Last week, I hosted the first meeting of the Central Connecticut Abundance Project. A time of business networking and learning, this group’s main purpose is to advance the cause of abundant thought as a critical component to business (and life!) success.

Even if you are far away, you can participate in this group via Meetup.com’s discussion and comments – we’ll be sharing monthly assignments that help us to focus more intentionally on abundance. Check us out, and join at www.meetup.com/ctabundance, and be part of our discussion!

The first meeting was a very positive event, and I learned a lot from those who attended. I also left the meeting feeling motivated, excited, and renewed in my own successes.

Here is a copy of my intro to the meeting:

I’ve learned, perhaps a little slowly, that abundance thinking is the number one key to success in business.  Yes, business ownership requires other things, such as hard work, connections, patience, talent, and of course just the right amount of “crazy”, but none of the things we “do” as business owners is as important as “how we think”.  Belief in abundance and focus on the positive aspects of business life, and really our entire life-picture, is the most important ingredient.

Beyond that, thinking abundantly simply makes it all more fun. Fun makes us happy, and happiness breeds more success.

But.

Abundance thinking does not come easily. We are all human, and thinking abundantly is not something that just happens, and continues to happen, just because we want it to. Human nature holds us back, negative messages we have received – from daily life, from upbringing, from all around us – creep in, and part of us listens to everything, and we have an EASIER time listening to the negative.

Personally, I’m a big-time over thinker, and even when things are massively successful, when the checks  come in, I can look at those checks and say “well, great, but when is the next one going to come?” or worse, “WILL  the next one come?”

This is where the “project” comes in. It takes daily practice, akin to learning a language or musical instrument, to think abundantly. And sometimes it takes complete willpower to shift the prevailing negative thinking to the positive.  Even though you know with your head that this thought pattern is damaging, you can’t seem to help but continue down that path.

I started this group because I believe wholeheartedly in Abundance thinking, in how it has the power to change my life, to change the lives of those around me, and to literally make dreams come true. I also started it because I’m on that journey. I’m no Tony Robbins or Jack Canfield, people who are very inspiring, and “get it” about abundance, but someone like you who is learning more every day, and can’t wait to work on it more.