And This Is God's Answer

I just want to make a quick post because God answered my question last night and it really struck me. It is somehow connected with the most recent addition to my How I Became Financially Series, My Emotional Why.

Last night, I was yet again reminded of my financial situation thus far. I was feeling helpless again because I wanted to buy something but I don't have the money yet, and I don't want having to depend on someone's goodness to pay for it. 

I wanted to buy myself a laptop because I am finally feeling the need to have one. Before, it is okay not to buy one yet because we have a desktop computer at home that I can use. I don't have to mind sharing it with my mother and sister because I prefer to work when everyone is asleep anyways. But now, I am abroad, living with my relatives, and I feel like I am imposing on them. I mean, being a freelance virtual assistant, having my own computer is one of the most important investments I should have. 

I am so used with making do with what I have (with what was given to me), that sometimes I neglect to think ahead and think wisely with the investments I make. Yes, I have tried to budget my salary accordingly so that I can set aside funds for my laptop fund. But then, some emergency happens and I (or my family) need money, and there goes my savings. Ideally, what was set aside for specific funds should not be "borrowed" for other expenses, but then there are situations wherein practicality is called for.

Anyway, the point here is that, there are just times in my life that I ask myself, 

"Why am I not rich? Why don't I have lots of money?"

And the times I pray,

"Lord, what else am I doing wrong? Why am I not financially stable yet? I'm doing the best I can. Why is there still no change? Lord, please make me financially free."

More or less, these are my thoughts last night. When I opened my e-mail, this morning and saw a GodWhispers message, I felt silly and grateful at the same time because of God's message for me last night.

Dear Joanne Christine,

One of the biggest reasons why many don't receive my blessings is because they rely on me too much--and don't do anything!

Wake Up,
God

P.S. Always remember: I won't do for you what you can do for yourself. If I did, you won't grow, Joanne Christine. And I want you to!

So that's it. I am not saying that I am not doing anything for my financial freedom. But I know that what I am doing for the moment are not the only things that I can do. There are still many ways and avenues that I can try out and explore to see if that vehicle is the right one for me. But, I think I still lack the courage to get out of my comfort zone, plus I am still struggling with how I can effectively manage my time work-wise. 

I am still praying to God that He'll continue to bless me with the right mindset to attract wealth in my life. I am still praying that He'll continue to guide me to the right path, let me meet the right people, and bless me with the right opportunities so that I can be soon financially free. And most of all, I am still praying that I may have the courage, wisdom and discernment to live my life following His will and wish for me because I know that He only has my best in mind. 

When Lyf Throws U Lessons

But aside from praying, the lesson here is that God already gave (and is continuously giving) me everything I need to prosper and be wealthy. All I need to do is to acknowledge them and make the best with what I am given. And if I am stuck, then it is my job to get out of my rut and look for the path that God paved for me. I should not expect for Him to always do things for me. Yes, He will always be there to guide me and cheer me on, but I should do the things that I can do to achieve what I want to achieve. And when I have done everything that I can do, then I can confidently leave the rest to God's hands. =D

Praying for your happiness,

Joanne

How I Became Financially Free: My Emotional Why

Last month, through my "How I Became Financially Free: Introduction" entry, I made a (daring) proclamation that I will achieve financial freedom in the near future. I also shared how God prepared my way, from being a person who lacks hope, purpose, and worth to a person who is now filled with so much hope, purpose and worth.

I am now full of hope that one day I will be fully healed from my past demons; that one day I will be free of my worries about the future; and that one day I will be financially free. Moreover, a part of the purpose that I have been searching my whole life is now revealed to me: one of my life missions is to share my stories and learning in life through my writing. But the most important thing is that I am now learning to believe in, value, accept, and embrace my worth. I am now loving myself more and more each day.

For this entry, let me now share to you the reasons why I want to be financially free.

The Emotional Why

One of the blessings I regularly receive from being a member of Bo Sanchez' Truly Rich Club are Bo's PowerTalk mp3s.And one of his talk is about how to find our emotional why. But first, what is this emotional why anyway? And why is it so important to find out our emotional why?

In the simplest terms, emotional why is the hunger, the desire, that fuels us to do something. Our emotional why is what drives us to strive for something. This is one of the defining factors of whether we are going to achieve our goals or not. Let's face it, most - if not all - of us want to be successful in life. But how come not all of us attain great success? How come some, despite their desire to become successful, settle for mediocrity? The answer to that is because the level of one's emotional why differs from others. And as Bo said, the bigger and more powerful our emotional why, the greater is our motivation to achieve our goals.

The more powerful our emotional why, the greater is our motivation to achieve our goals. -Bo Sanchez, Find Your Emotional Why

My Frustrations

According to Bo, our emotional why has two parts: frustration and fantasy. Most often than not, we are driven by our frustrations in life. The pain they cause, the pain of facing every day with these frustrations staring at us, is usually the reason why we finally tell ourselves, "Enough is enough! There has to be something that I can do to make this pain go away!"

For me, there are a number of instances that bring me pain and frustration that made me want to have lots of money. Whenever I am reminded of these reasons, whenever these situations haunt me, it brings me too much pain. I just feel so helpless and guilty and just damn angry that I cannot do anything at the moment to remedy the situation. Top in my list are the following:

1. Being in debt to our relatives.

2. Being a burden to someone, and having to depend on them just so I can have what I need and want, even the basic stuff.

