Today we welcome a guest post by Kate Phillips of Total Wealth Coaching.

We’ve all heard that we should “think” from abundance, not poverty, as the previous post on this blog and the first of P4P’s 7 Principles of Prosperity correctly proclaims. I’d like to explore why a prosperous mindset is so essential – and why it is also not enough.

There are three essential keys, and if you miss one, lasting prosperity will remain just out of your reach. I call these three keys your “Treasure M.A.P.”:

Key #1: Mindset.

An amazing potential exists to lift someone’s income and financial success purely and solely by lifting certain barriers from their thinking. – Dan Kennedy

So much is said these days about a prosperity mindset, the law of attraction, and such. Indeed, your Mindset is the first key to think and grow rich (just as it is the first of the 7 Principles.) Even hardcore marketing consultants and businessmen like Dan Kennedy, Robert Kiyosaki, Harv Eker, Eben Pagan, John Burley and Robert Allen have started teaching the importance of prosperous thinking, realizing that effective business strategies and financial principles are fruitless without the right mindset.

What do I mean by “mindset”? In a nutshell, how you think and feel about money. Your beliefs around money, as well as about people with money. Mindset also includes your sense of self-worth and identity – are they consistent with how a prosperous, successful person thinks? What about your financial “thermostat” or comfort zone – are you comfortable with money, or does it “burn a hole in your pocket” until you are compelled to spend whatever you can? Mindset also includes your expectations, your values, and your attitude about money.

I help people increase their awareness of their thoughts about money because I know our results will come from our actions, which will come from our thoughts and feelings. If you feel stressed about money, those are your “results.” If those aren’t the results you want, then you’ve got to go to the source: your mindset about money. If you change your mind, you can change your fortune… literally!

If you are in business for yourself, your mindset around money is of critical importance, as well as how you think about your customers, your employees, sales, marketing, and the economy. Likewise, in your personal economy, your mindset will either increase or sabotage your prosperity. One thing I have noticed is that some investors settle for ineffective strategies and low returns, simple because they don’t believe that something else is possible. As Henry Ford reminds us, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.”

But a healthy, prosperous Mindset isn’t enough. Let’s face it, raising your vibration or positive thinking isn’t likely to raise the low interest rate on your savings account, slow down inflation, or make the housing market recover any faster. You can recite affirmations all day long and visualize the wealth you’d like to attract, but as I once heard Harv Eker say, you’re not likely to have a bag of money drop on your head while meditating. That leads us to the second key of the Treasure M.A.P.:

Key #2: Action.

“You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.” – Henry Ford

An aligned mind will naturally lead to Action. Prosperous action is the natural outgrowth of a prosperous mindset. It’s cliché but true; “without action, nothing happens.” It’s the difference between success and failure. According to Mahatma Ghandi, “Action expresses priorities.”

Procrastination and inaction block your prosperity. They also tend to reveal a hitch in your mindset, but mindset isn’t always the problem. If you are having trouble taking action doing the things you know you need to do, then look at your environment. Does it support you in taking action, or does it distract and overwhelm you?

Look at your support structures – do you have coaches, mentors, and accountability partners, or are you a lone ranger? Consider your personal vitality, your responsibilities, and your ability to manage tasks effectively. Look honestly with a spirit of inquiry, and will be able to discover and remove the source(s) of your inaction.

But even a great Mindset and a willingness to take Action won’t build wealth. Without educating yourself about effective strategies, you’ll be stuck in old paradigms of wealth building… most likely, whatever your parents taught you about money! Unfortunately, many people have followed the traditional advice to “go to college, get a good job, pay down your mortgage, and contribute steadily to your 401k,” only to be financially devastated by the perfect storm of the recession and market crash.

So what else is needed? A Strategy that works! That leads us to the final key:

Key #3: A Plan.

No wind is favorable if we do not know into which port we are trying to sail. -Rev. Dale Turner

I call it your “Plan,” but let’s not confuse “plan” with what a typical “financial planner” would hand you, or with the outdated advice from a previous generation. You need a Prosperity Plan (or better yet, strategy) that maximizes your dollars, accelerates cashflow, and puts you in control of your money – not one that shows you how to build a precarious net worth that could disappear or become inaccessible when you need it most.

This is where P4P’s 7 Principles of Prosperity come in (and why I volunteered to jump in the conversation with this “guest post.”) You can develop a great attitude and a prosperous Mindset. You can be willing and able to jump into Action. But if you’re acting on outdated, ineffective, and inaccurate assumptions about how money works and what strategies will give you better results, you’re going to be frustrated. However, if you use P4P’s 7 Principles to build your financial strategy – your Plan, you’re going to build wealth faster and more safely, with fewer setbacks.

For more of Kate’s thoughts on Prosperity and Abundance, go to Total Wealth Coaching. To receive a Summary Sheet of Partners for Prosperity, Inc’s 7 Principles of Prosperity, a Podcast explaining the Principles, a special Audio Report of Robert Kiyosaki and Kim Butler on “Creating Your Prosperity” and more, click here to get your “Prosperity Pack”!