Some people, especially the very dogmatic, believe they need to suffer in order to be closer to God. They think they have to be poor, miserable, and humble. Therefore, having a lot of money isn’t a priority in their life, because it’s the opposite of that suffering. So some people think, “God doesn’t want me to have a lot of money.”

The truth is, it is your birthright to have everything your soul desires on this earth. There is a great book by Napoleon Hill called Think and Grow Rich that talks specifically about this idea. Hill writes that we should strive to get what we want because we are expressions of the Universe — we are all interconnected and all belong to the Universal intelligence. We are, in essence, here to manifest. Our purpose is to create things, like creating electricity or inventing the car. Through the power of thought, we manifest things in our lives.

Money, although it is not everything, is one part of that picture. It’s your choice how big of a part it will play in your life, and why. For some people, that is what they choose to focus on, and that is what they accomplish. There’s nothing wrong with that. However, some people are uncomfortable with that for a variety of reasons, such as how they were brought up. They might find fault with asking the Universe for money or visualizing themselves possessing a lot of money. That idea might conflict with the way they were raised.

However, it’s important to remember that money is nothing more than energy. Think about it: trillions of dollars are exchanged via the computer from one continent to the next. When you go to your bank account, you don’t physically see dollars, you see a number on a screen that shows your balance.

If money is energy, and I’m using the Law of Attraction to attract what I want, and we are all energy, why can’t I tap into that energy frequency level and bring what I deserve into my life? If you think it’s bad, it is bad. If you think it’s good, it is good. It’s really up to each individual person and his or her level of awareness.

It’s like Henry Ford said – “If you think you can or cannot, you’re right.” The same applies to your attitude towards money and using the Law of Attraction to manifest it into your life.

Richard J. Kransey recently wrote a great article entitled, “The New Law of Attraction in Financial Planning.” In it, he stresses the importance of using your passion and purpose to guide your financial planning, and I couldn’t agree more.

When you are standing at the beginning of any goal setting — whether it’s financial planning or otherwise — you must ask yourself: What am I trying to accomplish? What is my purpose?

Remember, money is not everything. A nice car and a huge house will bring temporary happiness, but that’s all. A Porsche or a Ferrari will bring ephemeral joy that will fade as soon as it began. True happiness only comes from within. You cannot find it outside of yourself in material things.

If you want to be financially free, you need to find your purpose. What’s your passion? If you follow it, the money will come in. Most people have it backwards. They truly believe that if I have the big account, or big house, I’m going to be happy. It doesn’t work that way. However, if you’re doing what you love, the money will follow.

It’s very important to remember: don’t be backwards. The material things don’t get you happiness. Living your passion is what allows you to grow financially and do the things you want. But you find that within. It doesn’t come from the exterior. And best of all, if you’re doing what you truly love, you may not worry about the fancy car and the big house. You’re getting your joy from within, not from your possessions.

That’s what struck me with Richard Kransey’s article. He talks about how a big portfolio is not directly related to happiness. Concentrating on what makes you happy and how you feel is key. You need to have a better understanding of your values. For example, if you are focused on buying a home, why is that a goal? Does it make you feel like you accomplished something? Does it make you feel fulfilled?

I use this exercise often in order to help clients find their passions and purpose. I’ll ask a series of “whys,” to discover what makes a person’s heart really sing. It is very important to be conscious of why you want to have the things you want.

Ultimately, using your money to achieve what is important to you is using the Law of Attraction to your benefit financial planning. Find out what is important to you first, and then develop your financial plan around those values.

I recently read about a study researching the influence visualization has on an athlete’s performance. The article, Effect of mental practice on the development of a certain motor skill , by Professor L.V. Clark, who tried to determine the effect visualization had on athletic performance.

He studied two groups of high school basketball players of a two week period. One group practiced shooting free throws in the morning, and the others who visualized their practice, but did not actually do any practice. Clark found that both groups were able to improve their free throw shooting.

The idea of the study is that an athlete’s performance could be greatly improved by combining physical practice with mental practice.

Nowadays, when an reporter asks an athlete what they are doing to prepare for a fight, they’ll say things like, “I visualize myself winning.” When you hear that question asked of a boxer, you might hear them say, “I see the referee raising my hand at the end of a fight.” You might hear a marathon runner say, “I see myself breaking through that finish line,” or a quarterback saying, “I envision myself throwing that winning touchdown.” You hear those key words: “I see,” and “I envision.”

