If you’ve ever thought, “I know what to do—I’ve been doing it—but it’s still not working,” you’re not alone.
Maybe you’ve taken the courses, read the books, used the tools, hired the coaches. Maybe you’ve tried to save more, spend less, manifest, plan, visualize. And still—abundance feels like it’s just out of reach. You’re doing what you’re “supposed” to do… but the results you hoped for just aren’t showing up.
It’s frustrating. Deflating. Sometimes even infuriating. And maybe, like so many others, you start to wonder: What am I doing wrong? Or worse—what’s wrong with me?
But what if there’s nothing wrong with you at all?
What if the problem isn’t what you’re doing… but the way you’re seeing?
That question came alive for me again recently—while watching my husband try to change a car filter. Now, let me be clear: I’m not mechanical. Not even close. But this story? It stayed with me. Because it speaks to something so many of us are experiencing when it comes to money, well-being, and abundance.
Years ago, my husband was working on one of our cars. He was trying to replace a filter—maybe the fuel filter?—and it just wasn’t budging. He’d tried everything he knew to do. Every tool, every angle. He even climbed under the car to get a better grip. Still, no luck. Eventually, he came into the house, exasperated.
“I can’t get it off,” he said. “I’ve done everything, and it won’t move. Can you just come out and look?”
Now, I didn’t expect to help. I wasn’t going to bring any mechanical expertise. But I do tend to see things differently—sometimes in quirky, intuitive ways. So I went out and watched.
He showed me what he was doing. Explained how he was twisting. Showed me the tool he was using to get leverage. I nodded. Then paused. And said:
“Is there any chance… you’re turning it the wrong way?”
He gave me that look. You know the one. “Lefty loosey, righty tighty,” he reminded me. “I know which way to go.” And he did know. But something about the angle he was working from—how the filter was tilted, how he was positioned—had flipped his perspective. From where I stood, it looked like he was actually turning it right… not left.
Still frustrated, but curious, he said, “Fine. I’ll try it.” So he twisted it the other way—and after some resistance—it finally budged. He laughed. A little sheepishly. But with relief.
Because all that time he’d been tightening, not loosening.
All that effort, all those tools, all that knowing… and he’d been reinforcing the very thing he was trying to release.
It’s a moment we’ve both remembered ever since.
And just a few weeks ago, as he was working on a newer car, he caught himself feeling stuck again. He stopped. Took a breath. Then thought back to that moment—and tried the opposite direction. It worked.
That simple story holds so much truth, especially for those of us who have been trying so hard to experience abundance.
Because here’s what I’ve seen again and again in my own life—and in the lives of my clients over the past 28 years:
We’re not lacking knowledge. We’re not lacking tools. We’re not lazy or incompetent or undisciplined.
But we may be trying to loosen something by turning it the wrong way.
We may be using every bit of strength, strategy, and skill we have…
But our perspective—the angle from which we’re seeing the problem—might be off.
We’ve inherited ways of thinking about money, abundance, self-worth, and success that are so steeped in scarcity, we don’t even realize they’re there. We’ve been taught formulas, rules, and “best practices” that promise freedom and ease—but they’re actually rooted in fear and lack—or more accurately, fear of lack. In other words, they’re rooted in scarcity.
And when your tools and actions are built on a foundation like that… it warps your vision.
It distorts what you see. It distorts what’s possible.
If you feel like you’ve been spinning your wheels…
If you’ve done everything “right,” but something still feels tight, stuck, or frustrating…
If you’re working hard and using all your tools, but the freedom, joy, and abundance still aren’t flowing…
Then maybe it’s time for a different kind of shift.
Not a new tool. Not more effort. But a new way of seeing.
A “head tilt,” if you will.
Because when you shift how you see… the things you already know start to work.
Your efforts begin to flow—and so do the results.
And what once felt impossible suddenly opens up—with ease, with clarity, and with a whole lot less struggle.
If you’re ready for that shift, I invite you to take just four minutes to watch this short (but powerful) video.
It might be the moment you finally see why what you’ve been doing hasn’t worked—and what is possible when you stop trying to force your way forward… and instead, allow yourself to see it differently.
Because sometimes… the breakthrough doesn’t come from trying harder.
Rather, the breakthrough comes from a new way of seeing.