Have you ever noticed that the thing you want the most seems just out of reach when you’re obsessing about it, but when you relax and put your focus elsewhere, suddenly it’s there as if by magic?
I see this all the time. Someone really wants to get married, and they’re serial dating, but somehow every person they date is a flake. They spend years in this cycle until they finally decide to put the focus on themselves. They get off of the dating apps. They focus on their friends and their career — then the girlfriend appears.
My guest today, Ken Honda (aka the Zen Millionaire), says the same thing happens with money. When we’re stuck in a state of yearning, we’re bringing that anxious, fearful, desperate energy to our relationship with money. We bring our unhappiness to it when what we need to bring is our happiness to it.
But how do we do that? How do we bring positivity to our financial situation, even if we’ve struggled with debt and limitations for years? It’s a paradox that maybe only the Zen Millionaire can answer. Let’s get into it!
Who Is Ken Honda?
Ken Honda is the best-selling author of Happy Money, a wealth and personal development book which teaches a revolutionary approach to money. For 25 years, Ken has been teaching and mentoring people in Japan about how to understand and heal unconscious money wounds, achieve peace of mind, and learn practical, powerful ways to increase abundance.
He has been featured worldwide in media outlets such as Forbes, ABC, Good Morning America, mindbodygreen, and Psychology Today. Ken has sold more than seven million copies of his books and also runs the Arigato Living Community, a platform that brings people on the happy money path together to support each other, learn from Ken, and challenge each other to grow.
Why Being Thankful Is the Key to Abundance
How much time do you spend complaining about all of the things you don’t have, and how much time do you spend recognizing and appreciating what you do have?
So many of us spend way more time than we should be focusing on lack. I hate to break it to you, but this usually leads to more lack. Now I’m not saying we should pretend that everything is great when it’s not. We need to be honest with ourselves. What I am saying is that when we focus on appreciation, it opens doors to opportunities, solutions, and abundance.
Gratitude greatly helps us attract what we want. But when you’re broke and trying to attract money, you may question what you have to be grateful for. If you’re looking at an empty bank account, where is the abundance?
“There are so many aspects of abundance. [There are] visible assets and [there are] invisible assets. [Money] is just … a small portion of your abundance.” – Ken Honda
The problem may be that, as a culture, we sometimes have a very narrow definition of what abundance and success is. We celebrate visible assets — things like cars, cash, and our jobs — but we don’t always appreciate the invisible assets, like peace of mind, love, and even a connection to nature. We’re hyper-fixated on money.
“In North America, … people think how much [someone] makes is how much they’re worth. … You may be good-looking, but if you don’t make much, it’s like you’re nothing. If you make a lot of money — even if you’re a terrible person — you’re respected.” – Ken Honda
Ken said that to master abundance, you need to redefine what abundance means. While one person may have an abundance of money, others may have an abundance of talent or friendships.
Having talent might earn you the gift of other people’s appreciation, while having relationships may earn you the gift of support — even financial support when you’re down and out. Having an abundance of friends is a signal that you also have an abundance of charisma, kindness, or whatever traits helped you get all of those friends in the first place.
Of course, I know you want to make money too! It may be one area of abundance, but it can greatly enhance our quality of life. You don’t have to trade peace of mind, love, friendships, talent, or anything else to make money — you can have all of those things. You just need to take so much of your focus off of money so you can cultivate gratitude.
