This post was guest blogged by Alex Shalman, who created Happiness: The Group Writing Project.
“Expect your every need to be met. Expect the answer to every problem, expect abundance on every level…”
~Eileen Caddy
This Sunday I had the pleasure of speaking to my good friend Rabbi Johnny Shippel. I was lucky enough to learn a few several thought provoking concepts from him, one of which I’ll pass on to you.
Rabbi asked me to consider the two cups, half full and half empty, and to pick which one I like better. Being a big optimist I picked the half full cup without thinking. It turns out I was wrong.
No, it’s not the half empty cup that’s better, and it’s not what you think at all. The “better” thing to do is to pour the content into a smaller cup so that you’re left with one full cup!
Can’t Go Wrong With No Standards
That was my first response to this story. No standards no problems. I thought this way because of a story I covered on the happiest nation in the world. Researchers said the Danes were the happiest because they had no expectations for anything great.
For the Danes, anything moderately good was taken as a very pleasant surprise. Moderately good must have happened often, as it led to a national happiness greater than that of tropical island civilizations.
Can Go Better With Abundance
I must admit that my first response was not the best one, not even by a longshot. It wasn’t the lack of standards that made the smaller cup, the one with the over flowing wine, the best choice for life.
After pondering this for a couple of days and discussing it with some brilliant friends of mine we discovered the real truth. The over flowing cup is better because it creates the mentality of abundance, which is effectively used to attract more of what we focus on into our lives.
From a practical stand point, whatever we focus on, we will achieve in our lives. Us humans are THAT powerful. As long as our cups are over flowing, we can increase them gradually and keep them over flowing.
Practical Areas To Apply This Concept
- Health. By thinking of our health as where it should be and following some better health principles, we are attracting more of it into our lives.
- Relationships. Consider your relationships on point and amazing. You’ll attract more and better, including partnerships to make money online.
- Money. If you look at your monthly income reports think of them as exactly where they should be in your goals. Consider yourself doing well. Use this method to attract more money for the next month.
- Advertisement. Selling direct ads? “Just the right amount of people are buying right now.” This will set your focus to attracting a bigger number, the one that is more right for you next month.
- Ideas. Think in terms of having more than enough great ideas in order to make money online, and you will have more and more amazing ideas to work with.
- Writing. Always think in terms of writing being easy for you to do. Use that energy to focus on practical writing techniques, and you will write more than you ever dreamed you could.
What other areas of your life could you apply this concept to?
“Whatever we are waiting for – peace of mind, contentment, grace, the inner awareness of simple abundance – it will surely come to us, but only when we are ready to receive it with an open and grateful heart.”
~Sarah Ban Breathnach
Did you enjoy this post? Get John Chow Dot Com updates via email...
Stay up to date with all of John Chow’s tips for making money online and blog posts by subscribing via email. Your email will be kept private and never shared with anyone.
One of the most common complaint (or excuse) I hear from potential new bloggers is they don’t know how to install WordPress. Terms like FTP and CPanel are like a foreign language and setting up a database might as well be setting up the space shuttle for a launch. Because of the technology barrier, many would-be bloggers never start their blogs...
{ 29 comments }
Thanks for getting this up John. Hope everyone enjoys it.
Was a good read
Btw u always keen to add health as a factor in every post of yours? :p
Absolutely. Health is key my friend.
haha. Nice phrase
I would’ve said Health is a key to success :p
That is a very good post.
I’m sure that title is going to catch a few people’s attention.
Interesting post, kind of got lost half way though.
Wow. this could work well for me though. I tend to get tired and lose interest after a while when nothing good happens. so I can just tell myself that something good happens everyday!
I like to set rules for my beliefs that are easy to achieve. “If I write every day for my blog, I am happy”. I usually create rules that require consistent daily action. The abundance comes from the momentum I gain from doing something every day.
Liked tip number 6, the more you write the easier it is to do. I made a commitment to write for 30 days straight and it helped me keep going for months now.
