Visualizing Your Millionaire Self
As we continue exploring the concept of financial abundance, it’s so important to really define what an abundant life would look like for you. Not for somebody else, not what you see on social media, but your dream life.
It’s easy to say things like “I wish I was rich” or “If I had more money I’d be happy.” What’s more challenging (but also more practical and fun) is to be specific about what you want. Think about what you’d do if you woke up tomorrow morning to find several million dollars in your bank account! How would that make you feel? I’m guessing you’d feel pretty fantastic; I know I’d be elated and would get busy right away deploying that money like little soldiers to the various areas of my financial life in need of reinforcements.
Here are some key elements and questions to play around with and journal about as you visualize your future abundant multi-millionaire (or billionaire, you decide!) life:
Have I stopped worrying about how to cover the basics such as food, housing, transportation, and healthcare, if those were big worries before?
What does it feel like having all my loans, credit card debt, outstanding medical bills, and other debt 100% paid off ? Do I feel light and free?
What does my new daily routine look like?
Where do I live? Have I moved, or am I still in my current location?
Where do I work (or do I work at all)? If I work, how much money do I now make monthly/yearly?
Have I gone back to school, changed careers, invested in my professional development, expanded my current business?
Do I take better care of my health, and invest more in my wellness, nutrition, and physical fitness?
How much money is now in my banking accounts when I log on to my online accounts? How much money do I need there to feel financially secure? Have I set up retirement accounts and hired a financial advisor to help me become a good steward of my new-found wealth?
Is paying bills more fun than it used to be, now that I have more than enough money to cover everything?
What do I do for fun?
What kind of home do I live in? What about the clothes I wear, the car I drive, and the way my home is furnished? Do I still do the housework, yardwork, and cooking, or have I hired someone else do those tasks for me?
If I have children, do I have more help with childcare? Where do they attend school? What about their colleges? What kind of opportunities can I offer them that I couldn’t before? If I have grandchildren, what kinds of educational and other experiences am I able to help them with now?
If I’m a caregiver for an elderly relative, do I have more help with that huge responsibility now? Does my load feel lighter?
If I’m married, do I still fight with my partner about money (if we argued before)? Or has it ceased to be an area of contention for us? Are family money discussions fun and exciting as we plan how to responsibly use our wealth?
If I’m single, do I still date the same kind of people I used to, or am I now raising my standards and only dating potential partners who treat me well and are financially responsible?
Am I able to be more generous with others in my community? What kind of charities and causes do I support now?
How do I feel (in this fabulous new abundant life of mine) when I wake up in the morning? Do I feel less stressed, anxious, and/or depressed about money?
All this to say, what do you want your abundant financial life to look like? It often takes money to make our life goals happen (annoyingly enough), but what if money wasn’t a problem for you anymore? My guess is that you’d be living quite differently and making different choices than you are right this minute. In my case at least, financial reality drives 99% of my life decisions, and there are still many things I’m doing without that I would absolutely make happen if I was suddenly independently wealthy!
If you’re still drawing a blank on what your dream abundant financial life looks like, it’s okay. Maybe this is literally the first time you’ve ever thought about it. Also, our brains hate change, so it’s often simpler and less scary to keep dragging along day after day with our old financial habits and mindset than it is to move towards abundant change. And let’s be honest, money/finance is a topic that can make many of us feel stressed, intimidated, and/or freaked out. (I mean, finance involves numbers which are scarily reminiscent of math which was my most-hated subject all through school!) Again, totally normal and completely understandable.
In this case, here’s what I suggest you ask yourself:
What don’t I want in my financial life anymore?
What drives me nuts about my current paycheck/income/job?
What do I dislike most about my daily routine/daily life?
What opportunities do I see my friends enjoying and wish I had too/could offer to my children or loved ones?
What things do my friends have/influencers I follow on social media display that make me feel like a jealous green-eyed monster? (Jealousy is often a sign that we’re wanting to manifest that particular thing in our own lives, so it can be useful in its own way…as long as we don’t go overboard with it and let it consume us or stop us from taking productive action.)
By now, I’m sure you’ve thought of lots of things that would exist in your personalized abundant life. For whatever reason, I am excellent at going on and on and on about what I don’t want in my life (this is also known as complaining), but if someone stops me and asks, “Sarah, but what do you want in your life?” I suddenly can’t think of a thing. Maybe you’re like this too. It’s time for us to flip the script on our brains so we can manifest the abundant financial life that’s out there waiting for us!
There’s a concept popularized by therapist Marissa Peer that if you can dream it, you can make it happen. Our minds are incredibly good at telling us stories: let’s make sure they’re abundant stories that lead to abundant action and thus in time create abundant realities for us! Let’s choose the narrative that makes us feel happier, lighter, freer and more excited about life.