Abundance Bound podcast / episode seven: Vision

MIATA:
Abundance is not about the amount of money you have. It’s about the quality of the relationship that you have with your money.

KRISTINE:
And no matter where you’re at right now, you can decide to become someone who is bound to abundance. Someone who is committed to having a healthier and more compassionate relationship with your money. And you can decide to become someone who is bound towards abundance, someone who is stepping into a more expansive financial future.

MIATA:
We are here to help you become abundance bound.

KRISTINE:
So who are you Miata Edoga?

MIATA:
I am someone who absolutely loves trapezing – and I am the founder of the Abundance Bound Financial Education Company. And who are you, Kristine Oller?

KRISTINE:
I am someone with immense gratitude for Kat Lid, and Donald Paz who each recently added glowing reviews to our Apple podcast page. Thanks, guys, for taking the time to do that. It means a lot.

MIATA:
It means a lot, it does. Thank you.

KRISTINE:
And I’m the developer and coach of the Creating Cashflow Program that lives inside of your Abundance Bound Financial Empowerment Program – and I am a person who I doesn’t think I’m ever going to trapeze and I literally remember falling out of my chair when you’re like: “I’m taking trapeze class!”

MIATA:
I feel like it’s something you should try at least once.

KRISTINE:
But today, we’re going to talk about vision.

MIATA:
Vision. It’s another just super-important word. I like to think of my vision as my North Star. It’s: “Where am I headed? What am I up to?” And I think it plays such a critical role in how we’re showing up in the world. And I think it’s something that often we don’t pay enough attention to. We get very caught up in the daily doing and goals – goals are something that is really hit very hard. And don’t get me wrong, we teach about goal setting and breaking it down, but I think we forget that leading it all is the vision. And man, taking the time to actually create that and paint that picture and then to keep it as a living, breathing part of who you are. I think it can change everything.

KRISTINE:
The way I talk about it with my clients is… we’re down in the details of daily life… down in the details, going, going, and doing, doing, doing. And we need to pull up to the Big Picture Perspective, where we can kind of see all the parts of our lives. And it’s from that Big Picture Perspective, that’s where the planning happens and that’s where the visioning happens. And I think one of the things that really contributes towards success is getting good at being down in the details, and then zooming out, and then going back in the details and then zooming out again – to make course corrections, to see how you’re on track. And oftentimes we do that maybe once or twice a year… you know, at the end of the year… maybe on your birthday. The pace of life is like a magnet keeping us down in the details.

MIATA:
It’s hard to keep up our energy down in those details – I don’t want to use the word “grind” because I don’t think it has to be a grind, it certainly doesn’t show up all the time that way at all – but I do think that that expansiveness (and I almost wish people could see us because we keep making this motion with our arms of just lifting and opening up), that is actually where we get energy. That is actually where we get the inspiration and the fuel that we then bring back into the details. That’s where it comes from.

KRISTINE:
I think you’re absolutely right. That is where we get the energy to use down in the details.

MIATA:
It can feel overwhelming, right? “What’s my vision for my life?” What I mean when I talk about vision is: “What is the texture that you would like to create?” So I’m not just talking about stuff: “I want to have this amount of money in the bank, and I want to have these kinds of cars. And I’d like to have this house.” When it comes to your financial relationship: “What kind of relationship do you want to have?” I have a vision of a financial relationship that is peaceful, that feels organized, that feels fun, that feels clear and growing, that that relationship is growing. Sure, there may be stuff that is connected to that, there are certainly ways that I am going to have to show up to make that vision a reality, but I actually find it incredibly freeing to look at that vision in terms of the texture – the way I want to feel around that relationship. When I think in terms of: “I would like to have $2 million in the bank and this much in retirement,” like, I don’t know, that is hard to really be inspired by.

KRISTINE:
And I think the reason it’s hard to sometimes be inspired by that is because the next question that comes up in your mind is: “How is that going to happen? How am I going to do that? How is that possible?” And we don’t know, the “how.” We don’t know how our life is going to unfold necessarily. So when you start asking: “Well, how is that going to happen?” it seems very vague and very iffy. And so maintaining a connection to the vision when it’s about things, or accomplishments, it can be hard to maintain that connection. And that’s why, when I’m working with people, it’s not necessarily: “Where do you want to be in terms of your career?” But: “Who do you want to be in five years? In 10 years? Who do you want to be with your money?” Because you have influence over who you are being in the world. Incrementally, you make sure that you’re making choices in alignment with your vision – or your North Star, as you said – and that’s the functionality of vision. We mentioned one function of having a vision is it gives you an energy source to plug into that really literally gives you energy and inspiration. And the second piece of functionality of having a vision is you use it when you make your decisions. It helps you make decisions quicker, faster. And the speed of decision making is definitely a component of success. Sometimes you don’t have all the information and pulling from your vision of like: “Is this in alignment with my vision or not?” can sometimes be a very clear “yes” or “no.”

MIATA:
Yes, yes, yes! I’ve had the biggest smile on my face while you’ve been talking because, you know, you and I want to have these Big Picture conversations, and we also want to bring them down from the clouds. Because, oh, there’s so much about “visualizing into my future” and that’s not what we’re talking about.

