“To you the earth yields her fruit, and you shall not want if you know how to fill your hands.” Kahlil Gibran
by Carole Dean
Prosperity consciousness is something you need to develop; it does not happen by chance. None of us were born with it. It’s a state of mind tuned and vibrating to expect prosperity and opportunities everywhere. It’s a key to success in work and life.
Many of us, unfortunately, were born with a scarcity consciousness.
That the case with my childhood. I grew up in a home with little money and always wondered why some people had so much money and other people had none. When you look at it from a child’s perspective, it is a good question, i.,e., what is the difference between the wealthy and not so wealthy people?
And one of the answers is prosperity consciousness. Those who have it see money everywhere. I had to let go of scarcity consciousness when I started my business. I had to believe that I could achieve my goals, believe in myself and my business.
It’s all about your faith and your belief in yourself.
Do You Have Prosperity or Scarcity Consciousness?
If you are living under scarcity consciousness, then you must get rid of it. It can be like a ball and chain pulling you back or holding you down. It could prevent you from achieving. To develop the necessary prosperity consciousness takes focus.
Here are some ways to develop prosperity consciousness and beliefs:
Realize You Live in an Abundant Universe.
Look at our universe and discover how much abundance there is. All around me in Ventura, California are massive farms bursting with strawberries, cabbages, and celery. There is abundance in nature. Start to notice that the universe is abundant there is plenty for all.
Scarcity consciousness believes that there is not enough for all of us. Scarcity consciousness believes that we must compete for everything. There is not enough to go around. When we can see abundance all around us, we can realize that is not true. We must recognize that we are not taking anything from another person. There is plenty for all of us.
Get into Creative Consciousness and Out of Competitive Consciousness.
Your creative consciousness knows no bounds. You see more possibilities than most people. But, when you find yourself shutting down, saying or thinking scarcity, ask the creative part of you to take over. You must look for the good side and how you can make this situation an opportunity.
Meditation can help you with more ideas. Always take your worries to your meditation, state them and ask for help. Ask for creative ways to handle the situation. Then let go of it and let the universe work. Stay open for answers as you will surely get them.
Sometimes they are very clear and come to you as Dr. Deepak Chopra says, “in the gap between thoughts.”
Sometimes they come to you from a statement made in a movie! Yes, you can get your answers from many places, billboards, neighbors, friends, the newspaper! Just keep listening for the answers and you will have them. Ask and you shall receive.
Life is Fun and Rewarding.
Many people, including me, were taught you can have what you want but you need to work hard to get it. Somewhere along the line it dawns on you that the people you know who have money do not work that hard. They have a nice balanced life between work, family, and entertainment.
The rich people take time to exercise, to eat right, and they take good care of themselves. While those who were taught you must work hard are not taking time for themselves. We need to realize that in prosperity consciousness, you can have what you want without working yourself to death.
Prosperity consciousness looks for fun and joy in life and always finds it. When problems come, they look at them as challenges and opportunities. Prosperity conscious people appreciate life and know that with every new challenge comes reward, new adventures and more fun. This is a wonderful way to live.
Reward Yourself.
Let me ask you, how often do you reward yourself? When you win a grant do you give yourself a bonus? When you make an ask for funding and someone gives you a nice donation, do you pay yourself first?
Prosperity consciousness loves rewards. I highly recommend that you set rewards for yourself. You decide you want to go after a grant. You spend a month on candid.org searching. Give yourself an award for the time, effort, and success in finding that grant. Take yourself to a spa or a massage. Treat yourself in some way that is fun.
Keep paying yourself on an ongoing basis while you’re making your film. When you sell your film, you may only get a small amount of money down. Please, you must always get your money for your work as the funds come in. Think, me first!
A filmmaker who won our grant called me once she got her check. She said, “I have credit card bills I charged for production to get me to this point, can I use some of this money for my credit card?” “Yes, I said of course.” You are the film. Without you it would not exist. Take care of yourself first.
There Are a Staggering Number of Opportunities in Every Aspect of Life.
Scarcity consciousness believes there are no opportunities. They believe there is very little money and no opportunity.
Let’s look at grants. I hear filmmakers say, “there are fewer grants.”
I suggest you open your mind on this subject and realize there are hundreds of thousands of grants available. It’s a matter of searching for the grant that matches your film.
If you get onto the large database at candid.org you will be shocked. First, you really need to take a class on how to use their giant search engine. There are so many grants that you need to have your description clearly defined. Search using key words of your film to find the grant that matches your project. Once you use your key words, you will find it is overwhelming how many grants are available for a film like yours.
