Hi, and welcome to this week's episode of Money with Alpha. This one's going to be a bit more of an introspective episode, and it's a series of things that have sort of led up to this the energy in the world at the moment. I don't know about you, but to me it feels so frazzled. There's so much going on. It's, you know, there's so much uncertainty. I mean, there's always uncertainty, but there's so many things that are happening now where we. And I feel like the media does that quite a lot too. So I. I try to distance myself from reading a lot of that, but of course it still comes my way. People mention it, my mum sends me links to things and I. It's just one of those things where it's hard to completely avoid. But I was listening to a podcast episode yesterday, and if you haven't listened to Kathy Heller's Abundant Ever after her podcast, it's awesome. I really enjoy listening to it. And when she does something, she has such a sort of meditative, peaceful voice as well. And it made. It triggered something that I've been thinking about anyway. And it's this concept of being rather than doing. And you think about our lives and we're human beings, but the being part really gets sort of subjugated to the doing we're constantly doing. The amount of times I hear the word busy and I trying to use that word less because I was like, I don't want to even bring the word busy into my world. I would like to be, rather than be busy all the time and actually have some space. And I was trying to do this a few weeks back and it hasn't been working, so I was just like, what am I doing? I'm in that. I'm still in that just trail of. In that treadmill of busyness. So I'm gonna look at this more from a financial perspective as well, because I feel like that's something else too. This is constant. Oh, there's a bill and oh, this is this. And I have to do. Oh, I've got to pay that. And I've got to figure out whether it's going to move money from here to there. And it sometimes, after a while, just feels part of that busyness. And that's where I think some stresses feel towards us. Is that. Is that overwhelm? Because there's so many things to do. I set myself reminders to do things where at the beginning of a month, as I'M recording this. We are now in April. And so I'm trying to. Okay, what do I need to do now? So I have some transfers that happen at the beginning of the month, you know, to make sure that I kick. Kick into gear on you know, bonus interest for like a full period and all of that. So I, I have these reminders. But that's to help take some of the mental load off so I don't really have to remember it myself. So I'm using, you know, the power of technology to help me autom some of that, at least the memory part. But there's a few. So five areas that I wanted to talk about in this concept of being rather than doing. The first one is being present. Second one is practicing gratitude. The third one is having clarity. The fourth one is being intentional. And the fifth one is linked to that being purposeful. So I'm going to go through each of those in a bit more detail and how if they're practices we can bring into our daily life, we can then expand and bring them into our monetary financial life as well. So the, the concept of being present. And this is something. I was on my bike ride this morning and I hurt my hip over the weekend. And I can still cycle though, which is, which is nice because I find that really rejuvenating. But I'm sort of riding through. There's one. One of the circuits I do, I ride through a forest and just the smells. And it's a little bit overcast, it's been a bit rainy. So the smells are even more potent than they us are. But I'm like consciously in there, being. I'm being in the moment. I'm feeling my legs moving. I'm feeling the muscles working. I'm. I'm really conscious of the breaths that I'm taking in and out, and the smells that I'm smelling, the sounds of the birds, or there's a bit of construction happening in our backyard at the moment. So I'm hearing that so there's all this. It's just really being present. And it's something that I really struggle with to the point where many years ago I went and saw someone, a healer. And she's like, you need to read Eckhart Tolle's the Power of Now. Because I was always living so much in the future. The what ifs, the whens, the what, you know, the how, all of that. I was constantly asking questions, constantly living in a time that was not right. Now, I have to admit, I got like 10 pages into that book and I put it down. I have since read it, but at that particular point, I was on that journey of trying to get to the point where I could even read a book about the now. So there is a certain amount of irony that I'm talking about present and being in the moment. So it's a. It's a constant journey for me. And you might relate to that too. So that's why I'm sharing. But being present is. Is a really important part of life. Even planting your feet on the ground in the morning. I have sort of this. This ritual that I do where I, you know, I swing my. My legs off the bed, I put. Plant them on the ground, and I'm feeling that earthingness. I mean, yes, I'm putting them onto carpet, not actual earth, but there's that of, you know, feet, bare feet on the ground. And I try and walk outside on grass as much as possible. We've got lovely grass in our backyard. When we were looking a few years back at replacing what was then the lawn my husband like, oh, let's put some astroturf down. I was like, no, I want real grass. I want to feel real grass under my feet. I don't want fake stuff that's hard and hot and