“The world needs dreamers and the world needs doers. But above all, the world needs dreamers who do.”
— Sarah Ban Breathnach
I’ve been recuperating from foot surgery for the last few weeks, so I’ve had some time to think about my life. One of the things I am most grateful for is our home on the lake. I’ve worked from my home for the last 13 years, so I feel I’ve been able to turn my vocation into a vacation. But it wasn’t always like this.
Almost 25 years ago, my husband and I lived in a house that had access to a beautiful lake, but we did not get the experience of living on the lake. We often talked about how nice it would be to live on the lake one day.
Then one day, I began walking with a friend who lived right on the lake. Each morning I would sit on her deck and watch the sun rise over the lake, while I waited for her to come out and join me. As I watched the sun rise, one morning, I said to myself. “It’s time, I want this view!”
After my walk that day, I went home and shared my dream with my husband. He agreed 100%, so we went to our friend, Marie, who was the biggest real estate agent in the lakes area and shared our dream of owning a house on the lake.
Marie looked us square in the face and said, “Forget it! You cannot afford it. Your house is not in a good area, it’s overbuilt, you have no equity or cash to put down. You cannot afford to buy a house on the lake.”
Well, my husband and I decided the calling was too strong. We wanted to live on the lake, and we wanted the perfect lot with no neighbors, with lots of frontage, and in a wonderful community.
At this time, I was also reading a book about the Law of Attraction and manifesting through “Intention.” The steps I share below are the exact steps we took to manifest our house on the lake, but it can be used for anything.
Step 1: Create from intention not from circumstances.
This means you need to check your Ego at the door. You will need to turn off the naysayers in your head as well as in your life. Forget about what’s going on in your life today and shift your thoughts to what you want without limitations.
I call this “High Intention – Low Attachment.” Remember, we often operate from limited thinking based on our current circumstances or what we think is possible based on our current situation or past experiences. So be open to unlimited possibilities and just put your Intention out to the Universe.
I want to add that this does not mean being foolish or taking undo financial risk. In our situation, even though we were illiquid with real estate and did not have a lot of cash in the bank, we had a high income, so we could afford what we were intending to do. Make sure you get sound financial advice when making a big decision like buying a home.
Step 2: Take action.
In the meantime, we began taking action. We listed our vacation cabin and our waterfront lot on the Grass River with a real estate agent “up north,” as we call it in Michigan, and we listed our home we were living in.
Next, we began visiting houses on the lake that were for sale. We went to one house after another and they were all the same with all or some of these issues:
- road noise
- bad school system
- too close to the next home
- too expensive
We never lost sight of our dream house. It would have privacy, look like an English cottage, good schools, and it would be affordable.
Step 3: Stay focused on what you want or better.
Focus on what you want – not what you don’t want. As I stated earlier, ignore naysayers. Stay open to what you want and better — even more than you could ever dream of.
The Universe may have a much bigger idea or solution for you — much better than you could even imagine. Stay in this high vibration. Trust the process.
Step 4: When opportunity knocks, look at the numbers, but follow your gut.
One day — after several months — I received a call from my friend, the agent that had told me, “we should forget about it.”
I was on the road when Marie called, saying, “I have your house!” She described it to me, and I told her right on the phone — sight unseen — that I would take it. But she told me it’s not that easy. It’s already sold to someone else, but there is a contingency, so let’s write a backup offer.
She met us there, and she was right, it was perfect in every way – privacy, our little English cottage, including the price. We made the backup offer … and it was accepted!
We had a Big Problem: The agent was right. Our old house was in a terrible neighborhood and had not sold. We had no money to put down on the new house, and everything was tied up and illiquid.
I took some time alone to think things through and consulted with a few confidants. I am a financial planner, and my skill is problem solving. In our case, I was able to come up with a very creative solution.
We put the plan in motion. We trusted it would work. We never lost faith, and it worked perfectly … or should I say Divinely? We secured temporary funds, held some in an account to pay two mortgages for up to 10 months while everything sold.
Today, 25 years later, our lake home is gorgeous. It was of our best investments both financially and spiritually. It was very scary taking the risk we did, but I know to this day, it was not some random act of circumstance. It was created and executed from intention. It happened because we followed a process based on spiritual and practical laws of intention.
I’ve followed this process in so many other areas of my life, and I have taught it to others. I cannot imagine our life today had we not taken that LEAP of faith and then taken the action steps to make it happen.
- What is it in your life that is calling out to you?
- What do you want so much, but have no idea how to manifest it?
- What is it that scares you to death, but if you just did it, it could change your life forever?
Feel free to follow these steps.
If you want to talk about it with me, feel free to reach out for a private conversation. Sometimes just taking the time to think about what you want, then writing it out, and finally talking about it with someone who will listen without judgment is all it will take for you to gain clarity.
It’s not fun to live life in fear or indecision, and that is why I’ve selected our two special guests for March. Our first guest this month is Debra Poneman, founder of Yes for Success, which she has been teaching for four decades now. I’m thrilled I took her course this summer because it has helped me stay focused and in high vibration. In fact, when she offered a six-month follow-up to the course, I was all in.
Our other guest this month is the phenomenal Rhonda Britten, founder of the acclaimed Fearless Living Institute. Rhonda has helped thousands of people let go of indecision, gain clarity of purpose, and take life-changing risks. You won’t want to miss this important show!
During trying times like we are going through now, with a world-wide pandemic, we all need to be reaching out for support, mentors, and programs that will keep us focused and inspired, and that is why I invited these two powerful women to join us in honor of International Women’s Day (March 8) this month!
I promise you will be inspired and leave with tips that you can implement immediately to create more confidence, ease and flow into your life! And if you haven’t done it yet, be sure to visit the Smart Women’s Academy to access the free gifts and resources on inspiration, mindset, health, money, and retirement from our Smart Women Empower Women Partners.
Katana Abbott, CFP®, is a Retirement Reinvention Coach, founder of the Smart Women Companies, and the host Smart Women Talk Radio with over a million subscribers. For over 30 years, Katana has shown women how to take charge of their life and finances and believes it’s never too early to plan for expected and unexpected events like retirement, encore careers, moving abroad, or preparing for long-term care. She has written several books, created a financial literacy course, and is a popular speaker. Katana has been honored by NAWBO as one of Detroit’s Top 10 Business Women, receiving the Breakthrough Award. To download her new retirement guide, Three Smart Strategies to Maximize Your Retirement Income. visit www.katanaabbott.com