In essence, what these athletes are doing is visualizing themselves being the champion. They are envisioning the outcome of each game or match. This is becoming common in many professional sports like the NFL and NBA. In fact, some teams actually hire coaches to train the whole team to visualize themselves on that level. The goal is to start seeing yourself in the role where you want to be. With that thought comes emotion – your subconscious actually begins to “feel” that you are the winner, which is a powerful combination that leads to the creation of your reality.

Because of the fundamentals of the Law of Attraction is visualization, it’s a great tool that you can use in sports to attract the things you want at a conscious level. When you practice seeing yourself where you really want to be, you’re already picturing yourself as a winner, and you are bringing that feeling and emotion, which really makes the manifestation possible.

We live “on Purpose” when we do what we love and what truly matters to us, right? Sadly, most people finding their lives driven other motivators, namely, money. They often choose careers knowing they can expect a certain salary for that work. However, years down the road, after they’ve accomplished that, they find themselves empty, sad, and angry. They resent their work and how many hours they must devote to it. I have friends who are doctors or lawyers, and they work a significant amount, and they aren’t happy. They’re making a lot of money, but at the end of the day, they are not content. They are not living on purpose.

When living on purpose, you become a totally different, happier person. You can access purpose through your thoughts and memories. Start to think about the way you were when you were a little kid. What brought you joy as a child? What always caught your attention? What were the things that you were attracted to? You’ll notice that if you go back to the past, you’ll start to see a pattern of things you enjoyed that are interconnected.

For example, when I was growing up, I remember one of the things that really made me happy was helping others. I also loved being in a constant state of learning, and looking for ways to get better and better, and grow personally.

Another thing I was attracted to was everything having to do with the military. I loved everything about it, from the planes and helicopters to the uniforms. The discipline and structure involved in the armed forces were also attractive to me, and I felt really comfortable with those values. It really made my heart sing. When I got out of high school, deciding my next step in life was relatively easy. I started to think about what made me truly happy, and the military was something I always felt passionate about. As a result, when I did join the military, I excelled at everything I did. It was my purpose; it was what I wanted to do.

When you decide that you want to manifest something in your life, first ask yourself, “Why? What kind of fulfillment will this bring me?” By understanding that, you will start finding your purpose, one which will push you forward and make your dreams a reality.

Have you ever made an effort to become more aware of what you choose to entertain in your mind? Most people don’t. In fact, most people tend to function on auto-pilot. I like to give the analogy of driving to work on a daily basis. You leave the house, jump in the car, travel to your destination and back. At the end of the day, you might not remember exactly what happened between Point A and B. Chances are, you know you got home, but you don’t specifically remember how.

That’s because you were thinking. A lot. Science has shown that we actually think about 2,000 words per second, subconsciously. It’s no secret that in this fast-paced, modern age, we are constantly bombarded with messages. Whether or not we choose to pay them any mind is another story, however. If you’re like most people, chances are you don’t pay attention to the thoughts in your mind and the emotions that those thoughts create. If you’re looking for a significant change in your life, you really have to heed the thoughts that you are choosing to entertain in your mind.

The fact is, thoughts play a significant role in determining how every event, condition and circumstance in your life unfolds as a result of the creative power. Now, we have to understand that thoughts alone do not determine how things unfold. We must take into account how your thoughts trigger the emotions that they generate, because every time you think something, you also produce a feeling. Think about a time when you’re talking to someone and you bring up another person’s name, and they say something akin to: “Oh, don’t even say that person’s name. It’s making me mad!” Whatever emotion that person has associated with that thought is triggered by that name alone

Chosen thoughts combined with emotions create reality. Thinking about something causes you to feel something, which affects your body, which affects your outcome. The key to subconsciously manifesting what you want in your life starts by understanding that your thoughts can positively or negatively affect the outcome of your life. When you begin to understand how your conscious mind, as well as your subconscious mind, are interconnected in the universal consciousness, you begin to really understand your potential and what is available for you.

Anyone with the ability to think is always creating something. If you’re thinking? Something’s happening, whether consciously or subconsciously. If you are fully aware of what your thinking you should be able to consciously create your reality. At that point you are no longer in auto-pilot.