Greetings!
Thank you for taking the time to dive into this article! I value your presence in each and every moment and I appreciate your attention.
No matter what our goals are, we will inevitably come to a point in our journeys where we need assistance. I hope that this blog post will assist you in thinking about how best to locate and use all possible resources that are available to you. I will be using some specific examples to illustrate how one might come to realize that we are, in fact, living within an abundant and co-created reality.
Here's to you, mastermind!
Defining Resources
A resource can be defined as either a material asset or a strategy that can be used to accomplish a goal. When we are thinking of resources in terms of assets, we can easily visualize how to use materials to our advantage in the physical reality. When we think about a resource as a strategy - a plan of action, in other words - we can visualize using a new mindset or perspective to move forward with a goal or to create new goals.
For example:
Let's imagine that you are facing homelessness. (side note - This is reality for many Americans, unfortunately.) Despite your determination to work full time hours, showing up for overtime when you can, and dedicating all waking hours to ensuring things are getting done at work and at home. . . finances are not balancing. What can you do? This is a great time to reconsider what new resources you can access in your community and how you can rearrange your routines to make things easier for you to become balanced and abundant.
By having an open mind to creating a new strategy for managing financial responsibility and the possibility of locating resources in your community, you are using both types of resources! That's being a mastermind!
In this example, many have resorted to depending on government and local financial and food assistance programs, which can be found easily by word of mouth in the local community. We also have access to the internet, which makes it so easy to find food banks, churches with community outreach programs and events, government offices, community gardens, community centers, shelters, visitor centers, and local call services that may provide even more information. This is a great way to offset the cost of food, utilities, rent expense, or anything along those lines. Think outside the box and get creative! There are many possible solutions.
If you are facing homelessness, you are likely experiencing poverty, which may mean that you do not have access to the internet or to some local resources due to a lack of funds (or lack of time). In this case, we can be really grateful for the co-created reality of public libraries! These establishments are some of the best resources we have access to because of the grand array of services offered to a community at the price of free! Often times, you can obtain a temporary visitor's pass to access computers in a public library - if you do not have a library card or if you are not local to an area. Also, library personnel are pretty much information holders! You can ask a librarian if you need assistance finding local resources.
Aligning Goals
The first step in identifying what type of resource you will need to find is to identify your goals. If you are an entrepreneur, you may have made a habit of goal setting. Otherwise, this may be an unfamiliar practice to you - unless you are a dream chaser, which you may be! Either way, goal setting is pretty simple. Just take a moment to ask yourself a few questions:
What do I need to accomplish? or What is my goal?
What part of my goal do I need help with exactly? (be specific)
What is the deadline for my goal? or By when can I complete this?
Do I need to secure funding? If so, how much?
Where can I find the help that I need? If you cannot answer that, ask:
How can I find out where I can get the help that I need?
Who can I ask that might know how best to move forward with this goal?
And, what if the answer you are coming to now is that you simply do not know enough about how to go about accomplishing your goal? Or what if your goal is just to learn more about something? That is an awesome goal!
If you are a business person, you can frame this goal in your mind as striving to increase your earning potential by increasing your skill-set. Think about all of the possibilities!
Performing Resource Checks
The next step in finding the resources that you will need to accomplish your goals is to identify what you already have access to! Some more questions you can ask yourself to access the situation:
What are my assets? What do I already have (in other words) that I can use?
Material Resources:
Doing a personal inventory of all possible solutions or materials that you already have access to will prevent unnecessary stress and time wasted by seeking further than you need to. Check your storage unit, your garage, the trunk of your car. Dig deep. Get into the most relaxed state of mind that you can and seriously ask yourself: "what do i have that i can use to my advantage?"
Many of us nowadays - especially if you are living in the United States - have way more stuff than we need. Until we find a use for something, it may end up sitting around collecting dust or in the bottom of a box somewhere.
Rather than spending precious dollars, time, or energy on something you already may not be willing to spend on, wouldn't it be great if you could use something you already have?! This is also a wonderful opportunity to consider minimizing, if you need to. Regularly minimizing excess material items (as well as excess expenses) is a great practice for maximizing the usefulness of what you do already have. Remember to count your blessings!
