“Abundance” is a broad concept. People in the personal development field talk and think a lot about Abundance: how to create it, and that the “future is better than you think” (see Peter Diamandis’ book with that title).
But Abundance can also be a very limiting concept, and a quite crippling one.
Abundance:
Source: Oxford Dictionary
“the situation in which there is more than enough of something”
That is the opposite of scarcity
Abundance might have you lost in choice:
Think about the times when you wanted to watch a movie, opened Netflix, and what happens next…? 20 minutes later, you give up watching anything because of decision fatigue. You had an abundance of movies though !
What about that time when you went to this all-you-can-eat buffet, to come out with a bloated tummy and a feeling of disgust?
There is an alternative that I find much more interesting than Abundance. It could actually be a more focused version of abundance:
On Point.
A friend won an iPhone during a game, and because she lived in another country, the organizer of the game decided to send her the money equivalent of the iPhone to save on shipping costs. That money equivalent was exactly the amount she needed to purchase a plane ticket for her next destination!
On Point.
The other day, for lunch, I really felt like eating potatoes. But I thought I had finished all the potatoes I had cooked, and knew had no fresh ones left to cook. I opened the freezer, and there I found a bag of potatoes ready to cook !
On Point.
(That evening, I opened the fridge and discovered that I had a small box of cooked potatoes left that I had forgotten about. Abundance ! 😀 )
These are the small miracles in life, that actually make life enjoyable every moment. Each day can be packed with these small treasures of life. No need to wait for the next 100K contract you sign to enjoy Abundance.
This notion of Abundancevs. On Point applies to your business too.
Abundance: Having clients lining up to work with you. Maybe even an overabundance of clients, which mean you are oversubscribed. You might have some pressure to manage, and even an overwhelm of how to deal with it all.
On Point: The right client comes knocking at your door, or is introduced by a mutual friend: A client that aligns with your values, your aspirations, and a client that you would be willing to work for if you decided to stop your coaching/consulting business. That’s what I call an 11/10 client. (See my article on working with clients you love.)
I have 6 separate notes of books on my “to-read” list. They are actually parts of my bibliography. I haven’t counted the number of books, but I trust that there are at least 150. These are books that I would like to read, that sparked my interest. Right now, I don’t want to spend all my days reading. I have an Abundance of books on my to-read list.
The good news, is that I can count on my intuition to know which book to read next. That is On Point.
The other good news is that I like to take shortcuts, and the Universe loves to present shortcuts to me. I haven’t had to read 100 books about psychology and philosophy because I read Ken Wilber’s Integral Psychology.
I don’t need to read these hundreds of books on my to-read list, I only need to focus on and enjoy the one I’m reading right now.
In the same vein of ideas, when people ask Steve Hardison, “The Ultimate Coach”:
“How many clients do you have?”
He replies:
“Only one: The one I am working with right now.”
On Point.
When I coach, I help my clients get On Point.
At the beginning of a session, a client wanted us to review his pitch deck for the startup that he has founded (for which I am also an advisor). I knew that wasn’t On Point. I didn’t listen to his story (he tries to show me his slide deck at almost every of our conversation). Improving the slide deck will not transform his business.
Instead, I asked him about the objections he heard from people who were not willing to invest in his startup. (These are his Black Sheep and Pirates in disguise).
We went deeper and he revealed to me what his true Purpose is: He is a cyber-social architect, building a device and an association to allow for Free, Safe, Transparent and Democratic Computing in the age of A.I.
He got On Point.
Abundance is a good step to shift from your limiting beliefs to see a world of possibilities and opportunities:
“If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite.”
William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.
Being On Point will give you this priceless gift of discernment, which is like having a laser pointer to show you the way in the middle of chaos and choices.
What are the ways that you are already On Point?
How can you be more On Point?
How can you cultivate that?
Jean-Sébastien Simon - Conscious Business Coach 