Money Mindset 1: Your Money Is a Garden

Every spring in my hometown of Cornwall, Ontario, there is a gardening group that offers free seeds to families who would like to grow their own food. 

Interested families have the opportunity to grow healthy food for free.  The only requirement is decent soil, water, sun, and patience. 

A tomato seed planted in early spring will yield 20 – 30 tomatoes in five to six months.  

Even in the absence of a pack of seeds, every person on the planet who has soil, water, and sun can grow food from food scraps. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, lettuce, cabbage, and many types of herbs can all be grown from spoiled or leftover food. 

This is the abundance of nature in action. In financial terms, this is the magic of compound interest. 

Gardening, like money, can grow with very little effort. It just needs the right conditions. If it is too sunny, add more water. Similarly, if there is too much water, you might lose your crop. But next spring you have a new chance. 

Money is the same, but many people don’t see abundance. 

They see struggle. They see effort. They see lack. 

Even using the gardening analogy, many people can grow fresh food from nothing, but instead, they complain about the cost of food. 

Still, struggling with the idea of abundance? 

Consider the humble rhubarb plant. Rhubarb is a perennial, which means that even after the harshest Canadian winter, it will grow back stronger next year. Rain, sleet, snow, drought – nothing can deter the rhubarb plant. 

Money is no different. Find ways to put more aside, and it will grow over time. Some years will be tougher than others, but the nature of money, like rhubarb, is to expand. Seeing the abundance of money is an important shift to help you on your journey to FI.