If you are waiting for a perfect time to live abundantly, what if we tell you that this very moment is ideal?

We have been conditioned to think that we need to attain something great to be worthy of abundance. What if you are told that you can start doing so right away? As it has been made to look, abundance is not a destination but an endless journey. It is a conscious choice to recognize that you have everything that you need at all times, and in plenty.

Author of “The Secret” Rhonda Byrne puts emphasis on the need to foster a culture of gratitude and giving to create abundance. By practicing the two, you are instantly tuned into the flow of abundance and thus you attract more of what you want in life.

This belief system was reaffirmed by Centonomy founder Waceke Nduati and Africa Uncensored CEO & co-founder John Allan Namu at Centonomy’s open day held this past Saturday in Nairobi. The event, focusing on financial abundance, set off reflections about money. The two speakers described it as a conviction that there are opportunities of wealth creation and that what you have right now is sufficient even as you make steps to improve your finances.

Hold positive thoughts about money

John-Allan recollected how painful it was to him to see his widowed mother struggle to pay for his high school education. It changed how he viewed money. As an adult, John-Allan recently enrolled into Centonomy’s personal financial management course. As much as he followed everything he learned in class, he was unable to live abundantly.

“I grew up being scared of debt. I would do anything to get out of debt including taking more debt,” he disclosed.

Accepting that it was a difficult process, the award-winning investigative journalist told the audience that he has conquered his fear just the other day by shifting his mindset. There were five other speakers who shared their journeys at the event. They offered these tips to financial abundance.

Write down your vision and goals in BIG LETTERS

Having your financial goals in capital letters and setting clear deadlines can give you optimum focus. You can then break them down into small daily goals. You can also establish prudent money habits such as accounting for the money you spend using money management apps, having a meal plan, cutting down on expenses, avoiding impulse buying, digging through the most profitable investment and saving options available, and so on.

Maximize on opportunities

If you intently look around, you will see that there are opportunities around you that can help you grow your income. Focus on your strengths, talents and gifts. Seeing what you have right now is empowering. See the opportunities within your reach and stretch your hand even further.

Author and founder of Living Effectively Mentorship Program, Douglas Waudo, encouraged the audience to also implement new ideas of wealth creation.

Be willing to make sacrifices

Media personality and author of “My First Time” Janet Mbugua narrated her story of how she had to make several sacrifices years ago so that she could own a piece of land within a period of six months. One of the decisions were saying no to engagements that needed her to reach for her wallet.

“Sacrifice. Something has got to give to reach any goal. Make peace with those who will not understand the season you are in. I have had to cut back on attending events and cut off some friendships for me to be able to save,” she said.

Other sacrifices mentioned at the event were carrying your own food to work, sticking to a budget, cutting back on unnecessary expenses and grooming yourself at home. The other speakers included s creenwriter, content creator and singer Wanjiru Thiong’o, influencer manager Vanessa Ndinda, and Elsie Akoo, a nutritionist.  

Emotional overwhelm is the state of an intense flooding of a feeling, thought or physical sensation which you find extremely difficult to control. Mind, body and spirit is overpowered, imprisoned by it. Increased heartbeat, struggle in breathing, difficulty in sleeping, lack of focus, headache and low productivity are some of the signs.

While we can experience emotional excitement overload, which bears a bit of resemblance to overwhelm of unpleasant emotions, we shine a light on the latter today. And while anyone can undergo emotional overwhelm, it is a constant battle for a highly sensitive person (HSP) . The reason is that HSPs absorb external stimuli and process information deeply. What may seem unimportant to others is experienced to an extreme degree by HSPs.

How do you lessen instances of emotional overwhelm?

It takes an intentional and continuous effort to do so, especially for HSPs. Still, there will be instances brought about by plenty of responsibilities, expectations or situations which will leave you overstimulated if you are a HSP. With that said, here are steps to take to reduce an occurrence of an overwhelm.

Know your emotional triggers

Be aware of what activates your triggers to help manage yourself when situations arise. The triggers could include a pile of work, a forthcoming presentation, conversation, and so on.

Psychology experts advise coming up with a plan beforehand to get yourself out of it. Have a personal mantra ready to help you lessen the possibility of an emotional flooding when faced by a trigger.

Author of The Seat of the Soul and spiritual teacher Gary Zukav believes that being aware of the origin of your emotions is the first step to opening your heart to compassion. He goes on to say that whenever you experience undesirable emotions, you can act on them from a place of love instead of fear. For example, gratitude and calmness comes from a place of love while panic and worry is from a place of fear.

It rarely helps to fight off unpleasant emotions. Acknowledging them, seeing the important messages they carry, and letting the pass through without a battle puts you in a better place. As the quote goes, “the feeling you want to feel is waiting on the other side of the feeling you don’t like.”

Cater to your emotional needs

Take a good chunk of your time to pay attention to your mind, body and spirit. You can do this by going to places of nature, listening to calming music, getting enough sleep, surrounding yourself with dear ones, keeping track of your thoughts and feelings by journaling and meditating.

If you easily face emotional exhaustion constantly, you need a lot of solitary time to center yourself and, ultimately, to thrive.

Simplify your life

Although it is hard but necessary, there are some days in which journalist and rapper Graham Kajilwa ignores certain phone calls or texts whose conversations will leave him emotionally overwhelmed.

“I postpone having specific conversations when I am not ready. I would have to politely decline social invitations too. Sometimes people do not understand that is what I truly need at the time. When I am in a good space emotionally, I can fully show up for others,” explains Graham.

Other steps to simplify your life is by taking only what you can accomplish at a given time. Plan ahead, prioritize tasks, learn to say no and ask for help when you have a lot on your plate, and pat yourself in the back when you make any form of progress.

Our friends over at TheEfficientWoman recently informed us about dopamine fasting here http://theefficientwoman.co.ke/2019/11/26/have-you-tried-the-dopamine-fast/.  It is an intentional decision to forego things you love to have a sense of grounding and clarity. You can go for this too.

Lastly, we recommend seeing a therapist to walk this journey with you if you are frequently overwhelmed.

Say, journaling has crossed your mind as 2019 sets into the horizon. You get a journal at a bookstore. You look at it every day, thinking about what it is you are going to record as your first entry. Days fly by, you nearly forget about it. There are days when you open it, hardly jot down anything, close it and look at the page days later. Where do you start? How do you make it a practice?

This is the story of many journaling beginners.