slippery. So yeah, so I really appreciate, whenever I'm in. On our back in our backyard with my feet on the ground, I appreciate that presence and that. The feeling of the soft grass. And yes, there's, you know, well, there's no thorns, but there's weeds and things there now as well. But it's just earth. So that being present. So where are you right now? Just, if you're in the car even, just really acknowledge your surroundings. Because sometimes when we're driving, we're in autopilot. I know I often am. Sometimes I'm like, oh, dear, how did I just get here? I've just kind of done this a little bit mechanically. And here I am because my muscle memory is taking me to the place that I'm going. But I. My really present. When you're with your kids, when you're at the dining table, try and just create that sense of presence. And with it comes a certain amount of calm. And when you're calm, the people around you are calm, pets become calmer. Somehow the energy just changes. So that feeling of presence is actually really powerful. So that brings me then to the second element of this, which is gratitude, which is also extremely powerful. But in Order to have gratitude, you need to be present because you need to be able to acknowledge the things that are happening, happening right now and what's going on around you so that you can actually take that moment, take that time to go, right, I'm here, I seeing things around me. I'm really grateful for whatever it happens to be. You know, I'm grateful, like, for the moment I'm looking out my window and I'm seeing my bicycle, and I'm going, I'm really grateful for my bicycle, and I'm grateful that I have a good bicycle mechanic nearby, because my bike is making some interesting noises at the moment. And so I'm going to take it for a service just to give it a bit of, you know, TLC can see as well, because it does a lot for me. I work, I go on my bike at least three times a week. So I'm being present in acknowledging the bike, and I'm having gratitude for it as well. So what else are you grateful for? And it's bigger than just, oh, I'm grateful for my family, I'm grateful for my health, or I'm grateful for whatever it happens to be. Really dig. Dig in and go, what else are you looking around things that you may have strived for in the past that you now have. Really acknowledge the gratitude for that. You know, the things like, for example, when I was buying my. My camera, and every time I used it, I'd be looking at this in my hand and I'd be like, I'm so grateful for this. And because I worked hard for it and I researched what I want, and there was a whole journey that came with actually getting to the point of this camera, which I realize is a thing, but it was a big thing for me at the time. And then over time, you start to kind of lose that because it just becomes normal. We've normalized something so that that feeling of specialness starts to go. So then you have to bring that back and go, oh I'm really still. I've got a huge amount of gratitude there. I just don't express it as often anymore because there's so many other things in my world as well. So having that gratitude is really important. Clarity is another one that I think is really important in the being. The reason, at least I. For me, the reason I'm often like, in the doing mode is because I'm just a little bit that mechanical autopilot. I want. I got to do this and I got to do this, and I Got to do that. I got to cook here, and I've got to write my list for the farmer's market, and I got to write my list for here, and I've got my. My to do list for. For the business. And all the school holidays come out. So it's this constant overload of mental load going, what do I have to do? You know, the things at school, the things at work, you know, in the business, the things with colleagues, the things with life. My husband, my dad, my mom. Like, there's so many facets to life where there's things to do that to be often takes a bit of extra effort, and it takes a bit of extra time. And it takes. It's not like a. It's not like a checklist where I was like, oh, I need to do the ironing. So I go do that. I don't know. And then I check that off. In order to be and have clarity, you need space and you need time to do that, and we don't often afford ourselves that time. I try and put blank space in my calendar to give me that time, and unfortunately it gets filled up. So I need to be better at setting boundaries on that time to actually leave it available to say no. When somebody asks me for something, I was like, no, no, this is my time. Just you you come see me in an hour. You know, like, whatever you need to talk about with me now can wait an hour or whatever the time is that you have. But clarity is a really important part of that being rather than doing. So the doing is often, you know, you might be clear on, like, the individual tasks you have to do, but are you clear on the bigger picture? And then the same thing goes for. For money as well. If you don't have clarity on the lifestyle that you want or why you want makes it really hard for your money to work for you. So being present in that moment, having gratitude for whatever money that you have, but then having clarity on what you actually want it for, that then leads to the next two, which I'll get to in a moment. But clarity is really important because it's difficult to be clear and move and do things. It's that presence, that gratitude, and then having the clarity that comes from both of those things. That will then shift you forward to being more intentional. So once you have that clarity of do you really