Full Moon Rising - Made In The USA

How to Create the Abundance Mindset

I found this on a blog called Zen Habits. It will take some time for me to go through all of the information on the blog, but I can tell right off this is a site I need to read.

One of the first things I noticed was he has released all of his posts for others to post, no copyright. This ties right into this first post. I will be reposting some of his articles here, and giving credit in the hopes it will bring more people to his site so they may share and learn from what he has to say.

I hope you find it illuminating and informative.

How to Create the Abundance Mindset

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Steve of Freedom Education.

Give away what you got.

It’s not that complicated, really.

But let’s think for a minute; what do a great number of people do instead?

When someone has a great idea, they hoard that idea.  They don’t give it away.  They shelter and protect it.  They keep it to themselves in fear that someone else might take it.  They think, “I better save that idea for later.”  They don’t share their ideas or give them away - they keep them.

Well, let’s think - why would you do that?

The problem isn’t that your ideas aren’t any good.  It’s not even because your ideas aren’t worthy or that you aren’t worthy - because you are.  The problem is your thinking.  You think that if you give one idea away that you won’t come up with more great ideas.  And that fear has got you living in the lake of lack.

Instead, you could start by giving what you got.

Let’s look at Bloggers

Why do a lot of bloggers fail to be successful online?  Bloggers don’t fail because they’re terrible writers (although there are some).  And they don’t fail because they don’t have something valuable to say; they all do - they fail because they stop writing; they stopped giving and providing valuable ideas to others.

To create the abundance mindset, be willing to give.

It’s no different than with money.

Are you Mr El-Cheap-O?

Maybe you’re one of those people who holds onto every penny you’ve got - save money for a rainy day sort of thinking.  I know because I used to be that person.  Maybe you’re really frugal with your money or what I like to call Mr El-Cheap-O.

There’s nothing wrong with being frugal.  What I’m talking about is something completely different.  I’m talking about the hoarders, the real savers - the people who are scared to spend their money.

Just remember that holding onto your money doesn’t bring more of it to you.  It does just the opposite.  Holding onto or hoarding your money (in fear) is evidence enough that you don’t think there is enough.  And when you don’t think you have enough, you’re projecting the scarcity mindset or what my friend Julia calls the “scare-city” mindset.  This mindset is based in fear.

Are you short on time?

Some people are always running out of time - like it was cash or some commodity.  They’re always in a panic to get stuff done.  They’re time vampires.  They literally devour their time and suck the life out of themselves - until there is no time left.

These time vampires live in the lake of lack.  The don’t give away their time because they don’t think there is “enough time” to give.  And when you don’t think there is enough, you’re coming from scarcity or lack.

The way you do anything is the way you do everything.  If there is lack in one area, then there is lack in all areas of your life.  It really comes down to your mindset.

So, how do you break the pattern?

You’ve got to be willing to give from where you are.

Give what you got because giving signals “more-than-enoughness.”  It signals abundance.  When you’re in a state of giving, and giving willingly you’re telling others (and yourself) that there is plenty.  That there is more than enough for everyone.

“You receive through the same doorway through which you give.  The way to receive freely is to give freely. Quality is more important than quantity, since the universe amplifies thought into circumstance.  Begin giving, and let God perfect your giving.” ~ Brad Jensen

Here are 6 ways to give and create the abundance mindset:

