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How to Improve Your Money Mindset by Facing Your Money Fears so You Can Start Feeling Better Right Now

10/27/2022

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Sunlight shining through forest with green moss forest floor to illustrate improved money mindset

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Whether you have it, you don't, you're striving to get it or get rid of it, money is a huge life learning tool that affects us all in one way or another.



​A Scale of Statistics

For those of you who like numbers, according to the U.S. Federal Reserve in 2022, 32% of Americans wouldn't be able to cover a $400 emergency with cash, savings, or a credit card that they could quickly pay off.

On the flip side, there are 62.5 million millionaires globally according to the 2022 Global Wealth Report by Credit Suisse.
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Why Keeping Your Money Situation in the Dark Isn't A Great Idea

Your personal money situation is one of those subjects that, unless you're pitching a get rich something or the other on YouTube, typically isn't discussed in a public arena.

Whichever end of the scale you're on, conscious or subconscious fears related to money and your money mindset aren't often adequately addressed on a personal level and as a result, can be the source of in-your-face or silent stress.

Personally speaking, as a career entrepreneur, I've experienced the range of highs and lows. When times were exceptionally low, I avoided the subject of money with massive resistance within my own mind because it was a painful subject. Didn't want to think about it, talk about it, just wished the whole issue would fast forward resolve itself and go away.

While I found ways to maintain my financial responsibilities during this time, this internal avoidance wasn't the best way to think about money.

Reason being, and this is a Gold Nugget, is that you can't bring change to any area of your life when you're avoiding or resisting what's going on in your life right now.

Not only that, resisting something naturally repels it.


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Dropping Resistance: An Amazing Example of Strength


I recently finished the book Edith, The Rogue Rockefeller McCormick by Andrea Friederici Ross.

Edith Rockefeller McCormick – the daughter of John D. Rockefeller Sr., widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history – was considered the wealthiest woman in America during her time (1872 - 1932).

Her life's events are well beyond the scope of a blog post, but let's just say it was massively extravagant and unconventional. In the latter part of her life she co-founded a highly successful real estate business with her two partners in Chicago providing housing for low to middle income home buyers among other related ventures.

Following is an example of how she dropped her resistance to her money situation.

The stock market crash in 1929 found Edith's enterprise overextended and people unable to pay their mortgages (sound familiar?). While her business was found to have been run properly upon investigation, everything dissolved and her pleas for family help were ignored. 

While many could not survive the emotional fallout of a devastating financial wipeout, when asked by a banker friend who was trying to help her why she didn't just hightail it out of the country skipping out on her financial responsibilities, she replied,

"I am having the best experience of my life. I have had everything before and have never known what it is to want for anything and not satisfy my longing. I am learning and having much greater feeling towards others."

As the author wrote in an understated comment, "It takes a certain type of mind to appreciate the knowledge acquisition aspect of bankruptcy."

Mindset has a huge affect on your money situation.

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​How This Relates to You

Dropping your resistance to whatever's going on in your money circumstances, whether it's too little, too much, or somewhere in between and allowing yourself the experience of what is begins to free you. You can then take what you've learned from it and move on.

Think of avoidance and resistance like a log jam in a river. Debris and all kinds of stuff begins to backlog. Start breaking up the jam and things begin to flow again.

​Whatever's going on with your money situation, shining a light on it rather than shoving it under the rug brings liberating benefits. Beginning to look at your money mindset from a different perspective and having the courage to face your resistance and your fears does the same. 


For help and hope, check out this free special report: The Astonishing Truth About Your Money Fears: Part 1 – Special Report:
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​1. Discover the Hidden Fear Related to Your Money
2. Alert: Outside Influences Affecting Your Thoughts and Your Money
3. Get In On The Secret: Where Your Money Supply Really Comes From

It's Part 1 of a three-part series.
Click Here to Get Your Copy of the Special Report
Enjoy!
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​
​Your comments are welcome.


Photo Credit: JPlenio (top photo)
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The Power of Self-Control When You're in a Startling Life Emergency

9/10/2022

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self control analogy with moonlit night over lake and dock



​I don't know about you, but I hate, absolutely hate, when a red emergency light suddenly appears in my car dashboard.

It recently happened when I was in a rush to get to a special event when I was in serious need of what I considered a mini-vacation day. 

Food and wine is a casual hobby and I occasionally have the opportunity to be part of a team that puts on high-end outdoor events that feature both. 

Flipping rapid-fire through car diagnostics and doing checks and balances to see if the glaring red brake light would turn off, the final verdict according to the manufacturer was to call a tow truck and get the car immediately serviced.

