I inherited a very unhealthy view around money from my parents.
My mother grew up near the poverty line and has maintained a sense of lack or overspending her whole life. My father grew up with plenty of money but in an environment that bred a heightened sense of frugality.
I started making my own money at the age of 10 when I started my first company - a neighborhood babysitting service. I became largely self-sustaining at the age of 13 when I decided to start modeling and this fear of lack has never left me.
It was most harshly mirrored in my adult life when my ex-fiance the bulk of my savings before passing 10 months ago leaving me almost financially ruined. It was clear - I needed to change my views around money because I was creating a reality I didn't want.
In the last year I have ascribed to a new mindset that has helped to shift my mentality. This has been spurred by my undertaking to fund my company - a start up - with no salary or alternative income. I put myself in a situation where I had no alternative but to face every fear around money head on.
Money is Energy
Money is a word and a physical form we have assigned to the exchange of energy. I trade you this service for this good. Money is just a form of energy. Energy is all around us. Energy is every changing in its very nature. Energy flows. Money flows. When we exchange money we are participating in this flow. There will be times when it flows in and when it flows out.
The wealthy, self-made people understand this flow. They participate in the flow by consistently participating in the exchange. In shifting the value we attribute to things - and our place in it - we deflate the negative charge around money and see it simply as a malleable form of (fair) exchange.
In working with these principles we can better understand how to make it, keep it, and (most importantly) share it.
Sharing is key in this flow of exchange. When we give we are then able to receive without which no cycle or flow can exist. If you can't give then you can't receive. Next time you act in a monetary exchange with someone (buying a car or a candy bar) show pleasure in the giving and you will experience more pleasure in the getting.
Money isn't bad.
On this planet we have a pervading view of lack. A view that there is not enough to go around and we must struggle, suffer, and take from another in order to have. This drives conflict on every scale - cross border wars, corporate espionage, bitter divorce battles, gang crime, and most sadly, a commonly accepted view that money is omnipotent yet never in balanced supply.
Money as a Game.
If you want more abundance in your life the best thing to do is to start by thinking what you expect the money to bring you. A bigger house? More time to play tennis/golf/etc? You can probably bring the essence of that into your life today. For instance, a bigger house means you want to improve your living situation. A good way to get a sense of an improved living situation in this moment is to clear away a lot of the clutter and cr*p you don't need. Donate it. New things cannot come in to your life if there is not space for them. The act of donation sends a message of abundance. This shift in your mentality and energy is far more likely to attract the money you are seeking. Basics physics.