Maybe you do not have lots of stuff lying around or hidden away - some may already be living minimally and carefully using everything you have to the highest level of efficiency! If so, keep it up please because that in itself is a great accomplishment! This can make things easier because you have the space to focus on what is useful.
Community Resources:
Local resource checks are a great way to find out how best to connect with overflowing abundance in your own neighborhood! I mentioned the possibility of using public libraries as a resource above. Please allow me to repeat that public libraries are some of the most helpful places that we can access resources and find more information about local community resources.
Okay, but what exactly is a "local" resource? I mean, if you are nomadic, like me, then that word "local" can be the same as "regional" or even "national" on some days. Let your mind freely wonder what there is for you to discover in your path. . . I mean, you are not limited. If you are the type to frequent the same 3 places (work, grocery store, bank) before returning to your home base, then you may be missing out on some resources that are just a few miles off of your beaten path.
Since you are reading this, you are one of the lucky ones who has access to global networks! Many online communities simply are not limited to geographical location anymore. We can use this to our advantage by sharing with each other what we do know and allowing ourselves to branch out and use tools such as Plantdreams to make the most out of our time and connections.
It is best to have an idea of who you can ask about something and to value your social networks as a resource.
If you don't know something, chances are that you know someone who does!
We have access to a lot of cool stuff! Here is one way that Plantdreams can help you expand on your resources. . . creating a mastermind group!
Read more about how to begin here: https://plantdreams.org/blog/mastermind-groups
Small Business Resources:
If you are an aspiring entrepreneur or an established business owner, then you are probably familiar with the feeling of needing assistance. No one ever starts or runs an entire business on their own. It takes a team of advisers or experts or a mastermind leading a group of volunteers or employees. The minds of the people on your team should absolutely be considered a primary resource.
Beyond the inner workings of your business, you will be able to find assistance with information regarding licenses, taxes, local ordinances and building regulations, and anything else of this nature at your local government courthouse or county building - as well as on the internet, generally.
Large cities and urban areas may have a visitor center that will provide a directory of business resources or other businesses that you can create and alliance with. Many cities and small towns also have group meetings for small businesses to get connected with other small businesses locally and support each other.
In my entrepreneurial journey, I have found volunteer business advisory services such as SCORE (www.score.org) to be an incredibly helpful resource. I recommend setting up an appointment with a SCORE volunteer if you need any financial or startup advice or guidance. They are wonderful!
Overcoming Challenges
Mastermind, are you aware of how blessed you truly are?! Let's put this into perspective. . .
According to a global study done by the United Nations, only about 47% of the world's population have access to the internet, despite about 84% of the world being able to access broadband. Over half of our co-created world's people are not in a place - financially or geographically - to be able to access this resource that you have at your fingertips. Let us give thanks for this privilege!
(read more about the study from the source of that statistic here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/11/22/47-percent-of-the-worlds-population-now-use-the-internet-users-study-says/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.a00b597d8636 )
That makes you one of 3.6 billion who have the potential to connect and work together online.
I am sure that whatever challenges you are facing now may seem quite huge and, at times, impossible to overcome. However, you must remember that you do not have to accomplish every goal you set for yourself by yourself. In fact, there are many people and organizations out there who exist just to help people like you further improve yourself so we can all become better! Network and plug in to your communities!
After all, it is masterminds like you who make lasting change in the world.
We are all in this together. Please remember your neighbor and do not underestimate the power of your connections! The more we share our knowledge and overflowing - abundance - resources with each other, the easier it continues to become for everyone involved. The more we give, the more we receive, it seems. So, if you are feeling blocked or limited by lack, ask yourself just one more thing:
what can I afford to let go of? what can I share with my human brothers and sisters?
Thank you for reading! I hope this article was helpful to you. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to leave comments below. I love feedback, and am open to ideas for future blog post topics! Just click on my username to see other articles I have posted. See you around!
Thanks again and,
Much Love All Ways,
KrystAL