KRISTINE:
It’s not what we’re talking about.

MIATA:
There is an absolutely critical, practical reason why you must not blow this off. Because people come to the financial workshop just looking for the tips and looking for the tools. But when we do not have clarity about the financial relationship we are seeking to create – when we don’t even understand that that is actually what we are doing – you cannot maintain the tips and the tools. When I know that I want a financial relationship that is peaceful – and peaceful is such a strong word for me… too many of us do not feel that when it comes to this critical relationship in our lives – but that directs how I’m going to have to show up. If I’m not willing to sit down to look at my numbers to figure out a software or a system that works for me or to get some coaching, if I need it, to actually integrate that system into my life, then of course, that relationship will remain chaotic. So yes, I feel some fear and sense some anxiety, perhaps when it comes to actually sitting down and downloading the software and figuring it out and getting it up and running. Of course, there are challenges associated to that. But what drives me, and what will continue to bring me back to those actions, those behaviors, those habits, is the vision I have of the relationship with money that I want… that isn’t going to happen magically.

KRISTINE:
Becoming an adult, to me, is just not about age. It’s really about things like being able to give yourself permission, being able to define terms like “success” for yourself, your own definitions. And I would put “claiming your own vision” as part of being an adult. Because some of us grew up very heavily under someone else’s vision of what our life should be like. And that could be something that came from our family, it could be something that came from our culture or religion, even the media. And as an adult, you have the opportunity to go: “I’m going to (as you say) paint this picture for myself.” Another really important reason to have a vision is because our 24/7 news cycle – and the fact that we’re hearing news from around the world 24/7, not just like from our own backyard 24/7 – can be depressing. And feeling like: “Oh, well, the world’s melting, so why bother?” And having a vision that you’re connected to for yourself – even just in terms of your relationship with money and your relationship with how you want to share your gifts with the world – it’s a counterbalance to the input that you’re getting from parents and culture and media, and others that have plans for your future. So you can create that counter balance. And I think that that is something that helps us to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

MIATA:
Everything that you’ve just spoken to is also why this cannot be a New Year’s exercise, a mid-year exercise. What we’re really talking about today is actually deciding that your vision is going to become an active part of your life. Because everything you just said about once we become adults, giving ourselves permission to have our own vision that also requires – I don’t know whether the right word is “practice” – but it requires us being willing to live in the vision, to have it become comfortable, to have it become familiar. Because otherwise, what happens is that there are certain things we’re just used to… I am used to the way my parents ran my household, I’m used to the kind of home that we grew up in, I used to what the energetic environment was in that home, the way that people think, the way that people spoke… all of us were used to those things. And often our vision will go far beyond what we’re used to. But we need to recognize that we’re now going to have to actually really spend time and energy familiarizing ourselves with who we are now choosing to be in this world, not just who we’ve been kind of without much thought. This is a real, practical thing that we can all start doing right now.

KRISTINE:
It’s a totally active practice, you are 100%, right on that. It’s going from details to bigger picture and details to bigger picture – like a heartbeat, almost – throughout your week and throughout your month, not just a few times a year. Because look, you could look at your life, and you can look at my life – in just the past two years, three years – wow, it hasn’t really gone in ways that we expected it to. There have been good things, and there have been real challenges. And it can be so easy to keep looking at your life, your career, your side biz, your relationship with money, your relationship with your partner, all of those things and just feel like: “I’m not there yet. I’m not there yet.” And sometimes you are not there yet! You’re not there yet, or life throws you a curveball, and you’re like: “Oh, not only am I not there yet, but I’m really going to take a longer path to get there than I thought I was going to!” And what can soothe you and restore your spirit in those moments is: “Okay, I’m not there yet, but I am moving in alignment with my vision. I’m not going off my inner course. My decision making is moving me in alignment with my vision.” And that is really all we can expect from ourselves. And really, that’s the path to success.

MIATA:
Yeah, that’s so important. Because when something is happening, that you “don’t like,” and I put that in quotes – whether it’s that you’re currently working in a job you don’t like, or whether it’s an illness for yourself, or for a family member who you love, or just any of the kinds of frustrations that happen – we have such a tendency at those moments to just really focus down on the nitty gritty thing of what is happening that we don’t like. And I think that can have this real kind of quicksand effect of just sinking us lower and lower into the pain of it. When we are not connected to the vision of who we are choosing and wanting to be in the world, we pretend that: “I can be that person when I’m doing things I love. And then I can be this other person when I’m doing things that I don’t love so much.” And that is not actually possible. I need to decide who I am. And the more that I show up as that person in every situation – which being connected to my vision will help me to do – the greater likelihood that that situation will begin to shift and change in powerful ways.

