Decades ago — back when I was single and living in Chicago — I bought a desk.One of those assembly required desks.
It was a Saturday morning when I opened the big, heavy box it came in. I laid all the pieces and parts out on my living room floor. There were lots of them because this wasn’t a simple desk. It had multiple drawers and some other cool features. Everything seemed to be there.
The instructions were included along with some tools.
I gathered the other tools I’d need from my kitchen pantry.
I was ready.
At first, everything went smoothly.
I assembled the drawers one by one — side panels, backs, corners — tightening the screws, following the steps exactly as outlined. Drawer one: done. Drawer two: done. Three. Four.
I remember thinking, Okay… this is working.
Then it was time to start bringing all the pieces together — attaching the drawers to the frame, aligning the sides, fitting the sliders, placing the desktop.
Suddenly… it wasn’t working.
Things didn’t line up the way they were supposed to.
The drawer sliders didn’t quite fit.
The top didn’t align cleanly with the sides.
I paused, took a breath and started reassuring myself.
You can figure this out, Teresa.
Just relax. Think positively.
You’ve come this far.
Then I tried again.
I double-checked the instructions. Retraced my steps. Gave myself a pep talk.
It still wasn’t working.
So I took a break for lunch, confident that coming back with fresh eyes would make the difference. It didn’t.
That’s when I called Jon, my neighbor, and asked if he could come over and take a look. I knew he was pretty handy at things like this.
He sat on the floor with me, studied the pieces, scanned the diagrams. At first, he was as puzzled as I was.
Then he noticed it.
It was a small detail in the instructions — a subtle mismatch that revealed the truth.
The manufacturer had sent me the wrong instructions.
Not wildly wrong. Not obviously wrong.
Just… wrong enough.
I had been trying to assemble my desk using the model and diagrams for a different model of desk.
Similar enough that everything worked at first — until the moment when all the pieces were supposed to come together.
Only they never did.
I’ve never forgotten that experience because it taught me an important truth…
You can have all the right tools.
You can be capable, intelligent, motivated.
You can believe in yourself.
You can think positively.
You can try harder, try again, and keep trying.
But if the model you’re using is inaccurate — if it’s not designed for the life you’re trying to build — it won’t work.
No matter how good your mindset is.
This is what so many people are experiencing in their relationship with money… and with life.
They’re told the problem is their thinking.
That if they could just shift their mindset…
Focus on what they want. Use affirmations.
Develop an “abundance mindset”
Then they’ll finally experience the abundance they long for – in their lives and in their relationship with money.
I did all of those things for years. I taught my clients to do them as well.
Yet, just like with me assembling my desk, it didn’t work.
The scarcity – that sense of “not enough” – never went away.
I never really felt abundant – no matter how much I made or did. No matter how successful I seemed.
And it’s for the same reason my desk didn’t come together.
It wasn’t my mindset that was holding me back.
It wasn’t a lack of tools or plans.
It wasn’t a lack of desire or intelligence.
And it definitely wasn’t a lack of effort.
It was that the model I had been given wasn’t really designed for abundance – even though I thought it was.
That model is what I now call The Abundance TrapTM.
If this is the model you’ve been using to create abundance in your life, perhaps you’re beginning to wonder why it’s not working.
To wonder why you’re still experiencing so much pressure and stress, anxiety and fear – no matter how much money you make or what you accomplish.
You might be exhausted – always on the go, listening to the drumbeat in your mind of “I need to do more”, “I need to make more”, “this isn’t enough.”
You might actually have quite a LOT…
You know your life is abundant in so many ways…
And you feel guilty because you don’t feel grateful enough.
Because you don’t feel abundant.
You might feel frustrated and discouraged, sad and/or ashamed as you wonder…
What’s wrong with me?
My friend, NOTHING is wrong with you.
It’s simply that the model you’ve been given isn’t designed for abundance – as much as you’ve been told it was. The Abundance TrapTM is the dominant model in our world for money and abundance — and it produces less-than-abundant results for MANY people.
You are not alone.
If you’re beginning to suspect that this is the model you’ve been using to try to create abundance in your life, I encourage you to check out the list of 15 common symptoms people experience when they’re caught in The Abundance Trap.
It’s the first step toward learning and embracing a new model for money and your life — one that goes beyond The Abundance TrapTM.
A model that supports you to live the life of freedom, sufficiency, joy and well-being you long for — IN abundance.
As for what happened with me and my desk?
Once I realized I had the wrong instructions, I called the manufacturer on Monday. Not only did they send me the correct instructions – they gave me a significant refund for my trouble.
I finished assembling my desk later that week.
To this day, it is my favorite desk of all time. I had it for nearly 30 years and only got a new one because it finally began to fall apart.