Make Yourself a Money Magnet with this Fun and Easy Exercise This creative daily ritual can turn you into a champion opportunity-spotter in just one week.
By Mary Hood Edited by Micah Zimmerman
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Money-making opportunities surround us. Unfortunately, we're not always trained to see them, even when they are right under our noses. Some of us aren't as financially educated as we could be. Others tend to think inwardly or have tunnel vision. Whatever the reason, we may not have a mindset that naturally looks for chances to build wealth.
I've always had a knack for noticing trends and seeing opportunities, which is why entrepreneurship has worked well for me. But even I need to keep my "money magnet" skills sharp. This is a fun exercise that I've used through the years to get my wealth-building creativity flowing. It's easy to do, takes a few minutes a day, and is like playing a game.
Spend a week doing this exercise, and you'll be amazed at how attuned you become to spotting money-making opportunities everywhere. You can do it alone or with a partner, kids or coworkers.
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How to do the money magnet exercise
- Pick a time when creativity is high. If there is a time of day when you do your best innovative thinking, that's the time for this exercise. If you are working as a team, choose a time when the mood is positive, and everyone is energetic.
- Choose the amount of money you want to make. It can be a hundred dollars, a million, a gazillion. Money can be a goal, but I find that it is more often a method through which we achieve other goals. Maybe you're not looking for a precise dollar figure but an amount sufficient to expand your business, buy another franchise, take a vacation or donate a hundred dinners to a food bank. For a fun, creative challenge, try a puzzle like "15 ways to make $100."
- Choose a time limit for your goal. This step is optional, but changing your goal's time limit can make the exercise more enjoyable. If your goal is to create a million dollars, then in different sessions, think of ways to make a million in a year, a month or even a day!
- Start writing (or dictating, or typing) your ideas for completing it. You're looking for at least fifteen. If it could even remotely achieve your goal, no answer is too crazy, too simple, too far off the mark or too far outside the box. One benefit of doing this exercise with kids is that they don't see barriers. If working with others, remember this exercise is criticism-free. Remember that if you're working alone, too! All ideas are welcome.
- Limit the exercise to 15-30 minutes. I'd suggest producing an idea every couple of minutes. This keeps you from overthinking and preps your mind to see opportunities quickly.
- If stuck, use the reverse brainstorming technique. Coming up with so many ideas may feel challenging at first. With practice, this gets easier. That's what the Money Magnet exercise is all about! However, if you find yourself stalled, try reverse brainstorming. This means turning the question around for a different approach. If you're stuck on "how to make a million dollars in one month," change the question to "my incredible invention worth a million dollars," or even "fifteen things that would NEVER make a million dollars," because that, too, can get your ideas flowing.
How Money Magnet changes your mind and life
Now you've done the exercise, made your list, and had some fun while getting your monetary creativity flowing. What happens next?
- You're embedding thinking about your goals into a daily habit. After doing this exercise several times, considering multiple creative ways to achieve what you want becomes natural.
- The more you play with this exercise, the more practice you'll get at seeing money-making opportunities in the real world. Your mind will be practiced and ready to alert you whenever such a chance flashes by.
- Keep your list! After you've done the Money Magnet exercise a few times, do a list review. You may have some brilliant ideas or ideas that can become brilliant with a little finessing. And of course, one great idea can change your whole life! Besides, ideas are valuable even when they're not "great." We can often deduce as much from a poor solution as we can from a good one. Sometimes we see a correct answer by looking at a dozen wrong ones.
- You're practicing a variation on the Law of Attraction by first defining something you want and then outlining some ways that you can get it. Whatever you believe about the forces at work in the universe, it certainly never hurts to think through exactly what you want and why.
When I need a boost to my opportunity radar, I make the Money Magnet exercise part of my morning ritual. I run through it at the breakfast table while having my coffee, and it primes me for the rest of the day. This mini-meditation on wealth-growing opportunities puts me in the perfect state of mind to see these chances as they come throughout the workday. Plus, I'm happily ready to receive what the world offers with a goal in mind and some exciting ideas to make it happen.
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