KRISTINE:
What I hear you talking about is really a separation of your vision from your current circumstances. The vision of the relationship you want to have with money that you are making decisions from, that you are trying to live into with every step that you take, that is happening, whether you have two nickels in the bank, or you have $350,000 that just came into your life. The vision’s the same of who you want to be with your money. And it’s not: “Well I’ll be that once I get that.” Right? Then you don’t really get that without being that, or you don’t hold on to it without being that, or you don’t actually feel satisfied inside without being connected to the vision. The vision is what fills you up inside, not the $350,000.

MIATA:
One of the things I love the most is seeing our Financial Empowerment Program members really choosing who they are going to be around money and using the program to reinforce it, to create accountability around it, to keep learning and growing in that relationship in who they’re choosing to be around their money. And what we then see is we see how, as their abundance and their external results expand, we see how unbelievably prepared they are and how it just seems natural, the ways that it’s flowing into their lives. As opposed to the belief of so many, which is that: “I will start being that person, as soon as this thing comes, or this thing shows up.” It’s almost like we’re wired to believe that that will work. That I will become that person “when this happens” as opposed to looking at the ways to be that person now.

KRISTINE:
And for those folks who are listening, going: “Gosh, you know, I get what you’re saying. But it’s always been really hard for me to connect to a vision…” And that could be for many reasons. One, it could be for trauma that is experienced – where there’s something that happens inside your body when you start to think bigger expansiveness or look towards the future that feels unsafe. The unsafety of not knowing… and sometimes just being down in the details where everything is in your eyesight, it feels safer. So that can be something that can prevent someone from sort of being able to envision for themselves. And another thing is, is that we are naturally wired in our relationship to time in one of three ways. There are people who are naturally inclined towards the future. I’m just one of those people, that’s where my mind likes to go. And then there are people who are naturally attuned and sensitive to the present. So the future may not seem that important. And then there are people who are naturally inclined and wired to be more connected to the past, to look to the past for information about the vision – which can be very short sighted, because what your parents did, or what has already happened, doesn’t necessarily reflect what’s possible for you. So 1) you might have a limitation in this regard, 2) that’s okay, you’re not broken and 3) all that means is that if this vision thing has never really clicked with you, it doesn’t mean it won’t click, and it probably means you would do well, in an environment, like the Financial Empowerment Program, for example, where there’s just a group of people who are steeping in this, and who can help you. It’s about just loosening yourself up to it and stretching the way your brain thinks. It’s just a new perspective. And it is absolutely possible for everyone, it just may not be as natural or easy for everyone.

MIATA:
Thank you for that. Because honestly, I feel like I’ve just learned a whole lot. And I can look at the times in my life where a really powerful new direction in my vision has come from outside of me – it has come from you, or has come from someone else in my life. And again, there’s another powerful piece of community is that our vision does not have to solely come from within our brains. In fact, sometimes people see possibilities for us that we don’t see ourselves for a variety of reasons.

KRISTINE:
Yeah, and a vision doesn’t always come as a bolt of lightning or a download from the universe. Like it’s not necessarily coming at you whole, already complete. It can be pieced together and it can change.

MIATA:
Yes. This is not a written in stone. This is a living, breathing document.

KRISTINE:
And now, we’re all going to envision you on a trapeze – for whatever reason.

MIATA:
And actually, for me, this really connects to vision! Because I have always had these dreams about the way that I was going to be athletic. Growing up, I wanted to do gymnastics, I wanted to do diving, I wanted to do ice skating. And the truth was, I wasn’t really good at any of those things. I was the runner. I was really fast. I could do high jump and long jump and the sprints. But in adulthood, I found the thing that was sort of like the ice skater and the gymnast and the diver all in one. And that ended up being trapezing. And honestly, I just went on a vacation with my son and a friend and they had trapezing lessons every day. It does frighten me – it’s climbing the ladder up to the platform. That is the hardest part for me. I don’t know a lot of physics, but the physics of it, I think, really allows my body to do some of those things that I always wished I could do in gymnastics – to be upside down and to, you know, release and fly through the air a little bit. I love it. And it’s honestly something that I don’t want to let too much time pass without doing it because I I love it. I feel connected. I feel like I’m flying. And I also feel like I’m stepping beyond my fears when I’m up there.

KRISTINE:
I want to want to do it… but I really don’t want to do it. Not to offend trapeze – that’s across the board with all physical activity. For me, it’s like: “Meh.” I love that you did do it. And I was amazed when you first told me about it. So I’m living vicariously. Alright, so we’ll team up next month –

MIATA:
– can’t wait.

This podcast is our invitation to you an invitation to accelerate your progress towards a more expansive future by joining us in the Abundance Bound Financial Empowerment Program. It’s an invitation to develop a healthier relationship with your money, one that is less conflicted, less neglectful, less desperate. Our program offers a warm, friendly environment where you’ll have the space and time to work at your own speed and get the hands on support you need. You’ll receive step by step guidance that will help you strengthen your money mindset. Practice consistent money management and create additional streams of income to fund the life you want to live. Your next step is to learn more. So take a moment today and visit: AbundanceBound.com/financial-empowerment.

KRISTINE:
All of the show notes for this episode are available at AbundanceBound.com/the-podcast. We are delighted you are listening. Please keep taking very good care of your very talented self.

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