• Are you short on time? If that’s the case, give away some of your time. Take time to give to others. You don’t have to dedicate 90% of your day to serving others - that’s not what I’m saying. Just find that balance between giving and receiving. Find an organization or a person that you really love and volunteer some of your time. Give your time away.
• Don’t feel loved? You’ve got to give some before you get some. Give away some hugs. Go out right now and give 5 people you know a big hug. I guarantee right after you do this, you’ll feel great. You’ll feel like a million bucks! Why? Because you feel loved. And you can only feel loved when you give that love to others. Go out right now and hug 5 people!
• Short on Cash? Give some away. Yes, you heard me right. I’m not saying you should sell the farm, far from it. But you may consider giving money to a charity, giving money to a friend who needs it, or even giving money to a panhandler in the street.  Givers gain.
• Are you stuck? Do you want to get unstuck?  Help others first. Think of someone you know that is having a similar problem. And think of a way that you could help them based on what you know.  Write down what you plan to do to help this person and then go out and do it. I’m telling you this works!  When you help others wholeheartedly, help will always come back to you.
• Lacking self-belief? Yup, you know it. You’ve got to give it away! If you lack self-belief, then give away that belief to others.  What do I mean?  Find someone you know who is lacking in self-confidence or in self-belief and give them a boost.  Spend some time with this person and feed their mind.  Tell them how much you believe in them.  Tell them how successful you see them becoming; how you always knew they could make it. Tell them how proud you are of them. Fill their mind with positive ideas.   Instill belief in others and belief will come flowing abundantly to you.
• Short on ideas? This is my favorite. If you’re short on creative ideas, give them away! Give others creative ways to increase business, find a new stimulating career or improve their health.  Give ideas away and ideas will flood right back to you.

With all of these tips, you have to start with where you are.  You can’t give what you don’t have.  Be willing to give what you got from where you are and I promise you - abundance will flow into your life.  You will be actively creating the abundance mindset.

Steve is a Life Coach and the creator of Freedom Education - Mind Power for Your Personal Growth.  He is also the author of the ebook, The Genius Within YOU. You can download his ebook here.

Unruffled feathers

So much of our time is spent doing this and doing that, running here and there in mad pursuit of some goal, only to find that in a week or a month or maybe even a day it will be deemed totally irrelevant.  I know some days I have trouble finding the time to go to the bathroom.  But at least I have learned to recognize that when I get into that state, the very best thing for me to do is to stand still for a moment, breathe deeply, and absorb my surroundings.  It is then that I can see what is happening around me, notice the delicate features of Life Being Lived and Love Being Shared. 

This little Thoreau-ean disport was sparked by an accidental discovery of a wonderful little blog called Hedge Sociey.  The blog itself is about art, books, and other wonderfully beautiful bauble, but its inspiration comes from the author's observation of the birds outside her office.  Despite whatever the headlines scream, irregardless of Holidays, the birds would gather to talk amongst themselves.  Were their songs a comment on the seemingly irrational behavior of the colorful bipeds scampering around below?  Or are they a debate amongst themselves about what to do about the cat creeping up the tree?  Or perhaps a celebration of the discovery of some especially tasty seeds or berries?  One thing is for sure - they were singing, and it was beautiful.

Father Winter is riding his sleigh towards my area as I type this; tomorrow I'm supposed to take wing and migrate to warmer climes for a week.  Should I fret about delays, cancellations, and inconveniences?  Yes, I have obligations to fulfill and No, I don't have money to burn, so I must stay realistic in my behaviors.  But my attitudes need not be compromised.  When I was a kid, I used to dream about flying.  Now I groan with the thought of dragging unwieldy baggage around an airport and suffering the indignities of security checkpoints and trying not to sound selfish and self-centered to overwhelmed ticketing agents when I'm asking about alternative methods to get me out of the snow and slush and into the sun and warmth. 

How the Hedge Society must delight in watching such silliness from their perch on top of the tail of my jetliner.  Or, perhaps, they're just concerned with taking care of each other, helping each other find food and adequate shelter, and keeping a safe distance from the cat.  They must, I believe, delight in their aerobatics through the dancing snowflakes.  I know I delight in watching them. 

So the question for myself today is, what kind of society do I choose to live in? 

I think I know the answer.  A little bird told me.

Take care,

Brian Fallon

Recent Changes

I have been negligent in updating things on the blog. That will be changing, as we will be posting regular updates from now on.

We are near the end of our new web redesign project, and are publishing individual stores for various Unions and business now.