Now, I admit, that more grants are for documentaries and short films than for features. However, I have seen features get many grants through us. They are available.
We had one feature film where the protagonist was a drug user. The filmmaker found that his state had a grant to bring out the dangers of drug use. His feature had what they wanted. He found several nice $60,000.00 grants by his research. Keep an open mind and stay in the creative not the competitive consciousness.
How One Filmmaker Used Prosperity Conscious to Create a Career.
There’s a story I want to share about a woman I highly admire for her skill in manifesting her desires. She decided to get into filmmaking at an advanced age and is determined not to let age bother her. She moved to Los Angeles to be near the film industry and had a high paying job and they closed her division. She went on unemployment.
Now this would put some people in a dither because they’ve lost a really good job. She didn’t take it that way. She saw this as an opportunity, got online, and found a class at UCLA on how to produce films. Telling her unemployment agent about this class, she showed him that there was a grant for taking the class. The unemployment agent got her this grant.
It cost others over $7000 and was 6 months of study. She used this time between jobs to study and improve herself in the area she wants to manifest a job. That is living in a prosperity consciousness.
There are tens of thousands of grants available. It does require your time to find them. I want to assure you grants are out there waiting for you to find them.
It is My Responsibility to be Successful.
Scarcity consciousness believes that having tons of money is wrong. It has you believe you only need enough for your basic needs and anything beyond that will deprive other people.
Prosperity consciousness says that bringing wealth to yourself will enable you to do a world of good for other people. Once you have money, you can use money to benefit others. Bringing your ideas into this reality is beneficial to you and to others.
I see the benefits that steel magnet Andrew Carnegie created with his income over 100 years later. We’ve received grants from Carnegie of over $300,000 in the last two years. This was money that he made when he was using the ideas in the book by Napoleon Hill, Thank and Grow Rich.
Because Carnegie aligned his thinking with acquiring wealth and his achievements, his riches are here a century later to be shared with others. He handled his wealth in such a way that it is still giving and supporting film makers 100 years later. Just think of what you can do with the wealth you can make.
Making Money is Fun.
Becoming wealthy is easy for creative people. Please put your thinking in the creative consciousness. This is a way to solve problems and move into financial security. It’s also a way to use your many talents, not only for you and your own family, but for future generations through your generous donations.
Remembering these prosperity beliefs can be beneficial to all of us.
- It is an abundant universe.
- Life is fun and rewarding.
- There are a staggering number of opportunities in every aspect of my life.
- it is my responsibility to be successful
These can be statements you print out and look at daily. You need to shore up your own confidence.
Program Your Mind for Prosperity and Wealth.
You can make this fun. Go to some of the great hotels and sit in the dining room. Have a cup of coffee and order the cheapest thing possible. You want to feel the energy around rich people. You want to know that you are welcome in expensive hotels and restaurants. Realize that this is the life you were meant to have.
If you live in LA, you might consider driving up toVentura for a fun day and go to the splendid Miramar Hotel in Montecito.
There is a place there for you to sit by the ocean and have a light lunch for a very reasonable fee. The point is you belong in this hotel. You want to go there and feel this lavish type of living. This can be a place for you to stay in the future. It is there for you. Get used to this luxury energy.
If you are in NYC, go to the Waldorf for breakfast. It is full of wonderful wealthy people. Yes, it may cost you $50.00. I have been there and just had coffee and toast and it is such a wonderful experience.
Look around the room and ask yourself, what’s the difference between me and them? Notice how nice most people are and how they look just like you. There is no difference. Say to yourself, “this is where I belong. I am in the success conscientious.” My success can help many people.
Get Yourself into Places Where Wealthy People Go.
Feel into that energy and become part of it. Know that the universe put you on this earth at this time to be here at the most beneficial time in the history of mankind for filmmakers. This is the digital revolution.
Filmmaking is exploding. They are building sound stages and sets all over the world. Everybody is making films and you are needed. You are the talent. You are the creators.
Empower yourself with the knowledge that you are here at the right time to achieve exactly what you came here to do, create your art, and become wealthy.
Carole Dean is president and founder of From the Heart Productions; a 501(c)3 non-
profit that offers the Roy W. Dean Film Grants and fiscal sponsorship for independent filmmakers. She hosts the weekly podcast, The Art of Film Funding, interviewing those involved in all aspects of indie film production. She is also the author of The Art of Film Funding, 2nd Edition: Alternative Financing Concepts. See IMDB for producing credits
