Living Large When Your Pocketbook Isn't

Tumbling stocks and a world economic crisis – not exactly the words a person wants to hear. These words don’t exactly drum up feelings of living large – on the contrary they often spark the panicked ‘lack’ feelings deep inside many of us.

So what’s a person to do when they’re inundated by negative news, experiencing major economic challenges and they still want to live large and enjoy life?

First, we need to start with a major mind shift from negative to positive. Sounds easy but when you try to do this, you’ll probably be met by the negative beliefs in your mind. After all, it’s hard to think positive when people around you may be losing their homes or jobs or you may be faced with this.

If you think I’m being a Pollyanna, just know this: right now I’m also the co-owner of a high-end menswear store. What does this mean right now? Everything. Women will shop for clothing for themselves despite the economy. Men try to avoid clothing shopping even when things are great so a massive market dive simply means they’ll visit Home Depot and fix that old bathroom and skip the new suit.

One morning I awoke and realized ‘This is a challenge and an opportunity. There’s a shift in the way the world economy runs – a shift in thinking…possibly a shift from a ‘throw-away society’ to one that’s more responsible, that uses things longer, that recycles, that cares for Mother Earth.’ Clearly, there’s an evolution going on and it’s not all bad like the news would want us to believe.

It’s important to realize that nature ebbs and flows, money ebbs and flows, the tides ebb and flow – everything in nature has an upside and downside. What does this mean to you? If you’re experiencing challenging times, it won’t last forever. Things will improve – especially if you take charge instead of feeling helpless.

In order to get positive in your mind, you may need to start with something really simple – be thankful for what you currently have right now in your life. This could be the fact that you can feed your family, you have a place to live or your health is relatively fine. Take baby steps if you’re feeling overwhelmed and not really in a thankful place.

By now, most of you have heard of The Law of Attraction. Without getting into too much detail, the basic law is that: ‘Whatever you focus on, you attract.’ Therefore, focusing on debt will attract more debt because your mind isn’t looking for ways to get out of this situation – it’s focusing on what you have now.

If you want to live a large life, you need to add beliefs to your current life to put you in alignment with what you desire. You must focus on what you desire. How do you do this? Start with this main philosophy – treat yourself.

For example, you dream of getting that Sports Massage and then you get your VISA statement in the mail and know you have to pay it. Your energy drops and the back massage seems like a luxury you can’t afford. So, you don’t book the massage. The result – you feel empty, stressed out and uninspired. You also don’t see the possibilities of positive change because you’re buried by present problems.

When you treat yourself to something you love, you feel empowered, believe you’re worth it and attract more opportunities. Stop feeling guilty – you need to build up your mental, physical and emotional reserves now more than ever. Think – strength, and focus on all things that create this for you.

If your pocketbook hasn’t caught up to your plans and you dream of visiting Hawaii but are unable to, don’t give up on treating yourself. Plan a 3 day excursion and make it fun. You can treat yourself without breaking the bank – buy a specialty coffee, see a movie, visit friends, take a spa day…

Want fancy champagne and a five star hotel but the finances aren’t there? Try this:

1. Book a spa treatment: once a month book a fancy treatment to show you deserve it and that your finances will continue to grow to support more activities like this.

2. Treat yourself to the best food: top quality champagne, juicy steaks, lobster, and other yummy foods will put you in a good space. You should have one really great meal at least once a month. You may prepare this food at home or dine out at a fancy restaurant.

3. Take a day off: take a day and do something fun and frivolous just for you. If you can’t leave work right now – use your weekend and don’t do any chores. Use the time to sleep in, read, play sports or see an event.

4. Book a vacation: escape the doldrums and have fun. You might take a week and travel or go somewhere warm during winter. If this isn’t in the cards, try a three day excursion to another city and be a tourist. Cruises often have repositioning cruises that are fun and inexpensive. Use your imagination and plan something – this way you’ll have something to look forward to that will mentally help you cope during challenging times.

5. Test-drive a new car: Take a spin in a car you'd love, take a picture of yourself in it and imagine what it would take to make your dream car be in your life. Maybe you can’t get it right now but doesn’t it feel great to cruise in it for a few minutes?

6. Exercise: The best thing you can do when you’re stressed it exercise. Why? When you’re stressed out, the stress hormone Cortisol, is released into your blood stream and long term effects of it can damage your heart, wreak havoc on your sleep patterns and much more. When you exercise, you flush this hormone out of your body and release Endorphins – natures ‘happy drug.’ After a workout, you feel like you can tackle the world. So…get out there and lift weights, get your body moving – blast through stress.

7. A Vision Board: gather pictures, words and images that reflect what you want in your life. Cut and paste them to a board and study it every day. Or, use an online vision board and set your computer desktop so you see these images every day that you’re on your computer. You might not see immediate effects but your subconscious mind will line up things in your day that may seem like coincidences but aren’t when you pay attention.

8. People: Hang out with people who live large or focus on the positive aspects of life. Laughter is the best remedy so go see that comedian, see a funny movie with friends, have a house party.

Remember: living large is about attitude, not the current financial situation. Don’t discount your thoughts to a better life – introduce small pieces into your current life so you’re thinking of abundance instead of lack.

Crack open that bottle of Dom Perignon and split it with three friends – catch the spirit of transition, growth and change.