Knowing there was little traffic on the country road route to my destination, in a split-second decision and with a deep breath to anchor in self-control, I decided to very carefully continue on. If I made it there okay, I'd call my mechanic for advice later.

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A Day to Remember


I did make it. The rest of the day unfolded with –


•  hours of strenuous movement in hot temps with intense sun

•  mindfully drinking lots of liquid to stay hydrated

•  inability to reach my mechanic or a family member

•  sketching out a mental plan for getting the car (and myself) home safely


•  a sudden freak accident at the event that involved a lot of guests and EMS vehicles swarming the site

•  maintaining calm to help relieve the stress of uninjured guests
 

•  continuing on with the event once it was determined there were no deaths or serious injuries

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– until, towards the end of the event, I just had to sit down.




An Odd Experience

My body reacts to pain with rapid heart rate. Although I wasn't in any pain, I'd taken an aspirin earlier to see if that would alleviate the alarming feeling. It didn't.

Team leaders suggested I sit down and hydrate with Gatorade and more water, which I did. It didn't help. Then my body started shaking. As the night-time temps started to cool the air, I was given a blanket. The thought of driving the car home with the red emergency light on added to the anxiety that I was feeling.

Everyone was deeply affected by the pandemonium that happened as a result of the accident and reacted differently behind their "game day" faces. The team leader suggested it contributed to what I was physically experiencing.

As it turned dark and the event set-up was broken down, I continued to sit, drink water and did what I could to self-control breathing between numerous trips to a portable restroom. The shakes continued.

I googled heat exhaustion on my cell phone and found out rapid heart rate could be a factor, so at least I could put a label on what was happening. 




Will I Make it Home?

After most of the crew had left the site, I walked a distance with two team members back to the parking lot in the moonlight, backpack on, determined to drive my car home very slowly with emergency flashers on. I knew the roads were desolate at eleven o'clock at night, so probably wouldn't have to engage the brakes very much unless I encountered deer.

My heart rate was still rapid, despite drinking and eliminating tons of water. Luckily my cell phone was charged in the event cell service was available and 911 was needed. I focused on calming my breathing as the miles ticked by, headlights reaching through fog that had settled over meadows of rolling terrain.

As each segment of travel brought me closer to home (mixed with "I can do this" when I started getting lightheaded), I felt a degree of stress lift. I was ready to kiss the ground when the car was finally back in the driveway. 

Sleep was disrupted by monster thirst and continuing to hydrate and eliminate. Rapid heart rate and new chest pressure continued into the next day. The shakes mercifully stopped. It helped to debrief recalling the events in a phone call to my mom later in the morning.



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Solving a Mystery

While I don't typically spend ten hours straight in the heat and sun while in strenuous motion, I'm in very good condition. What I'd experienced, and was continuing to experience to a lesser degree, was odd and didn't make sense.

Trying to put the puzzle pieces together, I remembered toward the end of the day I'd grabbed unfamiliar cans of what I thought was a cold, carbonated herbal drink that I'd grabbed from a cooler that was on hand for staff.

Doing some detective work, I checked the ingredients online. Turns out this stuff was an exotic energy drink loaded with caffeine and sugar.

When I emailed the team leaders to let them know I made it home okay, I let them know that I felt it was the energy drink that may have been the culprit. I'd learned years ago that my body is sensitive to them in general.

With a thoughtful response, one of the leaders mentioned she had a sensitivity to these drinks as well and that they'd warn people about the potency.  It was her belief that since everyone had been impacted by what had happened at the event, it may have been a combination of everything. I agree. 




Where the Rubber Hits the Road

Although I've written an SOS Toolkit about how to take care of yourself in challenging situations that's based on personal experience, it's easy to write about experiences in retrospect from a desk. 

​It's quite another to experience a concentrated series of events that push your limits while remembering to apply the self-care tools you've written about to help others.


The bottom line was to respond with self-control and remain as calm as possible from the emergency light in the car to the events of that day to the disturbing physical reactions I was experiencing.

It's very satisfying to know that just because things go sideways, we can all learn to find that space within ourselves to dig deep and maintain as needed, when needed.

​Your comments are welcome.
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For All You "Badasses and Angels", with Gratitude

12/16/2021

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The Keanu Reeves Quote That Inspired A Holiday Message To You



​
​Earlier in the year, I shared a post of an interview I gave that first appeared in Authority Magazine|Thrive Global on the subject of gratitude. 

As this time of year, December, is appropriate for self-reflection, I'm sharing the following thoughts that include gratitude and apply to us all.
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I recently saw this quote from actor (Matrix movie and others) Keanu Reeves:


"If you have been brutally broken

but still have the courage

to be gentle to other living beings,


then you're a Badass

with the Heart of an Angel."