want the big house? How much money do you need to have in retirement? You know, I've been doing some work on that myself, and with clients, I do that very often. Where are you now? Where do you need to be? And once you have that, it starts to make things so much easier. And then when you start to work on that clarity, you're like, okay, well, this is what I think I want, because I might not be entirely sure, but. But we need to start somewhere. So let's start with this vision of the lifestyle. And then after a while, you know, it might be six months, might be a year that you're working on it, and you're like I don't know if this is actually really what I want. I might actually want less or I might want more, and I might want it sooner or later. Like, I. You know, it's. You start to get a sense for once, you create that clarity, ideas and inspirations, and you create the space to be present, to have gratitude, so that the clarity can actually start to really flourish. And you can put some real adjectives around what it is that you actually want and some visions around it so you can start to really visualize it. Because once you can start to visualize it, our brains start to make it part of our. Our neurology goes, okay, well, this is. This is real. I don't. We can't tell the difference between what's imagined and what isn't. So we're going to start to work your life around making that actually be real, because for you, it feels real. So that's the visualization element, and that's why it's so powerful. When we start to get clear, we can really visualize, which means we can also be very intentional with our energy, with our money, with our life in general, with the schedules that we keep, with the people that we have around us, with the books that we read, with the news and inverted commas that we absorb. There's so much around us that comes from that clarity and the intention that goes with it. And once it's aligned, it makes life so much easier. And then it becomes easier to be purposeful, which is the fifth element of this. So all of this really flows together. And then you can go back to being present again. And it doesn't necessarily have to go in this order, but it does tend to naturally flow that way. But like everything, the flow, it goes back again. So once we're being purposeful and we're clear on what we want. We're intentional about our energy and what we're doing. So then the purpose starts to kick in and we're like, okay, so the money that I'm earning is going to help go towards this. So the more that comes into my world, the faster or the bigger or the easier it'll be to get there. Because we want it to flow. And if we're heading in an aligned direction that's aligned to our values and our vision, it's a lot easier to feel that flow and it's a lot easier to budget. I get this question so often. I have budgets and I can't stick to them. I was like, okay, well, do you know why you're budgeting? Like, are you clear on what you even want them for? Not really. Do I need to be clear? I'm like, oh, it helps. And then you're intentional about things. You know, intentional when you go to the. Go to the grocery store and you're looking at, well, what do I want here? Do I really need this? Even just the other day we went to Costco, and I'm looking at some of the things going I don't really need that right now. I would much prefer to use that money for something else at the moment. Because the next time I come, because I know I'm going to come here again in a few months, I can get that then. And I'm not even going to run out. And even if I do, I can do without those cashews for a couple of days or a week or so. It's okay. We get sort of. I know I often can get quite paranoid, like, oh, I have my shopping list. I have to get everything on the list. But do I actually really need everything on there? And sometimes it's nice to have things become special. There's a particular chocolate brand that I absolutely love called Loco Love. And sometimes I was like, you know what? I actually like my stock to run down a little bit, so I might have a few weeks without it so that when I have it again, it's extra special. I'm even more grateful for it. And. And it becomes clear. And if I have maybe some other chocolate in the meantime, I'm like, oh, I really don't like this. So it makes the local lab even more special and more valuable to me. So it helps when you can start to sort of clarify the things that are actually really worthwhile for you and the things that aren't. You become more intentional with how you're spending your money, where you're putting your focus, the directions that you're taking, the energy, the people around you, the books, all of that. And then the purposeful part really kicks into gear. And that's what makes it a lot easier to stick to a budget because you're clear and your money has a purpose. And so now you can actually make your decisions on that basis. So, and that, that allows you to just be too. So all of these relate. You have to be able to be as a human doing constantly. You don't get to reflect, you don't get to So there's no presence. We don't really reflect. And then out of the reflection comes the gratitude. We don't have the space to figure out and we don't have luxury to think of what's what Clarity is because we're constantly doing, we're constantly on this treadmill, going, going, going, going, going. And then the intention just sort of falls away because we're, we've, we've created a list, we're on a path and we just kind of keep going down that regardless of it being intentional. And you can have lists still and be