Over a period of ten years I finally learnt a mistake I made over and over again. I have only focused on one thing at a time and missed out on those other 100 other things. Sounds like Bruce Lee in, is it “Enter the dragon”? “don’t look at the finger or you miss all those beautiful star”. Well over the last ten years, while I focus entirely on one/two brilliant ideas I had, I missed out on the dot.com, stock market rally, a couple of good job opportunities, blogging, etc….
I just realised it and now I check out everything that people hype about; rss feed, blogging, linux, mac, wind power, Ron Paul, etc. Once I check out those things which at first does not sound useful to me I realise there is so much happenning in the world and from there on I am able to learn so much more.
Back to the ‘cup’ thing, I don’t know what to agree/disagree. I have always thought that a half empty cup is more hungry & aggressive and therefore have more drive. Maybe it works differently depending on your mental profile. A very interesting thought though. However in real live it is very hard to be content with yourself when there are so many critics and views.
http://www.thechinastory.org
Seems to me the lesson here is not one of growing abundance, but of adjusting your expectations and your perspective to see the blessings you already have.
Very interesting.
I need to think about this more and really let it soak in.
Nice and inspirational. Was that a post of trying to fit “make money” as many times as possible, and including multiple deep links? When I was reading it, I saw some of the practices that John talks about here and in his E-Book. Nice read, thanks for the motivational speech
Am I the only one who thought of two girls, one cup when I read the title?
I believe that was the point…
What if you took the half empty cup and poured it into the half full cup? You’d have more than you would by pouring the half empty cup into a smaller cup.
Hehe, that’s half empty cup and the half full cup are one and the same. It’s all about how you look at it. =)
Wasn’t quite sure I had that right there.
for a moment i though the post said “two girls one cup” – shudders and can’t forget that image…..
You included some practical information in this post.
Self-employment is no longer the far-fetched dream of a small percentage of the working class.
There are some business experts who say that now is the time to invest in your own business.
With numerous business consultants predicting that the stock markets are in for a rough ride, an online business with its lower costs appears to be the more sensible choice.
Well-known journalist and television host, John Daly, utilized his expertise to create an online series of interviews with creators of online marketing programs with a track record for turning some people into millionaires.
The obvious benefit of this approach is that individuals actually get to see and hear the people behind these successful programs. ‘The Real Money Show’, http://www.realmoneyshow.com, is designed to help anyone, with the interest, to find an online business well suited for them and give them the opportunity to live the lifestyle they decide.
The credibility of this online resource is reinforced by the fact that ‘The Real Money Show’ does not endorse anyone or any particular program.
These five to ten minute interviews allow people to read, watch, listen, and make an educated decision.
Its just a common thing that everyone already know off.
Another pointless comment!
Is it possible to know for a fact that everyone already knows the information contained in this post?
In my opinion, that is an impossible feat.
As I perceive it, for every lesson, there is someone that needs to be taught.
Man you nameless commentator, you are simply pointless and funny. You have something against Alex
Good stuff, Alex. I think this relates to the point about what people see when they view their lives and the environment around them. Do you see scarcity? Or do you see abundance? People who are poor see scarcity. People who are rich see abundance and opportunity. A positive outlook is vital if you ever want to succeed and be happy. Even in a bad economy, there is a lot of abundance around us.
Nice post Alex, like you mentioned: whatever we focus on becomes reality. Very true, practical advice. Thanks for sharing your experience
What plug-in do you use for your 125 x 125 button advertisements?
I lingered on a particular point I read in your post where you said, “The over flowing cup is better because it creates the mentality of abundance, which is effectively used to attract more of what we focus on into our lives.”
Is it not possible that this point has two sides? Is it not just as likely that the overflowing cup or feeling of abundance can be taken for granted instead of motivating an individual to do more?
How about the individual whose cup is not overflowing? Is it not possible that this man is hungry enough to do what it takes to acquire an overflowing cup or feeling of abundance?