By Dr. Carol Look, CSW, DCH

I have read more than 20 books on the subject of attracting abundance, trying to figure out the trick to having ("manifesting") more of what I want in my life. What I learned was that money is just another form of energy, and that there is a particular VIBRATION associated with abundance. While I understood the concepts, nothing ever changed when I "applied" what I had learned. It was not until I combined the book knowledge with EFT and the energy of love and gratitude that I was able to change my limiting beliefs, expand my comfort zones, neutralize my deserving issues, direct my feelings and expand my prosperity consciousness--all of which had been driving the results in my life.

Using EFT, I was able to change my VIBRATION in my daily life around money, worry, and the future, which in turn opened the door for success and abundance.

Over the past few years, I have conducted seminars and some teleclass series covering the topic "EFT for Success and Abundance." The blocks and themes keep recurring, as do the progress reports of people that persistently use tapping for abundance in their lives. Below are some of the themes that need to be addressed.

Comfort Zones: When I first started using EFT for success in my own life, I didn't "believe" in comfort zones--what Gary [Gary Craig, the developer of EFT] refers to as ceilings on your progress based on the "writing on your walls." When I noticed my income for two years running was exactly the same, I realized this was evidence of a comfort zone operating in my financial life.

This may not seem strange unless you are a private practitioner in the mental health field. There are so many variables--holidays that fall on different days of the week, my own vacation time, clients' vacation time, illness, referrals, the economic situation, etc.--that it is virtually impossible to predict your annual income.

Two years in a row, despite all these variables, I made the exact (within $1,000) same income working as a full-time private practitioner. Once I used EFT to break through these comfort zones (after some resistance of course) my income shot up over 20 percent the next year. I had not raised my fee, had not done any advertising, and the country's economic situation had in fact worsened. I used phrases such as:

	"Even though I don't dare raise my income, I deeply and completely accept myself ... "Even though I obviously have a block to earning more than $XXX, I deeply and completely love and accept this conflict." "Even though I have trouble seeing myself earning more than $XXX, I deeply and completely accept myself." "Even though I don't feel safe making more than $XXX because they'll be jealous, I deeply and completely accept and love who I am."

Limiting Beliefs: Dozens of clients in my abundance classes have told me that they had siblings who were seen as either "slow learners" or having some form of "difficulty" in school. Some of these siblings turned out to be brilliant while some are still struggling to this day. The point is that my clients learned from their families "I'm not supposed to shine" and that if they did shine, they were taking attention away from their struggling sibling.

It didn't seem to matter if the sibling was older, younger, the same sex or not. What mattered was that the parents compared the two, and scolded the "fast learner" for looking good or "showing off." The message was "don't succeed or you'll hurt someone else."

	"Even though I'm not supposed to shine because it will hurt my sister, I deeply and completely accept my brilliance." "Even though I will lose their approval if I do well, I deeply and completely accept my talents." "Even though it's not safe to succeed, I choose to feel safe when I am doing what I love." "Even though they don't feel comfortable when I succeed, I deeply and completely accept myself anyway." "Even though I'll never forget his scolding me when I succeeded, I deeply and completely forgive myself be being so fast." "Even though I'm afraid I'll be rejected if I succeed ... "

Other common limiting beliefs that block financial wealth are prejudices against wealthy people. "Fran" told me she thought rich people were "shallow and mean." Apparently her mother had taught her this concept based on feelings of jealousy and a scarring incident with a neighbor when growing up. Fran adopted this belief, but was unaware that she could therefore never BE rich, (one of THOSE PEOPLE) for if she became one, she would not only be seen as shallow and mean (her assumption), but more importantly, she would risk the deep disapproval of her mother (her deepest fear).

These prejudices about wealthy people come in all shapes and sizes. They must be uncovered and treated with EFT if you want to improve your financial situation.

	"Even though I'm convinced ALL rich people are mean and shallow ... " "Even though she'll judge me if I make more money ... " "Even though I'm afraid to be successful because my mother will reject me ... " "Even though I'll be envied too much if I'm rich ... "

Deserving Issues: I have many individual clients who feel guilty when they have desires to do well financially. When I asked "Jeff" why, he said that he already "had it good" because his father worked hard to educate him and he was a superb athlete ... "why should I take more away from other people?"

	(1) The belief that his success would hurt someone else is a mistake. (2) The belief that there is a limited supply of abundance is also, in my opinion, off base. (3) As long as he thinks he has had "his share" he will sabotage progress or inadvertently reject opportunities. Jeff didn't feel deserving of financial success, and was finally able to see a pattern of rejecting terrific opportunities for advancement in his job. He realized he was working hard to tread water, just making ends meet, much like friends of his who struggled with comfort zone issues in sports. "Even though I don't deserve any more, I've had enough, I deeply and completely accept myself anyway." "Even though my mother said we were lucky to have what we had, I deeply ... " "Even though I don't want to be selfish and take more than my share, I accept and love myself for having desires." "Even though my father scolded me for wanting more, I deeply and completely ... "

Prosperity Conciousness: Whether you believe you don't have enough time, money, love or success, the consciousness behind your belief will block you from receiving financial abundance. Your level of belief exudes a particular vibration. In energetic terms, the theory states that your consciousness about abundance has a certain capacity; you will receive exactly what your consciousness is capable of handling. The good news is that your consciousness can be expanded to believe there is enough to go around.

	"Even though there was never enough money when I was a kid, I deeply and completely accept my fears." "Even though I remember the fight my parents had about money, and I think money is bad, I deeply ... " "Even though I'm afraid there won't be enough, so I need to hold on tight, I deeply and completely accept who I am. "Even though she told me there wasn't enough, I choose to believe there is enough now."

Feelings: Do you feel rich? If not in your bank account, do you at least feel rich in love or compassion or some other way? My point is you can't get rich if you feel poor. So you will need to find some way of FEELING rich in your life. Notice the abundance in nature, or notice how many clients you do have, or how many good friends are in your life. However you do it, you must change the vibration you have and feel wealthy on an emotional level.

	"Even though my father said we would always be poor, I choose to remember how much love I feel." "Even though I feel poor and anxious about money, I deeply and completely accept these fears." "Even though my mother taught me it was better to be poor, I love and accept her anyway."

Combining EFT with the energy of love and gratitude has contributed to huge payoffs in my life and the lives of my clients. EFT was the missing piece all along. Believe in PLENTY ... THERE IS ENOUGH!

Reprinted from Emotional Freedom Techniques