Sharon wakes up every day at 5 am to the sound of her alarm clock. She hits the snooze button twice before dragging herself to the shower.
She grabs a granola bar, her car keys, and rushes out the door to beat the morning rush.
She gets to her office, logs in to her computer, and looks at her inbox.
After two hours of responding to emails, she takes a break. She looks at her “Island Paradise” calendar and wishes to be laying on the white sands and warm turquoise waters in the photo.
A phone call interrupts her daydreaming. It’s her credit card company wanting money for two months of past due payments.
She opens her check book and looks at the balance. Making the payment is going to wipe out her account and it’s still 11 more days until payday.
Ironically, Sharon has never made more money in her entire life.
Living in Survival Mode
It’s a tragedy that a big majority of people are living in what’s been called survival mode. Let me explain what I think that means.
In my experience, I’ve seen people living in one of two areas or modes of life. The first and most common mode is the survival mode. The other mode is the abundance mode.
I’m sure that just by seeing the names you can already tell the difference.
People in survival mode are the ones just getting by. Don’t be fooled. I’m not talking about people living on the street.
I’m talking about people like Sharon. (BTW – Sharon is totally made up for illustrative purposes. It’s actually a play on “Sean” and based on my own past experiences).
Sure, people living on the street are certainly in survival mode. But so are the corporate executives bogged down with so much “lifestyle” that they’re in the red every month.
People in survival mode can be drastically different in apparent lifestyle, but it all boils down to the same thing: they’re barely getting by.
The wealthy corporate executive may look like he or she is doing fine.
But if he or she has to keep working just to pay for the fancy cars, the ritzy clubs, and the huge house and doesn’t have anything left over at the end of the month, then there is no real difference in mentality between them and the homeless bum.
Both are on a non-stop treadmill of life.
Granted the quality of life may be different, but both are simply surviving to the next day. They can’t focus on their dreams because they’re too focused on where to put the next their step.
The mental paranoia is just as real for both.
How to Move to Abundance Mode
There’s another way. A better way.
It’s called Abundance Mode. It’s a dorky title I know but you get the point.
The catch is that there are far fewer people living in abundance mode. These people have plenty of money left over at the end of the month.
But it’s more than that.
They have a mindset that allows them to be free of circumstances. They see opportunities. They see how they can improve the world around them.
They take action.
They do see the dreams on their horizon and use faith to take the steps to get there.
The list really could go on. To be brief, here’s what people in abundance mode have done:
- identified what’s important in life based on their own values
- set goals based on their values
- identified concrete steps on how they can achieve their goals
- reach out to help others – people in abundance mode are almost always outward facing
- do something every day that brings them happiness
Put another way, people in abundance mode know exactly what they want to do before they kick the bucket and they actively do it!
They have a life plan. Or at least a solid plan for the next year to five years.
One of my main goals at the Family Rocketship to help you leave survival mode behind (if you happen to be in it…) and enter into abundance mode.
If you can identify with Sharon, then it’s time to make a change. Think about what you really want. Set goals. Do them. Make other people happy along the way.
It’s just not as hard as most people think.
If you haven’t yet, be sure to get on “the list” by opting in to my freebie thing and we can start the conversation.
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PHOTO CREDIT: ME! Taken in Akumal, Mexico
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