In January we will be traveling to Las Vegas (Vegas Baby!) for the annual PPAI show. There will be almost 1000 manufacturers there showing everything from tattoos to clothing. Much of what we see there is junk, but we always find a few gems, and we always find new suppliers who are making products in The US.

PPAI is one of the industry associations we belong to. PPAI sponsors a lot of educational opportunities for those working in the promotional marketing business. Visit PPAI.org  for more information.

We will be staying at the Mirage, and have reserved a suite. This is one of the few perks we get and will be nice for our meetings and planning sessions. We hope to accomplish some long range planning and make some decisions about where we are headed.

Since I wrote last we have added 2 new employees. Sue and Kerry both work in the chicago office with me. They are a big help and are responsible for most of the actual product content on the web sites.

We also added Mike in our Ohio office, he works with Jeff and is helping keep the order processing and accounting running smoothly. Mike is a retired Air Traffic Controller. One of many who have left due to the conditions the FAA has created, which are abysmal to say the least.

If you are interested in why record numbers of Air Traffic Controllers are retiring and resigning go to the web site of the Union representing them.  http://www.NATCA.org

Talk to you again tomorrow.

Bryan

New Web Sites

We have been in development of our new web sites since late last year. They will debut soon, so I thought I would talk a little about them and what is new.

We have switched to a Content Management System and Database Driven web site. All of our stores will be controlled from a central CMS and database which Will make things much easier for us.

This will benefit you the shopper as well in many ways.

The first thing you will notice is we will be adding many more items to the clothing selection. We have access to many more clothing lines that are USA or Union Made. But in the past it was too labor intensive to put them all online and maintain them in multiple web sites.

So expect to see the options you have for clothing increase exponentially within a month or two of the site being live.

The next thing that you will notice is that we will have about 12 company or organizational stores online. We will have the ability to furnish you with a store featuring your logos only and what ever clothing options you desire at no cost to you. We can put only Union Made clothing in it, or all of the USA made clothing in it, or limit it to specific items, or colors.

We will be launching not only TheUnionShop.org, but MadeInUSAClothing.org, andTheApparelShop.org, SargonsRealm.org,  TheCompanyBoutique.org/com, TheCompaniesStore.org/com, and a few others.

TheApparelShop.org, The CompanyBoutique.org and TheCompaniesStore.org will feature a mixture of USA and USA Made clothing.

SargonsRealm.org will feature a premium line of clothing.

All of these will have the capability to have a store set up just for you. You can visit your store two ways. http://YourStore.TheUnionShop.org or http://www.TheUnionShop.org/YourStore

Of course you can substitute any of our stores for TheUnionShop in the address.

Again this all all free, there is no charge for set up and we will adjust the color scheme of the site to simulate your own web site so your members or employees feel at home.

We are also adding a complete monogram option on all clothing, in addition to buying clothing blank, or with your custom logo, you will also be able to select a monogram online. There will be numerous fonts and locations to choose from.

I will post more on this soon. You can see a little of the color scheme we are using in use at http://www.FMRInc.org but this is a static site and is being used right now to test a few things It will give you a small peek into how the new site will look though.

We will talk again soon,

Bryan

The See Through CEO

Here is something I read this weekend and it motivated me to finally set up a blog for our company.

The article is in Wired, http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.04/wired40_ceo.html

It is about Companies opening up and letting their customers, and collaborators see what they are doing. It is also about honesty, and how the web and Google are keeping companies honest.

I like that a lot. When we started our company we wanted it to be different, and it is.

It starts with our logo, and extends to how we do business. Honesty and ethics are important to us. Selling and supporting products that are Made in The USA is also important. By doing so we support US workers, and companies, and allow consumers access to USA Made products, which are hard to find on store shelves.

One of the things I plan on using the blog for is to let those who stop by see what is going on in our company, how we are moving forward and growing, and let you get to know who we are as people.

We build relationships with our customers and our vendors.   I hope to build some new relationships here.

If you have comments or questions about this subject I would love to hear them.

Bryan