Gratitude And Generosity Are The Gateway To Abundance

I recently got to see Lewis Howes speak live as a part of his tour to launch his new book “Make Money Easy”, and the core message in his talk was about embracing abundance.

Being abundant is different than being rich. Abundance is an energy that your needs are met and a willingness to contribute to the needs of others. It’s a faith that there’s more than enough for everyone. Being rich is just a financial result.

For the last few years, one of the things I’ve focused most on in my personal development is building my abundance mindset. To give what I can when I feel inspired to and without expectation, to ask for help and receive it without indebtedness, and to be a conduit that helps circulate more goodness in the world. I’ve been intentional about building that mindset by every day in my Self Improvement Scorecard reflecting on one thing that I did to help someone else, and one thing I did to receive help.

But Lewis Howes takes action on abundance a bit differently. He says “Gratitude and generosity are the gateway to abundance.”

Gratitude will change your life. As I understand it right now, there’s nothing that will more radically and positively change your life in 30 days than journaling three things you’re grateful for. It completely shifts the lens through which you see the world. And it connects to abundance because, “what you appreciate, appreciates”. The things you are grateful for multiply in the world. And that’s what abundance is, an energy of more than enough and unlimited access.

Generosity is more along the lines of what I was describing about having a willingness to give what you have freely. And what’s interesting is how generosity interfaces with the world. Materially, the fastest way to get something is to give it away. If you want love, give love. If you want connections, make connections for others. If you want money, give money. Generosity initiates reciprocity and one way or another, what you give returns to you in amplified ways. An online business leader named Pat Flynn was a special guest at this event and he has a life mantra that goes “serve first”. 

But immaterially, generosity offers something far greater. Every time you give, you reenforce the belief that you have what you need. That you are safe and cared for. This is how you cultivate the faith that everything will work out, and when you show up for life with that perspective, it attracts everything you’ll ever need and more.

Gratitude and generosity are the gateway to abundance. And when we talk about wanting bigger, richer, more impactful lives, this is really what we mean. And now you know the pathway!