In my work as a Money Mindset Coach, I often get asked the question, “How can I feel abundant or rich, when I don’t actually have the money?”

This is such an interesting question and at first, I was stumped. Then I asked myself what makes me feel abundant? What makes me feel rich? What makes me feel like I’m winning at life?

As I started thinking about it, I realized that this is something that I’ve talked about before. I went back to the article I had written three years ago, and saw that I shared eight tools for attracting abundance. You can read that here.

As I was re-reading my article, I realized I had more to say about the subject so, here we are! This time, I want to focus more on creating “feelings” of abundance rather than attraction. And in all honesty, it is far easier to attract money when you are embodying the feeling that you are already there.

1 – Replicate Good Sensations in Your Body.

This one may sound a little corny and likely will take some practice. But this is a great tool to use to create feelings that are tied to your money goals for your life.

First, notice how your body feels when something absolutely fabulous has happened. Start thinking about some of the most amazing things that have happened to you. Maybe it was the birth of a child, when you bought your dream home, getting married, or going on a fabulous vacation. It doesn’t matter what it was, just something that made you feel like you were winning!

Once you have the memory, now it’s time to go back into that memory and start looking at the details and then start tuning into how you felt inside your body.

Did you feel a swelling in your heart space? Did you feel flutters in your tummy? Were you smiling? Was your brain feeling on fire?

Now that you know how your body was feeling, try to replicate that feeling. Think about that thing that was so thrilling, beautiful, loving, exciting, or amazing and allow your body once again to flood with those sensations.

Feel it? Isn’t it fabulous? Now all you have to do is tie it to money. Say out loud: “I feel rich. My life is abundant. Wait, I AM rich. My bank account is over overflowing!” It doesn’t matter what words you use here; use whatever words you’d normally say. Just make it about your money goal of being rich or having abundance.

Go through that exercise every day or two and pretty soon you’ll find yourself easily shifting the feeling and sensation in your body, when you say aloud your desires for your money!

This tool is so helpful because feeling good about a money goal, helps us reach it faster. When we feel positive and good, we take more action.

2 – Write down 100 Things that you are Grateful for.

This is a twist on a daily gratitude practice that I learned from one of my clients. She adopted this practice and after a few months saw results. She had a better mindset and thinking about her money, she was seeing more money coming in, and she’s actually working less. She reports that she has never felt better about money than she does right now!

I believe that gratitude is like drinking water. Just like drinking adequate water, keeps our cells hydrated so that our bodies can function properly; gratitude supplies the mind and spirit with a quick dose of good feelings so that makes us feel good and that leads to us taking more action.

There are so many ways to start or expand a gratitude practice. Here are a few ideas for you.

• Start a running list and write three things on it daily.
• Write 100 things that you are grateful for all at once.  Then go back and read your list and revise it.  I recommend checking in every day or two, but at minimum read over the list weekly.
• Write down 25 things each week for a month.  Then start reading a line or two from the list every day.  Bonus points if you read it aloud and send your gratitude out into the universe.

There are any number of ways to express your gratitude. But there is something powerful in putting pen to paper and then reading it aloud.

Making the choice to create and update lists like this not only creates more good feelings for your life. But it also shows you how good things already are. It shows you how abundant your life is. It even helps clarify what you really want for your money and bank account. And what could feel better than that?

3 – Track Your Money.

When I say track your money, I don’t mean like in a checkbook or looking at your bank account. I mean separately tracking all your incoming money on a spreadsheet or paper document each month. And when I say all, I mean all.

• Find a penny on the street? Document that.
• Receive a gift card for your birthday? Totally counts.
• Pull a $20 bill out of last year’s jeans? Add that in.
• Someone pays for your coffee in the drive through line? Yep, that goes on the list.
• You know that match for your 401k that your employer contributes every month? That gets counted too!

Any amount of money or value that you receive in a month, gets documented. It doesn’t matter where it comes from or what form. It doesn’t matter how big or how small.  It all counts.

Let me repeat that. No amount is too small and no amount should be left out. It’s all relevant and important! It all counts!

Tracking your incoming money in this way does several things.

• It eliminates that negative charge around your expenses that you might get by looking at a check register or your bank account and then seeing your remaining balance. And while having that information is really important, it may not make you feel rich.
• It shows you the abundance of what you have. You likely are already receiving far more than you realize. Looking at your money in this way, often provides feelings of abundance.
• It gets you really paying attention to money. What relationship can flourish without attention? Not a single one. Paying attention to your money is a great first step to having more of it.

I encourage everyone to track their incoming money separately. It is a powerful tool that not only promotes feelings of abundance, but also improves your relationship with money overall.

These are all practices I use to feel abundant and I feel sure they’ll work for you too! Give one or all three of them a try and then comment below and tell me what you think!

Sherry Parks, CPA, is a Money Mindset Coach who helps women escape feeling trapped by their finances. She is passionate about helping women change mindset, emotions and actions regarding money, so that they learn to keep what they have and generate more. Check out her 5 Steps to a Better Money Story workbook or join her women-only Facebook group More Than Enough Money Sisterhood.

Image courtesy of Chermiti Mohamed.