Dear Reader,
What if you're already closer to what you want than you think?
Not in a motivational, tell-yourself-it's-going-to-be-okay kind of way. But in a very real, this-is-actually-happening kind of way that you might be moving right past without noticing.
We're told that the feeling comes after the circumstances change. When you graduate, then life opens up. Find the right relationship, then you'll feel complete. Once you retire, then you can finally do what you want. Get to that number in the bank, then you'll feel free.
But what if the feeling isn't the reward for arriving? What if it's actually the starting point?
I want to share a recent coaching conversation that I think you'll recognize something of yourself in. A simple question about money and financial freedom led to one of those moments that clarifies everything.
Now let's get ALIGNED...
Inspirational Quote
"Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into."
- Wayne Dyer
The Story
I asked my client to describe what a 10 out of 10 would feel like if she were fully financially free.
Not what it would look like. Not what she would have. Just the feeling of it.
She immediately lit up. The words that came out were expansive, open, loving. She talked about traveling, about experiencing other cultures, about slowing down enough to live like a local somewhere far from home. She was so alive in that moment, so genuinely grateful, that I could feel her energy shift.
Then I asked the follow-up question.
What would a 10 out of 10 look like for her life?
And just like that, something changed. I could feel it before she even spoke.
Her energy pulled inward. Suddenly she was talking about what she didn't have yet, what she still needed to figure out, how far away the picture actually felt. The aliveness from thirty seconds earlier had quietly disappeared.
Here's what made this moment so revealing.
Earlier in our conversation, she had mentioned something almost in passing. Not long ago, she and her husband had received an unexpected financial windfall. The money came in more easily than either of them had anticipated. And afterward, they went to a cafe and spent the afternoon talking about investments, possibilities, how they wanted to grow what they had. She described it as playful. Fun. Energizing.
When she finished telling me that story, I reflected something back to her.
"In that cafe, you were already living your 10 out of 10."
Not because the number in her bank account had reached some magic threshold. But because she was feeling exactly what she had described. Expansive. Open. Excited about what was possible. Moving from a place of abundance rather than from a place of lack.
And the moment she shifted from feeling the freedom to figuring out how to get it, the feeling disappeared.
The Spiritual Lesson
My client hadn't done anything differently between the cafe afternoon and the moment she started mapping out what she still needed to fix. The circumstances hadn't changed. The money was in the same account. The possibilities were the same possibilities.
What changed was where she was looking from.
In the cafe, abundance wasn't something she was chasing. She was already inside it. And from that place, everything felt possible, conversations flowed, ideas came easily, and the future felt open rather than pressured.
The moment she shifted her attention to what was missing and what still needed to happen, she stepped out of that state. And without realizing it, she left behind the very energy that would have guided her most clearly.
We think the feeling is the destination. But the feeling is actually the compass.
This is something I've come to believe deeply, not just as a coaching principle but as a spiritual one. The inner state you're trying to arrive at is also the inner state that gets you there. Freedom doesn't begin when the circumstances align. It begins the moment you choose to inhabit it, even partially, even for an afternoon in a cafe with someone you love, talking about what's possible.
When you're contracted, worried, focused on the gap between where you are and where you want to be, the decisions you make from that place tend to keep you in that place. They're motivated by fear of not having enough rather than drawn forward by a genuine sense of what's calling you.
But when you feel free first, something shifts. Your thinking clears. Your choices align. The next right step becomes obvious in a way it never is when you're forcing it.
My client already knew what financial freedom felt like. She had lived it, right there in that ordinary afternoon. The work wasn't to figure out how to get there. The work was to recognize that she had already been there, and to let that feeling become her new starting point.
Your Call to Action
Is there an area of your life where you've been putting the feeling on hold, waiting for the circumstances to catch up first?
It doesn't have to be about money. It could be your work, your health, a relationship, a creative dream you keep putting just a little further out of reach.
Now ask yourself what I asked my client.
What would a 10 out of 10 feel like?
Not look like. Feel like.
Let yourself go there for a moment without immediately jumping to what's missing or what needs to happen first.
Notice what words come up. Notice how your body responds. And notice whether there's already a moment, maybe a recent one, where you were touching that feeling without fully recognizing it for what it was.
That feeling is not a reward waiting at the finish line.
It's the energy you bring to the starting line.
Abundant Blessings and Namaste.
Abundant Good News and Notes
Let's Have a Conversation: If something in this issue resonated and you're ready to do this kind of work at a deeper level, one-on-one coaching is the most direct path I know. It's where the real shifts happen, in real conversation, with someone who can help you see what you can't quite see on your own. If you're curious about working together, just hit reply and let me know. I'd love to connect.
Thanks for reading ALIGNED!
If you have any questions or want to share what you thought about this newsletter, hit reply and let me know.
Abundant Blessings,
Joselito Laudencia
Spiritual Life Coach, Teacher, Speaker
Author, The Creative Impulse: Answering the Highest Calling of Your Heart
www.abundantgood.com
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