Oct 24, 2017
Work and money - they run everything, right? What part of life is really sucking you in, and what is sucking you down? Maybe it’s not just about work and money. You know there is more to it than that. So how do you manage this…and shift this mindset?
Welcome to Season Three on the Mama Says Namaste Podcast. In this series, we will focus on how to clear the clutter not just from your home, but also your head and your heart to create that space for clarity and connection.
Join me and dive in to "The Minimalist To-Do List!”
Our week - full of awesomeness filming for Ashley’s new “90 Day Road Trip” course. Learn more about the upcoming course and some tips for your own family adventure by going to www.MamaSaysNamaste.com/familyadventure
“Never get so busy living that you forget to make a life.”
What part of life is sucking you in, and what part is sucking you down?
Anxiety merely draws your attention to an illusion.
Life has a lot of moving parts
If I were to break life up into different components, it would go something like what follows. Yet even in separating this out, you will see that life simply is. In our unschooling world, we don’t split subjects up into math, English and science; we incorporate it all into life skills that blend them together.
Think of this concept as we dive in – here are the areas of our lives again that I brought up last week:
• Work
• Finances
• Family
• Spiritual/Emotional
• Personal Development
• Physical
• Social
• Life Tasks
Work
Let’s cut straight to the chase – this is the big kahuna that seems to dictate our lives. Work sucks all our energy. I’m talking about what pays the bills and keeps the lights on. This area of our lives can dominate everything else, especially when it’s lacking. When work is sucking the life out of you, and when you are struggling to make ends meet, this can become the focus of everything.
Yikes. We can’t ignore this and only set aside a tiny bit of energy to work – work needs to go beyond paying the bills and give you some pleasure as well. My father’s business mission statement is to “release dreams into purposeful and profitable work…in 48 Days” – his whole business is around finding work you truly love, and planning your work around the life you want, not the other way around.
The best way to predict your future is to create it.
Find work you love -this sounds simplistic, but for something that is the fuel to get your basic needs met, don’t let it suck all the life out of you. You are your own boss regardless of what job you have – take responsibility for this and make sure this aspect of your life isn’t soul-sucking. If you need help finding – or creating – the work you love, my other role is within 48Days.com, where my father has written books and created valuable resources and coaching around helping people find work they thrive in.
This takes up a large portion of people’s lives – even if you are a stay at home parent, this affects you – it affects your spouse who is working, and it affects the dynamics at home.
Work is an exchange of energy. Is that exchange of energy worth what you are getting out of it?
This isn’t the exact commercial Nathan was talking about, but conveys the same message, and is perfect as we prepare for the holidays: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ3ePGr8Q7k
Which wolf are you feeding? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__cdpyF5nLk
Bracket your time with work so you can manage and control it. The goals and ideas aren’t going to just stop and wrap themselves up into a tidy bow. You have to learn to draw the line. Time block. Manage and communicate what is important to you.
If you need community to lift you up, check out www.48DaysEagles.com
Finances
Finances are stressful – add in debt and you can feel like your life is ruled by it. You become a slave to work simply to keep your head above water. It’s easy to fall into the mindset of every time you see a dollar sign, it becomes a “can I afford it” scenario.
I’ve experienced the fear of finances, feeling like there were expenses everywhere and I couldn’t afford to really enjoy anything. I know what it’s like to be a slave to work and stress about how we’re going to pay for everything. We got intentional with our money and we worked to get out of the hole. The biggest shift, however, came from a simple game that changed my way of thinking.
As Nathan got into the world of real estate, his mentors and coaches invited us to play this game with them, and I had a huge paradigm shift. Cashflow is an intimidating game, especially if you aren’t a realtor. In the game, you switch from being in the “rat race” to being an investor, and the light bulb went off as I went from “can I afford this” to “is this a worthwhile investment?” When I shifted my perspective to that of abundance vs. simply what I could afford, I viewed it differently and created a different concept of money being my friend vs. my enemy.
Here is Cashflow for adults (http://amzn.to/2zLA6XO), and Cashflow for kids (http://amzn.to/2y2LDQs)
Give from a full cup – be abundant in your life and your mindset
Money doesn’t have to be our downfall. We don’t have to make it an acrimonious relationship. Money can be a tool to allow you more time, energy, and resources to give back and serve. My father has an incredible analogy here on giving from a full cup:
How to Give From A Full Cup (https://vimeo.com/152632600)
Get out of debt. Easier said than done, especially with a growing family. More mouths to feed (that oh my gosh get hungrier and hungrier as they grow), more and more day-to-day living expenses. When you don’t have the surplus, it can be very difficult to move to a feeling of abundance in this area. My friend Derek Olsen has some excellent resources and advice on getting out of debt over at his site How Do I Money. It is essential to get out of the “can I afford it” mentality and look, instead, at what is a worthwhile investment. Come to this with a feeling of abundance, and remember that riches go way beyond just your income.
Nothing bleeds over into every area as much as finances. It affects our work and our feeling a slave to it, it affects our relationships, it affects our overall mentality on life. Finances are the least compartmentalized out of everything because of it’s ability to dictate our psyche for every other aspect of our lives. Let’s switch the perspective on it and get on top of it. Let’s switch to abundant thinking and living, and be stewards of our finances in a way that allows us to do more, be more, and give so, so much more to others – beyond the finances to the time and energy it affords us as well.
Picture of our broken drive shaft day: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10105505900348455&set=a.10101045871556905.2751335.9407091&type=3
Care for some Q&A? Hit us with any questions you have, and we’ll send you a personal email response back and may address it on a future podcast! Simply email Ashley directly at Ashley@MamaSaysNamaste.com
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*Podcast music by the awesome Renee & Jeremy who cover "Put a Little Love In Your Heart" by Jackie DeShannon. Props to both of them for this beautiful rendition that epitomizes what I want for families!