Notes from IIN’s Founder: Creating an Abundance Mindset

Joshua Rosenthal, Founder, Director, and Primary Teacher, of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, shares his wisdom about creating a healthy, happy life that helps transform the world.

When I started the school, money was the furthest thing from my mind. I loved teaching and giving, and I really wanted to share my heart and soul with people because I saw so many suffering from eating poorly. I was happy eating kale, and I didn’t care that I was completely broke.

But I saw that my dream to help people become happier and healthier wasn’t going to happen until I started learning and focusing on the flow of resources, including money, and how I could attract them to me.

Many of our students and graduates focus more on helping people get healthier than on their income. Money can be a challenging issue. How you grow up and your situation around money impacts you later on. What are your money beliefs?

For many people, what separates them from a life of fulfillment and income is getting the two aligned. It’s a matter of shifting your mindset to one of abundance. It’s possible to do the kind of work that you love that contributes to other people and earn a good income at the same time. You can have both.

So how do you shift your thinking to abundance?

I recommend getting very clear on your goals. When you write them down, you’re much more likely to make them happen. Put your goals somewhere you can see them every day.

Create an annual income goal. Get clear on what you want to earn in the coming year. Then, you can break down your income goal into smaller goals. Break it down into quarterly, monthly, and even weekly goals.

What do you need to do every week to achieve your goals? What activities should be on your daily to-do list and what should you put aside? This is what you need to focus on to reach your goal.

When you go through your day, make sure that what you’re doing is important and leads you closer to achieving what you want. You may have things you love to do but aren’t in line with what you want to accomplish. You can put those things temporarily in the parking lot and get back to them later. 

It’s simple but not easy. Keeping yourself focused, breathing through it, you can make a bigger impact and earn the kind of income that will really make you feel proud about the work that you do.

What big goal do you want to accomplish this year that will move you toward a life that you love?