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​So many of us have been tossed around by life stuff we never saw coming – it's easy to go cold and hard to survive.



So in this Holiday Season of Light, Kindness, and yes, Angels –


for all you

"Badasses with the Heart of an Angel," ⭐️


here's to keeping on keeping on.



And gratitude,


for choosing to be gentle,

not only with others,

but most importantly – with yourself.




From the heart, ​
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PS:
  In the interview mentioned above, there's an extraordinary real life Angel/Love experience that's shared.

There's also a video link for 
my 5 Ways You Can Leverage The Power of Gratitude to Improve Your Mental and Emotional Health and Well-Being.

•
Here's the link.

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#Inspiration #Holidays2021 #Kindness #Gratitude #Angels #KeanuReeves
Photo: geralt
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What You Focus on Colors Your World

5/19/2020

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PicturePhoto by MALA

​A Timely Life Lesson from "Tammy Faye"


Who IS That?

In case you didn't know, Tammy Faye Bakker was an outspoken televangelist who was in her heyday in the 1970's and 1980's along with her husband, Jim Bakker.

For entrepreneurs reading this, it's worth mentioning that together (starting in an abandoned furniture store) they created the PTL Club and Heritage USA, a retreat and theme park that ranked right alongside Disney World and Disneyland as one of the most popular in the U.S. at the time.

Tammy Faye was known for her emotionalism and sensitivity as much as outlandish glamour and theatrical makeup that often tangled with her tears.

I bought the greeting card in the picture (a true-to-life Tammy Faye parody) for my mom a long time ago. To this day, if I see it sitting on the table by her chair where she has her morning tea, I know something's definitely not right in her world and she's pulled out some positive reinforcement for an attitude adjust in working it through.
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A Breath of Fresh Air

We've all been saturated with "uncertain," "unprecedented," and "challenging"– soaked with facts, figures, and statistics while feeling the impact of what's going on in the world. The effects on us all don't need repeating.

​This week I was in a Zoom meeting with some business friends. The leader of the group started with this timeless quote: 

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"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about these things."
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It's a great reminder.
​
One of the most powerful principles you can apply in your life is to remember that what you focus on expands. Feed something that's upsetting in your world with your energy by thinking and t
alking about it unnecessarily and it grows. Withdraw your energy, and it fades in importance like a Round-up blasted dandelion. 

One of the guys in the meeting, who happens to own an employment agency, said how important it is to acknowledge the good in someone [or something] when you see it. Seemingly simple things can make a huge difference. Putting your attention on the good brings out more – not only from the person who's getting the positive reinforcement – but for yourself because you've dialed into noticing that good.


 
A Focus Shift Exercise for You:


​Because it's one thing to read something and another to experience it, here's a simple exercise you can do for yourself:

1. What's going on in your life that's bothering you? Whether it's a personal or work situation, rate how you're feeling right now on a scale of 1 - 5 with 1 being "I'm in the pits" and 5 being "I'm pretty okay."

2. Whatever you're rating, take some time to reflect on whatever you find noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy, or more simply stated – positive – in that situation. Whether it's about someone or something, give it some time to sink in, be it for an hour or a day. Then check in again with how you're feeling. Has it changed?


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Takeaway:

The Tammy Faye card throws some humor at Laugh and The World Laughs With You, Cry and You Look Like **** (actual words are "cry and you cry alone"). 

​You choose what you decide to focus on. The results of that choice will be reflected in your world through your own sense of mental and emotional health and well-being.

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• Are you (or does someone you care about) feeling like that Tammy Faye photo?
​
Click on the photo below to check out how you can get right now help!


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Copyright 2020-2023 Catherine Lenard. All Rights Reserved.
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A Cat Tale for Keeping Your Holiday Cool

12/11/2019

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Photo ©2019 by MBK (Marjie) and Catherine Lenard

​Whether you have family or no family, holidays can be a time of powerful self-discovery. Because the things that tip your balance are there to show you something about you.
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Something surprising happened when I was sharing the idea for this article with my mom. 

In the background, Daisy (my cat) started wailing in this bizarre sound that comes out of her when she sees another cat and goes all territorial.

I dropped the phone. Moving quickly toward the back of the house, I ran into Daisy rushing toward a front-of-the-house window when, all banshee-eyed and howling, she raised up on her hind legs (think grizzly bear) and took a hard chomp on my leg while delivering a masterful claw swipe.
 
What the? 

