RAGS TO RICHES | New Year, New Woo-Woo

Written by Ragini Singh Khushwaha, founder of ArtNowThus and subject matter expert on the arts, media and content, cats, random factlets from around the world and productivity hacks.

The start of a new year is one of my favourite times. I’m firmly in the camp of people who use the new year to set resolutions, make big plans and boldly claim how this year is going to be my year. And while new year resolutions are notorious for being more broken than resolved, I love the fresh-slate feeling that comes with new year’s day. That feeling of truly anything being possible! 

Let’s be honest though - despite my enthusiasm for the new year, it really is just yet another day. What makes it feel different is that on this one day, it’s a mindset that changes. You feel like you’ve left your past mistakes behind and there is a world of possibilities that lies ahead for a whole 365 days.

An abundance mindset, if you may. 

An abundance mindset is the belief that there is plenty in the world for you and everyone else. You don’t get to just have a set portion of the pie, you get to have as much as you want because there’s always enough for you and for anyone else who may want more pie. Yes, I’m aware this doesn’t make logical sense but it’s an analogy, so bear with me. I’m also very aware that this is all beginning to sound a bit woo for a personal finance blog, but I truly believe that when it comes to financial wellness, developing an abundance mindset is a game changer.

Always the food bowl, never the food.

A great example of an abundance mindset is my cat who will frequent his bowl of food several times a day hopeful, that at least a few times he will be rewarded with a bowlful of food. Box doesn’t see a lack of food, he sees an opportunity each time for the potential of new food to have appeared.

An abundance mindset predisposes you to be more welcoming of new opportunities and to widening your exposure. It’s not just me saying this, there’s qualitative research and science backing the role of a mindset in achieving one’s goals. Think about your own life - when you’re feeling good about yourself, it somehow just feels like things are going well. When you’re feeling negatively about yourself and the world around you, it takes a lot for things to feel like they’re on track. This plays out even in the people surrounding us - the ones we most want to spend time with are the ones who seem content, generous and driven. 

The opposite of an abundance mindset is a scarcity mindset. A mindset where you believe there is a limit to what is out there in the world and what you can achieve for yourself. Where an abundance mindset sees opportunity, a scarcity mindset sees limitations. A scarcity mindset sees that they’re too old, that they lack the needed skill set, that xyz is probably better at them and has more of a shot. At the start of the year, time seems to be in abundance and so does opportunity. We get excited by all that lies ahead and look forward to it. As the year progresses, we slip up, we hit setbacks. And at the same time, that endless supply of 365 hope-filled days ahead, is now lesser than before. It’s easy to see how we slip from abundance to scarcity. 

The human brain is wired to jump into survival mode at the slightest sign of threat. Back in the days of our great-great-great-great-grandparents - the hunter-gatherers - this was highly useful. But as humans have evolved, our limbic system (responsible for our fight or flight responses) continues to view any external threat as a fight for survival. Which is why it is our brain’s evolutionary responsibility to keep us away from risk-taking as much as possible. Risk-taking has a very real chance of failure, and failure is a threat. When confronted with the possibility of failure, the brain is shouting all kinds of signals at you to get away from the threat. To your brain, failure to hit your daily step count and the failure to get away from that large toothy creature growling at you in the shadows, is one and the same and leads to the same possible conclusion - death! And so, the brain keeps you away from risk and threat; encouraging you to exercise caution and prepare for any future potential scarcity or lack.

There you have it. The science behind why our minds naturally gravitate to scarcity and safety over abundance and risk. But we don’t live in the palaeolithic age anymore. We live in, what I truly believe (despite the news cycles and all of the other depressing shit going on out there), is one of the best phases of human evolution. We have access to technology and the world in a way our predecessors never did. We have access to opportunity and new ways of thinking. And one of the best ways to make use of all this access and opportunity is to let go of the mindset that lives in fear of what’s coming next, and create one that lets us go out there and be open to new chances - AKA them Jan 1st feels.

It’s not hard to train your mind to hold on to this feeling of abundance all year round. It is the start of a new year after all, and there’s a little bit of magic from December still in the air. So even though we’re a firmly logic based personal finance blog that would make any sceptic proud, I’m going to indulge myself a little. I’m going to ask you to work with me to manifest your financial goals this year and use an abundance mindset to keep yourself motivated to achieving it.

Here’s where I get you to set aside your rational brain and jump into the woo-woo with me.

Step 1:

State your financial goal for the year out loud - “I want to make 50L in personal income”, “I want to pay off 10L in debt this year”, “I want to get a job that allows me remote work with a profile that is well-paid and challenging to my skill set” - whatever it is just state it out loud.

Step 2:

Now rephrase what you just said into the present tense and write that down as large as you can on a sheet of paper. So if it’s “I want to make 50L in personal income” that becomes “I am making 50L in personal income”. Writing your goals in a manner that is in the now rather than in the future, tricks your brain into believing that it’s already happening and makes your brain less afraid about an overwhelming future goal.

Step 3:

This paper needs to be kept somewhere easily accessible and visible - taped up to the inside of your closet, in your wallet, a picture on your phone (my personal favourite spot) - whatever works for you. Easy access and visibility of your goal will continue to keep your brain tricked into believing the reality of this paper and keep you motivated to working towards it. 

That was the easy part. Now for the next 365 days, make it a point to look at that piece of paper at least once a day. You can look at it as many times as you’d like though, but needless to say if you spend your day gazing at it and doing little else to achieve your goal - it’s unlikely you’re going to get far.

An example of what not to do once you look at your paper, as demonstrated by Box.

If you’re with me until now and are still willing to go a bit further, add another step to that routine. Start your day each morning with a lookie at that fate-filled paper and take two minutes to write down three things in your life that make you feel abundant and that you are grateful for. A great meal last night, a fun day trip coming up, a healthy happy pet, a good’s night’s sleep - anything that made you feel positive, that you are grateful to have in your life. It’s yet another way of tricking your brain to focus on all the good, so that it doesn’t panic and lead you down scarcity again. There’s an abundance of abundance and your brain needs to know that continually.

That’s it - two things to do every day for 365 days. Call it manifesting, or magic, or faith or batshit craziness - if it keeps you feeling happy and motivated all year around, I think it’s got to be worth it. 

And if it gets you rich - it’s suddenly less woo-woo and a lot more woooo! ;)

Have an abundant 2023!