intentional with them, but quite often we end up on the treadmill where the intention just disappears and the purpose has kind of gone by the wayside as well. And it also does matter, like seasons of life do come into this as well. But if we can settle this up in a way that allows us to take some of that mental load off. But we need to do regular check ins. We need to be able to go back to ourselves and go, okay, is this still right for me? Is this still right for my family? Where am I at, my life? Let me just pause, take a look around me and go, is this, where is this the right house that we want to be in? Is this the right. And that's not to say that you blow everything up if the answer is no, but you actually think about the why and think about what it is that you want to achieve. And yes, it does sound a bit, you know, airy fairy, but it's really important to do this work. And we tend to think at the beginning of every year when there's a you know, the, the New Year's resolutions and we start to sort of do some reflection, but quite often they're very surface level. So it's like, oh, you know how much weight do I want to lose? How much exercise? How, how am I going to eat better? You know, I'M going to do my stick to my budget this year. So they're sort of more superficial type things. I'm talking about digging a bit deeper, going into that human beingness of you, wherever that happens to be. If you're at the moment, my hands are on my solar plex. If you're watching this rather than listening. But that's where my hands are right now because that's where I feel it. It might be somewhere else for you but that's where it kind of sits in, in my, in my, my earthly body. So I really encourage you to, to take a pause if you can pull over somewhere if you've got it. Like I live near the bay. Sometimes I like to just go and drive there and just. If I, if it's raining, I'll sit in the car. Otherwise I'll just stand outside, just stare out at the ocean, just daydream. And if you can bring your mind with those five elements and just kind of go, okay, I'm being present. I'm. I'm feeling myself in this moment. I'm not thinking about the past or the future or the shopping or the dinner or anything else. I'm being present in the right now. And in right now, what am I most grateful for? Think of the things that come to mind. And you. And this doesn't need to be something that you, you belabor on. Just quickly, what comes to mind first? Top of mind. And then you'd be like, oh, right, some surprises will come, believe me. Because sometimes I go, oh, I didn't even know I was thinking about that. That's been buried. And now I've asked the question and bingo, the answer has come. And with that, also the clarity too. And for clarity, sometimes you might like to ask yourself a question and go, what do I. It might be specific. Like if you're looking for a home, where do I really want? What kind of home do I want? Where, where will that home be? It might not give you an exact address or location, and that's okay, but just generally the feel of it as well. The life, the work, the job, whatever it happens to be that you want to be. Clarity on ask yourself the question and just allow your mind to wander. Even if it doesn't answer that question, just, just let it do what it needs to do and then see where it takes you. Then once you have a bit of clarity, start to put some intentions behind it. Visualize, create the energy of of purposefulness that goes with that as well. And then that purpose will start to really kick into gear. And when it comes to money, that makes it really important. You know, I was talking to somebody last week and they, they had this beautiful dream of taking their, their children over to, to New York. And I thought that I was like And it's funny actually, because I literally just had a conversation a few days earlier with my daughter and I can't remember where, how it even came up. We were talking about New York and she's like, oh, mama, can you take me there one day? I was like, yep, I will go there any day. I love that city. And so it's whatever you want to create as, as purposeful for your present, your near future, and then also your retirement future too. Because we need to be thinking of each of these when it comes to our money. Often we'll, we'll put off the retirement side of things because it feels too far away. And I get that. But we need to at least think about it and put some things in place and then they're sort of like our, you know, maybe five year out future. And then there's also in the present because what we do now impacts our future. But if we're not clear, we can't be intentional and we can't be purposeful with what actions we need to take. So I'll, I'll leave you with that concept for today, that being versus doing and those five elements that I went through and just start to just take, take a moment, take some time for yourself to really ponder all of that. And write it down if you want to. Or if you're in your car and you're pulled over, get your phone and just type it into your phone. Because sometimes I don't have a pen and paper near me, but I use the not function on my phone and I'll, I'll pop some things in there and then I'll come back later and and I'll, you know, write it all down properly if I need to or I'll just start to ponder a bit more. It's, it does feel a little luxurious, I have to admit. But it's important because it will set the tone for everything else. So have a lovely week. Thank you for listening and yeah, if you feel anybody else would need to hear this, please share and I will see you again next week.
