How to Prosper in Hard Times

You might have read that I paid off over 1 million dollars in debt.

You might have also read that at one point I was a single mom on government assistance, was obese, took 2 stress leaves from my corporate job, was taking sleeping pills, anxiety meds, had to rely heavily on child support payments, was then fired from a job, and bought all my clothes, and house hold items second hand.

Well...

You might be thinking what the actual fuck.

How Lindsay?

How was that your life and how did you rise out of that hell hole?

Well I'm going to be completely honest with you right now.

If you've always done what you've always done, you will always get what you always have gotten.

So what did I do?

Well I did things completely opposite, because the way I had been doing life CLEARLY was NOT working and I allowed that tiny little voice from within lead me higher in my life. 

In all honestly I had to challenge myself to do some scary things that were outside of my comfort zone and most importantly I had to learn self-confidence, self-worth, and trust and belief in myself.

I also had to heal a deep rejection wound, and get over my fear of not being enough, or not having enough.

I had to unlearn a lot of the things I learned growing up that I thought were "normal", and I had to learn a new way to do life, and I had to learn how to forgive, let things go, and love myself unconditionally.

Did this come easy?  No. 

Were there a lot of tears shed and many dark and lonely nights?  Far too many to count.

Was I terrified at times to push myself outside of my own comfort zone and rely solely on my faith?  You bet, but no matter how hard I tried to resist, the little voice would return and challenge me again and again.

So in a sense, I started listening to God and let him lead my life, and stopped listening to the rest of the world.  For many years I had been disconnected from my own divine truth and resided in a space of emptiness and lack of fulfilment.  Getting reconnected to that unconditional love, peace, and presence from within was what saved my life.  Being obedient to that call for more, trusting in myself, and following it's footsteps (even when I was terrified) is what ultimately lead me to success and inner peace.

So here is what I stopped doing.

I stopped allowing myself to feel deprived and restricted and started to eat anything I wanted.  

I stopped attacking my body when I looked in the mirror.

I stopped weighing myself.

I stopped listening to other people's opinions and rules for my life, my body, and my business.

I stopped working out so much and stopped putting so much pressure on my body.

I stopped smoking, drinking excessively, and taking drugs.

I stopped comparing myself to others.

I stopped waiting for a sale and started buying the things things I wanted at full price.

I stopped going to a job.

I stopped allowing other people to determine my worth.

I stopped putting my safety and security in things outside of myself and found it from within instead.

I stopped asking how much things cost.

I stopped being so busy.

I stopped do-it-yourself projects.

I stopped spending hours on social media scrolling other peoples lives.

I stopped discounting myself or my products.

I stopped arguing for my limitations.

I stopped dumbing myself down to make other people feel more comfortable.

I stopped wearing clothes and shoes (heels especially) that I didn't want to wear even if it make me look "unprofessional" in the eyes of others.

I stopped allowing other people to put words into my mouth or to tell me what I should say.

I stopped thinking that there was always something wrong with me or in my life that I needed to fix.

I stopped putting work or making money above my own life and family.

I stopped saying things like "I can't afford it", "I can't", "it's too hard", or "it's too much."

I stopped using my credit card for things I couldn't afford.

I stopped saving and storing leftovers in the fridge.

I stopped buying in bulk.

I stopped collecting points.

I stopped buying used cars.

I stopped thinking that having a mortgage meant that I owned my own home.  Nope.  That's debt too, and while some people will say it's "good debt"...debt is still debt.

I stopped cutting my own lawn and doing things that I hated doing.

I stopped doing my own nails and colouring my own hair.

I stopped hanging out with people who constantly talked about money or about how expensive things were.

I stopped feeling bad for other people.

I stopped feeling guilty for saying no to things I didn't really want to do.

I stopped going to second hand stores.

I stopped going to garage sales.

I stopped having garage sales.

I stopped wasting my time in chats group on social media. 

I stopped going to trailer parks and stopped thinking that was a fun vacation.

I stopped using coupons or price matching.

I stopped looking for the cheapest option. 

I stopped trying to sell my stuff online and started giving away my stuff away for free when I was done using it.

I stopped shopping at the cheap stores and only started shopping at the most expensive stores in town.

I stopped waiting in line ups.

I stopped thinking it was the government, or anyone else's job by my own to support me in life.

I stopped dressing my kids in used clothing or hand-me-down clothing.

I stopped bagging my own groceries and started shopping at small expensive organic stores instead.

I stopped complaining. 

I stopped thinking negatively.

I stopped proving, justifying, or defending myself to others.

I stopped putting my needs, wants and desires last.

I stopped hitting snooze in the morning. 

I stopped focusing on what was missing in my life.

I stopped watching the news.  

I stopped worrying about money.

I stopped living in fear.

I stopped listening to others and started listening to my own heart and soul.

I stopped doubting myself.

I stopped focusing on what I didn't want.

I stopped living in the past.

I stopped blaming other people.

I stopped everything I was doing and sat with myself to really dig deep into figuring myself out and healing what I needed to heal so that I could be free!

I started doing the deep inner work to change my life from within so I didn't have to keep going around in circles, and you know what?  It worked!

So here's my challenge to you today.

Do something that scares the shit out of you.

Like deciding you're going to rise higher and learn what it really takes to change your life.

Join me here if you haven't already done so, and be sure to sign up to my prayer promises challenge too, because faith without works is dead!  

So that means you can wish, hope, and pray for a better life, but at the end of the day it's up to you to get up and work towards that better life and actually believe that it's possible!

I can't wait to teach you HOW to live your life happily ever after, because the truth is if you don't change, your life will never change either.  This work always starts (and stops) with you, and I have full faith that you have everything you already need within you to make your life everything you want it to be!

See you on the other side!

xo

Lindsay