Alright folks, another week, another dive into something that really got my brain ticking. This time around, I was messing with the I Ching, specifically Hexagram 55, which is all about Abundance. Now, I’m not some guru, just a guy who likes to see how this old wisdom can actually make sense in my everyday hustle. I wanted to boil it down—no mystical mumbo-jumbo—just plain, actionable stuff.
My starting point was simple: read up on Hexagram 55. I grabbed a few different translations. The one thing that jumped out at me immediately was the feeling of “light shining brightly” and “being so full you can’t miss it.” It sounds nice, but how do you apply that when you’re staring at a mounting pile of emails or trying to figure out the next project move?
Deconstructing the Abundance
I decided to treat Abundance not as some lottery win, but as clarity and focus. If things are truly abundant, they are organized, visible, and flowing. My practical exercise started with my workspace and my digital life—the two biggest mess-ups in my life.
Step One: Physical Decluttering. My desk was a nightmare. Paperwork, old coffee mugs, cables tangled like spaghetti. I just plunged in. I spent a whole evening just clearing things out. The action here was ruthless removal of anything that wasn’t immediately necessary for current tasks. The feeling afterwards was immediate: a clear desk meant clear headspace. This was my first taste of applied Abundance—making space for what matters.
Step Two: Digital Flow Overload. My inbox had thousands of unread emails. My cloud storage was a dumping ground. My action here was Systematizing and Prioritizing. I didn’t delete everything; I organized. I created specific folders for ‘To-Do’, ‘Archived Projects’, and ‘Reference Material’. I unsubscribed from everything that didn’t bring me direct value. This felt like building channels for the “light to shine through,” as the hexagram suggests. When I could instantly find a crucial document, that felt like Abundance in action.
Focusing the Lines of Change
In the I Ching, you also look at the changing lines. I decided to focus on what felt like the most relevant lines to my current situation: establishing a solid base and dealing with fear of loss, which often blocks Abundance.
- Establishing the Base (Line 1): This meant setting clear, small goals instead of massive, overwhelming ones. I committed to three critical tasks every morning before checking social media or news. The action was Consistent, Small Wins.
- Dealing with Doubt (Line 4): This line often talks about being surrounded by people but feeling alone. For me, this translated to feeling isolated in my work despite being constantly connected online. My action was Genuine Connection. I reached out to three mentors/colleagues I genuinely respected, asking for specific advice, not just general pleasantries. Sharing the light amplifies it.
I kept a simple journal for a week, tracking how these changes affected my daily mood and productivity. What I noticed was that Abundance isn’t about having more things; it’s about having just the right things, clearly structured, so energy doesn’t leak out.
The Real Takeaway Action
The biggest transformation came when I stopped worrying about achieving “perfect” Abundance and started valuing the clarity I gained from the clean-up. When I started my workday with a clean desk, a clean digital workspace, and three focused tasks, I found my time felt richer—more abundant, ironically, because I was saying NO to a lot of distraction.
It’s not magic; it’s deliberate structure. The hexagram simply provided the framework—that when the light is focused and obstacles are removed, the resulting clarity feels like overflowing wealth. My daily practice now is a quick 10-minute clean sweep both physically and digitally. Keeps the ‘light’ shining bright, you know?