Trying to bi-locate to find hydrogen peroxide and paper towels to mop up blood (mine) while letting my mom know that through all the howling (mine and hers) we were both still alive, I followed Daisy to find out what the heck was going on.

Once things calmed down — breathe — it dialed in that through all the drama, I “coincidentally” had a perfect example for this article.
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When she acted so uncharacteristically, she was in the grips of an instinctive animal-react


​The Cat Scenario

​
Although mostly laid back, Daisy has a feisty streak and recently got into a turf war with Rambo. Rambo lives across the nearby meadow and looks like his name suggests.

It happened about a month ago when I was preoccupied with unpacking my car from a trip. Daisy wandered away from the yard into the meadow. After hearing some kind of animal ruckus in the distance, I later watched her jet back to the house.

It wasn’t until after a few days had passed that I realized she’d been part of that clash and was hurt. With due diligence in treating the puncture wounds hidden in her fur, she gradually healed. 

Since then, Daisy’s been on window patrol for anything four-legged that even remotely hints of invading her space.
​

I realized that when she acted so uncharacteristically toward me, she was in the grips of an instinctive animal-react from most likely catching another glimpse of Rambo. And I happened to get in her way.

The things that tip your balance are there to show you something about you.

​
​Here’s How This Relates:


When something painful happens to us humans, we move on in one way or another. But if whatever that painful situation was hasn’t been worked through or attended to, it remains stuck in our consciousness. 

When someone or something triggers this original pain (bring on the holidays), we may go instinctively reactive. Somewhat animal or “reptilian brain” as the clinicians would say, and behave in ways that may later be regretted. 

When you can discover and soothe old hurts that underlie these reactions, the situations that once bothered you no longer will. It’s a process. You know there’s something that needs tending to when you feel your buttons being pushed.


3 Tips for Dealing with Those Moments:


When Daisy doesn’t like something, she [typically] doesn’t attack, she simply gets up and walks away. The idea is to have enough self-control to excuse or remove yourself from a situation before you behave in ways you’ll regret. To give yourself time to come back to center.

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1. Once you’ve calmed down a bit, take the time to ask yourself what’s bothering you about what someone did or said.

2. Take time to identify how you’re feeling about what someone did or said (angry, sad, upset, hurt, annoyed, outraged, etc.)

3. While these tips are simply stated, they can help you empower yourself to get through those feisty Rambo-like situations. 

 While discovering more about you. 

Without taking a chomp out of someone else.

Because having the satisfaction to know, despite whatever’s going on, that you not only 1) learned more about yourself, but also 2) kept your cool, is in itself a huge gift to you.
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To a Peaceful Season, ;-)
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​Copyright ©2019 Catherine Lenard. All rights reserved.
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When Life Gets Hard: Suicide Prevention Awareness Month

9/5/2018

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People who take their lives don't want to die–
they just want to stop hurting. 

​​World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) is globally observed on September 10th each year in order to provide worldwide awareness, commitment, and action to prevent suicides. Here are some facts:

  • ​An estimated one million people per year die by suicide or about one person in 10,000 (3,000 every day)
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  • On average, 3 male suicides are completed and reported for every 1 female suicide in almost every country in the world
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  •  Suicide attempts in women tend to be 2-3 times higher than in men, although the gender gap has narrowed in recent years
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  • A 2009 U.S. Army report indicates military veterans have double the suicide rate of non-veterans ​
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  • Suicide is the most common cause of death in young people from ages (approximately)  15 – 30
​​​

In the United States, National Suicide Prevention Week (NSPW) is an annual week-long campaign (September 9 - 15) in the United States to inform and engage health professionals and the general public about suicide prevention and the warning signs of suicide. It's purpose is also to reduce the stigma and encourage seeking mental health help.

According to Major David Reynolds, chief of Clinical Health Psychology at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, "The vast majority of people don't commit suicide because they want to kill themselves, but as a way to end the torment of not being able to cope with their problem."

While your world can feel temporarily black and like it will never change, remember, your viewpoint can change, and there are those who want to, and will help you, get through it. You're not alone.
​


What to do if you're feeling suicidal or need help for someone you care about? Call Now (it's free):
​
1-800-273-TALK (8255)
US NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION LIFELINE

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​More Help: http://suicidepreventionlifeline.org
​
International: http://iasp.info/resources


Also, a comprehensive article for what to do for yourself or someone you know.

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​Pass it on . . .
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    ​Welcome,

    ​We all have life challenges. Some you see, some you don't.

    Your Divine Riches was created to make it easier for you to not only get through existing changes, but to also discover how to deliberately create changes you want in your life.

    You're invited to check out the rest of my website to Learn More.

    :-) Catherine
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  • Home
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