3. Not being able to help someone in need of financial assistance just because I don't have enough with me.

I've had these "pains" with me for a long time now. But amazingly enough, I was not pushed well into my limits just yet. I'm thinking it may be because deep down, I am such a masochist. Kidding! But really, I think it is because I have associated with pain long enough for it to be a successful driving force for me. And besides, the sad thing about pain is that it can either push you into action or paralyze you with feelings of inadequacy. And not all people can find the courage to push through their pain to achieve what they want. 

My Fantasy

I was reading West Loh's and Andrew Grant's The Money Mindset Report. One of the exercises there is for me to imagine myself receiving 1 Million USD, and to list down what I will do with that money. Now that's a lot of money! I remember when I first did it, I was dividing my 1M Pesos into my five funds plus an additional funding for my "send-a-kid-to-school" dream. Then it hit me that, hey, there is a million dollars (and not just pesos) for me to divide! I was having the time of my life writing down how much money will go where and thinking of the different things that I want to spend my money into, not only for myself, but for my family and friends as well. 

Finally, I can pay our debt to our relatives! I can treat my family to a vacation outside the country. I can buy what I've always wanted: laptop, digital SLR camera, and my own home office station. I can buy all the books I want. I can go to MOA and ice skate all I want. I can finally go to the countries I so very much want to visit. I can grow my stock portfolio. I can buy a condo and lease it out....But most importantly, I can finally realize my one unchanging dream: to send kids to school. I can have more than enough money to be a sponsor in my Alma Mater's scholarship foundation, and more than enough to finance a foundation that is geared towards sending out-of-school youths to school. I can see it in my mind's eyes and I just can't wait for that day to come!

When Lyf Throws U Lessons

This fantasy of mine brought such intense feeling within me. And I think that this is why, more than our frustration, our fantasy plays a bigger part in our desire to achieve whatever we want. We often hear coaches and trainers, and motivational speakers and writers saying that we should not focus on the pain, we should focus on the gain. Same thing, we should focus on our fantasy and not just in our frustration.

Yes, frustration has its part in our hunger to change. Without the pain, then we won't know that there is something in our lives that is not right. But we should be able to overcome this pain and shift our focus to why we want to make the change in the first place. Think of all the things you can do once you have attained your goals. This gives us something to look forward to, especially since our journey to making changes in our lives is surely not going to be easy. 

How about you? What keeps you going? What is your emotional why? If you still don't have one, then dig deep and find it. Once you determine it, then you are one step away from achieving your dreams.

Praying for your happiness,

Joanne

I Did Not Win a Free Seat! (Still, I Am Counting My Blessings and Hoping for the Best)

Last month, I joined the "Bo Sanchez Blogger Contest" in hopes of winning one of the three free seats to his Truly Rich Seminar. Of course, even before learning of this contest, I have already made up my mind that I will be sharing my personal journey towards financial freedom because I want to encourage others (especially my family and friends) to start taking this journey as well. The contest was just an added bonus. However, I still fervently prayed that I will be one of the chosen three because I really want to attend the seminar (but I am a little short on money right now).

The winners of the said contest will be notified via e-mail come November 5. So when that day came, I regularly checked my e-mail until the clock reached 12. But alas, no e-mail came. I checked the blogger contest site in hopes that they have announced the winner there. Yet again, nothing.

When the next day came, I was a bit sad that I did not win a free seat, but I know that God has a better plan for me. Maybe it is not yet the right time for me to attend the seminar since He knows that my mind is a bit preoccupied with other things. Maybe someone else needs it more than I do. Maybe I will win something bigger in the future! =D

So I just offered a prayer to God, asking Him to take away what (little) envy I have in the deep recess of my heart. I also promised myself that next year, I will have more than enough money to pay for my seat, as well as my mother's and sister's seats, for the next Truly Rich Seminar.

Anyway, I checked the blogger site again today and saw that they have announced the three winners of the free seats already. And yes, I still did not win a free seat.

Nonetheless, I invite you to visit the site and check out all the entries submitted. I believe that above all, each of us who joined the contest have already been winners, as immortalized in the stories we have shared. And like me, I believe that the deeper reasons why we have shared our stories are because we want to tell the world how God is continuously helping us to become the persons that He envisioned and designed us to be, and in doing so, our stories may bring hope and inspiration to others who are in the same journey as we, or who may be a little lost right now.

For all the people who have read my entry, How I Became Financially Free: Introduction, thank you for spending some of your time to read it (I know that it is a long entry), especially for your encouragements and prayers. Let me also invite you to watch out for the second part of my "How I Became Financially Free" series. I am halfway through it, and God-willing, it will be posted next week.

Praying for your happiness!
Joanne


P.S. To read all the entries for the Bo Sanchez Blogger Contest, click here. Be inspired and be blessed! =D

P.S.S. Once again, I invite you to be a part of Bo Sanchez' Truly Rich Club. Let Bro. Bo be one of your mentors toward your own journey towards financial freedom and spiritual abundance. It only requires a small investment in your part, but the return is beyond your expectations. Click here to see what blessings await you when you join the club!