The Cause and Effect Of Creating The Life You Want

“I can’t afford that!” That was my knee-jerk reaction a year ago when I heard what my own coach charges for his services. And oh how many times I have declared this over my life throughout the years—I can’t afford that.

Having learned in my 20’s that financial responsibility means not purchasing things I can’t afford, my M.O. has been that if I don’t have the money then I just don’t buy it. Sure appears responsible, doesn’t it? But it’s not actually being responsible; it’s being resigned. “I can’t afford that!” is really resignation disguised as responsibility.  It is resignation to the situation of not having enough money. And as long as I am resigned then I am not responsible. I am making something else responsible for how my life turns out. What am I making responsible instead of me? The situation. In this case, the situation is not having enough money.

Don’t believe me? Just try this out on my example of how I initially looked at hiring my own coach. Let’s use the word “because”. I can’t hire this coach because there isn’t enough money. “Because” literally means being the cause for what is happening; it is code for responsible. Whatever reason follows “because” is assigned responsibility for the results.

On the surface, I am off the hook, and it’s the amount of money in my bank that is being the cause for me not hiring a coach. But let’s look deeper. Who is responsible for what is in my bank account? Me! I created that. My choices, actions and inactions. So I am actually at cause for what is/isn’t in my bank, and what is/isn’t in my bank is at the effect of my choices to date.

This is the law of cause and effect work. And it presents two contexts to live from in life; I have a choice. I can either live at cause in my life, or at effect in my life. Living at cause is a context to choose and create no matter my situation (responsible). Living at effect is a context of powerlessness and helplessness to the results I’ve created so far (resigned). And the context I’m living from determines the actions available to me in any given moment.

My life transformed the instant I realized I could live as the cause for creating something new financially for myself, instead of living at the effect what I had created so far. I stopped declaring, “I can’t afford that!” and started asking, “How can I create that?” And became fully responsible for hiring that coach.

Today we’re focusing on money, but living as cause can apply to any arena.  Begin to notice how often you make circumstances, situations, moods and thoughts the cause for your experience in life. Notice how often you make your past the cause, how often you make someone else the cause. It’s pretty frustrating and exhausting, isn’t it? Notice how it stops you from having the life you really want. Sure things happen outside of your control; I’m not suggesting they don’t. But what would become available to you if you shift back into being the cause of any and all results—regardless of the circumstances—in your life? It is a position to live from, like a possibility. Notice what actions become accessible when you live as cause that are not accessible when you live at effect. Consider that this week, and we’ll take this conversation even deeper next time.

To Your Great Life!

Becky