to grow the business. I invest in team members because they are necessary to be free and available to do my best work in the world.
But pure desire without a rational need? I’m clearly working on that. I could have gone down a path of rationalizing the necessity of a luxury car to ‘walk the talk’ of a successful business owner, and take all the fun out of it, but the truth is I was just following spirit, and it made no sense to me.
2) They were invisible.
Now, the way I dress, the venues I choose for hosting my clients, the experiences I create… these are visible signals of abundance, and I love them.
Yet they are only experienced by those who know me, or those who are lucky enough to attend one of my coaching retreats. Prior to the new car purchase, I could keep my abundance under the radar.
I would set myself up to make sure all the funds were accounted for in paying behind the scenes expenses so I never had to make decisions about the more visible things I may do with my money. In fact, I rarely even know what those things are because that makes it easier not to confront them!
I could turn fun travel into a business trip so as not to look too frivolous. I have hired employees and rather than celebrate how LITTLE work I had to do, I’d create more work so I didn’t look like my life was too charmed, and I wouldn’t have time to make my success too visible. The ways I’ve worked to hide the good things in my life are astounding.
So why the heck am I sharing this?
Because I know for certain I’m not alone. This is an epidemic, and downplaying your success will sabotage your success.
Here are some messages I got growing up:
- You have to work hard for everything you have.
- Don’t buy anything unless it’s on sale.
- Don’t buy anything you don’t need. (Unless, of course, it’s on sale!)
- Anything “ritzy” is disdainful, and will be scorned.
- Never be ungrateful. (And you are…)
- If you happen to fall into some money, don’t tell anyone.
- If you do tell someone, be sure to underestimate it, downplay it, or include all the problems you have. (I did this but I didn’t like it…)
- You will never, ever, ever get ahead.
I can tell you with absolute, 100% certainty that these messages have no place in business. The car was my line in the sand. Now I must drive it loud and proud.
This is Why I Love the Universe
My conscious mind would have never chosen that path. I would have never thought to put a car at the top of my priority list. It truly never felt important to me. And this is why I love the Universe.
Most of the best decisions I’ve made have had nothing to do with my rational thinking mind. They’ve almost always come from my connection to source. And they’ve almost always made no sense. (Especially to those observing from the outside). And yet here I am.
Following your Truth, being connected to the direction Spirit would have you go, it’s a key point in being the type of person who can motivate a tribe into inspired action. I’ll be teaching more on how to connect with and honor this Truth in my upcoming teleclass, “Level 6: Harness the Power of Connection to Take Your Business to the Next Level.” If you’re registered for my latest video training you are already registered. If not, CLICK HERE.